Jamie P.

Bautista F-4R

2013-48235 English 1

Observations on the Exercises on Varieties of English

A writer can learn through other writers works. In the exercise, five passages written by several authors were to be observed. By reading the texts, the differences in the way the authors wrote the passage were highly noticeable. The way these authors wrote the texts exhibited the nonstandard and standard English, also known as the varieties of English. So, does knowing about these varieties of English help a writer in his/her composition? In the first passage, grammatical errors were observed like the inconsistency on the verb tenses, subject verb agreement and improper use of punctuations especially the dash. The passage was in nonstandard English, mainly because of the words used by the author. She used slang (an, em, yellin, tellin) and dialect (whup, git, tole, yeh). The word it was always used, making the readers confused of what the subject really was. The passage was presented by narrating a story in chronological order, but details are very vague that is why the ideas are not conveyed clearly. It can be inferred that the author, Eudora Welty, is a native who is unprofessional in English based on how she presented her work. The second passage is the almost the same with the first passage by the way it was presented. Grammatical errors were still present, faulty parallelism and subject verb agreement. Like in the last sentence, yous was used instead of youre. The passage was in nonstandard English since the author also used slang (aint, tellin). The sentences lacked conjunctions, that made the ideas vague. Also, details were insufficient because the reader cannot even identify who the speaker was talking to. The passage was conversational in tone and the speaker seems very angry arguing with someone. Eudora Welty also wrote this passage, another piece that shows how she is not used into writing formal English.

Unlike the first two passages, the sentences in the third passage did not include any grammatical error. The passage is standard English, particularly formal, because of the use of extensive vocabulary. It included too many complex sentences without simple sentences to balance it out. Some sentences could have been compressed and some unnecessary descriptions could have been omitted so that the passage would be easier to understand. There was sense of order in presenting the details. The author may be an educated writer, professional in English, who seems to have a strong background about the topic since he knew every detail of it. The fourth passage did not also contain grammatical errors. It was very informative. The words used were simple and brief, which enables average readers to easily understand it. The author used scientific terms and well-defined statements to clearly present what he wanted to explain. The first part discussed the general concepts of photosynthesis and the next parts were about the specific details. Rutherford Platt, the author, may be a scientist or botanist who presented the topic in a fun and interesting way as if his target readers were the average readers. The fifth passage also discussed photosynthesis but in a different approach. There were also no grammatical. Mostly, the sentences were in compound form and in the active voice. It was very informative too, the topic was presented in a more scientific and formal way and the words used were deeper. The details were expressed clearly by using descriptions and equations so that the readers would understand more about it. By reading the passage, it can be inferred that the authors were experts in science whose aim is to educate and to inform its readers. To sum it all up, the five passages showed the differences between the standard and nonstandard English. The grammatical construction, choice of words, the details and the way it was presented also varied in every passage. By reading the texts, some characteristics of the authors can already be inferred by how they write. Each of the levels can communicate effectively for those people who are accustomed using it, also depending on the time, place, occasion, etc. And yes, knowing the varieties of English will surely help a writer in his own composition. When the concept is mastered already, the level of usage and when to use it appropriately can be easily determined.