Grammar Difficulty

Ok, so after a little april fool's joke, here's a word about grammar. And for those of you who don't know, I am a literature teacher. I love books, lit., words, vocabulary, etc.(yes, I realize how much of a nerd I am) and always will. And as much as I don't really care about using slang and relaxed grammar in casual settings, I can't help but be annoyed at some of the grammar mistakes out there. Example one: I came across an ad for Charmin Toilet Paper that read, "We shine where the sun don't." That is grammatically incorrect; a problem with subject-verb agreement to be exact. It should read, "We shine where the sun doesn't." I also HATE the title of that hip-hop movie called "How She Move." It should be moveS! Moves!! (And I know it's titled that way to play with the language and culture, but I can't help the little grammar monster sitting on my shoulder screaming "There's suppossed to be an 'S'!")

I guess all of this was brought on because as much as I love my students and as smart as they are they make so many grammar mistakes! Such as not being able to tell the difference between there, their and they're. Or the difference between to, too and two. Seriously? You're a senior for cryin' out loud! The sentence "They're was so much work to be done" is just ridiculous coming from an 18 year old Georgetown bound student. Most of them just rely on spell check, but it doesn't catch everything!!! Oh, and of course the common misuse of I/me (i.e. "here is a picture of Wally and I"---Do the little switcheroo game you learned in 4th grade. Would you tell someone it's a picture of "I". No! It's a picture of "me"), hence "a picture of Wally and me." And don't even get me started with the commas. My students use them more than any other punctuation mark, desperately sprinkling them anywhere and everywhere they can until I'm reading a sentence overloaded with them that keeps going for an entire page.

I suppose email, texting, IM and blogs don't help either. I received a paper just today (a formal one, I might add) with the following sentence. "In the play Antigone, the too sisters stand against each other and argue concerning what is 2 b dun about there brother Polyneices." No doubt this student forgot to proofread and must have forgotten he was writing a paper for school and not to a friend through his iphone (btw, there were 5 spelling/grammar mistakes in that sentence).

And I know I'm opening myself up for criticism here. And I'm sure if you filter through this blog, you'll catch some mistakes. No one is perfect and I know that. It's just the fear I have (especially having been teaching Lit. and seeing more and more simple mistakes each year) that ultimately, our super awesome language is going to eventually be reduced to acrostic lettering and slang. The beauty of our language comes from the multitude of words and meanings, all brought about through slight nuances. If we stop using them or can't use them correctly, then what?

I just have a love for the language, I guess. And I want for my students to use it and use it well. So...I guess I'll get off my soap box. It's time for another class to start. And please don't think of me as being snobby! I'm really not! I just teach the language and can't help noticing the mistakes! It really is only in formal writing settings that the little monster comes out! Hearing it isn't a big deal.

Anyway, thanks for listening to I.

Just Kidding. :0)