In the article “Do You Speak American?” Robert MacNeil reminds us of one of the many reasons the United States is so linguistically diverse. He gives various examples of how American English has evolved throughout time.
The analysis of the American language is meant for people who read the magazine, U.S.A. Today, but it also applies to a secondary audience, which are American English speakers. The author uses multicultural dialect to help explain forms of regional linguistics, rhetorical questions in order to aid the reader in identifying certain issues, and personification as a way of connecting technology and the English language; he uses these rhetorical choices throughout his study to express his thoughts thoroughly. MacNeil effectively …show more content…
In this paragraph of the article the author uses the rhetorical choice of dialect, here he is specifically talking about black dialect. There have been multiple instances where the recognition of the African American language should be acknowledged as a form of dialect, or as its own language, by schools. This is an example of African American vernacular English a form of modern black speech. This is a great example of how people in different regions are creating their own language with their own forms of proper grammar, not just “Midwestern English”. The writer expresses that this specific dialect was formed because blacks were segregated into urban ghettos with little integration from other …show more content…
As MacNeil states in his article, “Does Hispanic immigration threaten the English language? Is our exposure to national media wiping out regional differences and causing us all to speak the same? Is the language really in serious decline?” (MacNeil 307). By stating these issues in the beginning of the paper MacNeil’s intentions are to make the reader ask themselves these questions throughout the article. This quote can be used as a reference because he gives different examples of authors and theorists that offer insight on whether or not the changing of the English language, is good or bad for our culture. He mentions these questions before talking about perspectivist and how they believe we can stop our generation from a disaster. He also uses Rhetorical questions such as “Will the technology, and the business imperatives behind it, create an irresistible drive toward more standard speech? If so, which accents or varieties of American speech will that leave out? Whom will it disenfranchise because of their dialect- African Americans, Hispanics, Cajuns in Louisiana?” (MacNeil 315). MacNeil chooses these questions to talk about the influence technology has in our society. These rhetorical questions were written after he talked about our computers continuously evolving, and if one day they would have a way to recognize various accents. These questions make us
The analysis of the American language is meant for people who read the magazine, U.S.A. Today, but it also applies to a secondary audience, which are American English speakers. The author uses multicultural dialect to help explain forms of regional linguistics, rhetorical questions in order to aid the reader in identifying certain issues, and personification as a way of connecting technology and the English language; he uses these rhetorical choices throughout his study to express his thoughts thoroughly. MacNeil effectively …show more content…
In this paragraph of the article the author uses the rhetorical choice of dialect, here he is specifically talking about black dialect. There have been multiple instances where the recognition of the African American language should be acknowledged as a form of dialect, or as its own language, by schools. This is an example of African American vernacular English a form of modern black speech. This is a great example of how people in different regions are creating their own language with their own forms of proper grammar, not just “Midwestern English”. The writer expresses that this specific dialect was formed because blacks were segregated into urban ghettos with little integration from other …show more content…
As MacNeil states in his article, “Does Hispanic immigration threaten the English language? Is our exposure to national media wiping out regional differences and causing us all to speak the same? Is the language really in serious decline?” (MacNeil 307). By stating these issues in the beginning of the paper MacNeil’s intentions are to make the reader ask themselves these questions throughout the article. This quote can be used as a reference because he gives different examples of authors and theorists that offer insight on whether or not the changing of the English language, is good or bad for our culture. He mentions these questions before talking about perspectivist and how they believe we can stop our generation from a disaster. He also uses Rhetorical questions such as “Will the technology, and the business imperatives behind it, create an irresistible drive toward more standard speech? If so, which accents or varieties of American speech will that leave out? Whom will it disenfranchise because of their dialect- African Americans, Hispanics, Cajuns in Louisiana?” (MacNeil 315). MacNeil chooses these questions to talk about the influence technology has in our society. These rhetorical questions were written after he talked about our computers continuously evolving, and if one day they would have a way to recognize various accents. These questions make us