Introductory Blog Post by Shayna Fehr

My name is Shayna Fehr. I grew up in Sherwood Park, Alberta on a buffalo ranch.
This sort of upraising taught me to appreciate many things, none being art. I grew up begging my parents to enroll me in any art program available. I was in choir, in drawing classes, in piano and violin lessons and in photography. Art has grown into a powerful force in my life. This force is combined with other things I did learn on the ranch. Things like hard work, determination, innovation and a strong will. I believe this environment was perfect for creating a developing writer. I've learned to express myself in other forms of art, like drawing and music, now I'm interested in exploring writing. This explains why I've chosen to enroll in PROW 100. What I do know about grammar and composition is pretty basic. This class should bring my writing skills to a much higher level. This is my goal.

Steven Pinker brings up some interesting points in his talk regarding language. Some I agree with and others I do not. I think his passion for the English language is inspiring. It makes me want to continue learning more about it. One of Pinker's points was that verbs can be used in many different parts of speech. This really makes you think while you're reading or taking apart a sentence you have written. It reminds me that parts of speech aids in making writing creative.

Since the "standard" English language is always changing, I do think a lot of dictionaries are loosing their effectiveness. Does this mean they are dead? I don't think so. The writers of dictionaries should keep updating and molding the words to fit the appropriate meanings. If this doesn't happen, the dictionaries will become obsolete and useless.

Language is the way we communicate with each other. I'm not sure we should explore a deeper meanings than that though. The way we communicate will continually change as generations pass on. What Pinker said about language being a "window onto human nature", does have some truth. Different types of language (even in the English language) represent that culture of people. People who live in New York speak differently from people who live in London. They have different cultures, yet speak the same language. This, to me, is an example of how language can be that winder into how human nature works.

This was Pinker's point that I did not agree with, I don't think that "the verb is the chassis of the sentence". There are many parts of speech that are necessary in creating a sentence. One being the noun. All parts of speech work together to create a great piece of art.

Introductory Blog Post, by Brent Stempfle

My name is Brent Stempfle, and I am taking the PROW 100 course as a part of my Professional Writing program. I hope to learn to write correctly and more effectively. I already know a lot about grammar, most notably punctuation. This has come as a result of attending two English courses last year as a part of the General Studies program. A major goal of mine is to be able to expand my writing skills by the end of the term, and to become a more adequate writer. I hope to use the skills learned here in all writing ventures that I encounter from this point forward.

I do not believe that the dictionary is dead. Steven Pinker brings up in his talk that slang, jargon, and text talk are becoming more common and acceptable in language. This may be true, but all forms of slang, jargon, and text talk are primarily rooted in the English language, and therefore, the language itself is alive, and slang and abbreviations are still universally understood by those who use them, and those who do not. For example, a teenager who uses slang is able to communicate with a senior who does not, due to a mutual understanding of standard English.

The opinion that language is a "window onto human nature" is an intriguing one. When one considers the statement's legitimacy, it becomes apparent that it is fundamentally true. Language provides humanity with a means of communication, and therefore, it is tied to our instincts. We are able to communicate, and interact with others due to language, and it is in this sense that language allows us to understand ourselves, as well as each other. This allows us to better connect with our nature as humans, our desire to interact with others.

When Pinker says that "the verb is the chassis of the sentence," he is explaining that the verb is what makes a sentence figuratively come to life. The verb makes it abundantly easier for the reader to envision the subject that it describes by illustrating the action in which it partakes. I agree with this assessment of the verb, for a number of reasons. One reason in particular is simply because the statement is true. The verb is the chassis of the sentence because it conveys the nature of the sentence to the reader.

Over the course of the PROW 100 class, and my Professional Writing course in general, I wish to develop exceptional writing abilities. My previous experiences in English courses have certainly helped to make me a better writer, and I am interested in expanding on my writing abilities this term. Writing can be an interesting venture, with several opportunities for those who do it well. I hope to become one of those people. I hope that by the end of this term, I will have acquired writing skills that will help me not only in my post secondary tenure, but throughout my life in general.

