Re: Eternal Volunteers, G3 Moontanning


	/-/S'pht-Translator-Active/-/

Re: Eternal Volunteers, G3 Moontanning

Posted By: Forrest of B.org Date: 1/7/05 11:01 a.m.
In Response To: Re: Eternal Volunteers, G3 Moontanning (blake37)

: Lucky you, i've just used cruches like spell checkers, so i've never really
: had to become good at it, but I am slowly getting better, often thanks to
: this forum. And my mom says it's a wast of time :)
It's really funny. When I was in school, I had nearly impeccable writing, spelling and grammar (which I know has gone downhill - something's probably misspelled in this very sentence), *because* my primary form of communication was non-realtime on the internet. I was a UseNet junky (what geeks had before web forums existed), and grammar Nazis abound(ed) on UseNet. It became very clear very quick that bad spelling and grammar were a socially bad thing, and you would get mocked mercilessly for them, and nobody would take you seriously, if they even bothered to read your messages. Even though it's was just communicative writing, you were expected to write like it was for a college paper.
This translated into my speech, to the point where I speak like I'm writing, even sometimes pausing in my speech until I can call up the exact right synonym with the proper shade of meaning, as I do when writing. I never revise my writing, other than to check for typos and such. My freshman year of college, after handing out our final papers, my English professor proceeded to berate the class that obviously all but one or two of us hadn't been following "proper" draft/review/rewrite cycles when writing our papers, and that we've all got to learn that nobody can ever sit down the night before a paper is due and just and write out something that will get full marks.
I raised my hand and my 200-point (100%) paper and said "I did."
Anyway, my point is that it seems to be the opposite today. Modern kids (including people close to my age, in college) communicate primarily through IM and, even worse, cellphone text messaging, developing the use of all the little IM shorthands (particularly because there's no full keyboard on phones), so that their communicative writing sounds as bad as their speech (lik omg ykno?? lik totly), and then their professional writing in papers starts to sound like their communicative writing. And some of them think that just running your paper through Word's spellcheck will fix it, but any abbreviations with numbers get completely skipped, as so any one-letter abbreviations, and the remaining (small) percent that actually get corrected don't neccesarily get corrected to the right words!
And don't even get my started on run-on sentences, paragraphs and other structural items, and their use for flow and dramatic pause in writing - or really, the lack thereof.
I guess I'm really just disappointed, because I saw the wider-spread adoption of the Internet as a sign that maybe people's writing skills would go up, and correspondingly, their precision of thought and ability to communicate it (in other words, their apparent intelligence). I also thought it might get people doing something more creative and interactive, instead of sitting around and mindlessly watching TV all day. But now, all the same mindless zombies watch Flash movies and download Britney on the Internet all day, and writing skills have gone *down* instead of up.
My dreams are ruined. At least we've still got Paris... er, this place.

[ Post a Reply | Message Index | Read Prev Msg | Read Next Msg ]
Pre-2004 Posts

Replies:

[ Post a Reply | Message Index | Read Prev Msg | Read Next Msg ]
Pre-2004 Posts

Your Name:
Your E-Mail Address:
Subject:
Message:
: It's really funny. When I was in school, I had nearly impeccable writing, : spelling and grammar (which I know has gone downhill - something's : probably misspelled in this very sentence), *because* my primary form of : communication was non-realtime on the internet. I was a UseNet junky (what : geeks had before web forums existed), and grammar Nazis abound(ed) on : UseNet. It became very clear very quick that bad spelling and grammar were : a socially bad thing, and you would get mocked mercilessly for them, and : nobody would take you seriously, if they even bothered to read your : messages. Even though it's was just communicative writing, you were : expected to write like it was for a college paper. : This translated into my speech, to the point where I speak like I'm writing, : even sometimes pausing in my speech until I can call up the exact right : synonym with the proper shade of meaning, as I do when writing. I never : revise my writing, other than to check for typos and such. My freshman : year of college, after handing out our final papers, my English professor : proceeded to berate the class that obviously all but one or two of us : hadn't been following "proper" draft/review/rewrite cycles when : writing our papers, and that we've all got to learn that nobody can ever : sit down the night before a paper is due and just and write out something : that will get full marks. : I raised my hand and my 200-point (100%) paper and said "I did." : Anyway, my point is that it seems to be the opposite today. Modern kids : (including people close to my age, in college) communicate primarily : through IM and, even worse, cellphone text messaging, developing the use : of all the little IM shorthands (particularly because there's no full : keyboard on phones), so that their communicative writing sounds as bad as : their speech (lik omg ykno?? lik totly), and then their professional : writing in papers starts to sound like their communicative writing. And : some of them think that just running your paper through Word's spellcheck : will fix it, but any abbreviations with numbers get completely skipped, as : so any one-letter abbreviations, and the remaining (small) percent that : actually get corrected don't neccesarily get corrected to the right words! : And don't even get my started on run-on sentences, paragraphs and other : structural items, and their use for flow and dramatic pause in writing - : or really, the lack thereof. : I guess I'm really just disappointed, because I saw the wider-spread adoption : of the Internet as a sign that maybe people's writing skills would go up, : and correspondingly, their precision of thought and ability to communicate : it (in other words, their apparent intelligence). I also thought it might : get people doing something more creative and interactive, instead of : sitting around and mindlessly watching TV all day. But now, all the same : mindless zombies watch Flash movies and download Britney on the Internet : all day, and writing skills have gone *down* instead of up. : My dreams are ruined. At least we've still got Paris... er, this place.

