Good Usage is Simply Correct Grammar Essay example -- Teaching Writing

Good Usage is Simply Correct Grammar What is good use? Does it even matter? Those are not easy questions to answer. Is good use just simply using correct grammar or is everyone who is using it just trying to speak above everyone else? What I mean by "trying to speak above others" is using large words, which you normally would not use, just to sound more intelligent than you actually are. I think the type of usage a person uses depends on the audience, the topic, and why the person is writing. Why does good usage have to involve more than just those items? My answer to that question is that it does not. There are, in fact, many different types of good usage. There is good usage for friendly letters, resumes, cover letters, applications and etc. For instance, I would not write a letter to a friend and use the same type of language I would use in a paper for a professor. The letter would be more casual while the paper would be much more formal. If I wrote the personal letter in a formal way the reader would take one look at the letter and think I was just trying to impress someone. However, that does not mean that I am not using good usage in that letter. I still use correct grammar, check the punctuation, and check the spelling. That is what I consider good usage to be. As long as I still do those items isnà ­t that okay for a friendly letter? My friend reading that letter does not want to have to look up every other word in the dictionary. Now let's say I was writing a resume cover letter. I would not write something like à ¬Hey, Ià ­d be a good asset to your companyà ®. Instead I would write something to the effect of à ¬I feel I could be a desired asset in your companyà ®. I would choose the second statement because it sounds more... ...ing to say here? Basically, I am saying that good usage consists only of using correct grammar (paragraphs, punctuation, spelling, etc.) and has absolutely nothing to do with knowing all those "75 cent" words. People do not want to listen to other people trying to act smart and show off. Why does it matter? People need proper usage to get employed, receive good grades, to even get acknowledged in the "real world," and just simply to be accepted. Should good usage matter? This is tricky because it should not matter how proper people can speak as long as they do not sound "dumb as a rock" (if they are not) and they are able to perform their jobs well. Yet, we should not be running around saying sentences like "I ain't got no pen so I ain't gonna do my homework" because this is not even close to correct grammar which is my definition of what good usage really is.