Robert Allan Hafetz
Not Remembered, Never Forgotten: An Adoptees Search for His Birthfamily
Gateway Press, Inc., 2005, 117 pages, $20.00
ISBN: 0-9770202-0-7
(Nonfiction, Memoir)
“Searching involves the risk that the truth might be painful,
and many adoptees refuse to search because what they
might discover could be devastating.”
There are many similarities between my adoption experience
and Robert’s, and even more differences. It was interesting to
follow his path of discovery, meeting the same blocks he met,
and finally meeting up with his birth family.
Hafetz starts out by taking us through the weekly steps he
took in seeking out the necessary information so he could
conduct a search. Like Hafetz’s adoptive mother, mine too, never
gave me the answer to who my birth mother was. Like Robert, my
adoptive family loved me as their own, hugging me, nurturing me,
cherishing me, and keeping me safe from harm. Like Robert says,
“ . . . it doesn’t replace what others have; a name given at birth,
a heritage, and a memory of my mother’s face.”
Hafetz spends quite a bit of time attempting to relay the issue of
loss and grief borne by the adoptee throughout his life. He claims
the difficulty an adoptee has with these issues, that non-adopted
people fail to understand, is that adoptees lack “words and
conscious memories of our loss, we cannot express our grief to
loved ones.” He adds that this state of inability to explain our inner
feelings “prevents us from moving forward and resolving our grief.”
Hafetz’s description of his search process is similar to most others;
they are all emotional roller coasters of highs and lows. The key to
success in an adoption search is, at least for me, preparation,
persistence, and the belief that success is possible. But how do
adoptees feel sustained when they lack the pertinent information
needed to make a connection? One word—hope.
Hafetz’s style is informal, as if he were sitting in front of you telling
his story. This is fine but I would have liked more interactive dialogue
with his adoptive family.
I liked the way he walked through the steps taken and the results of
each, both stumbling blocks and success. What I found most
distracting were editing issues that slowed down my reading. These
included jumping from past to present tense, more passive than active
voice, confusing sentences and so on. Especially his use of “adopted
mother,” made me cringe—did he adopt his mother or did she adopt
him? The correct adjective form is “adoptive.” As a book reviewer, a
writer, and an adoptee, I sense that this book lacks the thorough
editing it should have received prior to publication. Nonetheless, it
still has its place in the literature of the adoption search and reunion
category, and should be read by anyone thinking of searching but
unsure of how to go about it.
Rosalie Hollingsworth
Destruction of Innocence: A True Story of Child Abduction
iUniverse, 2009, 266 pages, $20.95
ISBN: 978–1–4401–2502–7 (pbk)
(Nonfiction, Biography/Autobiography/Memoir)
“My mind kept centering on the race to find my missing
daughter, Triana. I wondered if this search would ever end. I
had first lost her when she was one-year-old, and it took me
eight months to find her. This time she had been missing for
over two years. I would search for her, and would do so until I
found her, if it took my entire life.”
Rosalie Hollingsworth, a strong, courageous, and determined
woman who lets nothing get in the way once she’s made up her
mind to do something. The something in this case is the
inconceivable journeys to regain her daughter twice after Triana
was kidnapped by her father. This is Rosalie’s story as much as it
is the story of Triana, who as a young child couldn’t understand
what, was happening. But who later learned the facts and
somehow had her mother’s stamina to overcome this horrific
period in her young life and thrive.
Rosalie, as a mother, could only imagine what it was like for Triana,
but she could not fathom the horrors of what life turned out to be
for little Triana. From rabies after being bitten by a dog, to being
raped by strange men, to the recurrent lice infestations leading to
the shaving of her hair, Triana grew up under conditions no child
should have to endure. Adjusting to Franco’s juggling of wives
(sometimes with children of their own), and by far the worst thing a
father can tell his child—that her mother was evil and that she was
dead, Triana amazingly came through it all without a deep scar.
