HDFS interview

I interviewed Dr. G of the HDFS department, even though I am a student in English and French. I have taken a class from Dr.G and have been on staff with her in a residence hall for two years now, so I knew I could get honest answers and get some insight from a teacher who has taught both upper and lower division courses - including a WIC course.

Dr. G unhesitantingly agreed that writing is an essential element in personal success because writing abilities (or inabilities) correlate to speaking abilities. She noted that you can not communicate your purpose if you can't express yourself. The importance extends beyond clarity and accuracy - being able to speak and write reflects a commitment to professionalism.

The most desirable style of writing for Dr. G is writing that is "succinct, influential, clear, accurate, and concise." These qualities are expected in some courses - but in survey and intro courses, Dr. G is impressed simply by complete sentences and "proper spelling, grammar, and punctuation." Detracting from proper writing, however, is writing that is directionless or poorly organized. She described this type of writing as "stream of consciousness" as opposed to writing with an outline or obvious organization pattern.

Somewhat related to writing for academics, Dr. G is bothered by e-mails from students that are so casual that they contain no punctuation, organization, or coherency. E-mails that say "u" instead of "you" or "i" instead of "I" are almost dismissable because of their complete disregard for even trying to communicate clearly and respectfully to a professor.

Grammar in poetry

Although my conversation with Karen Holmberg on poetry went into several aspects, she honed in on three topcs: the subject, the verb, and the object.

Out of the three, the verb dominated the conversation. She finds many beginning writers only think of adjectives having the ability to describe, therefore lacking in verb usage, namely in variety. She said many people will use "ran" instead of words like "bolted" or "scrambled" which can add not only a superficial benefit but a deeper meaning as well. Such as if you wrote, "I ran through the kitchen," it could be better, "I scrambled through the kitchen." This time the verb scramble is associated with egg cooking because of the word kitchen.

She mentioned many LANGUAGE poets actually play with the language and gave two examples. The first, many LANGUAGE poets will play with the verb and make it predicate a non-traditional subject. Her example was, "The Tennis shoe [subject] smelled [verb] the flower." In this sense we have an inanimate object (or subject in this case) that doesn't have the capacity to physically smell another object, such as a human or animal can smell a flower. The other way LANGUAGE poets play with verbs is by giving you choices with the verbs. An example would be, "I ran/danced/conjugated through the kitchen." This forces the reader to choose which action happened, depending on the reader one to all three actions can happen.

Next she talked about the subject and its power. The usage of first person such as, I, is very different from the third person, you. When the poet writes I it forces the reader to become, or see things as, the narrator. But when the poet uses you it’s like the reader is reading a letter or diary. The you becomes much more powerful in this sense, as if the writer is directly writing towards the reader. Even within first person it can be different, such as I is different from we. The use of we makes both the reader and writer one. It makes both of them look at the poem from a similar, if not the same, view. An entirely different emotion is found.

Lastly, she mentioned the object of the poem is ethically charged. The reason it is ethically charged is it may be the object in a grammatical sense, but it is the subject of the poem. “How do we treat the subject?” becomes the stasis theory. The reasoning is, if it is an inanimate object no one really cares or makes a fuss about it, but if a person is the object/subject then they question, “How did you treat the subject… is it true… is their a truer way to say it, etc.”

Outside of these three main topics she went into the importance of being grammatically correct, or being prescriptively correct. She said poetry allows you to do what you want grammatically, but if you can still follow the prescriptive guidelines than your work can be that much stronger. She said, “I think all poets are trying to make [prescriptive] grammar as flexible as possible.”

Show me how smart you really are!

Mrs. K, a middle school science teacher, believes that in order to be respected as a professional, a person’s writing must be grammatically correct. Mrs. K said, “It is the only way you will come off as a competent and effective individual. Your writing level will be the level of intelligence people place you in.” This is why she stresses the importance of writing when working with her students. She tells them, “Show me how smart you really are!” Then makes them practice, practice, practice. Mrs. K brought up the fact that students aren’t getting taught enough about writing at all levels of schooling. In her district, 80% of the students will pass the state reading benchmark, but only 30% will pass the state writing benchmark.