Introductory Blog Post, Shawna Blumenschein

My name is Shawna Blumenschein. I was born in Ft. McMurray and have lived in Edmonton since age nine. I’m twenty-two years old in my first year of the Professional Writing program at Grant MacEwan College. I’m taking this specific course – PROW 100 – because the program requires it. In broader terms, I’m in the Professional Writing program because I’ve always enjoyed writing and editing. Over the past year I’ve seen a variety of different jobs in the communications field and was always extremely interested. I decided to bite the bullet, so to speak, and pursue a Professional Writing degree.

I already have a fair grasp of grammar that manifests itself as an ability to correct errors in sentences; however, I do not necessarily have all the technical language to say it’s a dangling modifier and so forth. Therefore, my main goal is to learn the specific terminology that will enable me to speak about grammar more coherently and precisely.

Regarding Steven Pinker’s talk and his supposition that dictionaries are becoming obsolete, I agree in part. Print dictionaries are certainly out-dated, especially dictionaries of the kind Pinker mentions which take years to be created. However, I think that online dictionaries are still vital and important. Their ability to be instantly updated and modified will ensure their survival because they can adapt and evolve alongside language. However, electronic dictionaries should not be updated simply because it’s easy to do so. The inclusion of slang, Internet terminology, and other such jargon should be carefully considered before an addition is made. New terms should graduate to “standard” words and be included in dictionaries only once they’ve reached saturation and can be heard from people of all ages and read in a variety of publications.

The idea that language is a “window into human nature” is a very interesting one. Certainly how words have changed and evolved has an historical context that reflects social trends and changes. For instance, examine the word “gay” which once simply meant happy. It evolved into a derogatory insult against the homosexual community; however, in recent years the GLBT community has reclaimed the word for themselves with such slogans as Gay Pride. The subversion of innocent words into hurtful insults is a potent illustration of the prejudice and hatred that is a significant facet of human nature. Words can also be beautiful, clever, and fun and illuminate our creative side. For example, a student poster features a fun little story about interjections that many others found appealing, including Sarah.Rachel.

The verb as “the chassis of the sentence” is an excellent metaphor. Pinker means that it’s a necessary element that all the other parts of a sentence are attached to. I agree wholeheartedly. The verb is the most important element of a sentence, the word around which everything else is built. A sentence cannot be complete without a verb.

Lauren Wozny's Introductory Blog Post.

I’m Lauren Wozny and I am first year Professional Writing student. Previous to this program I had been taking my BSc. In Pre-Pharmacy; the multitudes of painful chemistry, bio and calculus courses only made me realize not to take the things you actually enjoy doing for granted. After dropping out only a year into my program I decided to take a year off and re-evaluate. During that time I decided to return to school and capitalize on my earlier idea of not taking things I enjoy for granted, writing being one of them, so here I am.

During my short stint in the BSc. program I was able to take a few English classes. We scratched the surface of grammar and composition and I felt at that time I had learnt a lot but, unfortunately, I took a year off between that program and this one and so much of what I learnt feels lost. I’m hoping this class can jog my memory and get me back to a comfortable and confident level in writing; I don’t want to have to second guess my sentence structure every time I find myself writing something.

After watching Steven Pinker’s speech on language and thought I have to say I agree with his belief that dictionaries have become obsolete. So much of today’s culture is based on and through technology. Cell phones, Skype and facebook have become so much a part of everyday life that what we do with those utilities and applications is second nature. These programs, and many others, have been developed to create a fast paced means of communications in a fast paced world. So the slang and abbreviations associated with them only compliments the goal of quicker communication we are trying to reach.

Ultimately this language, like its parenting technology, will keep evolving. As everyday tasks, like talking to a friend half way across the world, become easier, so will our language; we are always looking for shortcuts. It is unfortunate, because so much of culture lies in language, that we are losing aspects of the “standard” English language but at the rate we are progressing it has become the norm to leave it behind. Links on the Internet such as urbandictionary.com and netlingo.com have even made it their soul purpose to identify all of these slang words on an ever-growing database.

