Commentary and opinion: Grammarly® admits defeat!

This service makes a lot of corrections, but these are often wrong. Rather unnervingly, Grammarly’s own commentary tends to be inconsistent. Once more, the random apostrophes on p. 1 go unnoticed, while a needed comma (on p. 4) is missed, and other commas are suggested in places they don’t belong. Quotes, (occasionally) brackets, and (especially) ellipses cause confusion. The big stylistic bugbear seems to be “often overused” words—but the replacements offered frequently don’t fit the context, or appear even more hackneyed (e.g., “smart” in place of clever, “see” for observe).

At the bottom of Grammarly’s list of grammatical tools (see below) is a section called “Human Proofreader.” When you click it states, “ Save time and ensure accuracy with professional proofreaders. They are ready to check your text right now.” This is not a free service; you pay for Grammarly and then pay again for a live proofreader. The prices fluctuate according to demand.

Pro: It’s fast; you get instant results

Con: It’s not intuitive It’s limited in its knowledge of proper English language framework Its suggestions are sometimes downright wrong You can’t ask Grammarly a grammatical question The program admits its shortcomings by suggesting a human proofreader be consulted

Some examples for following paper: p. 1, line 1 (& following): picky, picky on “often overused” words—which are not really a problem here p. 1, lines 2: fails to correct an incomplete sentence p. 1, line 6: no “determiner” necessary p. 1, line 9: See line 6. p. 1, line 12: misses stray apostrophe p. 1, line 13: misunderstands ellipses (. . .) p. 1, line 14: misses other random apostrophe p. 1, line 15: This is a quote, so usage should remain. p. 1, line 23: A person cannot be “a greatness.” (Sentence structure needs adjustment.) p. 2, line 2: This seems clear enough, in context. p. 2, line 2: misses authors as possessive p. 2, line 3: own personal is fine p. 2, line 4: then is fine p. 2, line 8: needs in after reveled p. 2, line 14: again, misunderstands ellipses p. 2, line 17: has trouble with brackets p. 2, line 19: It’s a quote, and must remain. p. 2, line 22: anymore is correct p. 3, line 4: The comma is fine. (In fact, this sentence needs more commas.) p. 3, line 9: catches then, but not as a typo p. 3, line 15: no comma is necessary p. 3, lines 17-18: See p. 2, line 3. p. 3, line 20: Again, it’s a quote. p. 4, line 2: does not understand slashes separating lines of poetry p. 4, line 13: misses a necessary comma p. 5, line 13: Yet is fine, but no comma should follow. p. 5, line 14: does not catch median for medium p. 5, line 16: his or her own is fine p. 5, line 17: See p. 2, line 2.

