I think we should eat Grandma! Why not? I mean, if a piece of student writing lacks purpose, development, structure, and meaning, then maybe we should put a fork in sweet ole Grandma and just eat her. Does anyone read the sentence “Let’s eat Grandma” and really believe the writer is intending to send the message that they want to eat their grandmother? This focus on correctness without consideration of context is what fuels grammar nazis, Bic’s red pen factory, and produces error avoidance in students. Let’s widen the scope a little. What sentences come before and after eating Grandma? As a reader-responder, we might want to respond to this piece on a more global level and in context to the writing assignment. For instance, we may comment, “It sounds like you enjoy eating with your grandma. Do you have any special memories over dinner with Grandma, maybe a specific time and place that might be worth discussing in your paper? When you think of Grandma, what comes to mind in terms of reading and writing? Are there any literacy memories that you would like to explore? What do you want your readers to think, feel, and take away from you eating with Grandma?” This inquiry can force the student back into their text to figure out what they are trying to say about Grandma.
There are times when we don’t want to eat Grandma. I get that. However, those times come after significant student reflection, revision, peer feedback, and teacher commentary. Then we might want to look at sentence-level issues. It is my opinion that when a student writes “Let’s eat Grandma” it is not a break in logic. Rather, it is either an extremely easy mistake to make where the mind doesn’t see a missing comma or it is a simple error in punctuation. As astute writing instructors, we can wait and see if eating Grandma becomes a pattern of error. If so, certainly the entire class, including us as teachers, could use a refresher on commas. However, if enforcing rules is your motivation for saving Grandma’s life, I say go ahead and break out the barbecue sauce.
