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." 

Reading: J.K. Rowling's Secret Identity Teaches Us About Voice

Recently, famed author J. K. Rowling was revealed to be the truth author behind the mystery novel The Cuckoo's Calling, which she penned under the pseudonym of Robert Galbraith.

A post from Time allows a linguistic analyst the opportunity to explain how researchers uncovered Rowling's true identity, and it gives us an opportunity to talk about voice and style.

Assignment: In-Class MLA Explanation Exercise

Since I'm teaching exclusively developmental writing classes, I don't spend a lot of time talking about citation styles. My papers don't generally require outside sources, and I tend to work individually with students who want to use them to get the citations right.

Style guides come up, though, because students know that they are out there, but they generally don't have a very firm grasp over what they are or how they work. I do require some familiarity with MLA style because I require its formatting for paper headings and things like margins and spacing. I make formatting a (small) part of my grading criteria, and there are inevitably several students who lose a few points for not double spacing their lines or not putting a title on their papers.

Students don't like this. They think that it's nit-picking and frustrating. It's not "real" writing; it's just annoying. I know what they meant, they insist, so I shouldn't take the points off.

To help demonstrate why paying attention to these details is more than just a place for me to penalize them, I remembered an activity the SLU Writing Center had used when I worked there. I adapted this activity for my developmental writing students, and I was happy with the results.

I divide my students into two groups and then tell them that we're going to have a contest. They need to imagine that they've just entered a busy restaurant.

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.