Writing Is Like Metaphor Series: Semicolons Are Like Jewelry

This post is part of the Writing is Like Metaphor Series. 

Often, my students are not sure how to use semicolons correctly when they come into the classroom. Once they've learned, it's as if they want to make up for lost time and throw them into every other sentence. It's fun to see them learn to use a new writing tool, but you know the old saying: "when all you have is a hammer, everything's a nail." 

Assignment: Group Grammar Worksheet

Grammar worksheets have always been a point of contention in my teaching. When I hand them out, even students who do well on them seem unable to explain the rules they're using, which then means they have trouble applying them in their own writing.

I began to think that grammar worksheets were a waste of time.

I decided to try something new last year,and since then I have used it several times. It has worked really well, and I think it could be adapted in several ways to encompass a variety of grammar lessons.

 

Assignment: Does Grammar Matter?

Overview- A solid discussion of grammar will often leave students in a space of uncertainty. If we explain that all dialects have grammar and that no grammar is inherently better than any other, we can give them impression that grammar does not matter. At the same time, if we explain that students are held purely to the Standard Academic English grammatical standards, we can give the impression that grammar is the only thing that matters.

This in-class activity is designed to explore that tension.

Reading: Bad Grammar? No Job.

CEO Kyle Wiens has a strict grammar policy, and he explains it in this Harvard Business Journal article. For Wiens, bad grammar is a professional deal breaker, no matter how qualified the applicant might otherwise be. He is also clear that this applies at all levels of the work for his business, not just the management or writing positions. If someone is stocking shelves, he believes, they should have to pass a grammar test to do it.

Wiens' blunt message seems to get students talking. In discussions I've had, students have called his policy into question as unfair and discriminatory. We've used this as a platform to talk about how grammar can be used to discriminate against someone and how grammar can be used to judge someone. Then we've talked about whether that judgment is fair or not.

Reading: Grammar as Fashion

This NYTimes article compares grammar to fashion and provides a great starting point for a discussion on why grammar matters as well as when it matters and how to use it. This piece does an excellent job of re-framing what has often been pointed out as "errors." Instead of seeing unconventional grammar usage as mistakes, this article sees them as variations of language usage, much the same way people vary their clothing choices.

There's nothing wrong with wearing bunny slippers, but we wouldn't wear bunny slippers to a job interview because it sends the wrong message and doesn't meet the expectations of our audience.