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[Nibble]

You most definetly will be taken seriously. To Kill a Mockingbird, we're studying it at the moment, is a fantastic piece of literature and much of it is grammatically incorrect but this is deliberate and serves a purpose.

It is a long time since I read that book but isn't it set in the South of the USA? I would suggest that may be the reason for the use of regional dialect.

Most people know how to use the English language properly. Some people pronounce word differantly due to accents but on the whole most people who adapt out lovely language do so to appear more "earthy" and by that I mean poor and or cockney. Danny Dyer.

 

[SeagullEd]

Yes it is set in Maycomb, based on Monroeville in Alabama. But the grammatical errors are not to do with the regional dialect, though this is included.

For instance the phrases ' shinny' and 'scuppernog' are used from that era and setting. But gramatical errors (I will find some examples) are used effectively.

 

[tedebear]

I'm not sure you understood my point before. Harper Lee wrote TKAM including the lingo and language and grammatical errors to give us insight into the educational level, standards and societal position of those characters.

She didn't write that way in order to prove that you could be understood no matter how bad your grammar, spelling or pronunciation were. She wrote it as thats how they were.

 

[seagull@stirling]

Hands up all those who speak with proper grammer and pronounciation, as is defended so eloquently here!

Not one, I bet, written word is great and correct grammer is part in parcel with good literacy (speeling in the other hand can swing ).

There are very few places in this country with dialect that pronounces every word correctly, Brighton and the south east is defenitely not one of them - but it's what makes this country different. you can travel 5 miles down the road and the accents will be completely different, with their own pronunciations and words.

Are they wrong or stoopid?

 

[SeagullEd]

I'm not sure you understood my point before. Harper Lee wrote TKAM including the lingo and language and grammatical errors to give us insight into the educational level, standards and societal position of those characters.

She didn't write that way in order to prove that you could be understood no matter how bad your grammar, spelling or pronunciation were. She wrote it as thats how they were.

That's not strictly true. Atticus is portrayed as the enlightened one and is almost god like. However, obviously this changes as the book progresses seeing as it is a bildungsroman. He uses in correct grammar and is said to be highly intelligent and a high position within society. But I understand what you're saying.

No, she didn't right it for that purpose but the point I was making was that people try to portray themselves as intelligent, educated defenders of the English language when in actualy fact the incorrect use of grammar and sentence structure is a highly effective literary technique!

And on the accent thing, amen!

What I was questioning is why it bothers you so much! (on a seperate point I was saying that I felt this sort of thing to be pretentious but that has been discussed in greater depth).