Grammar is Only
Skin Deep
Let’s face it, English teachers are scary! I’m laughed at when the people closest to me
see how mad I am when I have to turn in a second English paper before the first
one has even been graded and handed back.
Why? Because I never know how that teacher grades or what their
expectations are. Do they put the hammer
down on grammar or are my ideas and efforts in translating them onto the page
the most important? I have been in
several classes when I have said out loud (well not close enough for the
teacher to hear of course) that no matter what I do it will never be good
enough. I have even been told that my
writing was “stiff”, “unrealistic.” Yes,
and when I walked away from them I had a few choice words. Of course they were wrong! I was using big words, I sounded smart, and I
even used a thesaurus! Need I quote Stephen King once again, yes I
do, “Any word you have to hunt for in the thesaurus is the wrong word. There are no exceptions to this rule.” What I had a problem with was finding my own voice. I was too concerned with writing for the teacher rather than just letting
myself be heard beyond the surface.
There is a part in “Writing as Self-Revelation” where the author Luella B. Cook talks about a time when she was asked a
question, “But what do you do about all the errors in grammar and
spelling? Do you just over-look
them?” Her reply was simple,
“Temporarily yes.” She is “looking for something else, for something real that
a pupil is trying to say, for some hint of possibility that I may help him
build upon.” In analyzing this “nervous
concern over errors” Cook believes it comes from “criticism.” “Criticism has long been our stock and
trade. Pupils write and we carefully
correct their papers judging the value of our own efforts by the thoroughness
with which we have identified their errors.”
Doesn’t that explain the comic above?
Instead of the teacher finding value in the content of the past
student’s words, wanting to be recognized and remembered, he’s basically shhh-ing
him because incorrect grammar he believes reflects badly upon him as the
teacher.
Is the constant need for immediate proper grammar
the same as talking in someone else’s voice?
It’s rule following at its best.
You’re doing it simply because someone else told you to. If the content within is the mouth watering
dessert you were craving, does it matter if it’s served on a paper plate or
fine china? Getting your ideas down and
having that teacher who helps you develop it is priceless. The grammar can always be fixed when you’re
finished.
While I am not saying its okay to not learn and
practice proper grammar, I am saying that WHAT a person says is far more
important than HOW a person says it.
John Grisham’s commencement speech at UNC-ChapelHill in 2010 gives a great argument on the importance in finding your own
voice. He says the “most difficult task
facing a writer is finding the voice in which to tell a story.” After all I do agree when he says “a voice is
more than a sound”, holding “three essential elements”, “clarity, authenticity
and veracity.” So I say find your
voice. Screw the thesaurus and have a
teacher that "temporarily" looks beyond the surface of the skin/grammar. Let them see the depths of the content, there
is a good argument to be had here. Challenge
them. If all you’re being graded on is
grammar, ask if you could see what your grade would be if only looking at how
your voice translated to the paper. Speak
from your heart, plead your case and be heard beyond your skin.
