A Freshman Paper

[strollingbones]

i have never seen a bunch so opposed to self improvement in my life....

 

[editec]

My daughter's ninth grade English teacher said they are to write their papers without using contractions or the words: am, is , are , was, were, be , got, and pronouns.


I'm like WTH?


Is this the new trend? Or is she

No, not a new trend.

Formal acadmeic papers have long been written without conjunctions.

It's a stupid idea, in my opinion, but there it is.

As to pronouns?

Rather difficult to write without them I think.

One tends to sound rather pompous when one writes without them, doesn't one?

 

[Barb]

My advice would be to have your daughter write the essay expressing whatever it is she means to express first...Write however she is naturally inclined to write FIRST...And then scan the essay for whatever the teacher is asking you to omit and reconstruct each sentence so the end result complies with the request of the teacher.

That is an excellent idea. Its called free writing, and it gets all the facts or ideas out without cluttering up and distracting the mind with fixing grammar rules.

 

[manifold]

Reminds me of an economics professor I had who wouldn't allow people to use calculators on the final. The near fucking mutiny had me laughing my ass off, especially since the actual math required was at roughly a 4th grade level.

 

[xotoxi]

When your daughter is in the class room, she should speak following the rules...and refer to herself in the third person like Rickey Henderson or Elmo.

That would get blatantly annoying.

"Why did you not turn in your paper on time, young lady?!?!"

"Mini Echo's puppy ate Mini Echo's assignment, Mrs. Jones. Mini Echo asked Mini Echo's mother to print another copy of the assignment, but Mini Echo's mother's printer ran out of ink. What would Mrs. Jones have done in this situation if Mrs. Jones' dog devoured Mrs. Jones's assignment?