For those of you who don't have their 25 points of extra credit full yet:
If you want to improve your grade a little and can still use 10 points extra credit (only if you haven't reached your limit of 25 points per semester yet!), you're welcome to post a 500-700 words SUMMARY AND RESPONSE about the following article on "he/she" by Professor George Jochnowitz, who wrote our favorite article, "Everyone Likes Pizza, Doesn't He or She?"
Be very clear and concise in your summary; show that you have understood the article. Then, use critical thinking and write down your own thoughts about the topic!
(Of course, you can also do this extra credit blog if you already have 20 extra credit points and just need 5 to get the allowed 25 full. The rest will simply be deleted.)
The article he or she discussed a lot about the singular and pronoun antecedents. The use of he or she is actually a compound pronoun it had became increasingly frequent in the recent years to come. It can also be used to refer to both singular and plural antecedents. They is common with singular antecedents i noticed after reading this article. It provided examples of many sentences they used in linguistics with he or she how it can sometimes replace they. They even went to test out different groups to see how they felt about the usage of he and she used in certain sentences, some saw nothing wrong with it. Depending on how you use the sentence thats how you know whether or not he or she sounds right. So basically this talked about the different language they used for this and how this whole concept of he and she works.
ReplyDeleteThe article "Politically Hypercorrect: The Pronoun he or she with Plural Antecedents," was composed by author George Jochnowitz. The article explains how we Americans never know which pronouns to choose when referring to nouns of undetermined gender. The sentence sounds correct, albeit illogical, to me. The author explain how alterations of singular and plural changes tend to make more sense. Jochnowitz explains how even people such as President Clinton tend to mess up antecedents. Clinton in his "State of the Union" address stated:
ReplyDeleteIn particular, I challenge the fathers of this country to love and care for their children. If your family has separated, you must pay your child support. We're doing more than ever to make sure you do, and we're going to do more. But let's all admit something about that, too: A check will never substitute for a parent's love and guidance, and only you, only you, can make the decision to help raise your children. No matter who you are, how low or high your station in life, it is the most basic duty of every American to do that job to the best of his or her ability.
Jochnowitz explains how he has become frustrated over the years because the use of he or she as a compound has become very common in English speech and writing. He explains perhaps one of the reasons for this was the strong influence of the feminist movement. In older literature he was word that could be used to refer to all of mankind. The feminist argued that he or she should be used to be more politically correct. The problem was that people became very lazy and began to just write they. This is incorrect because they the majority of the time is intended to represent something plural.
I agree with this article. I constantly find myself in both speech and writing using the word they when it should be he or she. What I found interesting at the end of the article was one view of how perhaps this is just a new development in language. I disagree with the statement, but was something interesting to think about. I think these antecedents are something the need to be confronted. We cannot change language just because people are speaking it incorrectly. If we did so, we would deteriorate the English language with southern slang, Ebonics, and even different language from the east and west coast. There needs to be a stronger concentration on grammar at earlier ages in schools. If not, students will become more and more incapable of writing and speaking proper English.
I agree with this article. It was very interesting. I never knew that he/she was being misused so much. Even in books that are supposed to be "edited". This makes me open my eyes more to grammar mistakes and want to correct them. Being that he/she are used for to different type of sentencing placement and majority of people aren't taught correctly, makes me happy that I had a Professor who taught me the correct way.
ReplyDeleteThe article, “Politically Hypercorrect: The Pronoun he or she with Plural Antecedents,” is written by author, George Jochnowitz. This article reflects on the confusion in using pronouns in a plural or singular antecedent manner. Jochnowitz discusses how people over analyze sentences, use many sentences that change between plural and singular, and how feminist protesters have also attempted to change what words are used to correct an pronoun antecedent disagreement. Pronoun antecedents are simple for most people, when the sentence does not switch between singular and plural within the same sentence. A sentence such as, “Everybody thinks that they know the right answer,” is an example of a simple plural antecedent disagreement. This sentence can easily be fixed by changing the sentence to, “Everybody thinks that he or she knows the right answer.”
ReplyDeleteA large problem people have in correcting plural antecedents is the sound of the sentence when it is grammatically correct and the sound of the sentence used in average life. I am positive that I speak very grammatically incorrect in my own life, simply because the sound of a grammatically correct sentence doesn’t always sound familiar, or roll off the tongue like I think it should. From this statement, linguists state that, “We are not born speaking any particular language. Furthermore, linguistic development is a prerequisite for human existence.” By using this statement, Jochnowitz exemplifies how hard it is for many people to decide which use of a plural antecedent is correct. People were not born with grammar knowledge; therefore, a grammatically correct sentence may sound very unfamiliar to many people because it is not their instinct to know the difference.
Another confusion in using plural and singular antecedents is when both forms are used in the same sentence. Jochnowitz uses a news story from the New York Times as an example. “A solo pilot of a plane must be at least 16 years old. But a person of any age may fly next to a licensed pilot, who may let them take control if he or she feels it is safe to do so.” Many people would read this sentence and not understand how “’them’ refers to ‘a person’ and he or she to ‘a licensed pilot.’” It is very familiar for a sentence to alternate between singular and plural pronouns, but Jochnowitz argues that this can sometimes make the meaning of the sentence clearer. Also, “We speakers of English have never known which pronouns to choose when referring to nouns of undetermined gender.” Although, English used to use “man” to be used to refer to all mankind, the feminist movement argued for women to also be represented. Therefore, it can sometimes be confusing of which gender to use when correcting an antecedent, or which gender is being referred to.
Personally, I agree with the points made by Jochnowitz. Grammar is still very confusing at times to me because correct grammar is not always what sounds familiar or correct. This article highlights many of the confusions of using plural and singular antecedents and which ones to use. I find it confusing to use both plural and singular antecedents within one sentence. This article was good because we did antecedent disagreements in class, but I find complicated uses of them very confusing.
Josh and Emily got 10 points for this entry as extra credit, and Juvonna and Jasmine got 1 point for trying (length not met; mistakes; summary missing, etc.).
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