Tara Duncan
I turned in a university essay once which was returned with a barely passing grade and this comment: "On the whole you write extremely well, but in this essay at least, you have said absolutely nothing." I had two responses to this. The first was to laugh. No one had ever noticed or commented on my half-assed, content-free submissions. The second was to assimilate the material required to produce a thoughtful response to each assignment. The ability to communicate effectively facilitates the ability to acquire information and to express one's opinions.
It was my hope that by providing a slightly insulting, somewhat humorous article, some people would find a little inspiration to better present their positions. I, and if you're honest you, stereotype people everywhere, even in this forum. Also, if you're being honest with yourself, you will admit there are some people whose comments you skip and ignore. It is possible these same people have a valuable contribution to make; it's just impossible to decipher the message in the way it is presented.
Typographical errors notwithstanding, those who have taken the time to learn to speak and write well, recognise the importance of delivering information clearly and concisely. To do otherwise just feels wrong.
Oddly, no one has asked for, or suggested, any book, training course, or methodology by which these skills can be improved. Positive reinforcement is provided by people who write thoughtful, articulate comments. Negatives are expressed by people who are barely qualified to read "The Cat in the Hat".
Those of you with badly-expressed, dissenting opinions, and all manner of excuses as to why it's your "God-given" right to speak like recent graduates of an Ebonics course, are not actually hurting me. I, like everyone else, don't hear you. I can't be any clearer. It really is that simple.
Printed copy · Anthology Volume 1, page 828
