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Asked • 03/01/18

How would you define English in your own words?

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Answered • 03/19/18

English is both the language and its infinite expressions in prose (fiction and nonfiction in an ever-expanding number of genres, for example), poetry in all its forms, drama, speech (from elevated and formal to rudimentary and profane) and numerous other forms. The tone, rhythm, syntax, diction, elements, symbolism, slang, and devices--allegory, metaphor, archetype, irony, and alliteration, to name a few. Just as every individual is unique, so is every person's experience and expression of such in language. Literary works evoke our emotions--joy, sorrow, anger, empathy, and disgust. English language often serve as a call to action. What shape would the course of history have taken without the inspirational words of Abraham Lincoln, Anne Frank, and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.? Just as all human expression is unique, it is also similar in that its essence asks the central questions of humanity: Who are we? How are we to live? Where did we come from and where are we going?

Asked • 03/01/18

How would you define English in your own words?

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David M. answered • 03/19/18

English is more than just learning how to read and write; English is about cultivating in students the necessary critical thinking skills for the future. According to the National Center on Education and the Economy, "this is a world in which a very high level of preparation in reading, writing, speaking, mathematics, science, literature, history, and the arts will be indispensible...in which comfort with ideas and abstractions is the passport to a good job, in which creativity and innovations are the keys to a good life" (2007). English is important because learning how to read well and write well will cross over to other classes and help young people be more successful in an unpredictable future and have happier lives.

Asked • 03/01/18

How would you define English in your own words?

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Ellen S. answered • 03/19/18

There's no such thing as a wrong answer in English Literature. Generally speaking, your grade comes not from the validity of your opinions themselves, but from how well you articulate them. The question is not whether or not the tree in that novel is a symbol and of what, it's how completely you can argue your opinion on it. Think it's a symbol of life? Great, convince me! Don't buy the life argument, but think it's an indication of the protagonist's mental state? Awesome, tell me more! In some ways, that's extremely exciting and liberating to a student - the realization that they can suggest any themes, symbols, and arguments they want, as long as they delve deeply into them and make a persuasive case. One of my favorite tutoring experiences comes when a student brings up a symbol or theme that I hadn't considered before, and then articulates it coherently and persuasively. Wow, good point - I'm totally on board with that now! Now go deeper - what does it mean that the tree's leaves have fallen in Act 3?

Asked • 03/01/18

How would you define English in your own words?

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Answered • 03/22/18

Nearly all endeavors of communication on any topic require language. This includes study and use of reading comprehension--surface fact to analytic and synthesizing levels—so that one can respond well and appropriately. We use language to express minute subtleties of ideas; the more vocabulary, the more exact our communication. Using English is for research skills, writing for all purposes and in any style, listening with total awareness, attaining clarity of meaning and engendering ability to act on what one hears. It's correlating what one hears with what one reads. One needs to organize language to support the organizing of ideas also for speeches. English includes skills in using vocabulary, sentence structure, grammar and punctuation, verbal symbols and sound effects. Speech requires manipulation of timing and intonation. English includes skills allowing speakers and writers to elicit desired responses.