Paul--
You've hit it with the "insufficient attention to the meaning of words" thing, I think. It's a profound problem with a lot of them.
This weekend I saw our school production of "Anything Goes," and noticed immediately that the students had the same problem as actors that they do as writers. They simply weren't listening to what was coming out of their mouths, they weren't hearing the words they were speaking. Just as they do not read the words they are writing.
Reading my own words, I hope this makes sense. My pre-psychology life was in theater, so I pick up on this kind of thing, but my sense of it may be too intuitive to be clear to other people. (I could try to polish it more, but since I'm only really posting this to avoid working on my lecture for tomorrow, I don't think I will.)
Robin
"Paul C. Smith" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
- Insufficient attention to the meaning of words. That "in today's society"
comment suggests a change from the past, right? But a student might actually
write something that amounts to "in today's society, one should not poke
one's self in the eye with a sharp stick" without considering that might not
have been a good idea in yesterday's society either.
- Similarly, two words where one will do. For example, "People should
endeavor or try to find methods that work for them effectively and
positively". I usually ask the student to explain to me what she meant by
"endeavor" and how that differs from "try", to make the point that she
hadn't thought about that, and instead had just put down a bunch of words
again without regardsto their meanings.
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