Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Greg Knapp- Phenomenology of Error

Joseph Williams: "The Phenomenology of Error", points out some very interesting points in grammar and error. Williams explains what he believes about errors and how people go about interpreting them. Errors to me are only a minor problem when looking at a paper. I believe that comprehension, clarity, and understanding are much more important than errors. If a teacher looks for errors more than what the writer is saying, then the meaning behind the paper is lost. Also, if a student learns of a teacher that grades more on grammar, that student may start to focus more on worrying about where to put a comma rather than if his or her paper even makes sense. I think that some teachers are blinded by grammar when there is a well-written paper and they don't even realize it.

Williams also talks about how one person would call something an error while another would not. This can be very confusing for anyone. I have had a similar case where a teacher would say that my rough draft was fine and another would find multiple errors throughout my paper. When Williams speaks of the game, he is talking about the errors that are in the paper. He states that there are about 100 errors in the paper; errors that the reader probably didn't even notice. Williams just reinforces his statements about errors. There is no way that errors will just magically go away and never be seen again. There will always be errors and people who can't stand them.

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