Literal Meaning in Disfavor?

Over the past few weeks, students from our Approaches to Grammar class interviewed a number of faculty in the ECU English department (and beyond) about a controversial claim made by the author of the first textbook we are reading, David Mulroy’s The War Against Grammar (that's Mulroy in the photo at right).

According to Mulroy, one of the reasons traditional grammar instruction has become less common in the schools is that “the whole concept of literal meaning has fallen into disfavor in academia.” Below you will find links to the reports the students posted on their blogs (in random order) and the answers they heard their subjects give to the questions: “Do you believe literal meaning has fallen into disfavor in academia?”, “Do you think this phenomenon is something to be worried about?”, and “Do you think there is connection between this trend and the declining interest in grammar instruction?”

Thanks to all who agreed to be interviewed!

Wendy Leraas (interviewed by Amanda Dill).

Mara Sukholutskaya (interviewed by Brandon Michaels

Ken Hada (interviewed by Brandon Michaels).











Trisha Yarbrough interviewed by Christi Carruth.










Josh Grasso: version I and version II (interviewed by Adam Bishop and Rachel McCready).










Kevin Davis (interviewed by Jon Bergner).







Eril Hughes (interviewed by Katy Benson).













Teresa Rothrock (interviewed by Ray Lackey and Aaron Buchanon).













Robin Murphy: version I and version II(interviewed by Kasey McKinzie and Michaela Worcester).













Hugh Tribbey (interviewed by Laurie Schweinle and Bethany Gardner).













John Yozzo (interviewed by Jeff Harrison).












Jennifer McMahon (interviewed by Tommy Hammons).











Mark Walling (interviewed by Summer Emarthle).








Rayshell Palmer of Seminole State (interviewed by Holly Fipps).

Steve Benton (interviewed by Steve Benton). ).

Sad News

David Foster Wallace died Friday. He was 46.

This tribute to Wallace, one of many now coming out, was published in the New York Times.

This one was published on Slate.

And this one was published on Swampland, the blog on TIME's website.

I Interview Me

Interviewer: In The War Against Grammar, David Mulroy argues that one of the reasons grammar instruction has become less common is that “the whole concept of literal meaning has fallen into disfavor in academia." Do you agree, and if so, do you think this phenomenon is something to be worried about?

Benton: I believe literal meaning has rightly come under suspicion in the world of professional literary criticism and I am glad literary critics urge readers to consider the importance of context and bias when they are analyzing a text. At the same time, however, teachers often complain about undergraduate students’ inability to grasp the literal meaning of the texts they are assigned to read for class. To address this problem, I believe teachers should more frequently ask students to write summaries of non-fiction texts.

Interviewer: Do you think there is a connection between the suspicion of of literal meaning and the declining interest in traditional grammar instruction?

Benton: I am not convinced that there is, no.