Alfa Romeo and Education

[David Ziglin <davidz@domain.elided>]

Thank you, Kim !!!!   Thank You Thank You Thank You.



I care so very much about my Alfa Romeos; however, not all of the finest
Alfas in the world come anywhere near the importance of education.  I
shamelessly presume to trust - and hope -  that other Alfisti agree and so
go "off topic".......

I missed what started the "English" thread.  I did walk into a statement
from a self identified English teacher.  Since then I had been experiencing
the agony of internal conflict; I wanted to write a response, but I did not
want to get "yelled at" and didn't want to agitate myself too much as I am
in the middle of making some amazing chili sauce.  And again, I missed the
intro, the context.  Kim finally provoked me to respond with her previous
post.

The idea that one can be excused for speaking a "new form" of English and
rather to lay blame on the stubborn speakers of "old form" English is one
of the most ignorant notions I have ever heard short of that from at-risk
sophomores.  This premise is so misinformed that it's not even wrong.

Schit.

I suggest that what is presently passing for "new form" English in the
minds of the uninformed is a misnomer.  This "new form" English might
better be called "illiteracy" and sloppiness.  One thing is obvious to
anyone who has experienced reading across great time from Middle English
poetry to Shakespearean verse to Ebonics : It is all understandable and
reasonable and powerfully crystalline clear often.  If a middle English
poem does not scan, one should blame the supposed poet not his Language.
Good writing is well structured expressed for clear meaning - old or new.

* ( BTW - in case you have not noticed :  over the last 5 years and the
last 2 especially, the word "misnomer" is being commonly misused -
certainly via TV and Radio.  A "Mis- Nomer" is an incorrect word for
something, e.g., Alfa Romero.  Nevertheless, the word is being used as if
it means a "mistake" as in : "It's not actually widespread in the South;
that's a misnomer.  This, I suggest, is the new form of English, a kind of
Pigeon USAian.  "Bandy" and "Banter" too have been totally and commonly
misused and redefined by way of "new English", this crude invention. There
are many other words such as this. )

I revel in our change in language.  Language evolves.  I encourage writers
to first understand how writing works, use it well, then play with it
carefully.  A rich and evolving and creative language is wonderful although
I do morn the loss of words in our culture.  However, when evolution
presents an idea that does not work well in practice, the carrier will self
destruct or change further.

A Parable : When your daughter first expresses an unusual interest in your
spider at 14, what do you do?  Well, I'll bet that you would teach her how
the car works, what it can and can't do, how to drive efficiently and
safely, to presume nothing, to be aware of the other guy.  *To understand
that no matter what car is in question, there are basic principles that
give them all coherence and integrity.  This is true of language.  You
would have her practice.  Maybe this would evolve into an expertise with
sophisticated racing machines.

           And if you cared about your daughter's ability to write well,
you would go through a similar process.


Any worthwhile language must communicate well.  If communication can
include beauty as can be done in any language, so much the better.


PUNCTUATION MYTHOLOGY :  it is commonly believed that the purpose of
punctuation is to let the reader know when to take a breath.  And Columbus
proved that the Earth was spherical.  And Satanic Cultists are eating our
infants.  And good punctuation is an indication of good grammar.  (They are
different from each other.)  Myth, all myth.

Kim, and few others it would seem, understands that punctuation informs the
reader how to understand the words in a sentence.  That's all - clarity.

There is only one reason worth considering to account for the common misuse
and abuse of punctuation in our society : citizens of all ages refuse to
learn to use it properly.  Given that every one of the 30 magazines I
receive are riddled with punctuation errors making reading a most difficult
chore, I suspect that we are unliikely to turn this around.  It's totally
out of hand.  Even Scientific American is now punctuation disabled.

A reading of a 7th grade text book is one hell of a good start toward
proper punctuation use.  I and some of my fellow teachers (and why should
this be the responsibility of English teachers only ???!!!!) have tried
every method known to humans to teach proper punctuation.  My students
steadily and consistently would refuse to intellectually embrace the
*reasons* for the use of comma or the semi-colon and play it BY EAR
instead.

A fellow teacher would yearly provide his Honors 12th Graders with T Shirts
whereon were printed the basic rules of punctuation - just the very basics.
Nevertheless, our students would rather be disemboweled than open a book to
refresh their memory or mind.  Remember the story of the chicken that
starved to death while sitting on a bag of corn?  Nothing works except the
actual will to understand.

I leave with one of the few things in this life that I am as sure of as any
Skeptic possibly can be : We have the educational system we have today *in
spite* of the powerful anti-intellectual and anti-educational forces at
work throughout our society.

More essentially than that :  the mediocre learning that occurs in the USA
school system (perhaps especially in the ubiquitous 4 point student) is the
result of the adamant insistence of parents.  Parents and so many other
citizens do not care about learning; they do care about grades yes, but not
learning.  The USA has always been an anti-intellectual society; however,
it is only a couple of hundred years old.


The same Wisconsin 11th grader who *insists* on writing in sentence
fragments as if speech were writing instead of actually thinking and caring
will easily tell you the average comparative typical monthly weight of Bret
Favre's bowel movements in a nanoflash.   We do not care much about
precision of information or expression except as it applies to 3 point
shots and the like.

Education requires the interaction of learner and teacher.  However, one
can even learn much from a poor teacher although it should never be the
case.  And most important, in the end a person teaches himself.

Thanks        David

What is honored in a society will be nurtured there ____________  Plato

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