<p>D emailed me expressing concern over a writing assignment subtitled " you might assume you are writing for a radio audience". Is this a suggestion, or a strong hint that the professor is expecting that type of presentation? Help, I’m not sure of my modals anymore!</p>
<p>The “might” sounds to me like a suggestion that the teacher would enjoy. When in doubt though, I tell my son to email the professor to clarify.</p>
<p>Sounds like a big hint to me- especially since that is the subtitle. Sounds like other audiences would work but the topic must lend itself most to that audience, or writing to that audience is most likely to cover the needed items for a top grade. Unless she has ideas for another format she really wants to pursue she should take the hint, sounds like the prof’s way of giving help to the students.</p>
<p>Thanks, that was what I thought. D didn’t agree, as she has been taught that might conveys weak probability, as in " It might rain tomorrow"</p>
<p>Tell your D “assume” carries weight, strengthens the “might” into a strong suggestion, ie she is not forbidden to write in another fashion, but better be prepared to justify it by the superior job she does.</p>
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<p><a href=“http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/might[/url]”>http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/might</a></p>
<p>I think the teacher might be using the third definition, while your D is using the second.</p>
<p>When an “authority figure” suggests you might want to do something it means you really should do it.</p>
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As in, mother saying to child, “Would you like to set the table?” isn’t really asking a question.</p>
<p>The statement is out of context so it’s hard to determine what the prof really wanted. This ‘might’ be a strong suggestion or it might be nothing more than an example.</p>
<p>Maybe the teacher is giving a hint on how to write effectively. A radio audience can’t see the scenery, the characters, the ambience, etc. The writer would have to try to paint a word picture for them.</p>
<p>This “might” be a good time to talk to the prof if your D has another direction she wants to go in other than the one suggested . ;)</p>
<p>Good point, lmnop, but isn’t that the definition of writing? I was afraid that there was something specific about radio shows that had to be included, an the only thing I could think of (never having heard a modern US radio program) was soap ads,or else “who knows what veil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows”…
Sorry, semi-joking.</p>
<p>My interpretation is different from most. I would think that the “might” was an example, and since it was given by the professor, I would assume I should be more original and would see it as a challenge to come up with something different.</p>
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<p>Painting a word picture is definitely the definition of writing but many students leaving high school are more used to using simple declarative sentences (with a bunch of adjectives thrown in) than using words to paint a picture.</p>
<p>For example, from “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” a recent high schooler might write, “Ichabod Crane taught in a one room school house.” </p>
<p>Washington Irving put it this way:</p>
<p>“His school-house was a low building of one large room, rudely constructed of logs; the windows partly glazed, and partly patched with leaves of old copy-books. It was most ingeniously secured at vacant hours, by a withe twisted in the handle of the door, and stakes set against the window shutters; so that, though a thief might get in with perfect ease, he would find some embarrassment in getting out; an idea most probably borrowed by the architect, Yost Van Houton, from the mystery of an eel-pot. The school-house stood in a rather lonely but pleasant situation just at the foot of a woody hill, with a brook running close by, and a formidable birch tree growing at one end of it. From hence the low murmur of his pupils’ voices, conning over their lessons, might be heard in a drowsy summer’s day, like the hum of a bee-hive; interrupted now and then by the authoritative voice of the master, in the tone of menace or command; or, peradventure, by the appalling sound of the birch, as he urged some tardy loiterer along the flowery path of knowledge. Truth to say, he was a conscientious man, and ever bore in mind the golden maxim, “Spare the rod and spoil the child.”—Ichabod Crane’s scholars certainly were not spoiled.”</p>
<p>Now that is a word picture!</p>
<p>As a professor who often teaches writing, and sadly, occasionally posts poorly written assignments, I’m afraid I think this is one of them.</p>
<p>I’m with D. I think this might is a suggestion that really translates into: Make your writing so vivid that if it were read aloud it would grab the interest of a captive audience. I think the teacher is trying to suggest a mindset that would produce the detailed, compelling strong writing s/he is looking for.</p>
<p>Tell your D to e-mail or talk to the prof to make sure she interprets the writing assignment correctly. Asking a parent for clarification won’t help because it’s the professor’s assignment.</p>
<p>The person whom she needs to quickly e-mail in situations like this is the professor, not a parent because your well-meaning advice may not be what the professor would advise even if you happen to be a college prof, too.</p>
<p>I agree with NSM. Although my interpretation of the sentence leads me to believe that the professor wants students to imagine a radio audience to strengthen their writing, that may not be the case.</p>
<p>Especially since your daughter is not a native speaker of English, she must talk to the professor.</p>
<p>I agree with ucsd<em>ucla</em>dad: “The statement is out of context so it’s hard to determine what the prof really wanted. This ‘might’ be a strong suggestion or it might be nothing more than an example.” Further, I would ask the teacher. Assuming here could be a big mistake. It is not ignorant to ask a question, but it is ignorant to assume and be wrong.</p>
<p>Yes of course she should and will (or has) asked the professor. I was just interested in your imput. As an English-as-a-foreign-language high school teacher, I appreciate any information on word usage</p>
<p>Oh. English as a foreign language… Well, I don’t know that we’re the right crowd to ask. According to Prof. Higgins, English hasn’t been spoken in America for years.</p>