I was just engaged in a conversation elsewhere about writing, which reminded me of certain exchanges in the deep and murky past. The protagonists are my classmates and I, 11th graders in an advanced English class. The antagonist (the only one with a speaking part) is Miss Palmer, the woman who taught us all to write. The time period is some decades before the self-esteem movement in vogue today.
"Young ladies, the fewer words, the better."
"There was no reason to hand in three pages of verbal diarrhea when you might have made the same point more effectively in a paragraph."
"The language on this campus is appalling. Girls, if you had any command of the English language, you would not find it necessary to use swear words. The simple fact is that your vocabularies are pathetically limited."
"You're smart, but you're not nearly as smart as you think you are."
9 comments:
My Miss Palmer was called Miss Fortescue, E. Caroline Irvine Fortescue, she of the piano legs, unkempt hair, and face like a currant bun. We couldn't stand her, but because of Miss Fortescue, my vocabulary expanded amazingly, and I eventually learned to love Jane Austen.
A warm round of applause for the Miss Palmers and Miss Fortescues of the world!!
Vicky
http://www.livejournal.com/users/vxv789/
The colors in your photo below are nothing short of stunning.
Gabreael
http://journals.aol.com/gabreaelinfo/GabreaelsBodyMindSpiritJournal/
I think I've been channeling Miss Palmer to my daughter. <g>
Why do I find all the things she said absolutely valid?
I don't think anyone taught me to write. I had teachers who instructed me on the finer points of grammar and syntax....but writing was always just something I did. Lisa :-]
PS--You had me freaking out for a minute with the "Sycamore" entries here in "Midlife Matters." I thought I was having an Alzheimers moment...
It appears that many of us harbor deep memories and emotions about the kind of teacher that Robin and others have described, we all acknowledge that we learned a great deal from them. I'm conflicted as to whether or not I'd like my children's teachers to be more like these beloved/hated teachers from our own pasts.
Did she teach 7th and 8th grade? It sure sounds like Ms. Becker to me. What a great teacher, but what a hard woman to please!
Jude
http://journals.aol.com/jmorancoyle/MyWay
Writing technique was inspired by the better part of spending 12 years with the good sisters of 2 different orders and having 2 English teachers as parents. School and home were one and the same environment.
Tess
One of the wisest things anyone taught me as a young person was that when people swear frequently and far too naturally, it is due to just that, a limitation in their knowledge, expressiveness, and ability to verbalize intelligently. Go figure. Thanks for sharing, I found this rather interesting. Cya, Kris
Oh I like this! It's perfect.
Judith
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