The Phenomenology of Error is a passage that is written by Joseph M. Williams. He evaluates through the concept that errors of grammar and usage are puzzling. Many believe that we understand the true meaning behind grammar, but we do not. Without a doubt, William repeatedly questioned what defines error and who decides what an error is. Throughout the passage William attempts to describe how the professionals who create rules for grammatical errors tend to break those rules themselves. William elaborates on how the social problems that exist in our society are neglected greatly because we focus on the issues of grammar to a greater extent. Our disapproval for grammar errors had always been seen as a larger problem. The idea that people take …show more content…
Williams claims that errors of grammar and usage are the most complex topics, which have been easily misunderstood by many people in our world today. Whether the grammar has to do specifically with literature or not, it has always obtained errors. William notably supports his claim by giving specific examples of professionals who have stated grammatical errors according to what they think is “right.” William also provided some personal experience and textual evidence to express credibility and accuracy of his argument. William’s argument is effective because the main points he focused on with evidence were powerful and stood out to the audience. The real life examples that William demonstrated to the audience gave a strong base to his argument because he showed how grammar errors actually exist in our society. He made it evident that the audience had their eyes opened to topic that had been ignored in the past. William achieved his argument by providing real life situations and by looking at various researches that analyzed the existence of errors in grammar. However, the ways that William could have made his argument more effective is by not having comments that seemed too self- indulgencing. Also he could have taken out evidence like the graphs that didn’t make
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.
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.
In the article “I won’t hire people who use poor grammar here’s why.” published in Harvard business review on managing yourself, Kyle Wiens argues that he have a zero approach which does not allow for any grammar mistake because it makes people stupid, and he believes that people who made mistake in grammar do not deserve to have a job. Further, he supports his thesis by stating that people who made an error in their writing will do error in their work and their life. In addition, he claims that language is constantly changing, but that does not ignore the importance of the grammar. Thus, this claim is supported by stating that good grammar is credibility. For example, programmers who
499) Immediately, the inappropriate use of his language distances me from continuing to read. The tone of this statement comes off as one-sided and stubborn. Rather than approaching the statement in a scholarly fact, Wiens down plays the intelligence of his work with an ignorant remark. Also, when Wiens mentioned stocking shelves requires grammar proficiency, which is not true in most cases. Again, he doesn’t have creditable information to back up his claim. To make his statement credible, Wiens should have included a study based off of various shelf stocking hiring processes. This hiring process could have included what specific skill set or educational background a company requires their employees to obtain. Additionally, this study could have been collaborated with top warehouse companies in the United States with quotes and numerical information. Wiens said, “I’ve found that people who make fewer mistakes on a grammar test also make fewer mistakes when they are doing something completely unrelated to writing- like stocking shelves or labeling parts.” (p. 499) Additionally, my best friend’s dad, Justin, is an immigrant from Cambodia who has trouble with English grammar. He immigrated to the United States on June of 1992. Justin has been working at an inventory warehouse for nearly nine years. Sine working at the warehouse, he learned to verbally communicate in English and is coherent to the language. However, he lacks an understanding of written English grammar. Although, for Justin’s specific job title, he doesn’t need to distinguish the difference between to and too. The relevance of this example displays the unimportance of the English grammar in certain jobs. Otherwise, Justin would have been terminated within the first few months on the job for continuing to make costly mistakes. Additionally, my second job was a sales associate at a boutique and the
Michaela Cullington, a student, wrote a paper “Does Texting Affect Writing?” in 2010 for an English class. The paper is an examination of texting and the belief that it negative effective student’s writing. Cullington goes into detail about textspeak- “language created by these abbreviations”- and their use in formal writings. She organizes the paper in a way that is confusing to understand at first (pg. 1). At the end of the paper, she discusses her finding in her own research which comes to show that texting does not affect writing. But this is contradicting to the information she received from the teachers. The students and the teachers were seeing differences in the use of textspeak in formal writing. Cullington has good support for her
Western philosophy has been for the most part in serious error for the last three centuries. The book the Ten Philosophical Mistakes by Mortimer J. Adler sets out to explain where most of modern philosophical mistakes where made by the philosophers of the seventeenth century. Adler was considered to be one of the most well spoken philosophers of the 20th century and he proves that, throughout his book, when he disputes the flawed reasoning’s and introduces us to the correct reasoning’s. Adler was referred to as “the philosopher for the everyman”, because he recognized the massive importance of correct philosophical ideas in everyday life and tried to state the complex idea in terms that someone who is not a philosophy major can easily understand. Although he puts things in simple to understand ways he still uses precise words. When Adler gives examples he uses the most down to earth everyday examples so readers can relate to
Some teachers, when it comes to a child’s writing, do not want to make a child feel like what they wrote is wrong. Goldstein points out that teens today struggle more on college essays and in college because they are not taught correct grammar. Kathleen Sokolowski said that she went to Catholic school and grammar was a major element in her studies. I went to Catholic school as well and it was the same way. I knew others that were in public schools that did not learn grammar like I
These factors are similar to how writing styles affect your reader. No matter how great your grammar and punctuation are: poor diction, voice, and non-concise writing will ruin your credibility. Many students and writers throw these rough choices around like a jump shot in the d...
