Hi Everyone!
The pitch
exercise did help me to refine and decide upon my topic because I had to
explain my topic and its importance in just 4 minutes. It seemed like a
challenge! However, I gained a positive response from the class and therefore
it has helped. It’s challenging due to the fact that you have to impress the
audience in just 4 minutes which means that your pitch should include the most
important and interesting parts of your topic. Even though it takes more than 4
days to prepare for these 4 minutes, it does help out in the end because you
have a clearer direction of where you’re headed with your research.
After this
experience, I believe that the pitch exercise will be a useful pre-writing
exercise in other writing assignments as well because it forces you to get to
the core aspect of your topic. This prevents your research question from
remaining vague. For example, in a thesis essay the pitch exercise can help you
to refine your thesis which is the most important part of the paper. Therefore,
the pitch is helpful!
My podcast will explore how language change affects us?
This will be done by closely analyzing the cultural implications of the “because
noun” phrase.
My Pitch Transcript:
Why’s the word “because”
so confusing?
Because language…
This is the new use of the word “because.” In the
blog, Language Log Ben Zimmer states that The American Dialect
Society has recognized “because” as the Word of the Year for 2013;
however, this has caused several linguistic issues. “Because” is known for its
use as a subordinating conjunction. Nonetheless Geoff Pullum wrote on Slate
where he insists that we should treat “because” as a preposition.
Linguists call this the “because noun” phrase. This phrase has become
popular due to its widespread use on the internet such as on Twitter. Grammar
Girl has talked about this “because noun” phrase as well but she focuses
more on the history and grammar of this word. On the other hand, Lexicon Valley
focuses on the actual uses of a word in context, meaning pragmatics
and this is why I will create my podcast for Lexicon Valley
We as writers are always writing and speaking in
different forums. The truth is that we all write formally for our academic
papers in universities and the rest of the time whenever we write it is not as
formal. For example, in blogs, texts and in our personal write-ups the writing
is informal. This indicates that we all are writers and should be
aware of the changes in language. Therefore, it is essential for us to know
that English is a living language. The Linguistic Society of America
also states that “languages are continually changing.” So I will begin
by analyzing the cultural implications of the “because noun” phrase on
us. Then based on different studies I will address the topic of how changing
language affects us as writers? Is it positive? Or negative for us? And to
find out, stay tuned! I hope you’ll hear my podcast!
Thank
You! J
Mahoney,
Nicole. "Language and Linguistics: Language Change." National Science Foundation.
National Science Foundation, n.d. Web. 26 Jan. 2014.
Pullum,
Geoff. "Why Do Dictionaries Insist That Because Is a Conjunction? It Is
Not." Slate Magazine.
The Slate Group, 16 Jan. 2014. Web. 26 Jan. 2014.
Reed, and De
Smet. "How Language Change Sneaks in." Linguistic Society of America America
Whitman,
Neal. "Because as a Preposition." Quick
and Dirty Tips. Mignon Fogarty, Inc. and Macmillan Holdings, LLC., 18 Oct.
2013. Web. 26 Jan. 2014.
Zimmer, Ben.
""Because" with Non-verbal Complement." Language Log. University of Pennsylvania
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