Correct Punctuation

[Excelsius]

I think lots of kids learn that they should put a comma anywhere they would pause. Unfortunately, they apparently take that to mean anytime they pause in their THINKING while writing, they should type a comma so the word processor knows not to shut down from inactivity. Who knows?

Eh, I doubt bad essays come from bad character so much as they come from plain ole' bad writing. Young people today CANNOT WRITE. The reason?

<rant>None of them have read a book since they outgrew Dick and Jane! You can't just magically learn to write by writing. You learn to write by READING. Young people don't care to read books anymore, hence they can't write, hence they come across as friggin stupid to older people because they don't friggin know how to communicate. It's sad. Read a book guys, and I don't mean a magazine or a mass market paperback candy novel. Read something by someone your lit professors call a 'good writer'. If anybody wants a recommendation feel FREE to PM me with the genres that interest you and I'll send you some good'uns. Please kids, PLEASE, read a book.</rant>

That's why it is a good practice to read your essay out loud; it should expose most of the misplaced commas.

Well, reading books and being educated is exactly what builds character. Someone who doesn't read not only can't write, but also will not have any depth of character. Personal experiences also shape the character. This is why characters cannot be changed overnight, if at all. There is also the genetic factor that some studies have linked to personality. It is not encouraging because even if nature wins only by 20% over nurture, that leaves a lot of personality traits that cannot be changed no matter what.

You can't alter someone's perspective about why he wants to go to medical school and I believe that when people edit somebody's essay and make any changes other than grammatical, they are doing a disservice to the student and the medical school. It's ok to point out fallacies or rephrase sentences, but changing a main theme in the essay basically removes the student's personality. Medical schools are now looking at a theme written by someone other than the applicant. Sometimes this can be a disaster for the student if his original ideas were much better, even if brutally honest. If any of you get to edit essays (or have your essays edited) keep that in mind. There is also the possibility of plagiarism. Over time, you might have some faction on SDN or other forums that write essays with pretty homogeneous ideas.

That is precisely the reason I have come up with when trying to figure out why they are so poorly utilized.

Edit: I believe one big reason for the dumbing down of America is the fact that schools are becoming more and more accepting of failure. Push the kids along, and as long as they can remember most of the vowels in their first name and they don't kill anyone, hand them a diploma. A girl I work with is 20, and her fiance of the same age is currently taking classes to become a "licensed" carpenter (or something like that). The catch? HE CANNOT READ. He has to take the courses online, and she has to read the questions and answer choices to him. And yes, he graduated from an area high school.

Is it possible that when she says her fianc&#233; can't read she means it figuratively? It is hard for me to imagine that some can graduate from high school with the inability to read.

Dumbing down is a cycle. A batch comes out of college that is not as educated as the previous generation. This batch teaches the next generation. The next generation is slightly worse and goes on to teach the next generation. .. Eventually attrition is egregiously augmented. Keep in mind that the teachers who know the most usually don't like to teach (e.g., Nobel laureates) or don't do a good job because they don't like the "dumb" students. This further reduces the teaching quality. Still, most of our problems start in the family - parents that are either uninterested or disinterested. You can't rely on the school to make your child an erudite. Parents must play their part by cajoling and coercing their offspring to read and study on their own. Why do think the majority of professionals in the US are immigrants? It's not that they get a better education - they have a different family structure.
In just a few decades we might have two classes of citizens. There is a growing majority of uneducated blue collar workers (just look at the election polls). These people and their families will likely fall into the lower category because menial jobs are being outsourced to third world countries. The US government just made a new deal for H-2B (sic?) visas for guest workers. We are going to essentially sextuple the number of guest workers and the people who are going to lose are the ones in non-professional fields.

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[87138]

Is it possible that when she says her fianc&#233; can't read she means it figuratively? It is hard for me to imagine that some can graduate from high school with the inability to read.

He essentially is unable to understand/comprehend the English Language at any useful adult level. Think "T-t-t-t-t-TODAY, JUNIOR!" from Billy Madision. I'm sure if he sat there long enough he could sound out enough of the words to string together some vague idea of what was going on. The kid was a wrestler in high school, and apparently a fairly good one, so his faince's "theory" is that there was pressure to let the kid pass in school anyway. The institution in question is not the most prestigious high school in the first place, but it's not really any worse than average. Keep in mind that this is in a fairly rural area, where education is really not always "enforced" or encouraged. As long as this guy can get to work and build some things and get home, he's pretty set. His fiance carries the brunt of the responsibilities. They both live together and God bless her for having the patience (or naivety?) to wake up every morning at 4am, pack his lunch for the day, and wake him up, after which she goes back to sleep until 6:30. She made them get a joint bank account that she "controls" since he's terrible with balancing a check book. You get the picture. She must really love him to put up with all of that. But I digress.

 

[MattD]

Is it possible that when she says her fiancé can't read she means it figuratively? It is hard for me to imagine that some can graduate from high school with the inability to read.

It's entirely possible, unfortunately. A few years ago there was a scandal in which a recent graduate of Auburn University admitted being unable to read. A COLLEGE GRADUATE. Yeah, he was a football player. It was a big embarrassment and the university had to offer all sorts of services to help the guy learn to read.

