I find poor writing - the kind that's the result of undereducation - very difficult to read. I find it particularly difficult when the writer uses punctuation incorrectly or uses no punctuation in a place where punctuation is necessary. These punctuation errors don't just make it difficult, they often impede meaning.
I wonder if these grammatical errors are equally difficult to read for other undereducated people - people whose writing skills (or lack thereof) are at about the same level as those of the writer of the ungrammatical text.
For example, in a book I'm reading about WWI, they included a snippet of a letter from an uneducated enlisted man. He used practially no punctuation, and I found it very difficult to understand. But did his family back home, who presumably aren't much more educated than he is, find it easier to read than I did because they don't write much better.
4 comments:
The irony! You didn't spell 'practically' properly. Your poor writing skills have lead to mass confusion to bloggers everywhere!
Sorry...I should have used my 'other' name (I didn't know you wanted that until I scrolled down and read your other entries).
Where's the question mark on that last question, you impudent strumpet?
It's a demonstration of how incorrect punctuation can lead to ambiguity.
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