<p>Some of my best friends are homonyms. Not that there's anything wrong with that.</p>
<p>My mantra in my comp classes is: "Spellcheck is stupid." Meaning--there is no intellect involved in what it does--the student must use his/her own thinking to make it work usefully.</p>
<p>Despite my harping on this constantly, the homonyms abound, because Spellcheck didn't tell them they mixed up "there/their/they're", "to/too", "were/where" and on and on. But even stupider can be the guesses Spellcheck will make as to what word they did misspell, as students mindlessly "accept" (or "except" :(), the wrong word suggested as a correction.</p>
<p>The latest example I received of the latter (or "ladder") was a student who wrote in TWO drafts of a paper that Galileo studied the "stars and constipations." AAARRGGGHH!</p>
<p>hahaha, garland. I'll share that one with Astrodaughter, for sure!!!</p>
<p>3 years ago, I was a grader for an English comp teacher at our hs district in PA. (the board had mandated a total of 18 written papers per year for English classes from 7th grade to 12th grade. It was awesome, but because of the work involved, they hired "theme readers" with some kind of teaching and/or writing experience to help out). Sometimes it was good, sometimes it wasn't.</p>
<p>I'd been spoiled by my 2 d's writing skills, so it was an eye opener when I was assigned to the "regular" (i.e. last resort) English classes. I actually had papers turned in that used "4" instead of "for" and "U" instead of "you".....uh, don't write a graded theme for English class as if you were sending a TXT message.</p>
<p>Interestingly, the homonym problem got really bad for me when I lived in Germany, even my handwritten letters got really weird, enough so that my mother wondered what was up. I guess five years of living in a foreign language screws up your brain, I've never really recovered!</p>
<p>LOL Riverrunner (post 101)!!!!</p>
<p>May I offer another possibility ... perhaps OP's son is trying, but simply never received the writing preparation that this prof/TA expects. This is not a reflection on his intelligence; rather, it may be a result of his K-12 writing coursework/expectations.</p>
<p>I am a substitute teacher. I am constantly amazed by the writing assignments I read in the various high school classrooms I visit. To be honest, I have yet to read an essay that I would consider an "A" essay. The students lack basic writing skills: lack of proper thesis sentence, lack of support for thesis (or for what I assume they expect is a thesis), lack of evidence, lack of quotes, failure to properly cite passages, improper grammar (I can't even begin to list the rules broken in a single paper), horrendous spelling, "familiar" style in a formal essay (3 separate essay writers in one class used the term "****ed off"), etc., etc. Somehow, they were never taught how to write properly or they were never expected to write properly. If I were grading those papers, I would honestly be tempted to give them failing grades.</p>
<p>Some of the students who write like this are able to score well on standardized tests and are accepted to excellent schools. One such young man I know went to Wesleyan. He had been an A student in Language Arts, and he scored either a 4 or a 5 on AP Lit. His profs told him that his ideas are sound, but he needed to learn to write. He spent his freshman year doing just that. He is still working to improve his writing, but his willingness to get the help he needs has paid off in decent grades (after his initial failing grades on writing projects). Another young man I know went to State U for Journalism. He had been the editor of the high school newspaper, and he had always been told what a great writer he was. He flunked Freshman Comp at State U. He decided then & there to scrap the idea of studying Journalism. Too bad ... he, too, could have learned to write better. </p>
<p>I do not presume that my scenario is the case for OP's son, but it is a possibility. If this is the case, he can definitely improve his writing with assistance. He sounds like an intelligent, capable young man. With some help from the TA, prof, writing center, tutors ... whatever the school offers ... he can learn the basics and put them to use. There is a formula for good writing!</p>
<p>
[quote]
Galileo studied the "stars and constipations."
[/quote]
That's a classic! Garland, you should collect these & write a book.</p>
<p>Hey Garland---D called me to tell how funny she thought your student's Galileo description was..... She'll never look at the groups of stars the same way....!!!!</p>