That said I have to admit that I would still rather type a conversation in “you” ‘s instead if “u” ‘s. I find it almost horrifying when my own mother, who is 45, insists on text messaging me “ sup’?” every afternoon around 4:00. I don’t promote the use of words like that but I will put up with because they are impossible to escape; sometimes you just have to admit defeat. And maybe that’s why I’m feeling so uncomfortable with writing lately. After a year of working with power line journeymen via the local electrical company I have been thrown, not dipped, into a pool of incorrect language, rough speech and unimaginable amounts of cursing. For me the lines of wrong and right in terms of language have been blurred after that kind of exposure. Taking the grammar test today made my heart skip a few beats but the posters the class made last week (http://prow100.blogspot.com/2009/09/lecture-1-parts-of-speech-group.html) made life a little easier. This might be the beginning of getting things back on track for me.

Introductory Blog Post by Andrew Heck

My name is Andrew Heck and I have chosen to enroll in MacEwan's Professional Writing program for many profound and enlightening reasons--the main being the fact that I will need a decent-paying job at some point in my life. As far as grammar and composition are concerned, the extent of my knowledge can be called, "basic to moderately-instructed." Although this is a fair starting point, I hope to deepen my knowledge of the parts of speech and their functions, learn effective methods of composition, and indulge my abilities as a virtuoso writer (at least in my own thinking). These skills are imperative in the communications workplace, which can be safely assumed to be the likely destination of all .

Steven Pinker offered up some interesting points in his lecture, which was full of dry wit and examples of the modernity of our English language; something that I've come to expect from shaggy-haired, university-educated intellectuals. Although I can respect his point of view as someone who wishes to keep with the ways of the contemporary world, I cannot help believing that his beliefs regarding the state of languages is a bit corrupted. It is true that languages evolve in terms of the jargon, creation of dialects, and God-awful "txt spk," but this is no reason to simply accept the change as a variation of the correctness of the language. Ultimately, we must preserve the traditional uses of language, as it would be a terrible shame for our present knowledge contained in text to become obsolete with the changing of the seasons.

The place of the dictionary in our world has no less value than that of the encyclopedia, the thesaurus, or any other reference materials. The content may be edited over time; however, we must have a comprehensive guide to a majority of the useable words. Without this guide, our words might lose understood meaning, or fall out of touch with modern audiences, who would rather communicate through highly-impersonal, redundant text messages than by employing the use of the endless possibilities of our beautifully-eloquent language. Out of the necessity for proper communication and sheer spite, we must not decommission the use of the dictionary as we know it.

The way that we articulate our thoughts can be an excellent tool for insight into ourselves and other people. Word choice, not only the quality and complexity, but the connotation of the words that we use, and the emotion they convey, are incredibly important. Words on their own are dull. Without the human side, they have no power to influence minds or serve any other purpose. This terrible phenomenon is frequent in advertising, internet design, and product packaging. It is my firm belief that our increasing use of non-descriptive, "dead" language has contributed to a change in human perspective. We are slaughtering our higher language and committing communication fraud, as a result. Language is a "window into human nature," but not quite as Pinker asserts.

When Pinker describes verbs as the "chassis of the sentence," he is referring to the basic structure of the sentence. We talk a lot about objects and subjects, but not often enough about purposes; the actions and implications. The verb creates context. A sentence full of objects and subjects without actions sounds very much like a horribly-extensive description of a setting in a cliched novel that you might expect to find in the bargain bin at your local grocery store. If Pinker and I can agree to one of his philosophies, it is the function of the verb. The metaphorical support system of verbs holds a piece of writing together. The body of a vehicle attracts the eye, much as the content of the writing pleases the mind. Long live verbs.

Jenny Nielsen. Between Generations

My name is Jenny Nielsen, I am a mother of three children, and have been married for seven years. I have been at home with my kids for the last 6 years, but have always known that when the time was right I would return to school. I am excited to be enrolled in the writing program at Macewan, as writing has always been my first love. I am a graduate of a Human Service Worker program and have an additional year of General studies.

I hope to become proficient as a writer who is able to navigate the writing technology of today. Most of my writing has been done through a compilation of hand written journals and scraps of loose leaf paper. My dream is to be a successful writer and to contribute my own thoughts and ideas to the many important conversations of our era. During my first days of college in the early nineties, I barely knew what an email address was. I am happy to say that emailing and facebooking are both familiar verbs to me now , however blogging and linking and posting still confound me. I think I have much to learn. Within an assigned class video I learned that Stephen Pinker has designated the 'verb as the chassis of the sentence". I feel that it is too early for me to pass judgment on the sentence or the verb but perhaps someday I will be so bold as evidenced in this poster.

