Essay on Spelling Norms

816 Words4 Pages
1. Anne Trubek (author of text 1) thinks that spelling rules are essentially unnecessary - it’s time to let them loose. Autocorrect messes up your messages in an attempt to correct the spelling; instead we should just embrace different spellings of every word. Now that the border between spoken and written language is disappearing and Siri is taking over you will never have to write a word again, so spelling is unnecessary. Language is constantly changing and evolving and we should accept the changes in language instead of tying ourselves down. The most important thing is to make sure that people understand you however you spell the words. We need tools which recognize different spellings - a kind of advanced autocorrect. Lee Simmons (author of text 2) thinks that without rules for correct spelling society would fall apart and you would never be able to be certain that you understood anything that you read correctly. When you write to people, besides your friends, you should do them the courtesy of spelling correctly so they will not have any trouble reading your text, it will also seem more professional. You should also learn to spell correctly because the internet is unable to differentiate between alternate spelling and different words. Also if society accepted all kinds of different spellings of the same words every written word would have an unlimited number of meanings. Correct spelling is just snobbery but it is necessary for society to function optimally. 2. Simmons tone is quite arrogant at certain places e.g. line 116-117 where he implies that Trubek is lacking even common knowledge, it goes without saying that his own intelligence is never questioned, he emphasizes it through the entire text with his advanced - maybe even academic - language. He also mixes sarcasm with humour e.g. line 88 and 137-140 where he tries to make the reader crack a
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