Samuel Johnson Are The Guardians Of The English Language

Author Bryan A. Garner, in his article “Making Peace in the Language Wars” (published in Garner’s Modern American Usage 3rd edition, Oxford University Press, 2009), seeks to negotiate a cease-fire between two fighting countries, the prescriptivists and the descriptivists, by dispelling myths about each of their camps. First and foremost, Garner outlines the war is happening between the lines of our favorite novels and poetry, and he describes what each camp stands for. Prescriptivists desire to instruct the world around them on how to use the language by enforcing, or at the very least informing the general public about the rules of grammar. They are sometimes described as conservative and are very concerned

“Authority and American Usage” written by David Foster Wallace, poses an argument about the English language, and the different beliefs of its usage. This essay was written in defense of Bryan A. Garner’s, A Dictionary of Modern American Usage. His argument in “Authority and American Usage” is the difference the between prescriptivism perception and the descriptivism perception (Linguistic terms that could easily be made into smaller, more understandable words for people like me). Since the beginning of time, language has evolved. From biblical times, to Shakespearean times, to present day; the English language has been continuously changing since it’s birth and has no intentions on stopping.

The act of composing dictionaries, lexicography, was seen as peculiar; however, men such as Samuel Johnson and Noah Webster dared to defy such ideologies. Both men had their own reasons for taking on the daunting challenge of writing a dictionary of the English Language. Their reasons may greatly differ such as Webster’s motivation of strengthening the national identity and Johnson’s reason of standardizing words with his witty definitions. Despite of their different motives for defining words, Samuel Johnson and Noah Webster’s beliefs can cross paths, they both wanted certain words to be spelled more appropriately.

This book was revolutionary not only because it sought to "Americanize" the classroom, but because of the tone of the book. Most previous grammars were prescriptive, meaning that they informed the student how the words should be spoken or spelled. The "Blue-Backed Speller," on the other hand, was a descriptive work, meaning that it merely showed how words were actually used and pronounced by real speakers of the language (Millward 245).

William Samuel Johnson was born in 1727 in Stratford, CT. His father, Samuel Johnson, was a clergyman and philosopher, and the first president of King’s College. He was well educated, and graduated Yale in 1744. Despite his father’s wishes, he entered law and opened a practice in Stratford, CT. Although he was mainly self taught, his practice became largely successful with several business connections, and serving clients in both Connecticut and New York. In 1749 he married Anne Beach and had 11 children, many of which died. The next year, he began his civic

In Ben Johnson’s “To the Memory of My Beloved, The Author, Mr. William Shakespeare, and What He Hath Left Us”, Johnson dictates a dramatically sycophantic poem in honor of the late William Shakespeare. With his superficial, dramatic style, Johnson unveils his own envious attitude within the unbegotten admiration he appoints throughout the poem. By complimenting Shakespeare through this ironic voice, Johnson insincerely praises Shakespeare’s legacy in a clever attempt to highlight Shakespeare’s minute but mentionable flaws. Throughout the commemorational poem, Johnson cleverly praises Shakespeare’s seemingly incomparable success as a poet by incorporating other famous poets as a belittling contrast. While meant as a friendly coup de grâce, Johnson’s assessment of Shakespeare is Johnson’s ultimate attempt to align himself with Shakespeare, bearing praise unto himself as well. In a poem meant to highlight and enunciate Shakespeare’s unparalleled skill and talent, Johnson instead attempts to expose his faults in hopes of bringing Shakespeare closer to himself.