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A Grammarly 5/26/18 7:58 PM Mythologies of ancient cultures often appear amongst the finest and most popular works of Comment [1]: Vocabulary: The word finest is often overused. Consider using a more specific synonym to improve the sharpness of literature. Classical writings such as Homer's Iliad and Ovid's Metamorphosis, to modern your writing: most beautiful and most excellent. adaptations like Alfred, Lord Tennyson's "Ulysses" and Seamus Heaney's " and Antaeus," A Grammarly 5/27/18 2:35 PM Comment [2]: Vocabulary: The word mythology has shaped the body of western literature. There exists a marked difference, though, popular is often overused. Consider using a more specific synonym to improve the between the purposes of the classical mythologies and their modern counterparts. The majority of sharpness of your writing: most famous. A Grammarly 5/27/18 2:35 PM Comment [3]: Grammar: The noun phrase the classics focuses on exploration of the human spirit and the teaching of moral lessons, while exploration seems to be missing a determiner before it. Consider adding an article: the modern mythological poetry tends to concern itself with the social and political aspects of exploration or an exploration. A Grammarly 5/27/18 2:36 PM contemporary society. This modern, socio-political, focus is the basis for the branch of literary Comment [4]: Grammar: The noun phrase Marxist theory seems to be missing a determiner before it. Consider adding an criticism known as Marxist theory. According to Peter Barry, Marxist critics examine both the article: the Marxist theory or a Marxist theory. "covert" (167) and "overt" (167) aspects of a literary work to determine how its structure, A Grammarly 5/26/18 8:10 PM Comment [5]: Conventions: As the first message, and theme were shaped by the author's "social-class status" (167) and by the "social word of the sentence, endowed should be capitalized. period which produced' it" (167). Literature, according to the Marxist critics, makes use of A Grammarly 5/27/18 2:36 PM Comment [6]: Grammar: The indefinite article an may be redundant when used in ideology, "a system . . . of representations . . . endowed with an existence and an historical role at your sentence. Consider removing it. A Grammarly 5/27/18 2:37 PM the heart of a given society'" (Barry 163), to identify with and establish a kinship with its readers. Comment [7]: Grammar: The article an may be incorrect. Consider changing it to One such ideology is ancient mythology. The works of both Tennyson and Heaney provide prime agree with the beginning sound of the following word, historical. examples of Marxist utilization of ancient mythology to either praise or condemn the practices of A Grammarly 5/27/18 2:37 PM Comment [8]: Vocabulary: The word is often overused. Consider using a more specific contemporary society. synonym to improve the sharpness of your writing: merely. Nearly every aspect of Tennyson's "Ulysses" matches perfectly with the principles of Marxist A Grammarly 5/26/18 8:24 PM Comment [9]: Vocabulary: The word is literary theory. Overtly, the poem is simply the lament of an aging Ulysses for the passing of his often overused. Consider using a more specific synonym to improve the sharpness of your writing: smart or bright. life of adventure and fame. The mythological Ulysses is a man of archetypal proportions--clever, A Grammarly 5/26/18 8:25 PM Comment [10]: Vocabulary: The word is brave, and strong. He is a greatness that humans would aspire to, and Tennyson uses that ideology often overused. Consider using a more specific ... [1] A Grammarly 5/27/18 2:38 PM to advance his covert goal. Writing in the early 19th century, a time of great expansion and Comment [11]: Grammar: The indefinite article a may be redundant when used with ... [2] colonization for the British Empire, Tennyson uses his poetry as a means of propaganda. He A Grammarly 5/26/18 8:29 PM Comment [12]: Vocabulary: The word great is often overused. Consider using a ... [3]

2 glorifies the exploration and travel of Ulysses, hoping to incite his readers to travel to Britain's colonies. This makes sense, considering the Marxist view that authors work reflects their social A Grammarly 5/26/18 8:32 PM class. As a member of the aristocracy, Tennyson's own personal honor and station were tied Comment [13]: Clarity: It may be unclear who or what This refers to. Consider rewriting the sentence to remove the unclear reference. closely to the glory of his country. It is then only natural for his poetry to promote the A Grammarly 5/27/18 2:38 PM Comment [14]: Conciseness: It appears magnificence of Great Britain, and urge others to do the same. that own personal is a tautology. Consider changing it. The diction in Tennyson's poem paints a picture of travel that resounds with awesome majesty A Grammarly 5/26/18 8:35 PM Comment [15]: Spelling: The word then and engenders a feeling of wanderlust in those who read his words. On his journey, Ulysses is doesn’t seem to fit this context. Consider replacing it with a different one. "honored" (15) by myriad peoples in exotic places. He "dr[a]nk delight" (16) and reveled his fame. A Grammarly 5/27/18 2:39 PM After experiencing such wonder, Ulysses cannot be content to settle down and rest, for "all Comment [16]: Spelling: the word reveled doesn’t seem to fit this context. Consider replacing it with a different one. experience is an arch wherethrough gleams that untraveled world" (19-20). There is little mention of the hardships Ulysses endured, and what reference Tennyson does make toward them lasts only tow lines (8-9) and seems less like pain and more like glory. After reading such a description, A Grammarly 5/27/18 2:39 PM Tennyson's audience cannot help but feel the beckoning tug of the unknown, the "hungry heart" Comment [17]: Spelling: The word tow doesn’t seem to fit this context. Consider replacing it with a different one: two. (12) and "yearning . . . desire" (30). A Grammarly 5/26/18 8:39 PM Comment [18]: Conventions: As the first Tennyson's masterful depiction of Ulysses' character creates an image which, though it looms word of the sentence, desire should be capitalized. larger-than-life, can appeal to all members of society. The Ulysses of this poem is an old man A Grammarly 5/27/18 2:40 PM Comment [19]: Spelling: The word ade "[m]ade weak by time and fate, but strong in will" (69). And that will is all that is necessary to doesn’t seem to fit this context. Consider replacing it with a different one: made. propel him forward to greater glory. Though he is no longer young and strong, Ulysses maintains A Grammarly 5/26/18 8:41 PM Comment [20]: Grammar: The adverb yet appears to be misplaced in this sentence. that "[o]ld age hath yet his honor and his toil" (50). By maintaining that even in the twilight of his Determine the appropriate placement for the adverb. life, Ulysses can accomplish great things, Tennyson convinces his readers that no matter their A Grammarly 5/27/18 2:40 PM Comment [21]: Spelling: The word mmay situation, they too can experience adventure and win glory. They mmay not be great heroes or is not in our dictionary. If you’re sure this spelling is correct, you can add it to your personal dictionary to prevent future alerts. warriors who once "strove with Gods" (53), but neither is Ulysses anymore. And yet, he can still A Grammarly 5/27/18 2:40 PM Comment [22]: Spelling: The word venture forth into the unknown. Ulysses' plea for his sailors to accompany him on one last voyage anymore may be used incorrectly. Review the following notes to determine the appropriate usage for your context: any more.

