The Persistence of Unease at the Idea of Knowledge Acquisition...

[attack_laurel]

I am way too much of a grammar and spelling mole; I have to work mightily to not correct people on the intarwebs when they use incorrect homonyms, use semi-colons willy-nilly, or phonetically spell a wurd.  But I don't, because that's rude, and being rude is a far worse sin than typing "congradulations!".

This, however, makes my heart sing and my

Comments

[eithni]

They have a whole line of Truly Beautiful grammar how-tos in the same vein. They make me happy and if they get even one person to use an apostrophe correctly, I'm pleased. Inappropriate apostrophes are at the TOP of my grammar annoyance list and their instructional on the topic is simply hilarious.

[eithni]

Oh, and regarding making SCA classes fun - I had a personal victory recently! I usually try to make my research and documentation class funny enough that people don't fall asleep. In the most recent session, however, one woman laughed so hard she cried and I got several notes of thanks after the fact for a "truly memorable" class. :D I maintain there's no topic so dry that you can't make it fun - they might giggle to themselves now and again while they do their research and documentation, but they're much more likely to DO that research and documentation if they think of it as a fun endeavor.

[bunnyjadwiga]

"history isn't dates and timelines, it's stories, gossip, and the stuff your persona cares about"

which explains why my usual SCA class format, which I describe to my students as "We have handouts [and usually props which we hand around] and I wave the handout and blather on in its general vicinity and cover most of it, stop me and ask if there's something you don't understand or want to be sure I cover!" is so popular with most SCAdians.

[nicolaa5]

History is about people, not dates and facts and troop movements (unless those can be related to people). They were born, ate, drank, farted, boinked each other, and eventually died. We have a lot in common with those guys.

I have a PhD in history. Had you talked to me in high school, that would be the absolute last thing you'd predict me having a doctorate in. I found high school history boring and mindnumbing, and had I not stumbled across an honours classics course my freshman year where we talked about Roman culture--including how to analyze Roman coins--I might have kept on with my genetics major.

Instead, I became interested in what Romans ate, wore, read, drew, and scribbled on their walls. It's one reason why I love the series Rome, where the history isn't perfect but the depiction of Roman daily life is about the best I've seen.

Research is fascinating detective work. You're doing a puzzle, and you might not have all the pieces, but you learn what you can and use your skills to recreate the picture.

[taamar]

I had 'who' and 'whom' beaten into me. Literally. I had a rather odd relationship with an English professor (by which I mean a professor of language, not a professor from Britain) which involved being chained up in his basement and forced to learn proper usage. I suspect it was cathartic for him.