Grammar Blog My English Teachers

My English Teachers

I have had several instances of run-ins with grammar. All of them have impacted how I relate to grammar now. My first real recollection of grammar was when I was in elementary school. From what I have learned since, no one else has been taught that way. We jump to when I was in 11th grade for my next memorable association with grammar. For some reason, this teacher felt the need for all 11th graders to know what direct objects, participles, and prepositions were (along with all the other grammar related things). And finally, just a few semesters ago, I had a professor here at Va Tech who deemed all papers written unworthy of correct sentence structure until you learned what he had to teach. I learned the most from him, and future writings incorporate what I learned from him.
I went to elementary school in Pennsylvania many years ago. When we were learning how to spell, we were taught all the special characters that are included in a dictionary following every word that shows you how to pronounce a word. We learned the carrot, short and long vowel sounds, where the emphasis should be placed on a word, and how to divide a word at the end of a sentence. Whenever I mention having learned to spell this way, most people say they have never learned this. My kids, who are in high school now, have never learned this. I feel privileged to have learned this at a young age, but I have forgotten most of what I learned. But, when I open a dictionary to look up a word, the first place I look after I find the word is to see how it is pronounced. I love reading the dictionary.
Then, we moved to Virginia when I was in 3rd grade. When I got to 11th grade English, I was like every other student. I hated English class! It was all so confusing. Who cares what the difference is between a direct object, participle, or predicative complement? I can put sentences together, and can usually tell if something is wrong with how it is constructed. But dissecting a sentence will send me into a tailspin! I much preferred the literature part of English class; but this particular teacher decided we all needed to learn grammar. She would give a test and most of the students didn’t pass it. So, she would go over the material again. By the time she started taking grades on the tests, I was making 100’s. By the end of my junior year, I received the 11th grade English award. I had the highest English grade in my whole class. That was very exciting to me. I guess at that point, grammar had started to make sense, and started me on the path I am on now.
And finally we advance to a few semesters ago here at Va Tech. All of my papers up to this point were mid to high A’s. I felt very confident about writing and getting my point across in a concise, articulate way. Then, I got this professor. Oh, my!! My first paper was a C!! I couldn’t believe it. Every other word—it seemed like—was marked out and something else suggested in its place. I learned about transitional words and phrases, how to correctly use a semicolon, and so many other rules. His big contention was wordiness. I thought I wrote succinctly before him; I had no idea how much better I could get at it. I dreaded writing his papers, but I learned so much from him by paying attention to his notes and using his guidelines. I now enjoy writing papers so much more than I did; I feel more confident about getting a paper started, and following through with it.
So—in conclusion—I have taken all these instances of grammar rules and regulations to heart. Each person involved has made me a better writer, a better thinker. Whether I am writing a paper, or reading a book, in the back of my mind is, “I wonder what so and so would that of that!” Judging from what I have seen so far in this class, this professor and class will rank among these others as impacting my future thinking of grammar. I am looking forward to learning even more than I have already, and hopefully not being as confused about it all as I am right now. All these terms and rules are flying around in my head and I don’t think I can make them stop spinning long enough to figure out what I am supposed to do with them! Hopefully—eventually—I can make sense of it and excel in this class, as in my others.