Grammar & Compassion

I've talked the past few weeks intermittently that I'm taking an online course. I've also referenced the fact that I am, admittedly, a grammar snob. Due to the education I received, I'm an absolute tyrant when it comes to the written word and using it correctly. I'm just about as bad with the spoken word. Nothing drives me over the edge more quickly than someone trying to make themselves sound intelligent by using “big words”, but using them incorrectly. Urghhh!!

The course I'm currently taking online is a Social Psychology class. At last count, there were more than 230,000 people enrolled in this course. Unbelievable, right?? Beginning with Week 2, we've had weekly assignments that are are written assignments. Even before anyone knew how vastly popular the class would be, part of our weekly assignment is to do five “peer reviews” of other students' works. I was happy to see that my first assignment earned me a 7.5 out of a possible 10.......I knew it wasn't outstanding work, so I'm happy with that grade. Ironic that the written work to be assessed was my Resume, which I am currently sending out weekly to (maybe) potential employers.

We have a “course participant map”, which shows us where everyone in the class is from. It's amazing to see the world-wide interest in a Social Psychology course. It also makes for interesting situations when we do the Peer Reviews of one another's work. The main requirement, beyond the basic requirements of each week's written paper, is that it be written in English. We reviewers, on the other hand, are cautioned to be positive and encouraging in our reviews..........NO POINTS OFF FOR GRAMMAR OR SPELLING. My worse nightmare.

I have now done two weeks of Peer Reviews. And I swear, every one I've done has been from a student in a foreign country. You can tell – it doesn't take much to realize the verbage being used, or the sentence structure, is from someone who does not speak English as their major language.

Can I just honestly say it's killing me to do these reviews in a positive manner when what I really want to do is rip the grammar, punctuation, sentence structure, etc.!! Really....if you're going to talk about the “onus” of a situation, please don't spell it “ownis”. There's been at least one situation that I couldn't even figure out what the writer was trying to say because the grammar was so jumbled! My ideal situation would be as a proofreader somewhere in business!

To be fair – if you want to call it “fair” - my writings have been reviewed by people who are not “English as primary language”. Again, you can tell because of the verbage used in their critiques. The number score I received on my resume was pretty impressive, considering the comments I got. We are supposed to have five reviewers each........I was fortunate because a sixth person opted to review extra papers. That sixth person was the only one whose comments were in line with not only my resume but also with the statement of purpose that was attached to it. Those comments were refreshing!

Let's be honest – we all know people who use language incorrectly, in a way that drives us up a wall. I worked with someone for five and a half years who used the word “ideal” incorrectly. That's such a simple word. But every time someone asked her about something she was unfamiliar with, the response was “I have no ideal.” Some days I wanted to pull my hair out.

My class assignment this week is to observe a “Day Of Compassion”, then write a paper about it. Luckily, I spend the majority of my days just in the company of hubby, and he feels like I'm pretty compassionate toward him. But for 24 hours I have to make a conscious effort to act in a compassionate manner - to humans, animals, and the planet - and then write a paper about it. So I will endeavor to be very compassionate to other people, no road rage as I drive past in my SUV, and maybe I'll have a salad for lunch instead of a hamburger. There's only so far this Midwestern farm girl can go!