On Sat, 6 Jan 1996, John Oughton wrote:
> I'd agree with Tim Mayers that the major difference between us and our
> students is probably in the amount of reading we've done by 20 or so.
> It's not necessary to know explicit rules of grammar -- or composition --
> to be a good writer. It is necessary to have at your command a good snese
> of how words, clauses and sentences fit together into larger units; a
> repertoire of different voices, strategies, rhetorical modes; a wide
> vocabulary. These you can acquire from extensive and close reading of
> many different kinds of text.
What I wonder, though, is if it's even possible to acquire these
any other way. I tend to think not.
Marcy
Marcy Bauman
Writing Program
University of Michigan-Dearborn
4901 Evergreen Rd.
Dearborn, MI 48128
email: marcyb@umd.umich.edu