/lit/ - Literature

>>1788368
>mfw I never have to worry about this because all my poems are dated and copyrighted on another site, so if anyone did steal my god awful poetry I could prove it was mine.

Your mom's diary.

>>1754397
Well, no. I'll probably get a one. Not that they didn't address the question. I expressed my complete opinion in two damn sentences, but I doubt they'll see it that way or that it was good enough anyhow. Oh well. I felt pretty good about the rest of the writing section, so I think I'll get at the very least a 500 there.

It's just a fun story to tell: I wrote two sentences for the SAT essay.

>be a senior in high school
>English teacher tells me there was only one problem with my paper
>I used 'they' as a singular, gender neutral pronoun
>she let me change it to avoid losing points
>had an argument about it
>friendly but both of us are completely sure we're right

>say it's popular usage, and if it isn't accepted yet it will be
>she says nobody does that except the kids who write 'ain't' and chat-speak in their papers
>remind her that language changes
>bring up James' vs. James's
>she blocks it somehow and says I need to bring in research from a reliable source
>go to Oxford Dictionary online

>"Some people object to the use of plural pronouns in this type of situation on the grounds that it’s ungrammatical. In fact, the use of plural pronouns to refer back to a singular subject isn’t new: it represents a revival of a practice dating from the 16th century. It’s increasingly common in current English and is now widely accepted both in speech and in writing."

Is this credible enough to back up my argument that it's popular usage and shouldn't be marked incorrect even if she doesn't personally do it that way, because language changes?

What are your thoughts?
On the James' / James's thing too, actually. I always drop the S at the end. I just think it looks better and you still know what it means.

>>1701689
You put your troll face on and say
>Oh? You can't afford those? Pity.