A few years ago at a conference, I was approached by a 13-year-old girl (and her mother) and asked if I could explain why she needed to learn grammar. She was resistant to the idea.
She was an avid reader and writer and felt she was already good at it and honestly could see no value in weighing herself down with tedious rules and useless terminology. All good points—but, she asked—so . . .
“I love to write stories,” she explained. “It’s what I’m going to do with my life!”
I said, “That’s certainly an interesting choice. Do you feel like you are an interesting person?”
She said that she hoped she was.
“Do you think you are a more interesting person at 13 than you were at 10,” I then asked her.
“Yeah, I guess so.”
Finally, I prodded her to imagine her future self. “Do you think you will be an even more interesting person when you are 16?”
“Yes! I do think I will be!”
This led to a lively conversation about why getting older was making her more interesting in her own opinion, and we managed to talk about having more experiences, more things to think about, and deeper ideas in her head.
So finally I asked her, “Would you like to be a better writer at 16 than you are now at 13?”
“Um, sure,” she replied, sensing a trap.
“Great! There are basically four things you need to do to make that happen. And the good news is that you are already doing three of them!”
Here’s what I told her:1. You need to grow your experiences by living your life and paying attention to the world around you — check — you’re doing that every day!
2. You need to read the work of other good writers so that you expand your own understanding of what good writing looks like — check — just make sure you are reading all kinds of (appropriate) literature!
3. You need to practice, practice, practice — check — you are writing something nearly every day!
4. You need to be in charge of the language you want to work in — uh oh.
Not one to be easily defeated, she pointed out that she was already good at the language. But I countered with the fact that it didn’t matter how good you are NOW; I asked you if you wanted to be better, and you said that you did (“hoist with [her] own petard”, as Shakespeare would say).
All of this preamble invited a meaty discussion about why grammar matters. We discussed many things, including:
Grammar is not about a bunch of fancy terms; that’s just something you pick up along the way. Grammar is about the underlying structure of language —
- what text is doing and why
- which text isn’t working and why not
Following and creating literary twists and turns can be more successful, and therefore more fun, if you have tools to help you understand. When Bilbo tells his audience that, “I don’t know half of you half as well as I should like, and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve.” (The Fellowship of the Ring, by J.R.R. Tolkein), it’s easy to get lost in the turns of phrase and miss the humorous insult he is offering if your grammar is not up to snuff.
Grammar helps you evaluate and analyze what you write AND what you read!
Understanding basic sentence structures will let you choose and vary the way you say things. Those choices are yours to make as a writer, but you can’t make them if you don’t understand them. And without variation, your writing risks becoming uninteresting or unimaginative. Writer Douglas Adams is known for his entertaining turns of phrase. He can take a fairly straight forward structure and use his command of the language to turn it into something unexpected, as with this statement, “The ships hung in the sky in much the same way that bricks don’t.” (The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy).
Grammar helps you capture and hold the attention of others!
Understanding basic sentence parts will help you communicate and read with clarity. A real understanding of how our language interweaves helps you express your purpose clearly. It also lets you more easily and deeply understand the purpose and intention in what you read. Charles Dickens once said, “No one who can read, ever looks at a book, even unopened on a shelf, like one who cannot.” (Our Mutual Friend). Despite the many phrases used to express this thought, a complex idea is conveyed well, thanks to grammar. Sentences get complicated fast. If you don’t have a map, you can get lost very quickly.
Grammar is the map to get you from where you are to where you want to be!
Knowing how to use the tools of language will free you from the rules of others and help you build your own style. Many people will tell you what is acceptable and what is not. Once you know the rules, you can experiment—on purpose. For example, we are told never to use the dreaded comma splice, people will know you are uneducated! And yet, many famous writers have chosen to make this feared grammar faux pas (like I just did). Consider this example from none other than Charles Dickens: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness...” (A Tale of Two Cities). Today, we would be told to exchange those commas for semicolons, or else add in some conjunctions (and, but, or, so, etc.). But this is one of the most famous literary quotes in all of English literature, so no one is going to tell Dickens to change it! We would all love to have Dickens’ certainty with language. Then, we too could create sentences that so clearly convey our message—and even withstand the test of time! And that’s just the point. AFTER you understand the structural rules and purpose, you can pick and choose your routes to self-expression with intention and clarity!
Here’s one more example of using your knowledge of grammar to help you find the best path. These days we are often told that you should only write in active voice. But there is a time and place for passive voice, and it could be the exact thing you need in a given moment. Take, for example, when you are accepting your third Pulitzer prize. You could open this way:
“I now have three Pulitzer prizes. I’m amazing!” — using the active voice to convey your mastery of the world. You have gone out and grabbed this prize from the hands of lesser mortals.
Or you may wish to open this way:
“Three Pulitzer prizes have been bestowed on me. That’s amazing!” — using the passive voice to convey some humility in the face of this prestigious award. You are honored to be recognized amidst a huge sea of talent.
Grammar is the whetstone that lets you hone the craft of reading and writing!
Even if you have NO interest in writing, the world of literacy is a gateway to any interest you DO have now or any interest you are likely to have in the future. You can always learn more through reading. A solid working knowledge of our language structure will deepen that reading on every level. It’s a magic elixir that will make you better, faster, stronger—and help you scale the heights of literacy!
If you’re unsure of the best way to teach this amazing, misunderstood tool to your students, we’re happy to help. We use a functional approach, beginning with basic sentence structures, and rippling outward to how clauses work, how phrases work, and even how to build and read sentences with dialogue. Along the way, students will learn what specific words are doing in a sentence and what to call those words and phrases. We make grammar visible and easy with our Grammar Bugs products. For a deeper understanding, take our Grammar & Mechanics educator training class!