Hollingsworth chose to structure her story as a diary, which suited
the purpose well. She takes you along on the journey to recover
Triana in hope that others in the same situation will see that with
determination and strength, the impossible may not be impossible
after all. Her pace is right on with tension building up where needed
and letting low where relief should be felt. Beginning with the first
retrieval, Hollingsworth uses a back flash in the second chapter to
reveal kidnap what led up to the kidnapping and clues us in to the
relationship between herself and Franco.
I really enjoyed reading the book especially to see the great results
in the end. The rushes of fear, followed by sighs of relief, to end
with the joy of reunion. To learn that through all the negativity
surrounding Triana’s life she went on to study nursing, showing that
her human compassion wasn’t harmed. The only thing I disliked
(having nothing to do with the mechanics itself) was the fact that
the pages came apart from page 1 through 84. It’s a shame that such
a great book couldn’t find a home with a better publishing house.
Other than that it could have benefited for a little additional editing
work but that is a minor issue. My only hope is that a serious publishing
house step up to the plate and offer a contract for a reprint of this
exceptionally well written book. This is a book all parents MUST read.
It isn’t only the parents who suffer when things go wrong; it’s the
victims (the children in the middle) that suffer the most, many too young
even to know that.
Sandy Brewer
Pursuit of Light: An Extraordinary Journey
Peach Tree House, 2007, 224 pages, $24.95
ISBN: 978-0-9796554-4-9
(Self-help, Memoir, Inspirational)
“Every moment is a choice, and every choice reverberates . . .
Every moment presents an opportunity to ‘pay it forward’.”
Abuse is not a chosen lifestyle for the child placed there by
the abuser. Sandy Brewer relates the trauma of rejection and
abuse she lived through as a child, and how she chose to reach
a better life where, eventually, she found love and acceptance.
When faced with a situation, in this case abuse based on
rejection by her mother, the way out is by choice. Either
choosing to succumb to the abuse, or to follow the line of abuse
and grow to be an abuser as well, or to come to terms with
oneself, and choose to overcome the abusive environment to
reach the light, the other way of life—the environment of being
loved and accepted by others. But how is this done? For one, it
demands courage, and lots of it. Sandy was a very courageous child,
who withstood harsh, brutal beatings and verbal abuse from her mother.
To be able to bear it is hard to comprehend.
From being kicked and flung into the wall at the age of two, to
being forced by a father to drink a ‘poisoned’ drink, Brewer’s
willpower to survive pulled her through. Yet with all she went
through as a child, she was able to find the courage and
determination to end the familial cycle of abuse, one she was
determined not to pass on to her future generations.
Brewer uses a technique of flashbacks to take the reader back to
her abusive childhood. By doing so, she is telling two stories
side-by-side: the first story is the one of her horrific childhood living
in an abusive environment, the second her life as an adult and her
journey out of the dark into the light. Brewer is proof that miracles happen.
I liked the way I was drawn to keep reading, the realization of
questioning what else could possibly follow as if this (whatever was
mentioned) wasn’t bad enough. I found a connection to the uncertainty
an adoptee experiences, even in the best stable and peaceful family
surroundings, where Brewer writes, “. . . I was aware of the blank,
missing pieces of my life. I just didn’t know what they were, and I had no
one to turn to, no one to ask about it. . . “
The heavy use of dialogue throughout helps us see the characters
much more in depth than had she chosen to use simple prose. The
combination of lessons Brewer intends to teach the reader weaved
into the story line makes for an easy read of a very disturbing and
otherwise difficult to read subject.
I highly recommend that every new parent read Brewer’s book to
experience the effects of parental abuse on children and hope it will
lead to the correct choice, and an end to parental abuse. The world
will be a better place to live if only this could be achieved.
What do you think–is parental abuse a cycle passed on from
generation to generation? Have you read this book? Leave a
comment or questions for Sandy below.