3 can be translated directly into Tennyson's call for the English citizens to go forth and settle the

British colonies; he says "[c]ome, my friends / it is not too late to seek a newer world" (56-7).

Such an exhortation echoes the goals of the British government during Tennyson's time, and, as such, his work is not only a prime example of Marxist literary theory, but more specifically of A Grammarly 5/26/18 8:48 PM Leninist Marxist theory, which Peter Barry claims "insists on the need for art to be explicitly Comment [23]: Punctuation: The comma before the conjunction but appears to be unnecessary. Consider removing it. committed to the political cause" (160).

Like Tennyson, contemporary Irish poet Seamus Heaney utilizes verse as a tool of social commentary. But unlike "Ulysses," Heaney's poem "Hercules and Antaeus" criticizes society rather then praising it. Heaney was born into a country rife with violence, hatred, and A Grammarly 5/26/18 8:49 PM Comment [24]: Spelling: The word then misunderstanding. The struggle between Irish Catholics and Protestants--the atrocities committed may be used incorrectly. Review the following notes to determine the appropriate usage for on both sides--profoundly affected him throughout his life. And, as Marxist theory says it must, your context. A Grammarly 5/27/18 2:41 PM Comment [25]: Vocabulary: The word is his writing reflects the impact of his social environment. often overused. Consider using a more specific synonym to improve the sharpness of your In "Hercules and Antaeus," Heaney retells the mythological struggle between the strongest writing: smart or bright, most influential, most muscular, most active. man ever to live and the great giant who is invincible as long as some part of his body touches the A Grammarly 5/27/18 2:41 PM Comment [26]: Grammar: The article an may be incorrect. Consider changing it to earth, his mother. But he tells it from an unique perspective. Usually Hercules, the son of , is agree with the beginning sound of the following word unique: a unique . portrayed as a great hero slaying a monster, but Heaney takes a different view. His Hercules is an A Grammarly 5/26/18 8:54 PM Comment [27]: Punctuation: It appears invader, an interloper who destroys without cause or right and does so in pursuit of his own that you are missing a comma after the introductory phrase Usually. Consider adding a comma. personal glory. There are definite parallels between the senseless violence Heaney depicts in this A Grammarly 5/26/18 8:55 PM Comment [28]: Conciseness: It appears poem, and the brutality he observed and continues to observe in Ireland. that own personal is a tautology. Consider changing it. Antaeus, as the child of the earth, the "mould-hugger" (Heaney 8), represents the common A Grammarly 5/27/18 2:41 PM Comment [29]: Variety: The word observe people of Ireland, the farmers of Heaney's childhood. Heaney describes the giant as an almost appears repeatedly in this text. Consider using a synonym in its place: keep, see, find, follow. passive elemental, not a monster. Antaeus draws his strength from "the river veins, the secret A Grammarly 5/26/18 8:59 PM Comment [30]: Conventions: The spelling gullies" (14), from the earth, just as Irish farmers depend upon Ireland itself for their lives. of mould-hugger is a non-American variant. For consistency, consider replacing it with the American English spelling.

