Teaching Resources

My philosophy on teaching grammar:

Good grammar is an important element of the writing process, but teachers and professors too often pretend that the “rules” of grammar are inflexible and that students who fail to write with “proper” grammar are in error. In reality, grammar is historically situated, meaning that it changes over time according to its contexts (historical period, language, population, audience, medium). Educators who present grammar as an ahistorical set of inflexible rules do a disservice to their students.

When professors concentrate on correcting errors, students learn that the writing process is a negative one; the focus of the writing process begins to concentrate more on constant self-correction than on creative or critical expression, and students experience writing as self-flagellation. I’m not interested in producing that kind of experience or that kind of writing; I assume that you aren’t, either.

Instead, I subscribe to a grading technique called “minimal marking,” which means that I refuse to cover your papers in red pen or to mark all (or even most) of the grammatical issues that I see. I do that because I’m more interested in having you use writing as a process-oriented tool for thought rather than a product-oriented plateau you must reach.

This does not mean that I don’t believe in writing well, or that I don’t care about writing as craft, or that I think that all grammar is equally valid. I can talk to you for an hour about semi-colon usage (it is, after all, our most sophisticated punctuation mark). It means only that, as a teacher of writing, I think that the often-repeated dichotomy between “right” and “wrong” speech is a false choice, one that has disastrous effects on budding writers.

This teaching philosophy is derived, in part, from the philosopher and educator James Dewey, who wrote the following in his 1938 book, Experience and Education:

the greatest of all pedagogical fallacies is the notion that a person learns only the particular thing he is studying at the time. Collateral learning in the way of formation of enduring attitudes, of likes and dislikes, may be and often is much more important than the spelling lesson or lesson in geography or history that is learned. For these attitudes are fundamentally what count in the future. The most important attitude that can be formed is that of desire to go on learning.

My goal as a teacher of writing is to help students come to enjoy the process of writing so much that they will continue to write once they have left my classroom.

If I see recurrent grammatical issues in your papers, I will ask you to meet with me during office hours and to make a regular appointment with a tutor in the Learning Center. I will also ask you to read assiduously, since reading is the best way to improve one’s writing. I will expect you to seek to improve your writing by exploring some of the links below and in the sidebar.

Good luck, and remember that writing should be an enjoyable process. Together, we will make it so.

– Prof. Gold

Grammatical Issues and Resources

Independent and Dependent Clauses:
Learning the difference between these two types of clauses will help you avoid all sorts of grammatical errors.
More info: OWL at Purdue on Independent and Dependent Clauses

Comma Splices
Incorrect: I went to the movies, I went to the game.
Correct: I went to the movies, and then I went to the game. [OR] I went to the movies; I went to the game. [OR] I went to the movies and I went to the game.
More Help: OWL at Purdue on Comma Splices

Shifting Verb Tenses
If you find that I’ve written “Keep verb tenses consistent” on your paper, it means that you need to take a closer look at your verbs.
More help: Quicktips – Verb Tense (University of Minnesota)

Parallel Structure
Incorrect: I went swimming, biking, and for a hike.
Correct: I went swimming, biking, and hiking.
More help: OWL at Purdue on Parallel Structure