Have you ever wondered what lies behind a word, not
just the meaning found in a dictionary, but its history
or story of how it came to be? That’s where etymology
comes in.
For example, take the word “gadget”, this is what it says:
“1886, gadjet (but said to date back to 1850s), sailors’
slang word for any small mechanical thing or part of a ship
for which they lacked, or forgot, a name. . . .”
or “happy hour”–”early evening period of discount drinks and
free hors-d’oeuvres at a bar” is first recorded 1961.”
Hmm . . . Wonder what it was called before 1961. Anyone want
to give a guess? Leave a comment. Also check it out. Find
something you’d like to share, post a comment.
Today I have a treat for you. I have been reading
Christina’s e-zines for a long time, and had the
honor of meeting her face-to-face on May 5th
when she held a workshop at our local library in
Bellevue, WA. When the opportunity to host an
interview with her came up, I asked her to visit
with us. If you are confused as to what a writer’s
platform is, or not sure you’ve got all your bases
covered on your platform, read this for a clear view
on the topic.
Christina Katz
So to get the ball rolling I’d like to introduce Christina
Katz, author of Get Known Before the Book
Deal: Use Your Personal Strengths to Grow an Author
Platform & Writer Mama: How
to Raise a Writing Career Alongside Your Kids.
She started her platform “for fun” seven years ago and
ended up on “Good Morning America.” Christina teaches
e-courses on platform development and writing nonfiction
for publication. Her students are published in national
magazines and land agents and book deals. Christina has
been encouraging reluctant platform builders via her
e-zines for five years, has written hundreds of articles for
national, regional, and online publications, and is a monthly
columnist for the Willamette Writer. A popular speaker at
writing conferences, writing programs, libraries, and
bookstores, she hosts the Northwest Author Series in
Wilsonville, Oregon.
It’s my pleasure and a great honor to welcome Christina Katz
to my blog, so sit back and enjoy.
GO:
Christina, welcome to Gloria’s Corner. It was great meeting you
on the 5th and I am honored to be able to have you here today
to share your knowledge on the platform issue with my readers.
So to get started can you explain what a platform is?
CK: Long story short: Your platform
communicates your expertise to others, and it works all the
time so you don’t have to. Your platform includes your Web
presence, any public speaking you do, the classes you teach,
the media contacts you’ve established, the articles you’ve
published, and any other means you currently have for making
your name and your future books known to a viable readership.
If others already recognize your expertise on a given topic or for
a specific audience or both, then that is your platform.
A platform-strong writer is a writer with influence. Get Known
explains in plain English, without buzzwords, how any writer can
stand out from the crowd of other writers and get the book deal.
The book clears an easy-to-follow path through a formerly
confusing forest of ideas so any writer can do the necessary
platform development they need to do.
GO: Why is platform development important for writers today?
CK: Learning about and working on a solid platform plan
gives writers an edge. Agents and editors have known this for years
and have been looking for platform-strong writers and getting them
book deals. But from the writer’s point-of-view, there has not been
enough information on platform development to help unprepared writers
put their best platform forward.
Now suddenly, there is a flood of information on platform, not all
necessarily comprehensive, useful or well organized for folks who don’t
have a platform yet. Writers can promote themselves in a gradual,
grounded manner without feeling like they are selling out. I do it, I
teach other writers to do it, I write about it on an ongoing basis, and I
encourage all writers to heed the trend. And hopefully, I communicate
how in a practical, step-by-step manner that can serve any writer.
Because ultimately, before you actively begin promoting yourself,
platform development is an inside job requiring concentration,
thoughtfulness and a consideration of personal values.
GO: How did you come to write Get Known Before the Book Deal?
Get Known Before the Book Deal
CK: I already had a lot of momentum going when I got
the deal for a very specific audience. I wrote a column on the
topic for the Willamette Writer’s newsletter. Then I started
speaking on platform. When I gave my presentation, “Get Known
Before the Book Deal,” at the Writer’s Digest/BEA Writer’s
Conference in May 2007, Phil Sexton, one of my publisher’s sales
guys, saw it and suggested making the concept into a book.