If you'd like to include a link to another page with your message,
please provide both the URL address and the title of the page:
Optional Link URL:
Optional Link Title:

If necessary, enter your password below:
Password:

Problems? Suggestions? Comments? Email maintainer@bungie.org
Marathon's Story Forum is maintained with WebBBS 5.12.

Eternal Volunteers, G3 Moontanning	blake37	1/6/05 1:18 p.m.
Re: Eternal Volunteers, G3 Moontanning	Adam Ashwell	1/6/05 1:39 p.m.
Re: Eternal Volunteers, G3 Moontanning	blake37	1/6/05 1:53 p.m.
Re: Eternal Volunteers, G3 Moontanning	Steve Levinson	1/6/05 2:11 p.m.
Re: Eternal Volunteers, G3 Moontanning	Forrest of B.org	1/6/05 2:48 p.m.
Re: Eternal Volunteers, G3 Moontanning	blake37	1/6/05 3:14 p.m.
Re: Eternal Volunteers, G3 Moontanning	Steve Levinson	1/6/05 7:29 p.m.
Re: Eternal Volunteers, G3 Moontanning	Forrest of B.org	1/6/05 8:38 p.m.
Re: Eternal Volunteers, G3 Moontanning	blake37	1/6/05 3:13 p.m.
Re: Eternal Volunteers, G3 Moontanning	Yossarian	1/6/05 4:16 p.m.
Re: Eternal Volunteers, G3 Moontanning	blake37	1/6/05 4:55 p.m.
Re: Eternal Volunteers, G3 Moontanning	Steve Levinson	1/6/05 7:19 p.m.
Re: Eternal Volunteers, G3 Moontanning	blake37	1/7/05 10:24 a.m.
Re: Eternal Volunteers, G3 Moontanning	Forrest of B.org	1/7/05 11:01 a.m.
Re: Eternal Volunteers, G3 Moontanning	Forrest of B.org	1/7/05 11:12 a.m.
Re: Eternal Volunteers, G3 Moontanning	blake37	1/7/05 1:20 p.m.
Re: Eternal Volunteers, G3 Moontanning	D-M.A.	1/8/05 1:15 a.m.
Re: Eternal Volunteers, G3 Moontanning	blake37	1/8/05 3:45 a.m.



	Your Name:
	Your E-Mail Address:
	Subject:
	Message: : It's really funny. When I was in school, I had nearly impeccable writing, : spelling and grammar (which I know has gone downhill - something's : probably misspelled in this very sentence), because my primary form of : communication was non-realtime on the internet. I was a UseNet junky (what : geeks had before web forums existed), and grammar Nazis abound(ed) on : UseNet. It became very clear very quick that bad spelling and grammar were : a socially bad thing, and you would get mocked mercilessly for them, and : nobody would take you seriously, if they even bothered to read your : messages. Even though it's was just communicative writing, you were : expected to write like it was for a college paper. : This translated into my speech, to the point where I speak like I'm writing, : even sometimes pausing in my speech until I can call up the exact right : synonym with the proper shade of meaning, as I do when writing. I never : revise my writing, other than to check for typos and such. My freshman : year of college, after handing out our final papers, my English professor : proceeded to berate the class that obviously all but one or two of us : hadn't been following "proper" draft/review/rewrite cycles when : writing our papers, and that we've all got to learn that nobody can ever : sit down the night before a paper is due and just and write out something : that will get full marks. : I raised my hand and my 200-point (100%) paper and said "I did." : Anyway, my point is that it seems to be the opposite today. Modern kids : (including people close to my age, in college) communicate primarily : through IM and, even worse, cellphone text messaging, developing the use : of all the little IM shorthands (particularly because there's no full : keyboard on phones), so that their communicative writing sounds as bad as : their speech (lik omg ykno?? lik totly), and then their professional : writing in papers starts to sound like their communicative writing. And : some of them think that just running your paper through Word's spellcheck : will fix it, but any abbreviations with numbers get completely skipped, as : so any one-letter abbreviations, and the remaining (small) percent that : actually get corrected don't neccesarily get corrected to the right words! : And don't even get my started on run-on sentences, paragraphs and other : structural items, and their use for flow and dramatic pause in writing - : or really, the lack thereof. : I guess I'm really just disappointed, because I saw the wider-spread adoption : of the Internet as a sign that maybe people's writing skills would go up, : and correspondingly, their precision of thought and ability to communicate : it (in other words, their apparent intelligence). I also thought it might : get people doing something more creative and interactive, instead of : sitting around and mindlessly watching TV all day. But now, all the same : mindless zombies watch Flash movies and download Britney on the Internet : all day, and writing skills have gone down instead of up. : My dreams are ruined. At least we've still got Paris... er, this place.
	If you'd like to include a link to another page with your message, please provide both the URL address and the title of the page:
	Optional Link URL:
	Optional Link Title:
	If necessary, enter your password below:
	Password: