Henson 1

Kyle Henson
Professor Jan Rieman
UWRT 1103
27 August 2014
In An Autocorrect Generation, Does Spelling Still Matter?
This article basically boils down to two people with opinions that are a little bit different,
but also share some similar qualities. The debate is over whether or not spelling matters today.
The first person, Paige Kimble, states that spelling is in fact important. There is a reason to this
standardization that has been happening for the past 100 to 200 years. The part of this article
that stuck out to me was the part when she says, You see where Alex [Trebek] was trying to
read Thomas response and he tripped up. He tripped on what? The spelling. And so good
spelling is just a component of effectiveness in your communication. This is actually the reason
that I leaned towards her views more than I did Simon Horobin. She saying that just a simple
spelling mistake can cause a break in the flow of communication. Just that split second when the
two parties are on different wavelengths can completely change the rest of the conversation.
Then on the other hand we have Simon Horobin. Simon is also a proponent of the fact
that spelling is important. Whats different about him though is that he notices that language
may be changing faster now that it ever has, and that being strict about how something is spelled
may not have a point. The English language has only been standardized in the past 100 to 200
years, so in his mind, why try so hard now when the way we talk to each other is so different and
is changing every day.

Henson 2
I find myself somewhere in the middle on this issue. Standardization in academic papers,
speeches, and formal talks is definitely necessary. But in just about everything else, I think that
as long as the meaning gets across, it should be completely accepted without any judgment on
that persons intelligence. Spelling and the English language as a whole has changed so much in
the past ten years, and it will no doubt change more in the upcoming ten years and there is
nothing we can do to stop it. This doesnt mean you dont have to know how to spell, but I think
you do need to be able to completely separate the times when it is necessary from the times when
it is alright as long as the meaning gets across.
I went through my messages this afternoon to see if I could find any examples of the
times when we defy almost every spelling or grammar rule we can while still getting the point
across. It almost becomes a game for some people to break as many rules as possible while still
retaining the original meaning. I noticed that I hardly ever use a comma and in some cases just
add an extra space to signify a pause in my sentence. There are very few word that I actually
finish becaus I try to save all of those precious millisecond that I could spend doing somethin
else. I cant remember the last time I actually used a period in a text message, but I have been
using exclamation points! And maybe question marks? When readig other peeples spelling or
gramar mistakes, I hardy even notice. It is so amazing how our brains automatically work to try
to understand the language around us.
Reflective Afterthought: I tried to keep this paper as informal as I could while still retaining the
official MLA academic format. In the last paragraph I was trying to incorporate examples in the
middle of my paper to get out of my comfort zone a little bit. I tried to keep any set format,
while still trying to keep the paper flowing. Overall, I dont think it was too experimental since
it was my first one.