Re: Alfa Romeo and Education

[phantom@domain.elided]

Damn!  Ain't that be some phat shit y'all be chatin'?!

- -Date: Thu, 16 Sep 1999 14:53:39 -0500
- -From: David Ziglin <davidz@domain.elided>
- -Subject: Alfa Romeo and Education
- -
- -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
- -

------------------------------