And I'm now, after 20+ years on the job, at the point at which I require those who write papers for me to execute this affidavit.
Am I a curmudgeon? Yep. Do I think that some clear expectations might help students become more professional? I sure hope so.
UPDATE (2/11/14): Thanks, Above the Law, for including me in your non-sequiturs yesterday!
4 comments:
Nancy, you nailed it. Can I adopt this for my students? Except for the Oxford Comma (which I love and support, but the Associated Press Stylebook does not)I struggle with all of thes, and more, in my journalism classes. I would also add the peeve "over" vs "more than."
Bravo! You affidavit sets the right tone, and it is reasonable for you, the professor, to insist on proper writing. The dude (to call him a professor would be to give him too much credit) from Santa Clara went wrong in (a) couching his rules and pet peeves as ridiculous, heavy-handed "local rules," and (b) going well beyond rules pertaining to writing, even though LARAW is, first and foremost, a WRITING class. (I went to Santa Clara.)
For what it's worth, people who cannot use "it's" and "its" properly drive me nuts, as do those who do not realize (or perhaps just won't accept) that "neither" and "none" call for singular verbs: "neither has," "none is."
I enjoyed the list of rules. Before I retired i was the HR partner for my firm and had to read all resumes and applications for attorney and staff positions. If I had applied these rules I would have red-penciled almost all of them. Lawyers sell the precise use of language so that there will never be an argument over the meaning. Start early.
I dig it!
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