Well, surely, I guess we are just two different people that see things differently. I respect that. And while I know certain words are not considered verbs in formal language - ie papers, newspaper articles, etc., it's called "creative writing" in that you can transform words into other forms.
I would agree that we see things differently. I am certainly aware of the transformation of words and their meaning. Some people see this as the evolution of language and, in some cases, this is a valid viewpoint. In other cases, it is simply a corruption of language by individuals or groups who lack a command of vocabulary.
I suppose you could describe this as "creative writing", much in the same way as some people describe the tagging of walls by suburban non-entities as "artistic self-expression". Norman Mailer, amongst others, took the view that tagging was the imposition of their presence upon our presence. That is an element of art, in the sense that art is generally supposed to catch our attention.
However, I am not sure that the mangling of written language by anyone other than an obviously talented gonzo-style writer or street poet qualifies as literary art or "creative writing". Jumping ahead to your description of me as pretentious, one could describe as "pretentious" someone seeking to conceal a lack of talent and education behind semi-literacy touted as "creative writing".
However, these are value judgements I would never apply to any writer or potential writer without seeing a range of their actual work. I can only base my impressions of you upon your linguistic standards and your statements in this arena but I might be entirely wrong. You might be a Pulitzer Prize winner-in-waiting.
To be honest, i haven't brought any kind of attitude. I'm just kind of clueless and curious as to stuff that you have alluded to in your posts; thus, I have asked for more clarification. If anyone has been very pretentious and beaming with attitude, it's you. Professors don't have to make students cry to create "real life conditions."
If my posts made you cry, Frieda, I regret it but would nevertheless tell you to toughen yourself up a bit or seriously consider another career path. The "real life conditions" of journalism bear little relation to the television drama series and movies that tend to romanticise the job. This isn't to suggest that it is exclusively grim.
However, if you turn up, even as an intern, and hand in error-laden copy to an editor, you will probably be verbally eviscerated. Editors only tolerate semi-literate copy from "names", who only get away with it because they are well-connected or because they might have been good once upon a time, before they hit the bottle or the coke. As much of your early career may be spent rewriting or even ghostwriting copy for your superiors or their boozed-up, coked-up contributors, your basic English is going to have to be of a high standard.
There's a fine line with University policies as to what a professor can and cannot do, of course. Yadda yadda they are supposed to be your mentor and help you grow, but my professors haven't hesitated whatsoever in handing my colleagues zeros for their incomplete reporting.
I am aware of the limitations imposed upon teachers and lecturers these days. It is one of the reasons why good writers are so thin on the ground. University admissions policies are much looser than they used to be and standards have been lowered because of the need to report high success percentages. If you have professors who are awarding zero marks to inept students, then they are courageous because they are risking lawsuits from angry parents.
Coming back to your remarks about me, it is true that I have a certain "attitude", especially regarding people who consider the application and maintenance of standards to be "pretentious". You might consider the trashing of standards to be rebellious and avant garde but you have to earn the right to trash the standards first. Most of the successful writers known for mangling the language when they feel like it have mastered its traditional, classic forms beforehand.
You can insult me if you wish but if my remarks and observations serve to help any of the young people reading them, then it is worth the time I have taken to post them. If, as it seems, they are not what you want to hear, or read, it is no skin off my nose.
PK
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