In “Defending Against the Indefensible” by Neil Postman, he proposes a different way of viewing the English language. He says that our civilization is being manipulated by the ambiguity in English, and students are most easily affected by the school environment. Thus, he proposes seven key ideas that students should remember in order to avoid the dangers and loopholes that twist the original meaning of statements. His first principle is definition. Students must consider that definitions are not concrete. They are created by people, which make definitions subjective rather than objective. One person’s definition of something may be different from another person’s, and they both could be correct. The definition is largely dependant on the viewer’s …show more content…
The answers you receive are largely dependant on how you ask the questions. You must understand the information clearly and thoroughly in order to produce a well-worded question, which will result in a response that answers the question. Postman recommends that students should be taught the fundamentals of question asking as it is one of the most important aspects of English. If an alteration is made to the question, you could receive a completely different answer; the answer could be useless to you. Furthermore, “troublesome words are those whose meanings appear to be simple, like “true”, “false,” “fact,” “law,” “good,” and “bad””(Postman 24). These words leave the reader with ambiguity. They could be interpreted in many different ways and often creates problems for the reader. Complex words with single, more concrete definitions are much easier to understand. As well, metaphors exists everywhere. They influence the way we process information in our minds. Without the idea of comparison in order to achieve a better understanding of material, everything would be abstract and the way we perceive the information would be completely
1 Wilson Follett, in the article “On Usage, Purism, Pedantry” from Modern American Usage, promotes how two parties view the rights and wrongs concerning the usage of language.
Throughout the span of the past few weeks I have traversed the globe, visiting several countries and regions, only to realize that although new methods develop, language as a way of expressing ones self has remained the most effective. Despite this fact, language still has its pitfalls. Neil Postman, in his essay “Defending Against the Indefensible,'; outlines seven concepts that can be used to aid a student in better understanding the language as a means of communication. He describes how modern teaching methods leave a student vulnerable to the “prejudices of their elders';, further stating that a good teacher must always be skeptical. He urges teachers of all subjects to break free from traditional teachings as well as “linguistical tyranny';
Neil Postman (March 8, 1931- Octomber 5, 2003) was an American author, educator, ,media theorist and cultural critic, who is best known for his seventeen books, including “Amusing Ourselves to Death”(1985). Postman’s best known book is “Amusing Ourselves to Death”. Since TV replace the written word , Postman belive that people would be more and more attracted to this, but he also argue that television is not an effective way of providing education after all.
Neil Postman, writer, educator, critic and communications theorist, has written many books, including Technopoly. Mr. Postman is one of America's most visible cultural critics, who attempts to analyze culture and history in terms of the effects of technology on western culture. For Postman, it seems more important to consider what society loses from new technology than what it gains. To illustrate this, Postman uses the Egyptian mythology called "The Judgment of Thamus," which attempts to explain how the development of writing in Egyptian civilization decreases the amount of knowledge and wisdom in the society. He traces the roots of technology to show how technology impacts the moral and intellectual attitude of people. Postman seems to criticize societies with high technologies, yet he seems naive to the benefits technology has given society. Postman can be considered fairly conservative in his views regarding technology. His lucid writing style stimulates thoughts on issues in today's technological society; however because of his moral interpretations and historical revisions, his ethos is arguable. For every good insight he makes, he skips another mark completely.
Poststructuralists aggressively declares that we cannot trust linguistic systems to convey truth, the foundations of reality are unpredictable and the world of literacy as we know it begins to unravel...
Student's Book of College English: Rhetoric, Reader, Research Guide and Handbook. Boston: Pearson Learning Solutions, 2012. 402-405.
