Reading Response #10

Summary:

 In his article "Good English and Bad," Bill Bryson discusses the idea of grammar and punctuation in writing. He starts off by telling the reader about the complexity of the English language and the Latin origin. In addition to the background, he also tells the audience the roles of a grammarian and why they play such a significant role.


Synthesis:

These two articles, (Bryson and Dawkins) talk about the same thing in relation to their importance to a paper. In Dawkin's article, he talks about how crucial it is to have good punctuation because of the role it plays in a sentence. At the same time, Bryson's article discusses the ideas of grammar and how important that is as well. Punctuation and grammar are both important to a writer when they are trying to get a message across to a reader.

Before you read:

I believe technology has changed the way we we speak to each other. Most teens/adults are talking with slang now, and aren't even speaking correctly. It doesn't affect the way I understand them because I know I do the same sometimes, and I am use to the way we talk now of days. I can't think of any new examples right now.

Questions for Discussion and Journaling:

3.  Prescriptive in the context of teaching grammar would mean that the teacher would be giving directions to the students in a way where the teacher would be telling them how it should be done. Descriptive in the context of teaching grammar would mean that the teacher would just be describing to the students how something is done without giving a position on whether something is right or wrong. In the past I have definitively been taught in a descriptive manner. My teachers would explain something one way and just expect us to believe it to be true.

Applying and Exploring Ideas:

What Bryson saying is that the English language is always changing, and everyone is different so it will be different when spoken. When the English language is placed in a different context it is going to change.

Meta Moment:

When i made my list I really realized that I don't consciously think about how to structure my words, or to make sure i don't have any fragments, and that all my punctuations are correct. Yes, I did learn them since I was young, and I've learned all the way up to high school. Yes knowing the parts of speech and grammatical terms can make you a better writer because you know what sounds good, and what other readers are going to want to read, and stay interested in.

Opinions:

My favorite out of the two articles would be Dawkin's article. He was definitely more thorough on the information he was trying to convey. His article was also easier to understand than Bryson's because his language wasn't as complex