Mulroy (not surprisingly) stands up for prescriptivists. He explains that good grammar is necessary to reserve and spread the standard language of a country. America never really bought into establishing linguistic academies for the use of creating a standard language. With Webster publishing the first dictionary in 1806, grammar rules (basically standard English) became embedded into the English language. Mulroy claims that critisizing presciptivism so harshly has become "fashionable." He thinks this act, used most commonly by modern linguists, has hindered the teaching of proper grammar. He then goes on to explain why people should respect and learn standard English, saying that using standard English has slowed the rate of change in the English language.
Riveting.
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19 comments:
Do you think Mulroy is a bad writer?
ditto. my eyes were only kept open through this because of caffeine. i definitely don't favor his writing style.
Steve: I think it's the subject matter. It's rather dense, and we've been reading quite a lot of it.
Honestly, I think Mulroy is full of bull. He makes good points...but his reasons for making them seem a bit pompous.
i think that all the people that write about grammar come across as pompous, but i also know that i think people are pompous when they talk abou something that i don't know much about. so...darn them.
I don't think Mulroy is a bad writer, I just get tired of reading about these men and all their theories. I get that they are really into it, but unless you have that unique passion for grammar, I think its difficult to..care? as much as they do. It just seems more difficult to relate if you haven't had a lot of experience with grammar or if you are not as passionate. If that makes sense.
And yes. Darn them, indeed.
So. I'm sure I'm more of a fan of your opinion than your summary.
I would have to say that "critisizing presciptivism so harshly" can be very fun. So fun in fact that I venture to say that we must obey all rules of grammar and that standard grammar is the only way to success.
Adam...I don't get it.
i agree adam. So much fun.
Riveting...huh? I somehow can't get past the idea that sarcasm drips of your tongue like venom does form a King Cobra. Ha! Riveting! OKay! I love sarcasm and I hate Mulroy, but I do have to say that, while he is a snob, he's just a radical that's misguided. I do believe we have to have a set of rules. I just don't feel like playing Monopoly with someone that takes the game to seriously? And that someone is Mulroy.
lol, I sense some sarcasm. Yeah, I'm not digging Mulroy either. Seems like I'm listening to a long rant about something I don't care about.
sarcasm??? Noooo...
lol First, I'm going to assume the word "rivetting" was used as sarcasm.
Do you agree with Mulroy? It sounds like you agree on grammar issues but thought his writing itself was too dense to be efficient. Is that right at all or am I reading your blog post wrong?
Not so much a bad writer as disconnected from his audience or maybe it's just that we aren't his target audience.
By my count, we've been reading about an article a week. Does everyone agree that that is "a lot"?
Katie, Pinker writes about grammar. Do you think he comes across as pompous? Or do you think those who come across as pompous are those who advocate traditional grammar instruction?
I remember that Wallace appreciated Garner because he advocated tradtional grammar instruction without seeming pompous.
If the prescriptivist/descriptivist debate seems alien, perhaps it might help to think of another debate about why and how SWE should be taught in schools? What's your view on that?
Dr. Benton- its not a lot, again, its just tiring. Its September and I feel that we have been reading about the same arguments between the same men over and over and over....
To be perfectly honest, I think that most of us were expecting something more concrete and not theory based. I also agree that without the passion for grammatical studies, it tends to shut people down. I always love a good debate but wish I could see both of them going at it on stage. It may be a bit more interesting then.
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