Coincidentally, I was trying to come up with an idea for my second
book at that time and had just struck out with what I thought
were my three best ideas. My editor, Jane Friedman agreed with Phil.
That was two votes from people sitting on the pub board. They
converted the others with the help of my proposal, and Get Known
got the green light.
GO: Why was a book on platform development needed?
CK: Writers often underestimate how important platform is and they
often don’t leverage the platform they already have enough. At every
conference I presented, I took polls and found that about 50 percent
of attendees expressed a desire for a clearer understanding of platform.
Some were completely in the dark about it, even though they were
attending a conference in hopes of landing a book deal. Since book
deals are granted based largely on the impressiveness of a writer’s
platform, I noticed a communication gap that needed to be addressed.
My intention was that Get Known would be the book
every writer would want to read before attending a writer’s conference,
and that it would increase any writer’s chances of landing a book deal
whether they pitched in-person or by query. As I wrote the book, I saw
online how this type of information was being offered as “insider secrets”
at outrageous prices. No one should have to pay thousands of dollars for
the information they can find in my book for the price of a paperback!
Seriously. You can even ask your library to order it and read it for free.
GO: Before I go on with the next question, let me add
that I highly recommend her book. It is fabulous. That said, Christina,
what is the key idea behind Get Known Before the Book Deal?
CK: Getting known doesn’t take a lot of money, but it
does take an in-depth understanding of platform, and then the investment
of time, skills and consistent effort to build one. Marketing experience and
technological expertise are also not necessary. I show how to avoid the
biggest time and money-waster, which is not understanding who your
platform is for and why – and hopefully save writers from the confusion and
inertia that can result from either information overload or not taking the big
picture into account before they jump into writing for traditional publication.
Often writers with weak platforms are over-confident that they can impress
agents and editors, while others with decent platforms are under-confident
or aren’t stressing their platform-strength enough. Writers have to wear so
many hats these days, we can use all the help we can get. Platform
development is a muscle, and the more you use it, the stronger it gets.
Anyone can do it, but most don’t or won’t because they either don’t
understand what is being asked for, or they haven’t overcome their own
resistance to the idea. Get Known offers a concrete plan
that can help any writer make gains in the rapidly changing and increasingly
competitive publishing landscape.
GO: What is the structure of the book and why did you choose it?
CK: Writer Mama was written in small, easy-to-digest chunks so
busy new moms could stick it in a diaper bag and read it
in the nooks and crannies of the day. Get Known is a
bit more prosaic, especially in the early chapters. Most of the platform
books already out there were only for authors, not writers or aspiring
authors. To make platform evolution easy to comprehend, I had to dial
the concepts back to the beginning and talk about what it’s like to try
and find your place in the world as an author way before you’ve signed a
contract, even before you’ve written a book proposal. No one had done
that before in a book for writers. I felt writers needed a context in which
to chart a course towards platform development that would not be
completely overwhelming.
Introducing platform concepts to writers gives them the key information
they need to succeed at pitching an agent either via query or in-person,
making this a good book for a writer to read before writing a book proposal. Get Known has three sections: section one is mostly
stories and cautionary tales, section two has a lot of to-do lists any writer
should be able to use, and section three is how to articulate your platform
clearly and concisely so you won’t waste a single minute wondering if you
are on the right track.
GO: At the front of Get Known, you discuss four
phases of the authoring process. What are they?
CK: First comes the platform development and building phase. Second
comes the book proposal development phase (or if you are writing fiction,
the book-writing phase). Third, comes the actual writing of the book (for
fiction writers this is likely the re-writing of the book). And finally, once
the book is published, comes the book marketing and promoting phase.
Many first-time authors scramble once they get a book deal if they
haven’t done a thorough job on the platform development phase.
