Syntax

Hi guys.

I'm trying this new thing where after 242, I'll go immediately to the lab in Hollenbeck and write a blog based on what we did in class that day and my thoughts. I will not allow myself to leave the building until I have another published blog! Yay. I'm in the lab now. This sounds extreme, but seriously, this way I'll have ideas still fresh in my mind. No more questioning what I'll right about. No more procrastination. 

My thoughts for today center on the idea of syntax. The irony here? I've changed the punctuation in "No more questioning what I'll right about. No more procrastination" like four times. Whatever. Those fragments are a stylistic choice. Blogs are supposed to be informal anyways! I'm going to have to admit that I just googled the word "syntax". To be honest, I never heard of syntax until just recently. I guessed out of context clues that it is how our sentences flow. Google says ssentence syntax is: "In linguistics, the study of the rules that govern the ways in which words combine to form phrases, clauses, and sentences." Sounds good to me, although this definition is a lot more technical than I thought it would be.

In the end, does syntax=grammar?
Looking at the example sentences Mike handed out, grammar seemed to fix most of the syntax issues. Other issues, like clarity, were improved by rewording part of a phrase. Again, I think it's really awesome how a sentence can be worded infinitely many ways and still convey the same meaning. Conversely, using one weird or unparalleled form of a word can blur the meaning of a sentence.

Well, I was quoted twice in our handout today. It looks like I made the same mistake twice:
 "Having nothing but a few writing center sessions where I was the writer, a few weeks in Writing Center Theory, and a couple of practice sessions under my belt, apprehension was expected."
"After turning the paper right-side up, he admitted that he had never been to the Writing Center before, so I gave him a brief summary of what we do and explained we generally start with reading the paper aloud."

In both of these examples, I failed to indicate the subject for the first part of my sentence. As you can see, I like occasionally starting sentences with -ing verbs. I guess I never thought about how it could create some confusion if not done correctly. Like Keri said, "it made sense to me." It's difficult to catch mistakes when we already know what we're trying to say. I guess this is why the Writing Center is such a useful tool! Writers must be aware of the readers' perspectives. Chances are, the reader is not telepathic, so writers must follow the rules of sentence syntax.

This brings me to my sketchy quote of the day. I believe it was Alexa who said something along the lines of "more stylistic, less realistic." Writers must be careful when choosing a stylistic approach. Very few writers have the authority to choose this approach, unfortunately. Stylistic, sometimes grammatically incorrect, approaches are not generally accepted in formal, academic writing. It is sad, but it is true. Look at my first paragraph again. Don't the fragments at the end make sense? I blog the way I would speak. And if I said all of that first paragraph aloud in conversation, I bet most people would understand what I was trying to say.

Too bad the misused grammar is often a distraction in written language.