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Ever since I studied for the test, I can not seem to bring myself to use the improper grammar that I had become so used to using. Even when posting on this site I find myself proofreading for mistakes in usage, tense, etc.. Also, I swear that I am seeing letters under each part of my sentences! Anybody else?

By Irock1ce (Irock1ce) on Wednesday, June 16, 2004 - 05:28 pm: Edit

dude that test sucked ass.

By Energy1 (Energy1) on Wednesday, June 16, 2004 - 05:42 pm: Edit

Well, it can't be bad in the long run.

By Jer728 (Jer728) on Wednesday, June 16, 2004 - 05:45 pm: Edit

True but its irritating.

By Monoe (Monoe) on Wednesday, June 16, 2004 - 06:00 pm: Edit

That test does not reflect the true state of current English grammar - they write an ambiguous sentence and expect you to pick one thing wrong with it, when there are really several.

I dislike the exam because it is too obtuse - it's not meant for people who can write; it's meant for those who can memorize the rules they give, which aren't the real rules of English grammar.

By Jer728 (Jer728) on Wednesday, June 16, 2004 - 06:11 pm: Edit

I just figured they were obscure rules that nobody really paid attention to.

By Cognitio (Cognitio) on Wednesday, June 16, 2004 - 10:33 pm: Edit

Well, I fashion myself a fairly decent writer, and I didn't study at all for the SAT II Writing at all (I mean literally *not at all*) and found it easy. What I write for my own pleasure often does not conform to English grammatical rules, but that doesn't mean that I'm not aware of them. To break the rules you have to know them first, and any good writer knows the rules. You can bet that James Joyce, if he had wanted to, could have written a grammar guice, even though most of his later work is practically unintelligable!

By Aim78 (Aim78) on Wednesday, June 16, 2004 - 11:58 pm: Edit

I know what you means. One is always looking for parallelism errors now in his writing. I can't scarcely contain myself!

By Altf4 (Altf4) on Thursday, June 17, 2004 - 12:01 am: Edit

hold on, if the test wasn't accurate in terms of real grammar rules, then how can one expect to study for it?

By Mysticaura (Mysticaura) on Thursday, June 17, 2004 - 12:25 am: Edit

haha yea def on subj verb agreement...ive really noticed ive been using improper grammar while talking and try to correct myself

kinda makes me laugh sometimes

By Monoe (Monoe) on Thursday, June 17, 2004 - 07:21 am: Edit

Well, you study their rules. But they are arbitrary and not always right. If you're a good writer, it's actually harder - you see more errors than they allow you to correct.

By Tkdgal (Tkdgal) on Thursday, June 17, 2004 - 11:49 am: Edit

Lol @ Aim...