People get pushed through school if they have something to offer that school, whether they're qualified or not. It's a huge disservice to the student, although I have trouble feeling bad for them. By the time you've been in college for 5 years and are about to graduate, you should have figured out your illiteracy was a problem and taken steps to remedy it on his own.

If this fella's fiance REALLY cares about him, she'll put a storm of pressure on him to learn to read rather than doing it for him. Carpentry is a great trade and I don't want to diminish the guy's chosen profession, but even in carpentry I doubt he'll make it past the apprentice level without being able to read. Journeymen/Master carpenters will need to communicate with clients often, and often in the written form.

 

[bostonmedical]

The words "mad" and "angry" were forgotten.

 

[nu2004]

The words "mad" and "angry" were forgotten.

as in, "yo I gots mad hops," or "your vagina looks angry"

 

[bostonmedical]

as in, "yo I gots mad hops," or "your vagina looks angry"

Well I was just thinking in general. "I am mad at you." or "You made him so mad." Angry should be used instead of mad since mad means insane. But your example works. I guess.

 

[nevercold]

That's not the worst. Two of the most misused, abused, and overused words are "hopefully" and "anxious." I am sure many people won't know what I am talking about!

The adjective "anxious" can be used either to describe a state of fear or a state of eagerness. Both are accepted definitions. What most people don't realize, though, is that because "anxious" is used to describe someone with a generalized sense of fear, the implication is that the person is almost a little bit crazy because of that fear. This same connotation is then applied to the use of anxious when describing a state of eagerness. There is almost a reflexive, 'crazy' fear of not carrying out the act that one is so anxiously eager to carry out. In other words, anxious = nervous excitement but not joyous excitement.

Hopefully = done with hopefulness. It can also correctly be used as a transition word without being in the position of an adverb. In this case, the implied meaning is, "I am hopeful that I am correct in saying..." If you did something angrily would you say "Angrily, I swept the floor." It adds an unnecessary disruption to the sentence to move the adverb away from the verb phrase. "I swept the floor angrily" flows more easily. Words that are set apart outside the normal grammatical construction of a sentence are taken to be transition words. Otherwise the same argument could be made for "He finally did what he needed to do. In other words, he wrote his essay." Are we to assume that the second sentence also means "He wrote his essay in other words"? That would make no sense. Just because hopefully is an adverb does not mean that it cannot also be used as a transition word.

 

[Excelsius]

The adjective "anxious" can be used either to describe a state of fear or a state of eagerness. Both are accepted definitions. What most people don't realize, though, is that because "anxious" is used to describe someone with a generalized sense of fear, the implication is that the person is almost a little bit crazy because of that fear. This same connotation is then applied to the use of anxious when describing a state of eagerness. There is almost a reflexive, 'crazy' fear of not carrying out the act that one is so anxiously eager to carry out. In other words, anxious = nervous excitement but not joyous excitement.

Hopefully = done with hopefulness. It can also correctly be used as a transition word without being in the position of an adverb. In this case, the implied meaning is, "I am hopeful that I am correct in saying..." If you did something angrily would you say "Angrily, I swept the floor." It adds an unnecessary disruption to the sentence to move the adverb away from the verb phrase. "I swept the floor angrily" flows more easily. Words that are set apart outside the normal grammatical construction of a sentence are taken to be transition words. Otherwise the same argument could be made for "He finally did what he needed to do. In other words, he wrote his essay." Are we to assume that the second sentence also means "He wrote his essay in other words"? That would make no sense. Just because hopefully is an adverb does not mean that it cannot also be used as a transition word.

Oxford English Dictionary (OED) defines "anxious" as:

3. Full of desire and endeavour; solicitous; earnestly desirous (to effect some purpose).

That's the last definition listed. I hadn't seen that before. Nevertheless, all grammar books oppose the usage of "anxious" to mean "eager." As one reference, you can look in The Little, Brown Handbook, 10th Ed, p.866. Due to this disparity, it is always safer to go with the grammar book rather than the dictionary. The people who write the MCAT or grade your essays in schools have learned grammar through these same grammar books and not the dictionaries. Perhaps many of them aren't aware of this listing in the dictionary either. You could make the case that it is ok to use some of these words informally (along with "ain't" and "bootylicious"), but it might make your usage inveterate. Plus it detracts from informal conversation as well. If I hear someone use "anxious" according to the above, rarely used definition, I have to stop and evaluate why that person used that word (meanwhile not listening to what she is telling me). Almost everyone who studies grammar does this. It is better to play it safe. If your interviewer for med school is an English teacher (possible?) or has a penchant for grammar, you might be marked down.

Look at this from OED:

2. It is hoped (that); let us hope. (Cf. G. hoffentlich it is to be hoped.) orig. U.S. (Avoided by many writers.)

That's the last definition for "hopefully," which means "in a hopeful manner." Note the comment at the end.
You can use it correctly like this: "I awaited the acceptances hopefully." To say "Hopefully, I will get accepted" means that you will get accepted in a hopeful manner. Well, that makes a lot of sense! The only way to make this word work is to disobey the rules of grammar and make the same rules for all the other similar words, e.g., "trustfully."