Prescriptivist or Descriptivist?

I had never thought about what I considered myself to be: a presecriptivist or a descriptivist. Now that I have read the article Which Language Rules to Flout. Or Flaunt? I have a better idea of what category I fall in. Since I was little I have considered myself to be more of an english type of student than math. Some people like math because it has only one answer, but for me it is more interesting to have different answers because it leaves room for creativity and making choices. Thus I am a prescriptivist.

Arriving to CNG in 5th grade was not only a big transformation from country and friends but also from language. When I arrived to Colombia I thought that English was going to be the least of my worries because my frist language was actually English. But when I arrived I was surprised to find that my English teachers thought that my wirting was strange. At first I didnt understnad, I thought that I might know more than them, but then it stroke out to me when they strated to write FAVORITE instead of FAVOURITE. That is when I learened that Canada’s way of writing English is as the British do, and here it was all American. Although it started to frusturate me, I actually found it interesting. That was the momento when I realizad that I really liked to write, speacally because I could argue why I was still write of writing COLOUR with a U instead of just with an O, or writing centre as CENTRE instead of CENTER.

Both authors make interesting points, and both defend their positions, but I like the presecriptivist better because although they think that what they say is the write thing, they all argue to defend their form of writing.

Grandma For Dinner!

Reading Maldy’s article “Will we use Commas in the Future?” made me think about the importante of commas, rather than to agree with his point, that we wont use commas in the future. Although he writes very well without commas, I do think that they are necessary. They make the difference.

I hadnt though about the imporatnce of the comma because its something that I do automatically, but if I stop using them my messages can be perceived very differently and i might even have problems. In the article, Malady gives the example of “lets eat grandma!”. If one does not put a comma alter eat, it would sound as if one is saying to eat their grandma. Although by logic we wouldnt think so, it still sends a completely different message.

In class we watched the TED talk about how texting is so different from writing, and that is something Malady should take into account. Texting isn't the same thing as writing, it's another form of language. Just because we use abreviations when texting, it doesn't mean we are going to write them in our collage essays. Although he is right that this does have and effect of how people write, it most definitley won't be good if people start writing as they are texting or tweeting. 

The comma is such an essential part of writing that if they are deleted the messages that we send to others would be missinterpreted and someone might eat their grandma. Some people say that they write like they talk, but we actually use commas when we are speaking. We pause just a little, or when we are saying something it is essential to pause to deliver the right message. 

Super Heros DO Exist!

I think humanity has always wanted to escape from their reality and literally fly away, at least I have. Since I was little I would watch superman with my Dad because it was his favorite show. I liked it even more when Wonderwoman got in the picture because I though it was awesome for there to be a storng powerful women. As I started to get older, more shows and movies about super heroes were born, and the more I liked them.

I remember when I watched Superman for the first time. I was in my cousin’s house in Chicago and he forced me to watch it because he was obsessed with it. When I started watching it I couldn’t stop. I thought it was the best movie ever because it showed regular people being a super hero. This got me thinking if super heroes could exist. My parents would look at me with a weird face but I didn’t care, because I thought about how crazy the Universe was that why couldn’t a super hero exist? Anyway this thought was crushed by the bullying I would receive from my cousins, but still I always thought  it was pretty cool.

After listening to what the woman had to say about wanting to be wonderwoman I realized I wasn’t alone. Although she was more obsessed than I was, I was still a part of the fan club. She wanted to be like wonde rwoman so badly that she applied to be a CIA agent because it was the closest she was going to get to be that strong and powerful woman. Unfortunately she was rejected, but I still keep on thinking that if you actually want to be a super hero you can. If you want to help people, volunteer or work somewhere where you can have a positive direct impact on someones life.

 

For example, my role model, Catalina Escobar was a candidate to be a CNN hero for her amazing foundation that helps teenage pregnant girls that live in the povery of Colombia. This is what motivates me to still want to be a “super hero” because I realized that you don’t need to fly or become invisible to be one.