Presently my life is a juggling routine of two young children, one teenager, an ill mother of whom I am the legal guardian, a husband who works out of town and my journey back into the world of academia. I got through my previous years of college and university without knowing very much about grammar or composition. I learned through the intuitive process of putting pen to paper and not from taking courses on grammar or composition. I know I would have greatly benefited had I taken these courses earlier. The red circles and alien abbreviations on my college papers were puzzling to me, but didn't seem to affect my GPA too much.

I agree with Steven Pinker that language is a window into human nature and cannot be legislated by a group of high minded government officials. Within my family I notice that each member speaks somewhat in his or her own language or dialogue. My three year old daughter is forming her own ideas, thoughts and language from her early observations of the world around her and what is modeled to her. My teenager is speaking in text language and skate-park, art school jive and my husband is predominantly surrounded by trades workers who speak the words of their trade.

I cannot say that the dictionary is dead, nor do I believe that it ever will be. It is essential that language be preserved for the sake of knowledge and understanding. There are many languages and cultures in the world that have been lost because language is not accurately preserved or recorded. I love to read the classics and know that my experience has been expanded and enriched through words of the past. I think that Shakespeare described my sentiments best in his Sonnet to the written word:

I believe that text language has become cliche and doesn't hold significant meaning. It is a product of a fast paced lifestyle where computers, cell phones and ipods have become the number one competitor for individual thought. I believe that as a writer I should avoid cliche. I also know that there is a certain irony within this belief as I would love to feel confidant and empowered whilst blogging this post. Canadian writer Douglas Coupland described my generation as the X'ers; Coupland has recently written a book about the rising 'generation A'. I have not read the book but have been informed that it is about the loss of language and identity within our changing technical world.

Introductory Blog Post Kayla Gaffney

Who am I? That is a wonderful question. I am an eighteen-year-old girl who loves to put pen to paper. The act of being immortalized in an actual book is my dream. Leaving a legacy of books behind in a library or bookstore is what every writer hopes to accomplish. I am taking this course to better my writing skills and to develop different styles of type. This class is going to enable me to break down grammar into different fragments and classify them correctly.

Proper English is the basis of many classes in college. It is also extremely important to stay politically and grammatically correct when addressing large bodies of people. It is said that traditional paper dictionaries may be becoming obsolete and that the wave of computers are going to wipe out libraries. Computers tend to break down, have hiccups and delete material that was not saved properly. Actually writing out words and sentences helps to exercise both sides of our brains, making our education well rounded. Power bars and plug-ins are not found all over the world, so the traditional dictionary will never be dead.

Text speak is sweeping the world through our youths and even leaking into the older generations. There is an immense amount of love and thought placed spread throughout complete sentences that cannot be compared to a simple “ttyl <3.” Our students are not absorbing age-old poems by Edgar Allan Poe and William Shakespeare because they are not able to comprehend the complex sentence structures of older times. Text speak corrupts the English language by making a shorter and polluted version of an actual conversation.When using proper parts of the English language, you make writing more exciting. Adjectives and adverbs make plain sentences more exciting. Andrew and Ramona make reference to using parts of speech to make sentences more eloquent.

Language is a form of communication that is never going to fade away. The way we communicate to other humans, specifically in word choice, can convey our emotions in the easiest way. Regarding the statement that language acts as a “window onto the human nature” is completely correct, in my opinion. To get across our views and feelings, we use language to release or feelings to the world. Other humans are able to feel our presence through how we bring our voice out and our particular choice of words.

For any body to move, it needs a framework. The actual human body has a skeleton that supports our entire structure. Our frame does not lessen our ability to be mobile. The range of motion that the body has is quite infinite. The same can be said for the actually sentence. Steven Pinker once said, “The verb is the chassis of the sentence.” The verb is the actual movement of the sentence. It is the action of any story and keeps the sentence moving in new directions. Verbs are limitless as are the movements of a sentences.