In the article "Why Good English is Good For You," by John Simon, the intended audience is English speaking Americans. Simon stresses the importance of keeping good English alive, and spreading it. He explains how the influence of adults can greatly impact the future of the upcoming generations. Simon makes it clear to the audience, which consists of young adults, adults, and professionals, that language is a daily necessity that should not be used in a way that makes Americans appear illiterate. Simon uses many rhetorical devices such as analogies, personification, asyndeton, and anaphoras to demonstrate the importance of utilizing English in a proper manner. Those who use English must train themselves to exert the language in the correct
When constructing a piece of writing, a student may sometimes find herself struggling to remember grammar rules or style principles. A handy reference guide would help her out immensely. William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White’s book, The Elements of Style, and Joseph Williams’ book, Style: Toward Clarity and Grace, assist writers improve their work in various ways. Strunk and Whites’ book took a simple approach, while Williams went more in-depth, with elaborate explanations and varying choices for each writing style.
Making sure your readers understand your writing is the basic principle behind Williams’ book. He takes the rules, offered by Strunk and White, and adds detailed explanations of when and how. He shows us how to incorporate this knowledge into clear and effective writing. Being clear and assuring that our readers understand the message we are trying to convey, needs to be our primary goal if we are to be considered good writers.
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.
Throughout this semester, our class has read four powerful and influential pieces by James Baldwin, Gloria Anzaldua, Haunani-Kay Trask, and Nick Bear. The first piece we ever looked at was Baldwin’s “If Black English Isn’t a Language, Then Tell Me, What Is?” This was our first writing assignment, focusing on using generative writing to get our ideas from our heads onto the paper, to then develop later. However, we were still supposed to focus on the PAR criteria, in order to get an idea on how we would need to develop our writing and our own pieces to pass the class. One of the first mistakes I made as a writer was as follows: “I really enjoyed the latter quote, on page 263. The importance of this quote, to me anyway, is that in every language, there is a common language. You know, English, French, Spanish, Italian, that sort of thing.” (Barley, Ass. 3)
Susan Adams and Kyle Weins have both written articles on the importance of using good grammar in the workplace. Each article gives numerous compelling reasons why this is a good practice. Susan Adams’ article first reason for doing so is in regards to how other people would view someone who uses bad grammar. She brings out that someone’s image can be damaged when they have improper speech habits; consequently their chances of advancing at work could be limited. Second, she shows how using poor grammar could cause a manager to view an employee as unorganized or unable to perform more advanced tasks. Finally, she brings out that someone who has poor speaking habits could be perceived as not having a firm grasp on the subject they are speaking about (Adams). Kyle Weins article also brings out some important points on bad grammar in the workplace. First, he shows that in today’s world people’s intelligence is judged based on what they say or what they type. The second point relates to how a manager could perceive someone with poor grammar. A manager could see an employee who uses poor grammar as someone who struggles to concentrate on tasks and doesn’t show attention to detail. Finally, he shows that peo...
In their essay, ‘The Intentional Fallacy’ (1946), William K. Wimsatt Jr. and Monroe C. Beardsley, two of the most eminent figures of the New Criticism school of thought of Literary Criticism, argue that the ‘intention’ of the author is not a necessary factor in the reading of a text.