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Following this logic, Hercules then becomes the terrorism, the hate, that has plagued Ireland for centuries. Such hatred is one of "the black powers / feeding off the territory" (6-7), and is crushing A Grammarly 5/26/18 9:01 PM the common people in the "remorseless V" (26) of its arms. Terrorism in Ireland justifies its Comment [31]: Conventions: It appears that you have extra spaces surrounding the slash between the words powers and feeding. existence by claiming it acts for the greater good, for a higher purpose, for God. To symbolize this Consider removing the extra spaces. connection, Heaney labels Hercules "[s]ky-born and royal" (1). Later, he describes Hercules' intellect as a "blue prong" (14), a color traditionally assigned to designate divinity. While Hercules may claim to carry out the work of the gods, his true focus is on personal glory, on "golden apples" (3) and "trophies" (4). And Heaney considers him nothing more than a "dung-heaver" (2).

The hatred he represents is worthless and can accomplish nothing save meaningless death.

Among the most interesting aspects of this poem are the three figures to whom Heaney compares Antaeus: Balor, Byrthnoth, and Sitting Bull. In these three men, who each represent a different type of violent conflict, lies Heaney's message to the Irish people. Balor, in Irish-Celtic mythology is the god of the underworld, the lord of the dead who is vanquished and slain by his son. By referencing Balor, Heaney calls attention to the fact that the Irish people are fighting and killing each other. They are of the same race, of the same blood. In effect, they are fighting a civil war. Byrthnoth, an Anglo-Saxon earl in the early 11th century, fell to the spears of the Vikings in the Battle of Maldon, and was later immortalized by the epic poem of that name. His death at the hands of invaders symbolizes the exterior influence of British Protestantism on the Irish conflict.

Byrthnoth's undoing was his pride; "the Earl permitted in his great pride to allow land many of

[the Vikings]" (Maldon 89-90). It is pride that has kept the hate alive in Ireland, pride that negates any possibility of reconciliation. And it is pride which must be overcome if peace is ever to return.

Sitting Bull was the Native American chieftain who led the resistance of the Sioux against the government confiscation of their lands. He defeated George Armstrong Custer and the 7th Cavalry

5 at the Battle of the Little Bighorn, but was eventually captured and killed in a riot. Of the three, he is the only truly historical figure, and his conflict stands in the grey area between civil war and invasion, exhibiting aspects of both. Sitting Bull died as a result of violent protest, and illustrates

Heaney's plea for an end to demonstrations of force in Ireland. He believes that if Ireland fails to heed his warning, then the land must be "bequeathed [. . .] to elegists" (Heaney 25-6) and will live only in the mournful lamentations of the dead.

Though one lauds civilization and the other condemns it, both Tennyson and Heaney convey social commentary through the vehicle of their verse. The authors adapt the old stories to suit their purposes, taking the familiar and easily recognizable characters of ancient mythology and utilizing them to make a statement about modern society. Their work, as Marxist critics say it must be, is shaped by the world around them, by their interaction with culture. "Ulysses" and "Hercules and

Antaeus" derive their material from the same Greek mythology, but convey very different, conflicting messages. Yet, this makes since, for literature tells the story of people--their emotions, A Grammarly 5/27/18 2:44 PM their experiences, and their civilizations. All authors work with the median of humanity, but each Comment [32]: Formality: Yet may not be the best choice here. Consider replacing it with another word or removing it entirely. sees a different shape hiding within that clay. And each sculpts it to reflect his or her own unique A Grammarly 5/27/18 2:44 PM Comment [33]: Spelling: The word since viewpoint. This is how it has always been, and how it shall continue to be. doesn’t seem to fit this context. Consider replacing it with a different one: sense. A Grammarly 5/26/18 9:05 PM Works Cited Comment [34]: Conciseness: It appears that own is a tautology. Consider changing it. A Grammarly 5/27/18 2:45 PM Comment [35]: Clarity: It may be unclear Barry, Peter. Beginning Theory. New York: Manchester UP, 1995. who or what This refers to. Consider rewriting the sentence to remove the unclear reference.

"The Battle of Maldon." Old English Pages: Electronic Texts and Manuscript Images. Trans.

Douglas Killings. Online. 9 April 2000.

Heaney, Seamus. "Hercules and Antaeus." North. New York: Oxford UP, 1976. 52-3.

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Tennyson, Alfred. "Ulysses." The Norton Introduction to Literature. Eds. Jerome Beaty and J. Paul Hunter. 7th ed. New York: Norton, 1998. 1139-41.