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.