Writers who already have a platform have influence with a fan base,
and they can leverage that influence no matter what kind of book
they write. Writing a book is a lot easier if you are not struggling to
find readers for the book at the same time. Again, agents and editors
have known this for a long time.
GO: What are some common platform mistakes writers make?
CK: Here are a few:
• They don’t spend time clarifying who they are to others.
• They don’t zoom in specifically on what they offer.
• They confuse socializing with platform development.
• They think about themselves too much and their audience not enough.
• They don’t precisely articulate all they offer so others get it immediately.
• They don’t create a plan before they jump online.
• They undervalue the platform they already have.
• They are overconfident and think they have a solid platform when they
have only made a beginning.
• They become exhausted from trying to figure out platform as they go.
• They pay for “insider secrets” instead of trusting their own instincts.
• They blog like crazy for six months and then look at their bank accounts
and abandon the process as going nowhere.
I’ll stop there. Suffice it to say that many writers promise publishers
they have the ability to make readers seek out and purchase their book.
But when it comes time to demonstrate this ability, they can’t deliver.
My mission is to empower writers to be 100 percent responsible for
their writing career success and stop looking to others to do their
promotional work for them. Get Known shows writers of every stripe
how to become the writer who can not only land a book deal, but
also influence future readers to plunk down ten or twenty bucks to
purchase their book. It all starts with a little preparation and planning.
The rest unfolds from there.
GO: Couldn’t any author have written this book? Why you?
CK: I have built a career over the past decade empowering writers.
I’ve developed and built my own platform as a writing-for-traditional-publication
specialist, and I’ve worked with others as a writing and platform-development
instructor. Many of the people I’ve been working with are landing book deals
and while the other hundred-or-so writers I work with a year are developing
their skills, I notice patterns of behavior—what leads to success, where writers
get stuck, and how I can be helpful in these rapidly changing times
in the industry.
I’ve witnessed too many writers, who were off to a great start, hopping
online and quickly becoming very lost. I started to write about platform
in Writer Mama, How To Raise A Writing Career Alongside Your
Kids, but I quickly noticed that more details on platform
development were desperately needed. My platform is based on helping
others. I have a vested interest in seeing the people I work with—and
those who read my book—succeed. Writers are my tribe.
GO: Hmmm…I like that thought – Writer Mama, leader of the tribe.
Well, Christina, thanks for visiting with us today. If anyone has questions
for Christina she will be checking in here several times over the next 24
hours, so leave them in the comments and she’ll answer them. Don’t
forget to check back for your answers. So go ahead leave a comment,
tell us what you think about building a platform, and if you have a
question, don’t forget to leave that too. For more information from
Christina Katz visit her Web site. Have a great day!
My good friend Cheryl Malandrinos asked me to help spread
the word about this new book and organization. Since I was
ill for about a month with pneumonia and am in the last
minute stage of arranging my daughter’s wedding I offered to
post something on my blog in lieu of an interview.
Jerry Pollock, President of the organization, wrote a book called Messiah Interviews: Belonging to God, which he describes as follows:
“The protagonist must satisfy his biblical interviewers?the angel Gabriel,
Methuselah, Chanoch, Seth, King David, Moses, Jacob, Abraham, and the
prophet Isaiah?and prove that he has the wisdom and character to be the
Messiah. As the tale unfolds, the challenges of the interviews go beyond
the protagonist and become relevant to the lives of each one of us.”
Here is an excerpt from the book:
The Archangel Michael is speaking in Heaven:
“We have deliberately chosen a sinner: you, Yoseph, who has
knowingly cheated in science. Yet, you have publicly repented
and confessed your sins to your Stony Brook University
administration; and sent letters of apology to the former
institutions that you attended. Moreover, you have expressed
your heartfelt remorse and your sincere regrets for all of your
sinful actions in your published book, Divinely Inspired: Spiritual
Awakening of a Soul, for all to see. We have intentionally chosen
someone who has suffered horrifically, yet has the potential through
his suffering to look inside and understand human nature. We also
have especially not chosen a tzaddik, the wisest, most righteous,
and perfect of men. We are testing the potential of a simple imperfect
man. If you succeed in answering our questions, you will become King
Messiah, and return to earth to take your place at the End of Days.
