Grammar Science

I interviewed a professor in the Forestry department because of her unique background with writing. During college, this professor spent much time writing short fiction as a diversion from her studies. Her perspective of how the role of grammar shifts according to the media being produced is thereby affected.

“When I wrote fiction,” she said, “I was allowed—maybe even expected—to use grammar to its limits in order to convey various meanings and emotions. When you write an article, though, the sentences you produce must be black and white in a grammatical sense. There can be no confusion in the grammar of each sentence because any confusion will directly affect the impact of the article.”

The lesson I take from speaking with Professor B is that grammatical skills are as important in an artistic form as they are in a scientific form—it’s as important to know the audience as it is to understand the skills.