The home journal. (Winchester, Tenn.) 1858-188?, 1874-10-15
WRITING GOOD ENGLISH.
4 Branch Not Thoroughly Taught In the
Schools.

If we were to assert that net one COL
leoo student in four could write half
dozen pages OF his own composition IN
such manner that any we'll known PRINT
ing establishment would be willing to
publish them without alteration, 1t
would doubtless seem to many persons
like very strange statement. We 90
NOT mako this assertion. Perhaps 1t
would not be true But if it were made
by any one else, we SHOULD by no means
feel sire enough OF its incorrectness to
contradict it. 1t is certain that very
large part of our educated youth
of both sexes are unable TO put 'heir
thoughts on paper without numerous
inaccuracies. 3
Perhaps the most frequent errors OF
educated people in writing are those
connected with punctuation. That
many mistakes of this kind are made is
not at all wonderful. There is a good
deal of difference OF opinion as to what
constitutes correctness in this respect
But the circumstance that 1t Is not al
ways easy to determine what point
should be used in particular place If
no reason for writing as Ii punctuation
had Fever been invented. Ii a man Is
in doubt whether to wear light coat OF
heavy one on September day, 1t does
not necessarily follow that he should &c
in his shirt.sleeves. The diversity o
,, theories in regard to punctuation doe
! NOT render, for instance, letter on seV
eroI iudepondent subjects without
|, single full stop, except the one at TN
U end. creditable either to the education
of the individual who writes 1t, or Il
: the institution at which he or she ha
been taught. :,
, Another class of errors which must b
mentioned is that of mistakes III gram
, mar, These, it is true, are much les
y frequent among young people OF educs
, tion than deficiencies in respect I
punctuation. Yet there are thousand
Of an h persons, who would be hlghl
y y in ignant at the charge oil writing VI
D grammatical English, to whom gent
hint that, for instance, the oolecnN
case of the pronoun "who al-al
ends with m m, or q little nstructio
in regard TO the proper use OF the an,
,s iliaries "shall aud "will, " might be
le material service.
\. IF The more advanced students
70 some of our colleges or female semln
"a ries were each to be required to writ
M without assistance, n letter or comp
IS sition OF any kind, and II then "h
n had been written should re pfiht'
N without alteration, and distribute
10 among the parents and friends OF u
,e arthors. it would constitute species
+ examination of which, we venture
a say. few institutions would be prou
~. We by no means recommend such teS
os On the contrary, we should denorh
a. an attempt of the kind Ns utterly heal
n less and cluel. No instructor couia !
~. n moment be justified in thus eXposi
he to ridicule his students. But 1t won
tc he. in some respects, an excellent crl
II rion if professors and teachers IL o
II. higher educational institutions, on
rusjnr the compositions submitted
ed their inspection, were to ask ,hemsGl'
,as how these productions would look
Nv. print. And here we would make 81
~. rostion which may be valuable to so
.en of our college students who are lhu,'
lid ing hopes of distinguishing themsel,
ly in literature. 1t is often the case u
he if these young men were to SUBJ
;th their experiments i'll writing to the
nn animation Of some good compositor
;eI} n printing Office, he would be able
All give them valuable instruction VIII
DO their professor of English, hteratl
me- would not, and perhaps could not
YER part. At all events, If instruction
zen this kind is furnished by the profess
,,a r in our colleges, many of the stnde
,lt' appear to profit remarkably little by
at n. Y Times.