If our assessment of you is that you are not the person, we had in
mind, and then we will have failed once again in finding the true Messiah.”
“I walked to the back of the room to turn out the lights
on that half of my portable classroom and saw a twice-folded,
handwritten note. Usually, I would have just thrown it away
but not this time. The unrecognized scribble said, “It’s
started again with my Dad. I have hinted about it with my
teacher but not really told him. I wish he were my father.”
Micah’s Child by Diane Lang and Michael Buchanan is a story
of finding oneself and coming to terms with the troubles of
one’s past. Catherine Scott, AKA Cat, a high school English
teacher, mother of two college aged children and wife to
Marshall, lives a life of a socialite amongst the wealthy in her
Atlanta neighborhood. Cat harbors a secret that causes her
grief in the form of self-guilt for the death of her firstborn
daughter years before. Also teaching at the same high
school is the new math teacher, Micah Marlowe, at first a
mysterious character whom we know little about, but later
revealing his very human side. Together they make a
wonderful team both as teachers and as good friends.
Marshall, Cat’s husband, is self-conscious of his appearance,
is a troubled sleeper, and a bit egoistic as seen when he says,
“You know what. I can’t deal with this right now.” Marshall is
dealing with lots of stress due to work issues and family issues.
He’s a lawyer and believes in the all work no play ethic forgetting
things like their anniversary. When Cat mentions it he replies,
“Damn. That’s right…Not this year, Cat,” and asks her to “Help me
pack. That’ll give us a few minutes.”
Cat feels lonely as an empty-nester. Her children are off in college
no longer living at home. Now when Marshall travels for business
she’s alone. That’s when the memories and guilt feelings strike and
she says to no one in particular “If it weren’t for me, she’d be alive.
I let my baby die.”
This makes the reader want to keep turning the page to find out
what did happen to the baby. Though she lives a socialite life, Cat
feels out of place, as she puts it, “Living at the top of the economic
ladder, I was at the bottom rung of despair.”
There’s also a mysterious cloud over the fatherhood of Tess, Cat’s
baby that died. Who was he? Cat tells us it wasn’t Marshall so it must
have been someone from before she married. Not until she tells Micah
Marlowe the story of Tess’s death do we find out. And be prepared for
a shock, because it wasn’t what I was thinking all along while reading
the book. Intertwined throughout is the story of Nellie and David, young
kids growing up in the South. I never really got the reason for this
flashback story line as I kept thinking perhaps these kids were Cat and
Micah as youngsters, not so.
Not only are Cat and Micah excellent teachers, their students adore
them. If we had more teachers like them today who weren’t afraid to
do innovative things in their classrooms, perhaps the level of learning
would improve. Cat teaches English. What high school student adores
English, especially when reading boring writing? Cat has a way of
making things interesting. Much role-playing goes on in her classroom
and aids in learning. When it comes to grammar she has a unique way
of relating to her students and the lives they live. Explaining verbs Cat
tells her class, “Verbs are males because they act up in front of the
female nouns.” She describes clauses as “Women are independent
clauses and men are dependent, just like in everything. Always
cleaning up your mistakes.”
Micah teaches math and brings math to life by experiments, bringing in
speakers, and showing videos. Micah’s motto is taken from Emerson,
“The whole is greater than the sum of the individual parts.” He has a
poster of this hanging in his classroom. Micah explains math as “part of
all of nature; including human nature,” and adds, “There’s a
mathematical reason the spiral of a seashell elicits wonder and a sense
of beauty. Symmetry is the basis of all existence.” But sometimes doing
such things can lead to trouble as was the case with Micah after a guest
speaker appeared in class and showed a video. What happened is for you
to find out when you read the book.
