Modeule

Reflect on your own experience with Standard English (or another language’s standard variety), and tell a story about one way that prescriptivism has impacted your life. If you don’t have a good story, ask around. I doubt it will take long to find someone with a good story. Be sure to provide sufficient detail about how the story involves prescriptivism.

The following prompts might help: Is there a particular “rule” of English grammar that confuses you and makes you feel self-conscious? 

Did you ever have an English teacher harshly judge you on a seemingly pointless grammar issue? 

Have you ever been smacked for saying “who” instead of “whom”? Have you been truly and deeply hurt by a prescriptivist (like I have)? Are you yourself a judgmental prescriptivist? If so, what is your favorite way of passing such judgment?