On "The Tower of Babel and the Teaching of Grammar: Writing Instruction for a New Century" by Amy Martinsen

In this age of texting and e-mailing grammar has become nearly non-existent. I have not quite fallen in that trap but when a person mentions the word "grammar" I have to admit that it makes my eyes droop and my mind go blank. I obviously use it, but I can't say I am overly concerned with it, mostly because I can't remember much from grade school. As I think back to all the classes I have taken I can't think of a single one in which a student , in reference to a writing assignment, did not ask, "Does grammar count?" For each of those classes a different answer was given. As this article pointed out there is a great pendulum swinging back and forth between strict grammar and no grammar. Martinsen, the author, comes to the conclusion that a medium needs to be reached and maintained and I agree. Written language relies on grammatical elements to help relay information and meaning to what is being read, without grammar much of that understanding is lost. Grammar allows the organizing of language. On the same hand, constantly worrying about getting every grammar rule can be daunting. Even now after reading the article I am very worried about my grammar, I apologize for any mistakes!