In general, I loved the book and read the whole thing in less than a week.
There was only one part that I had issues with. Monica, one of the
socialite wives, was talking to Rita, another socialite wife, and Cat when
out of the blue she remarked, “Didn’t the Nazi’s make lampshades out of
the Jew’s skins?” Cat tried putting her in place and ending the topic but
Rita didn’t get it when Cat responded, “How horrible.” Rita popped in with,
“It’s true. Can you imagine Shari’s skin as a lampshade?” Cat tried again,
“That’s not even funny. In fact, it’s downright scary.” Rita responded,
“Come on, Cat. I was just having fun. I like Shari. I don’t care if she’s a
Jew.” Cat retorted, “Fun? Do you realize what you just said…”Not only
did Cat feel out of place amongst these elite women, she was also the
most decent and sane one of them all. What I don’t get though is why
this conversational interchange on this topic had to be included to
begin with.
Anybody who works in a difficult population school should read this book
and learn from Cat and Micah, how to bring their subjects to life in the
classroom and how to stand up for what you believe is right. The overall
technique of interlaced back-story, flashbacks, and the main story line
make this a book that is hard to put down once you start reading. It’s
fiction, mystery, romance, and thriller all in one. It brings issues
confronting us today to light. It shows the different opinions of parents
in the school setting and makes you wonder about some of the parents
stances. No wonder some kids are so troubled.
Although both Diane Lang and Michael Buchanan claim that the book isn’t
about them, there are a lot of similarities. Michael is a math teacher and
an archeology treasure hunter like Micah. He wrote the Honduras scene
and all the male parts for Micah. Diane was an English teacher like Cat
and wrote the rest of the book. They both taught at a high school
together at one point but wrote the book mostly by email. The result was
a wonderful achievement for a first novel.
Micah’s Child deals with all kinds of issues from marital problems,
alcoholism, abuse to honesty and good to others. Micah’s Child kept me
on my feet. I didn’t get the meaning of this title until the end but it was
good that way. Read it to find out who really was Micah’s Child. This
book will be a great revelation and you won’t be sorry. So look for Micah’s
Child by Lang Buchanan (notice how the authors combined their names)
and start reading it now.
Modern science provided us with a universal method of studying
and mastering any subject. This method, highly successful in
music, wasn’t applied to language because there was a fixed
method of language study in existence long before modern
science appeared. The problem with that old system — it was
invented to apply to languages with mechanical systems of
endings, by which word relationships were indicated, not the
case with English.
English depends mostly on the arrangement of words, and the
key is logical relationship. The student of the English language
must master the logic of sentence structure or word relations.
As for spelling, the irregularities of the English language seem to
have driven us to one sole method — memorizing. To memorize
every word in a language is an unthinkable task.
Language is just as much a natural growth as trees, rocks, or
human bodies, and can have no more irregularities, even in the
spelling, than these have. Science would laugh at the idea of
memorizing every single form of tree, rock, or human body. It
looks for fundamental laws, classifies and groups, having a limit
so it can be mastered. Can this be the solution for mastering
spelling?
Grammar has seven fundamental logical relationships, and when
these are mastered with their chief modifications and combinations,
we know the essence of grammar as if we knew the name of every
possible combination those seven relationships might have.
The mastery of the English language is almost the task of a lifetime,
since only a few easy lessons won’t have an effect. We must make
it a habit of study that will grow as we grow.
Mastering English spelling is a serious journey. First, because the one
to three thousand words spelled in irregular ways must be memorized.
The easiest way would be to classify them as much as possible and
associate those in a way that will help us remember them. Second,
homonyms (words pronounced alike but spelled differently) can be
studied only in relation to their meaning, since it’s the meaning and
the grammatical use in sentences that is the key to the correct form.
