interesting reaction

Over in an Instapundit Open Thread, I announced that Grammatical Mood, Part 3 (imperative mood) was now up and ready. Here's one reaction I got:

I need to go back to high school freshman Latin in order to answer those questions.

Or you could become a paying subscriber and read a lesson that prints out to only one or two pages, learn or relearn the material, and get a 95% or 100% on the quiz.

Think about the psychology: A person doesn't study the material but just takes the quiz and bombs it. This immediately puts the person into an "I can't do it" quitter's mindset, which is the opposite of what I'm trying to achieve. True, the quizzes are free and open to the public, so this invites random quiz-taking from passersby. To that extent, maybe it's my fault for just leaving these quizzes out there. 

But by taking the quiz with no study, these people hope to accomplish... what, exactly? Are they measuring how much they remember from when they were in school (if so, a single quiz doesn't offer much data)? Are they doing the quiz just for a lark? I wouldn't blame the random quiz-takers if that was really their motivation, but what's frustrating is that, the moment I suggest subscribing and putting in the effort to learn/relearn the material, they shy away. And that's mostly a matter of laziness. If they're willing to pay five bucks for a slice of pizza per month, they've definitely got the funds to pay for a month's worth of lessons, so it's obviously more laziness than finances.*

The economic dynamic at work here is that most of these people will take the quizzes out of curiosity, then flit flightily away, onward to the next superficial distraction. But out of several hundred or several thousand of these hummingbirds who hover close, maybe one or two will decide to stick around and go deeper. I can't force anyone to do what I'd like them to do, and that's the nature of capitalism, at least at my level: It's about decisions and agreements. So I'm building my flower garden and hoping a lot more hummingbirds eventually come helicoptering my way.

Here's a sample question to ponder:

Question 2

Which, if any, are commands?

Please stop with the throat-singing.Never get close to the caged monkeys when they’re horny.Ending the payments to your grandmother is your choice.Stir the mixture to ensure even heating.

REASONING: The lesson this quiz refers to (see here if you're a paying subscriber) was about the imperative (command) mood. By the end of it, you ought to be able to recognize what a command is and why it's not the same as a statement in the indicative or subjunctive mood. You've learned that commands can begin with Please; they can also be one-word utterances that aren't verbs, such as Quiet! and Gently! Commands can be an imperious order, a suggestion, advice, or caution. The lesson teaches a few other things as well.

1st possible choice: Yes. Please stop indicates an imperative.

2nd possible choice: Yes. Advice beginning with Never + verb is in the imperative.

3rd possible choice: No. This is in the indicative mood, being a statement of fact (...is your choice).

4th possible choice: Yes. Cooking instructions are in the imperative, and this one is obviously verb-first.

Two more coming out later today.

__________

*So, the question of financial caution or even stinginess also comes up. While $5/month isn't expensive by any standard, a person who is already subscribed to various services can feel overwhelmed, "subscribed to death." I'm not a mind-reader, so I can't judge each person's individual situation, and frankly, I can relate to feeling overwhelmed. All I can do, then, is shrug at the ones who sniff and walk away, then wait for the next prospective customer. (That said, I suspect there are a lot of lazy people who hide behind the "subscribed to death" rationale to avoid making any intellectual effort. Of course, I have no way to prove that.)