You Stupid Bitch

Changing Language and Twilight

I was reading for my English literature class and came across this quote from Samuel Johnson who wrote the first English Dictionary. He is talking about how and why language changes over time and for whatever reason it reminded me of the Twilight series and Stephanie Meyer's newfound popularity.

"Pronunciation will be varied by levity or ignorance, and the pen must at length comply with the tongue; illiterate writers will at one time or other, by public infatuation, rise into renown, who not knowing the original import of words, will use them with colloquial licentiousness, confound distinction and forget propriety" 


I don't know why but when I read this, I immediately was reminded of the Twilight series....

P.S: If I disappear, you will know it was the Twilhard fans

Are You Mark Twain? No? Then Leave Huck Alone

     Feeling dread about doing homework for my political science class, today I was procrastinating by looking through Google News (shamefully, I was only looking at the Entertainment section). I came across an article about a scholar who is planning to republish Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn, by replacing the "N" word with the word "slave".
When I first heard this news, I was upset. Mark Twain's novel is a cultural and historical piece that reflects values and views of the time. Replacing one offensive word with its historical counterpart would not change the fact that the novel stereotypes African Americans in a negative way. The character of Jim is testament to that fact. I saw this republication of the book as another attempt for literature to be "politically correct", a term I have come to loathe because I feel that in our quest to become "politically correct", we compromise and water down our opinions through the fear of offending somebody. While I believe that we all are equal, I acknowledge that we don't all agree and some of my beliefs are likely to offend somebody. (opinions tend to do that)
      Upon doing more research, I found the reasons behind this scholar's project to republish. Allan Gribben, the scholar, argues that too many people do not read this classic because of their aversion to the racial stereotypes and slurs that occur in the book.  Gribben argues that he is not trying to "render Huck colorblind", but rather express that view in a way that a twenty first century audience would better understand. First of all, if people avoid this book because they are offended by the racial issues presented, they aren't going to feel any better just because one offensive word is replaced with a slightly less offensive word. Second of all, if those same people do not understand the historical context of the word, then it is likely that they are not going to understand the historical context and meaning of the entire novel.
      In short, I believe that this novel should be left alone. The reason for this novel's renown partly comes from its historical meaning and context. If people are offended by it, I suggest don't read it. It can be done. In the mean time, scholars, please stop trying to make things more politically correct. People argue and disagree. Deal with it

Human Dictionary

This is a shout out to my friend who has this crazy idea that I am a substitute for a dictionary. We will be sitting together doing homework and she will ask "Hey, English major, what's a better way to say {insert phrase}?" She makes me feel very smart because no matter what I say, she gets really excited. It's a win win situation.

National Geographic Picture

I was introduced to this Stumble Upon website that I have formed a love/hate relationship with. It is a cool website (in moderation) that shows me videos/articles/photos that it thinks I would be interested in according to a massive survey that filled out at the start. While this website has the power to be an enormous time waster, I have read and seen some interesting stuff. I found a lot of these nature photos there and though I would share them. Here is one of my favorites:

The caption reads that it is a picture of the Bering Sea. Will have to add that on my growing list of places I want to go

Here We Go.....

This first post is just as much for me and for everyone (if anyone) who is reading this. When I write, I discover my true intention and point at the end rather at the beginning where it should be. So, if you are not interested in my motivations for starting this blog, stop reading. No hard feelings, I promise.
This is my first attempt at keeping a blog. I have made different blogs but never with the intention of writing in them. I want to write more....I keep saying that I love to write and that's what I want to do with my life but every time I write something, I decide it's crap. Solution? Write more, get my ideas and thoughts out there, and maybe (fingers crossed) something amazing will happen....or at least something above average....
    
     So what to write about? I have discovered you can't write well unless you want to. So I am not going to falsely resolve myself to write in this once a week. When something makes me happy, sad, angry, amused, etc, I will write it down...For all I know this could be a total bust: this may be my first and only entry...but I would like to think that I have things to say and I hope there are people out there who are willing to listen.