Remedial English = Autonomy 101

In some ways, English is more like math than a focus on humanity.  If anything, as a remedial English instructor, I feel like a frantic human trying to get my students to appreciate the formulaic albeit nuanced rules of the English language.

 I was always fascinated by how grammar is half hear say and half logic.  When you encounter some of the reasoning behind our grammar rules, you want to go back in time and smack somebody.  Really, people?  We can't have a double negative because it cancels itself out? It's not balanced, so to speak? Huh?!

On the other hand, I completely understand the reasoning behind sentence structure because it mirrors a more endearing side of humanity. A complex sentence is only complex because it represents a relationship between two distinctly unbalanced people or in this instance clauses.  You have an 'independent clause' who pays the bills and a 'dependent clause' who means well but needs the help of the full blown 'adult' sentence to make sense of it all.

Of course, my students don't get this.  All they see are a bunch of rules they can't remember or care about for the life of them.  I suppose it is my job to teach them how to use these rules to enhance their essays and ensure they flow coherently, but I also want them to think critically in the process, so I have to provide more than a handful of grammar lessons.

Honestly, I just want to say 'Read and write all you can because it is a panacea for so many of the world's vices and pains' but I think they would think I am crazy or not really believe me until they tried it themselves. However, this is exactly what will teach them best.  I can be the Freire wannabe who tries to keep us face to face in the classroom, but after they leave, it's all on them to dig deeper than mere prescriptivism.

As a 'creative' writer, I don't really care about these rules, but I do care about being fully engaged with everyday life.  As long as I can convince my students that looking twice and seizing every teachable moment matters, the rest will follow suit.  Not everyone will walk away amazing writers, but they will have thought about why reading, writing and thinking rule the world, and ultimately, leads to them ruling themselves. Remedial English = Autonomy 101, I say.