Being a teacher, Mrs. K’s writing is mainly business professional. This includes reports, data analysis, personal letters, and professional correspondence. Mrs. K recently applied to graduate school with the hope of moving into a school administration position. This position will ask even more of her writing skills as she produces evaluations, personal records and business reports. It’s not surprising that the class in college she most accredits to her writing competency was a business writing class. The assigned marketing plans, grant writing, letters, and detailed research papers prepared her for her current work.

An Interview with a Screenplay Writer

An Interview with Tim Xxxxx

Tim Xxxxx is a Screenplay Writer and Assistant Producer. He is currently working on a few projects, including one called “Evilution”. According to Tim, grammar isn’t all that important when writing a script. He says, “screenplays are mostly about direction and dialogue so the importance of grammar correctness is much less than that of a story.” Tim also writes short stories and believes that good grammar is important in the story. In the field of writing for screenplays the most desirable writing style is simple and direct. He says, “What makes a good movie isn’t the grammar. The actors bring their talent, the producer uses his skill, and the writers change scenes and fix clumpy dialogue.”

Tim does read a fair amount of screenplays from young people, some from students. In a script, the language is more important than grammar. “The dialogue has to be believable and not forced.” What impresses him most is the format. There is a particular format for writing a screenplay and if this is not correct there is a good chance a director will not read the script. “If the student has the format down, we give them a shot. We read the script and can usually tell in a few pages if it has potential.”

Interview for 060426

Mr. B. is an instructor in the NMC department with 35 years of experience in the journalism field. He answered with a resounding “absolutely,” when asked whether one’s writing affected one’s influence and impact. As a newspaper editor, he looks for “powerful, clear and to-the-point expressions that state a case as quickly and convincingly as possible.”
Although I doubt he knows Dr. C., he would surely agree with him that grammar is a “measure of intelligence.” Mr. B. described, “correct usage and grammar,” as suggesting “care, intelligence, and thoughtfulness.” In his eyes readers judge a person from their writing in the same way that they would judge them from their clothing in a face-to-face encounter. Even more important maybe is his conviction that properly formulated questions will tend to be rewarded with “careful, intelligent and thoughtful responses.”
“Clear and concise,” is the name of the game for Mr. B. The newspaper “is not a medium that accepts a lot of throat-clearing, diversions and asides.” Writers should make their story compelling as well. The lead [first paragraph] should be the “most telling or grabbing element,” in order to hook the reader’s interest. From then on it should “flow smoothly and logically, not bump along aimlessly.” The readers should never have to try and connect the dots on their own.
What he looks for in his students’ writing is “powerful, compelling prose with a strong human component.” Newspapers tell stories, and if they don’t convey strong human emotions through compelling personal details they won’t cut it. Occasionally the facts will speak for themselves, “But far more often, its up to the writer to mine the gems from the slag and polish them up for the reader.”

Interview: April 26

April 21, 2006

Dr. C. of the Political Science department suspects that it was an experience in graduate school that infused him with his current “fanaticism” over grammar and the proper use of language. For the first time in his college career his paper had come back to him marked heavily with red in places that he had violated the rules of grammar; rules that until that point in time, he had not been aware of. He then dedicated himself to understanding how to use language properly, and as anyone who has taken one of his classes can confirm, he is determined to pass that information along to his students.

Why is grammar so important to Dr. C? “Well, on one hand it’s a measure of intelligence, but most importantly it’s an indicator of your quest for excellence,” he says. If you are not dedicated to learning about something so important as the correct way to write then it is likely that you will face other challenges in your life with a similar lack of enthusiasm. And being able to write is still an important skill even in this age of computers, “It’s a first clue to a reader or listener. It indicates to them how much trust they should place in you and in the information you’re trying to give them.” And for any student studying political science it becomes immediately obvious the value that trustworthy communication holds.

One has to hope the that the college environment is helping students become better writers, but Dr. C. is skeptical. He teaches students in all years, and much to his disappointment seniors often leave this institution writing as poorly as they did when they entered. It’s a distressing thought, after all, we leave college and hope to enter the real world, but as Dr. C. says, “The world is complex. Frequently it takes complexity in language to convey meaning and be understood.” The world is looking for clarity and freshness, and Dr. C hopes that we are entering it well equipped to contribute.