Simon emphases the significance of knowing, and using proper English, as well as keeping it alive. He proposes ways to sharpen the brain, which will result in a greater sense of discipline and memory. Simon also notes that everything we do is done with words, therefore, English is viewed as an essential to everyday life. The accurate use of rhetorical devices in this article are just one of many examples on how good English can help a person on a day to day basis. Despite Simon’s knowledge of proper English, the remainder of Americans must train themselves so that they may also achieve correct usage of the English
...s that you develop a way of regarding the information that you receive to the society that you are living in. He also believes that a quality education develops a students moral views and ability to think. And that these qualities are best developed in the traditional classroom setting by interaction between the student and their professors, and the student’s social life on campus, that is, their interaction with fellow students.
Birk and Birk explore the many processes that automatically and often unintentionally, take place during the gathering of knowledge and expression through words. In their book Birk and Birk break the usage of words into sections: Selection, Slanting by the use of emphasis, slanting by selection of facts, and slanting by the use of charged words. When words are used this way they reveal naturally occurring bias of the writer. Upon reviewing the selection from Birk and Birk’s book Understanding and Using Language it is clear that the essay written by Jake Jameson has examples of every principal Birk and Birk discuss. The Birk and Birk selection provides us with a set of tools that enable us to detect bias in the many forms that it takes. These tools reveal what Jamieson favors and make plain the bias present in his essay The English-Only movement: Can America Proscribe Language With a Clean Conscience?
In the eighth chapter of his text, Meaning, Language, and Time: Toward a Consequentialist Philosophy of Discourse, Dr. Porter argues for a shift towards a consequentialist pedagogy in the classroom. Porter rejects the current practice of “authoritarian, rigid teaching methods” involved in what he terms “pedagogies of severity,” as these severely restrict the consequences or meanings available to students when writing or reading (278). Instead, he argues for a consequentialist pedagogy, which promotes flexibility in both the interpretation and consequences of a text or utterance (303). While this propagation of the multiplicity of meanings is emphasized in some post-secondary
In the podcast “Why philosophers use examples,” Tamar Gendler talks about the use of metaphor/example as an important way for people to understand patterns in philosophy. She first discusses the two main components of human soul: reason/rationality and spirit/appetite. These two components give human the capacity to engage in the world in different ways. If put the two on a spectrum, subjects like Mathematics and logics that involve notions of abstract logical relation fall on the pure rationality side, whereas interaction like rhythm in music and dance movement with the soul that appeals to the non-rational part is on the other end. Gendler suggests that metaphor/example falls in the middle of the spectrum and allows two sides engage in each
George Orwell’s essay, Politics and the English Language, first published in 1946, talks about some “bad habits”, which have driven the English language in the wrong direction, that is, away from communicating ideas. In his essay he quotes five passages, each from a different author, which embody the faults he is talking about. He lists dying metaphors, operators, pretentious diction, and meaningless words as things to look out for in your own writing and the writing of others (593-595). He talks about political uses of the English language. Our language has become ugly and the ugliness impedes upon communication. Ugly uses of language have been reinforced and passed down in the population “even among people who should and do know better,” (598). Ugly language has been gaining ground in our population by a positive feedback mechanism.
The news is a great source to gain information about things going on around the world. In Amusing Ourselves To Death, author Neil Postman says that the news is not used to inform, but is used as a source of entertainment. Postman wrote that the news became entertain through the music, the length of the stories and the commercials shown during the news. Postman was not entirely correct about the news. News channels use music, the length of stories, and commercials for a purpose that is not entertainment.
From the outset of this essay it is necessary to define the basic principles of
A large part of an English teacher’s job deals with helping students find their own voices amidst the many teachings of their parents and peers. A student’s voice can be their values, their interests, and their perspectives of the world in which they live. Their voice can be their critical questioning of the many situations they face, whether in a text, the school cafeteria, or a park after school. It is the job of an English teacher to aid in finding this voice through their writing. It is by putting words and thoughts down on paper that a student can sometimes feel comfortable enough to take risks and find their true voices. Although traditional grammar instruction has long been thought to improve this skill, this is no longer the case. Instead, by providing a classroom environment in which students are immersed in classic literature from many genres including poetry, short stories, and novels, students will learn how to harness grammar for their own purposes of finding their voice in their writing.