Ellen Jovin loves grammar – so much so that she has traveled across the country to answer people’s questions about it, setting up her Grammar Table in public venues.
This journey has inspired Jovin's book and new documentary, both called “Rebel With A Clause,” which highlights the human connection and curiosity of language.
She and her husband, Brandt Johnson, who directed the film, will be in Albuquerque for screenings Tuesday and Wednesday at The Guild Cinema.
Jovin first got the idea in 2018, when she set up a simple folding table on a Manhattan sidewalk. Jovin, an avid grammarian and longtime writing instructor, was tired of being tied to the digital world.
“I was blogging. I was in language groups online. I just wanted to be out in the light and air, and I thought I could just get a table and go outside our building and set up to answer people's questions,” she said.
What started as a spontaneous idea soon sparked something larger.
What does Ellen Jovin find so interesting about a topic that many find boring? She said that she’s fascinated by how “language and memory [are] so unreliable,” noting that people think they remember what they learned in fifth grade, but they often don’t. Her mission is not to enforce strict grammar rules, but rather ease the anxiety people feel around using grammar correctly.
“I know that many people are taught it in a more restrictive way than is justified by actual language use, and that people sometimes have a little bit of trauma about it,” she said.
Johnson said he enjoyed watching the organic and fascinating interactions the table fostered and was inspired to capture these moments on film.
As the couple traveled across the country, they discovered many areas of language homogeneity in the U.S. but also noticed different slang and vocabulary use, most notably in the South. The film includes an exchange about the proper placement of the apostrophe in “y’all.”
Their route was loosely planned, and was sometimes based on something as simple as the weather, leaving room for a lot of spontaneity. However, one of their favorite stops along the way was the plaza in downtown Santa Fe.
“It was just such a happy day,” she said.”People were out with their families, they had their winter gear on. It was just really charming.”
Some people’s questions were expected, like the infamous Oxford comma, and others were very unanticipated. Jovin recalled someone asking her, “How do I get a red stain out of my white carpet?” The couple agreed that the highlight of the trip wasn’t correcting grammar, but connecting with people from all walks of life. Visitors to the Grammar Table had varying professions, language backgrounds, and perspectives, with some being native english speakers and others not. Moments like these made the trip even more fulfilling.
Rather than leaning on scripted interactions, Jovin said she wanted everyone to want to be there by choice. People have responded well to that authenticity.
“People come up afterwards and thank us for the joy that this gave them, this 86 minutes of just laughing out loud and feeling connected. Some people say that it has restored their faith in people,” Johnson said.
Now, Jovin and Johnson are traveling the states for screenings of “Rebel with a Clause.” Before each show they set up the Grammar Table to encourage curiosity in the audience. The screening is then followed by a Q&A and book signing.
“Rebel with a Clause” shows at 3 and 6:30 pm Tuesday and Wednesday at the Guild Cinema in Albuquerque.