We're in a stage of time when we can break out of the program; the mold society formed us in with their rules of everything.
Yet, I'm in a class right now where the professor tells me what to think--gives me the rules that I need to follow. That antonyms are separated into three different types: relational, gradable, and complementary. So I listen. But then I disagree, and the professor doesn't want to hear it. Isn't there something wrong in that picture?
We're in a small class and he asks questions that have one word, yes/no answers.
Prof: What is the object that I sit down on?
Student: A chair.
Me: Can't it be a table or the ground? Isn't the point of college to think outside the box. Why can't you sit down elsewhere. I'm not trying to be a smart-ass, just trying to think more. On average, sure I can say chair. But I'm a college student, we're all college students, we already know chair. Let's think bigger.
A relational antonym is when opposites are related. Example: father/son, daughter/mother
I understand.
A gradable antonym is when opposites can have some range of connection. Example: pretty/ugly.
His (the prof's) explanation is that you can have a sort of timeline of when a person can be somewhat pretty.
A complementary antonym is when opposites are complete 180s. Example: on/off, alive/dead
No in-between.
My argument is that complementary and gradable can be easily the same thing. There's a thing such as the partly alive and halfway dead, and zombies. It's part of the English language. And a pretty thing could not be ugly because that, for me, is a complete 180.
Sociolinguistics- means that our language is connected to our identity.
If this^ is so, shouldn't the rules of language fit our description? To what the majority of the population thinks?
We got our tests back, and recently I've been hating on grades and decide that they shouldn't matter. If I want to learn, if I learn, if I end up remembering what I learned...if I disagree with what I learned and want to have a discussion over it. That counts for more. I'll still listen. But remember that we're in college. You should let me respond. Especially if it's outside of class and I'm not taking away any of your class monologue time.
Yet, I'm in a class right now where the professor tells me what to think--gives me the rules that I need to follow. That antonyms are separated into three different types: relational, gradable, and complementary. So I listen. But then I disagree, and the professor doesn't want to hear it. Isn't there something wrong in that picture?
We're in a small class and he asks questions that have one word, yes/no answers.
Prof: What is the object that I sit down on?
Student: A chair.
Me: Can't it be a table or the ground? Isn't the point of college to think outside the box. Why can't you sit down elsewhere. I'm not trying to be a smart-ass, just trying to think more. On average, sure I can say chair. But I'm a college student, we're all college students, we already know chair. Let's think bigger.
A relational antonym is when opposites are related. Example: father/son, daughter/mother
I understand.
A gradable antonym is when opposites can have some range of connection. Example: pretty/ugly.
His (the prof's) explanation is that you can have a sort of timeline of when a person can be somewhat pretty.
A complementary antonym is when opposites are complete 180s. Example: on/off, alive/dead
No in-between.
My argument is that complementary and gradable can be easily the same thing. There's a thing such as the partly alive and halfway dead, and zombies. It's part of the English language. And a pretty thing could not be ugly because that, for me, is a complete 180.
Sociolinguistics- means that our language is connected to our identity.
If this^ is so, shouldn't the rules of language fit our description? To what the majority of the population thinks?
We got our tests back, and recently I've been hating on grades and decide that they shouldn't matter. If I want to learn, if I learn, if I end up remembering what I learned...if I disagree with what I learned and want to have a discussion over it. That counts for more. I'll still listen. But remember that we're in college. You should let me respond. Especially if it's outside of class and I'm not taking away any of your class monologue time.
No comments:
Post a Comment