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I fear for the future of education.
Disclaimer: No personal hard feelings in the below post, except towards those responsible for the current state of "education" as shown.
An acquaintance has been asking me to help edit her college essay. Her writing is not... the best, for a 12th grader. Sad, but not anything I haven't seen before, especially online.
However, what's far more horrifying is where she's getting it from--or rather, NOT getting it from.
Her: hi
Me: Hi.
Her: my teacher corrected my essay and she didnt' say very much about grammer
Her: but my friends are correcting and they said a lot
Her: who should i trust?
Me: Um, grammar is important...
Her: yeah
She had a lot of grammar mistakes. Not just anal technical issues that can be overlooked in the face of other storytelling issues, either. If they're not corrected, her essay WILL be shot down in flames.
Me: What did your teacher say about the essay, then, if not grammar?
Her: she put in some words
Me: Like, single words? That's it?
Her: but for example when diff. people talk, i put into a new paragraph
Her: and she told me no too.
Her: i'm confused
She has quite a bit of dialogue in her essay, and they run into each other sometimes, which I pointed out. Since when did it become NOT the solid rule to put a new speaker into a new paragraph?
Me: To be blunt: Your teacher is not helpful at all.
Me: Wait, that's not blunt. Blunt: Your teacher doesn't know what she's talking about.
Her: ouch
Her: ouch! major ouch
Actually, to truly state my feelings bluntly would involve swear words, and it doesn't seem like she would've liked handling that. XP
Me: So she just told you to add some words?
Her: to rework the climax and make the font bold or with
Her: stars
Me: This IS the English teacher, right? ;D
Her: and gramattically i can do the 1st person to 3rd person jump
Her: AP LIT. teacher
Me: Oh my god.
The beginning and end of her essay are set off with scenes from "the present", while the main body is a flashback. I suggested she mark the offset with italics instead of bold text. Also, there are abrupt switches between first and third person narrative with no indication that the two perspectives are related. Maybe it's doable in certain literature, but in a college essay the reader needs to know he's reading about YOU.
She's applying to my school, among her choices. If she gets accepted (or better yet, if she gets into the school I was rejected from), I will laugh SO hard.
An acquaintance has been asking me to help edit her college essay. Her writing is not... the best, for a 12th grader. Sad, but not anything I haven't seen before, especially online.
However, what's far more horrifying is where she's getting it from--or rather, NOT getting it from.
Her: hi
Me: Hi.
Her: my teacher corrected my essay and she didnt' say very much about grammer
Her: but my friends are correcting and they said a lot
Her: who should i trust?
Me: Um, grammar is important...
Her: yeah
She had a lot of grammar mistakes. Not just anal technical issues that can be overlooked in the face of other storytelling issues, either. If they're not corrected, her essay WILL be shot down in flames.
Me: What did your teacher say about the essay, then, if not grammar?
Her: she put in some words
Me: Like, single words? That's it?
Her: but for example when diff. people talk, i put into a new paragraph
Her: and she told me no too.
Her: i'm confused
She has quite a bit of dialogue in her essay, and they run into each other sometimes, which I pointed out. Since when did it become NOT the solid rule to put a new speaker into a new paragraph?
Me: To be blunt: Your teacher is not helpful at all.
Me: Wait, that's not blunt. Blunt: Your teacher doesn't know what she's talking about.
Her: ouch
Her: ouch! major ouch
Actually, to truly state my feelings bluntly would involve swear words, and it doesn't seem like she would've liked handling that. XP
Me: So she just told you to add some words?
Her: to rework the climax and make the font bold or with
Her: stars
Me: This IS the English teacher, right? ;D
Her: and gramattically i can do the 1st person to 3rd person jump
Her: AP LIT. teacher
Me: Oh my god.
The beginning and end of her essay are set off with scenes from "the present", while the main body is a flashback. I suggested she mark the offset with italics instead of bold text. Also, there are abrupt switches between first and third person narrative with no indication that the two perspectives are related. Maybe it's doable in certain literature, but in a college essay the reader needs to know he's reading about YOU.
She's applying to my school, among her choices. If she gets accepted (or better yet, if she gets into the school I was rejected from), I will laugh SO hard.