Noah Webster being an American with influences from the American ideals, and Samuel Johnson being British being influenced by British ideas, both made changes that supported their nationalistic view. With the difference in nationality, the dictionaries themselves should portray a nationalistic view to make the dictionary more special in respect to the two different countries, but it is not to say that these two dictionaries don’t have their similarities as well. They both in the end served to educate people and preserve their language. Even though Samuel Johnson may have done it for money since he stopped worrying about his writings when he acquired his pension, his dictionary and Webster’s dictionary served their purpose on educating the public of their view on the English

Renowned literary critic Samuel Johnson elaborated “integrity without knowledge is weak and useless, and knowledge without integrity is dangerous and dreadful” (124). Born from a father who worked as a bookseller and a mother of distinguished reputation, his family was comprised of two wealthy parents. Samuel Johnson was brought into the world in poor condition and received treatments from both highly regarded religious figures to recognized physicians in hopes of improvement. By the end of the strenuous treatments and birth of his younger brother, Nathaniel, his family’s wealth was stretched thin and could no longer suffice their former high standards of living. This accumulation of events that happened prematurely in Samuel

Later in life they would cause of him to be rejected for a teaching position. He attended the Lichfield Grammar School where he would succeed in the study of Greek and Latin despite the fact that he felt different because of the poverty his family suffered. Samuel Johnson read as many books as he could from the bookshop when he working with his father. Later, he would attend Oxford where he astounded his tutors and classmates with his knowledge. He was a conservative whom was alienated from the liberal intellectual circles (Green). In 1733, he relocated to Birmingham to live his with friend Edward Hector, a surgeon supporting himself by writing for the Birmingham Journal and translating the historically significant and politically controversial Jeronymo Lobo’s Abyssinia. While in Birmingham, Hector introduced Johnson to a Harry Porter, a wool draper. Johnson married his widow less than a year after the demise of Porter; she was twenty one years his senior.

George Orwell states that, “our civilization is decadent and our language…must inevitably share in the general collapse” (Orwell 2000, 1), when he argues for prescriptivism (though toned down from what was taught and accepted in his day). While Garner posits that, “describers, meanwhile, remind us that linguistic change is a fact of life – and conclude that it’s therefore not worth opposing” (Garner, Making Peace in the Language Wars 2008, 272). When David Foster Wallace discusses descriptivism, he makes a historical reference to, “Philip Gove’s now classic introduction to Webster’s Third [which] outlines this type of Descriptivism’s five basic edicts: ‘1 – Language changes constantly; 2 – change is normal; 3 – spoken language is the language; 4 – correctness rests upon usage; 5 – All usage is relative.’” (Wallace 2005, 83). Wallace himself argues against most of these edicts, proving himself to uphold his snootitude. Bryan A. Garner creates a list similar to that of Gove’s, while addressing the argument that “learning grammar may seem like an exercise in pedantry,” which is a point argued by many descriptivists:

Simon Winchester unravels the complex mystery of the Oxford English Dictionary and its contributors in his book, The Professor and the Madman. Already a unique piece of literary accomplishments, the OED is even more set apart from the rest by its unusual history. Winchester explores the life of one of its most prominent benefactor and his bizarre fingerprint he made on the creation of the first complete dictionary.

"English Social Structure in the Early 18th Century." English Social Structure in the Early 18th Century. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Oct. 2013.

It is not uncommon to say that grammar instruction plays an important role in language teaching. Regarding the status and importance of grammar teaching, a variety of opinions have been made. Batstone (1994) states that “language without grammar would be chaotic: countless words without the indispensable guidelines for how they can be ordered and modified” (p. 4). More vividly, Wang (2010) makes two similes. She compares grammar to the frame of a house, which is a decisive factor to ensure the solidness of it. Additionally, she regards grammar as a walking stick, whose function is to help and support students to learn English. Thus, the nature of grammar instruction manifests its own significance as it helps students

In this essay I will discuss the definition of the concept grammar in linguistic science and thee attitude teachers may have towards such a conceptualization of what grammar is. I will go into detail by explaining perspective and descriptive grammar.

It was in London on 16 May 1763 when James Boswell first met Dr. Samuel Johnson his future best friend and his main character of his book Life of Samuel Johnson at Thomas Davies’ book shop. The meeting occurred unexpectedly during Boswell’s educational trip to London. Biographical story unfolds the heroic image of Samuel Johnson whose moral wisdom is won through the constant struggle with despair.