platt,
i am puzzled by some of the comments on your post. i'll try to give my
response via the condensed version.
Platt Holden wrote:
> I wonder if you consider grammer a part of rhetoric
yes, i consider grammar a part of rhetoric. it is generally considered
a convention which helps the reader navigate through writing. grammar
involves the use of what is known as the parts of speech (nouns, verbs,
adjectives, prepositions, etc.). when grammar is misused, certain
problems arise; many of us have seen them before highlighted in red by
our instructors on our writings assignments: misplaced modifiers,
dangling participles, noun/verb disagreement, etc.
grammar, you could say is an instrument of logos; it manages the parts
of speech in relationship to other parts of speech in order to create
"coherency" in language, which, in turn, allows us to follow the message
of the words, not their placement. if grammar is not used correctly, it
can obscure the meaning of the message. usually, though, it catches the
eye of the reader, causing hi/her to disengage from reading and
understanding and concentrate on rules and correction. in many cases, a
writer who "breaks" these rules also loses ethos (whether is right or
wrong) with the reader.
personally, i didn't know that i had made abundant mistakes in my use of
grammar. i am usually careful about writing my posts and re-reading
them to catch such mistakes. because i consider email a relaxed forum
(not formal), i anticipate that i'll make some errors of this nature
(much of it being stream of consciousness); i anticipate others to make
similar mistakes.
if you still have my posts available, would you mind showing me an
example of a grammatical error so i can avoid making the same error
again?
> and capitalization a part of grammer.
no and neither is spelling. capitalization would fall w/in the separate
realm of punctuation, not grammar. spelling has its own real as well.
punctuation is like the "street signs" of language. because i do not
normally use capitalization in posts to listservs (again, because it is
a relaxed forum), i am very careful about using periods, commas,
semi-colons, and colons correctly. when i am responding to a post such
as this one, i find that having to capitalize slows my typing down; the
truth is my mind works faster than i can type. i am also lazy; i hope
that isn't translated as being rude. it's also a rhetorical choice
(hopefully it demonstrates my feeling of being myself; i, too, am
relaxed)
i have received email from several people who do not use
capitalization. except in messages to people in authority (or people i
know nothing about), i rarely use captiatlization. i feel that i know
something about all of you-- we're united in our love (or hate?) of the
writings of robert pirsig; i feel the same way about the football
listserv i subscribe to-- we're all fans of the same team. this is the
first complaint i've ever received.
i apologize if this practice bothers you. if anyone else finds the
absence of capital letters interferes with understanding the message in
my posts, let me know and i'll kindly participate in that convention.
let me add, too, that a long history of oppressive (writing) teachers
have divided and subdivided other categories of the use and management
of language: diction, usage, synatax, etc. all of these examples are
"form" based categories-- objectifications-- of writing. while they are
important (because their misuse may obscure the "content") they are not
writing itself.
> If so, I wonder why you
> deliberately avoid capitalization in your posts.
see above.
> Personally I find your rhetoric difficult to follow since I can't easily
> tell where one thought ends and another begins.
is it a problem with transitions, showing connections between paragraphs
and ideas. i can see that as being a problem. could you show me an
example of this too? as stated before, the words come faster than i can
type them.
> Any reason for your e.e.cummings approach to writing?
though i respect mr. cummings and his application of punctuation, i do
not practice the omission of capital letters out of adoration or
emulation of him. his use of grammar, though is very strong. many
avoid his writing because, in a way, it is like abstract art. it
challenges our perception of language and its conventions-- the mythos
of writing. as stated above, it's just the way i "do business" on
listserv's. any other message that it communicates (and it seems that
i've perhaps communicated such a message to you) is unintentional.
i look forward to your comments as well as those of the other members of
the group.
jamie
ps the keyboard at my school has an "m" key that requires all of my
strength to hit in order for it to appear on the screen, thus producing
several misspellings. again, my apologies.
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