In John Simon’s “Why Good English Is Good for You,” Simon presents to the readers of Esquire Magazine the argument that there should only be one form of English in the United States. Simon feels that not only should there be one form of English in the United States, but that the standard of English should be traditional, proper English. With the people who read Esquire traditionally being men of a higher socioeconomic class, Simon implies that they are an older group because they had to obtain the money to reach such a high class. In “Why Good English Is Good for You,” Simon uses diction, procatalepsis, and historical background to successfully persuade old, rich, male Americans that good English is the only form of English fit for Americans and the American classroom. John Simon uses diction in different ways to persuade his audience that a more traditional English is the only form of English fit for Americans. First, Simon uses critical diction to strongly establish both the type of individual he is and what he is going to talk about. Simon is well aware that persuading his audience is important to reforming education to its more traditional, correct English because his audience would have the money to support Simon feels that not only should there be one form of English in the United States, but that the standard for good English should be traditional, proper English. With the people who read Esquire traditionally being men of a higher socioeconomic class, Simon implies that they are an older group because they had to obtain the money to reach such a high class. John Simon present the idea that good English is good for everyone, so everyone should be educated in good English. Simon believes that the members of his audience can use their resources to finance educational
In the article “Do You Speak American?,” Robert MacNeil is trying to reach the american public, especially those who do not have a complete understanding of the ongoing changes that are happening to the English that is spoken throughout the United States. He uses a multitude of examples to prove this very fact. For one he wants to inform the people that one reason for this change is that average people now have more influence in the way language is spoken.Which to him is a good thing. He enjoys the new evolution that American English has undertaken. He believes that it is a step in the right direction. Another, example he uses are the changes different regions and/or group of people have made on the English language. He uses the different accents and dialect to show the growth and improvement that occurred. Even though, some linguist view these changes as wrong, MacNeil views them as necessary and as something that is unique to the United States. In essence, a necessary growth that only makes the United States grow into a better country. Thus, making it more diverse.
David Foster Wallace, author of the essay “Authority and American Usage*,” praises and advocates for “good” writers who have a strong rhetorical ability, which he defines as “the persuasive use of language to influence the thoughts and actions of an audience” (Wallace 628). To have a strong rhetorical ability, an author needs to be aware of whom their audience is, in order to present their information in a way that will be influential on their audience. Wallace recognizes that an author who applies a strong rhetorical ability will be able to connect with the audience so that they respond “not just to [their] utterance but also to [them]” (Wallace 641). An author needs to take into consideration not just content, syntax and grammatical structure (their “utterance”) but also how their character will be perceived by their audience. A positive tone will make the author seem more pleasant and relatable, whereas a negative tone connotes arrogance and pretentiousness. That is why it is crucial for an author to recognize that an audience will respond to “them” and not just their “utterance,” as an author’s appearance to their readers can also shape how impactful their writing is.
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';
Despite the warnings of Orwell through both his essay and dystopian novel, bad English is still used today, and could be argued to affect more English than it did during Orwell’s life. The consequences are also just as he predicted, those who control the language are able to wield control over the thoughts of others. The usage of poor quality English by media has he effect of making the recipients of news more detached from events and as a consequence, more self-focused. The clumsiness and foolishness imposed by bad English ultimately degrading thought, politics, culture, and society is what Orwell had foretold. This is the English tragedy that is disregarded, modern thoughts of “English” are not of language but of the English Queen.
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
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.
...t know what George Orwell would have to say about English now. We are in a largely technological age and, with text message slang and emoticons blanching all color from thought and emotion, I believe the English language is in even more trouble now than in George Orwell’s time. I imagine the English language as a lonely working class dog that has strayed far from home. I realize, in reality the lonely dog is right by our side. It’s not lost, just poorly trained. English should be seen as “an instrument which we shape for our own purposes” (591). We must ask ourselves, what is the use of having a poor quality tool if it doesn’t work? We have, through abuse and neglect, shaped “man’s best friend” into the sad form it is today. Should we grab the shot gun and take poor, old “Yeller” back behind the shed? No! We should take the steps to fix what we have done.
In Johnson’s preface to A Dictionary of the English Language, Johnson argues the importance of preserving language. Other dialects had a produced their own dictionaries, such as the French and Italians. Various writers of the eighteenth century were alarmed at the fact that there was no standard for the English language, since there was no standard it could easily become extinct. Johnson explored many points, such as how and why languages change as well as how many words are formed.
Gee, James Paul. "Literacy, Discourse, and Linguistics: Introduction." Wardle, Elizabeth and Doug Downs. Writing About Writing. Boston/New York: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2011. 747.
Oh, English, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways: I love thee much because I do not have to solve for “x” or dissect the gluteus maximus or associate with right-wing political extremists. I love thee for the oxford comma, the iambic pentameter, and the lady Sylvia Plath. But society does not love thee, and why, I do not know. The English major thrives with opportunities and is as self-satisfying as any other major. The world doth protest too much, methinks.
In a sociolinguist perspective “the idea of a spoken standardized language is a hypothetical construct” (Lippi-Green, 2012, pp. 57). They are the form of Britain English and American English that are used in textbooks and on broadcasting. Giles and Coupland observe that “A standard variety is the one that is most often associated with high socioeconomic status, power and media usage in a particular community” (1991, p. 38). Both native speakers and learners of English, where English is taught as a second or foreign language (hereafter ESL/EFL), speak dialect of English in everyday conversation (Kachru, 2006, pp. 10-11; Owens 2012, p.
The American class system is divided into three sets of social categories: upper class, middle class, and lower class. These class divisions are determined based on an individual’s status and power in the society and may also be determined through an individual’s education, occupation, and income. Having a divided society based on social and economic status leads to the formation of different conversational styles. The use of standard or nonstandard English dialects often reflect an individual’s social class and it will vary according to the social group one is categorized. Language is affected by the social structure because individuals will differ from one another in the way an individual speak. Being divided by
Although I am Chinese, I am writing this essay in English. In fact, I spend most of my time communicating with others, expressing myself, and learning new knowledge in English. Regardless of my race, I, similar to many people across the world, use English as a primary language in my daily life. Most will agree that English is the international language of the world. To this day, English has been the most widely spread language around the globe. It is the official language of over 50 countries and the third most spoken language worldwide (Lewis, 2010). However, despite the contributions English has made to the merging of a global village, the spreading of English will lead to the displacement of local languages and cultural identities. It threatens
My fascination with English did not start until Grade 9. It was always tenses, grammar, vocabularies, and occasionally some Shakespeare on repeat back when I was in middle school. I just treated English as a subject that I must study in order to proceed to high school. However, my attitude towards this language has completely changed since the day my English teacher showed the class a clip of TED Talk given by Stephen Burt on the topic “Why People Need Poetry”. He analyses the beauty and the mystery of intonation, word stress, poetic techniques and so on by sharing with the audience some of his favourite poems. I was immediately hooked with the effectiveness of his talk, and as well as how English language and literature can actually be of
As an active member of the “global village”, Vietnam wants to adopt English as its second language to easily facilitate joint activities with other countries (Kim, 2016). It has become so essential a language that not only did the Ministry of Education and Training make it a compulsory subject for students as young as those into in primary schools, it also set the ambitious initiative that all young people leaving school by 2020 would have a good command of English (Parks, 2011). English, since then, has been studied by a large number of people, mostly by students who wish to be well-prepared for future careers.