English 113
September 8, 2010
Journal Entry 1
In Eats, Shoots & Leaves, Lynne Truss is a highly determined stickler or, perfectionist, when it comes to punctuation. In the novel, she argues that everyday punctuation marks, such as the apostrophe, are being misused and humiliated in front of thousands of people. They helplessly droop in between the wrong letters on hundreds of grocer signs, articles, and even in newspapers. Lynne Truss makes a clear point as she works her way through despair, anger, humor, and confidence just wishing that people can join together to stop the mistreatment of punctuation in Eats, Shoots & Leaves. In my opinion, people like Lynne Truss have such a beef with poor punctuation, grammatical slip-ups, and
faulty usage because they are meant to see the world and its issues on behalf of other citizens who are unaware of their surroundings. These perfectionists’ infatuation is seeing grammar used in its proper form and look forward in perceiving a day where everybody will be concerned with a misspelled stop sign. I believe that our world is full of these totally unconscious errors because many people are incredibly stingy and set on doing only what they suppose will help them prosper or obtain wellbeing. This is not correct, for every human being on this planet should not only care about their status, but should also be concerned with the faults that exist somewhere near them. The role that writing plays in my life is exceptionally huge since it is happening all the time and roughly everyday. English is something that is used in all school subjects, professions, and businesses so proper language grammatically is vital to all individuals. Not only do we use it constantly, but is appears as well on the television, the internet, etc. therefore appropriate spelling and grammar is significantly important. Even though I give the impression of being a stickler, I, in fact, am a slacker. The use of the suitable English language is awfully essential for a young high school child like me, but it has never really been a strong quality that I contain. When I reach a statement that I cannot recognize, it seems like too much of an effort for me to find a dictionary and research only one word, just like millions of other people out there. Maintaining proper English is crucial thus I try to write with as much concern about punctuation and grammar as possible and hope only to improve on this in the future.