So studying spelling means going beyond the mere mechanical
association of the letters that make up the word. Third, the list of
exceptions is so big that we get discouraged as most of these
exceptions are words used every day. If so, what is the use of
having rules anyway?
To begin this task one should begin with the common irregular words
and commit them to memory. The problem of how to do so effectively
begins with those writing spelling textbooks. The problem — mixing
regular with irregular words, common with uncommon and inserting
hard, long words that are used less frequently. These books are little
more that lists of words, and anyone can make lists of common, easy
words so a spelling book with such lists wouldn’t seem worth the money.
But teachers seek the easy way out and simply use these books to
teach by assigning the next page on a regular basis. To change this
and improve the spelling of future generations the chief objective should
be to acquire two habits: 1) observing articulate sounds (what happened
to phonics? wasn’t that what phonics did?) and 2) observing word forms
in reading.
Children can be taught to train the ear by giving utterance to
\each sound in a word, by carefully pronouncing words in
reading aloud. So instead of having a parent always read to the
child, why not share the reading so the child has more
opportunities to practice pronouncing words. Don’t let the child
continue after a mispronounced word, correct him/her and have
him/her repeat it. Only then will the child be trained to hear the
word in the right way. Teachers should speak clearly with clear
pronunciation as the teacher is the true medium of the child’s
learning, not the use of diacritical marks in the dictionary.
Adults can train the ear by reading poetry aloud, trying to
harmonize the sense and the rhythm rather than the sing-song
style.
But the most effective way to learn spelling is to train the eye
to carefully observe the forms of the words in newspapers and
books. But how does one do so? The observation of the general
form of a word isn’t the observation that teaches spelling. The
student must observe every letter in a word. But there is a
problem with this too – there’s a limit to the powers of memory.
For example, in spelling books the list of words may contain
words ending in “ise,” “ize.” or “yse.” This doesn’t tell us which is
which or when to use each. If, on the other hand, we’re told that
“ize” is the common ending, “ise” is the ending of thirty-one words,
and “yse” the ending of three or four, we can memorize the few
exceptions only, making the task easier.
When it comes to regular words the laws we can state with
certainty are few — namely doubling consonants, dropping silent
e’s, changing y’s to i’s, accenting certain syllables, and lengthening
or shortening vowels. Teachers who ignore these principles and fail
to teach them and spelling books that fail to address them are the
source of failure to learn correct spelling.
Students should be drilled on these until they become second
nature as is done in math with the multiplication tables. Unless
they are taught what the regular principles are, they can’t know
how a word should regularly be spelled.
What method was used to teach you spelling?
Were the basic principles heavily drilled in school?
Are you a good speller? If not, what words give you the most problems?
Well today I turn 53 and my daughter graduates from University on Saturday.
Am I feeling old? You bet. Where have all those years gone?
The last four just seemed to whip by in such haste.
Yet I can’t fool anyone, not even myself, the age itself isn’t old, it’s the body’s feeling and what it has had to deal with that makes me feel that way today.
Last June I had a spinal fusion and was out of work for six weeks recovering. A reward for that was a trip to the East Coast (Washington D.C., New Jersey, New York and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
A month ago I said goodbye to the rest of the teeth on my lower jaw which were replaced with an over denture. It has been a nightmare since. First of all I was supposed to be able to eat normally within two to three weeks, but now, more than a month this is still not happening. I have lost extra weight and am not happy about it. I need to be at least 6 lbs more than I currently am. Second there were supposed to be only two or three adjustments to the over denture but I have been going in on a weekly basis. Seems that once it is adjusted and feels good, I go home and try to eat dinner, the next day or two it shifts again and doesn’t feel right. Third with my daughter’s graduation and a hectic few months ahead I shouldn’t have to be thinking about this.
So remember the song “I’ll cry if I want to”, well with tears of frustration, and of joy, I will allow myself to cry if and when I want to and try to enjoy my birthday as best I can.
