re: #165 Cato the Elder

My mother has taught freshman English at Rhode Island College for more than twenty years. I used to read the papers her students had submitted; most of her students couldn’t regularly construct grammatical sentences. I doubt things have improved. She does a very good job at whipping them into shape, but many of them still don’t see the need to write English well; they say, “Well, everyone knows what I mean.” I consider that the lamest defense of bad writing.

The students she has who write the best are the immigrant children, since they have had to actually learn grammar.