sylvester final

Final-Sylvester

Reading. Writing. Arithmetic. These have always been the great triumvirate of education and are still considered basic necessities. The skill of speaking could well have been added to these, but most of us were well on our way with our speech by the time we started school. The art of communication, whether it is through the spoken or written word, affects every aspect of our lives as humans. Through communication we can share and describe our experiences, ideas, thoughts, and feelings. We can become better critical thinkers and thoughtful listeners. We can improve our performance in school, on the job, in our interpersonal relationships, and we can learn to observe, appreciate, to question, and to suggest. Ultimately, we can shape and realize a more meaningful life. English Composition I, with its focus on reading and writing pertinent topical pieces, provides the necessary stimulus for one to think and write critically. Further, the course develops language, grammar, and punctuation skills and covers the various forms of writing, from creative to business.
We will be regaled with various forms of writing throughout our lives, and for this reason we need to be able to recognize these forms and understand their uses. We can witness someone’s personal writing, or create our own, and in the process examine the world around us. We can consume facts and be teased by the provocative thesis of a piece of academic writing. We can be entertained and educated by subject writing. We can view the process that blends fact and fiction and adds to that mix invention and imagination, and we will enjoy a piece of creative writing. We can self-study or discover other’s self-study in reflective writing, and we can communicate professionally with business writing. In all of this, we will take a journey, possibly to some place we have never seen.
While the written word can never replace face to face interaction, it can cement the understanding that comes from sharing our common struggle as humans. It has been well said that reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body. The use of words is one of the most effective ways of adapting to the ever changing human condition. It then stands to reason that the better control we have over our words, the better we can adapt and adjust in life. The words of the English language may be clothed in t-shirts, casual wear, or tuxedoes, but all have a purpose. Slang, informal English, and semiformal English all have their place whether written or spoken, and knowing the difference makes a difference. The combination and order of words along with the author’s voice can create clarity of understanding or perhaps a magical picture. Shakespeare described a leafless tree in winter as “bare, ruined choirs where late the sweet birds sang.” This is in direct contrast to a technical manual describing rack and pinion steering as “a small cogwheel gear, or pinion, that meshes with a larger cogwheel gear, or rack.” The knowledge of language will always help define the difference.
Robert Frost once stated, “Half the world is composed of people who have something to say and can’t and the other half who have nothing to say and keep saying it.” This course promoted critical thinking which allows understanding and free choice between good and not so good ideas. We were taught to read, listen, and write, and in the process we came to know something. We can take each good thought read, learned, and written and add it to the ultimate whole result of our lives. We will be well served by this experience of language, and if one were to disagree, just how would they do it?