Grammar... ):) Friend or Foe?

Everyone hates to get back that paper that they stayed up all night writing just to find it dissected by their "grammar Nazi" of a teacher.  Very few people know things about the imperfect subjunctive tense, where to place those nasty little commas, or how to spell words like argument, perseverance or separate, but is grammar really as horrible as we make it out to be?

Grammar helps us to say what we mean and to mean what we say.  This cartoon is funny because it is obvious to us that the pig doesn't realize his mistake, but you can see how big of a difference that little preposition makes.  It may not always be this black and white, (haha!) but the manner in which we say something can affect how it is interpreted.  In every field, whether music or astrophysics, certain words hold specific meaning, outside their vernacular usage.  When misused, you could say something that you had no intention of saying, or have your ideas discredited because you misused the established terminology.  This is also seen cross culturally, like if you asked your British roommate to go get some biscuits to go with the fried chicken, and they came back with some strange-looking cookies.  Awkward!

In another light, our use (or misuse) of grammar affects the way people look at us.  This is simple: If you meet a man who has command of a large vocabulary, it is likely that you will respect him, whereas you would be less likely to honor a man who rambles aimlessly through each sentence or uses coarse language.  The image we project is directly related to the way we speak and write.  For instance, if you email a prospective employer with the same casual phrases that you would send to a friend, that person might interpret your message as disrespectful or lazy, despite the content. 

Remember though, we can use this to our advantage!  A proper use of language can be an avenue to protray our outstanding character or a tool to back up our progressing ideas or opinions.  Like Taylor Mali mentioned in his poem we read, when we believe in something avidly and need to defend it, we should speak with conviction. Grammar is the route by which we can do that.

So why don't more English teachers spend more time on vocabulary and grammar?  Beats me.  I think they should.  I must confess that almost all the grammar I know, I've learned through studying French and Spanish.  In those classes teachers are forced to discuss concepts like syntax and verb conjugations because otherwise we would all sound like fools!  In English, we often depend solely on what we hear and simply go off "what sounds right."  For better or worse.

I must admit, when we get down to the nitty-gritty-- like the difference between a colon and a dash, (I had to look up which I should use in this sentence! haha!) punctuation does start to seem frivolous and not important.  While I was looking this up, I ran into this website...
http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/dashes-parentheses-commas.aspx
It contains pages and pages on the rules regulating those frisky little commas, semi-colons, dashes, and parenthesis, but also the exceptions that circumvent them!  I think this is when grammar becomes more flexible.  These rules seem like they are meant to be bent by the writer, in order to create a certain tone.  The author of the website herself even admits that grammar can be frustrating, because "there aren't hard-and-fast rules about when to use commas, parentheses, or dashes," but says that "learning to use your judgment is part of finding your voice and becoming a better writer."

So go on, fellow writer, break the rules!  ...But keep their purpose in mind.