The Changing Face of English

Reflect What is different about the way you communicate in class vs. with your friends?

“Txting is Killing Language. JK!!!” Speaker: John McWhorter Linguist & author Language & race Language & history Creole languages

Before Listening What is a creole language? What are the benefits and disadvantages of developing a creole language? Is “text-speak” (e.g. “you”/“u”, “great”/“gr8”)good or bad for developing language skills? Are young people’s spelling and grammar skills today worse than they were earlier in the century?

As You Listen What is the historical relationship between speaking and writing? What is the difference between casual speech and the way people talk when giving a formal speech? How is texting a strong reflection of how we talk? Why does McWhorter believe that texting is beneficial for young people?

After Listening “Many do not know the alphabet or multiplication table, cannot write grammatically –” 1956 “From every college in the country goes up the cry, ‘Our freshmen can't spell, can't punctuate.’” 1917 “Bad spelling, incorrectness as well as inelegance of expression in writing.” 1871 Why do you think each generation thinks its youths’ language skills are worse than the generation before? “Texting actually is evidence of a balancing act that young people are using today” Do you agree or disagree? “Writing is something that came along much later… if humanity had existed for 24 hours, then writing only came along at about 11:07 p.m.” What are the consequences of writing being so much newer than speaking?

Shakespeare’s Language “Early Modern English” Late 1400s until late 1700s

Common EME Words Art: are Thou art dead Dost/Doth: does/do Dost thou love me? / Ask your heart what it doth know Ere: before Ere the clock strikes twelve Fain: rather Fain would I dwell on form Fie!: ugh! Fie! Are you mad? Hence: away Get thee hence Hath: has He hath disobeyed Thee: you When will I see thee? Thou: you Thou art a villain! Thy/Thine: your Thy name is more hateful than thy face/To thine own self be true Wherefore: why? Wherefore art thou Romeo?

Why the Difference? English has evolved over many years. English and German both come from the same early forms of Germanic language. Look at the similarities: German: du dein hat wofur? Early Modern English: thou thine hath wherefore? Modern English: you your have why? German: Du findest dies Wetter kalt. EME: Thou find’st this weather cold.

Speaking Shakespeare’s Lines Can you find the person whose line goes with yours? Use punctuation and capitalization as clues, and try to remember what the new words mean!

Solutions! 1. Deny thy father and refuse thy name! 2. Is this a dagger which I see before me, the handle towards my hand? 3. If we shadows have offended, think but this and all is mended. 4. Doubt thou the stars are fire, doubt that the sun doth move, doubt truth to be a liar, but never doubt I love. 5. Give every man thine ear, but few thy voice. 6. O spirit of love, how quick and fresh art thou. 7. God has given you one face, and you make yourself another. 8. Cowards die many times before their deaths; the valiant never taste of death but once. 9. See, how she leans her cheek upon her hand! O that I were a glove upon that hand, that I might touch that cheek!

Challenge Step 1: Translate your Shakespeare quotation into modern English Step 2: Translate from modern English into text language

Comparison Essay An ICE Comparison

ICE Ideas Connections Extensions Answers the question “what?” Facts, basic observations, examples Connections Answers the questions “why?” and “how?” Relationships, comparisons, patterns, analysis Extensions Answers the question “so what?” Results/consequences, evaluation, application

Application For this essay, think of each step as follows: Ideas: How does each text answer the essential questions? Connections: What is similar and different about each text’s answer to each question? Extensions: What are the effects of the different answers to the questions? “So what”? What can I learn from these points of view?

Active Comparisons A comparison is necessarily integrated A comparison essay is not two separate analyses within each paragraph

Which is better? Both Lord of the Flies and the Harry Potter series feature characters who are mocked for their intelligence. Piggy and Hermione are both unpopular and are often teased into silence. Piggy is told to “shut up” whenever he speaks (Golding 44), even though his survival ideas are often the best. Hermione’s role is more active, as she really does use her knowledge to save her friends, but she is still teased constantly. These attitudes reveal a disappointing trend in which literature makes smart characters into “un-cool” sidekicks, leaving no strong role models to encourage academic curiosity among children. In Lord of the Flies, Piggy is treated badly by the boys even when he has the most logical idea about how to stay alive. He complains, “If I say anything … you say shut up; but if Jack or Maurice or Simon” speaks, everyone listens (Golding 44). Similarly, in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, Ron and Harry often tease Hermione for her love of academic books, even though she often uses information from those books to save the boys from deadly situations. For example, when Ron is caught in Devil’s Snare, she is able to perform the correct spell to save him.

Ideas, Connections, Extensions Both Lord of the Flies and the Harry Potter series feature characters who are mocked for their intelligence. Piggy and Hermione are both unpopular and are often teased into silence. Piggy is told to “shut up” whenever he speaks (Golding 44), even though his survival ideas are often the best. Hermione’s role is more active, as she really does use her knowledge to save her friends, but she is still teased constantly. These attitudes reveal a disappointing trend in which literature makes smart characters into “un-cool” sidekicks, leaving no strong role models to encourage academic curiosity among children.

Application For this essay, think of each step as follows: Ideas: How does each text answer the essential questions? Connections: What is similar and different about each text’s answer to each question? Extensions: What are the effects of the different answers to the questions? “So what”? What can I learn from these points of view?

Reminder: Formatting Double-spaced, size 12 font, Times New Roman. Nothing in the essay should be bold. The only time you need italics is your Works Cited page. Works Cited page always goes on a separate piece of paper. Top Left Corner Your English name & family name Ms. Herdman ENG4U May 7, 2013 Top Right Corner Your family name & page number Example: Wang 1 Wang 2 Wang 3