University of Nebraska at Omaha DigitalCommons@UNO

English Faculty Publications Department of English

1-2003 Cartoons and Pronoun Trouble Frank Bramlett University of Nebraska at Omaha, [email protected]

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Recommended Citation Bramlett, Frank, "Cartoons and Pronoun Trouble" (2003). English Faculty Publications. 49. https://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/englishfacpub/49

This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Department of English at DigitalCommons@UNO. It has been accepted for inclusion in English Faculty Publications by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@UNO. For more information, please contact [email protected]. end. So as smoke rises off of him and he read­ Many prescriptivist grammarians will tell us justs his bilt he suggests to Bugs that they run that any funny business with pronouns is des­ lhough that conversation again. Bugs agrees, tined to cause insoluble problems. Recently, I and they proceed to review their previous read an arlicle by James Kirkpatrick, a syndicat­ exchange in very business-like tones: ed columnist who writes about language use. ln Bugs: Would you like to shoot me now or that column, Kirkpatrick discusses pronoun wait till you get home? agreement. Specifically, he doesn't like the fol­ Daffy: Shoot him now. Shoot him now. lowing sentence, which he quoted from the Bugs: You stay out of this. He doesn'l have V\l11shin_gton Post: "... nearly every staff wriler lo shoot you now. removed their name from articles appearing in Daffy: A-HA! Pronoun trouble. the newspaper." The reason Bugs is able to focus Elmer's According to prescriptive grammar, writers attention onlo Daffy is that he changes per­ and speakers must maintain proper perspective spective. The meaning of lhe pronouns "you" with pronoun use by adhering to agreemcnl in and 11 me11 are fluid - they can mean someone person, number, gender and case. In other different each time they're used. In fact, they word5, if a pronoun is referring to a woman arc usually understandable only if everyone other than the speaker or hearer, that pronoun knows who the speaker and hearer arc. So should be third person, singular, feminine and when Bugs changes the expecled "He doesn't either subject, object or possessive case. For

have to shoot me now" to ''He doesn't have to instance, if we're talking about Ma1y1 then each shoet you now," Daffy, swept into an emotional of the following sentences would exhibit "cor­ lit, isn't able to correct the perspective and ends rect'' pronominal usage: up gelling shot a number of times throughout She donated part of the lotlery prize to sev­ the cartoon. eral local charities. (subject case) Why all the fuss? Well, even though most Local charities received <;ubstantial donations pronouns are some of the shortest words we from her. (object case) have in English, lhey are also ,;ome of the most Her generosity was noted by the leaders o! frequently used. There are personal pronouns, local charities. (possessive case) demonstrative pronouns, indefinite pronouns, The complaint that Kirkpatrick makes is that interrogative pronouns, and relative pronouns. wriler and their do not agree in numbcri wriler And even lhough Daffy's lesson about pronoun is singular and their is plural, so Kirkpatrick usage was a hard one for him to learn, most of claims the use of their is incorrect, or at least the time we have no difficulties at all using the aesthetically revolting. righl pronoun in the right situation. Another example of pronoun trouble is the However, even outside of cartoon land there dreaded everybody/their conundrum, Everybody broughl their own beverage to the party. According to prescriptivist tradition, Cartoons and Pronoun Trouble everybody is grammatically singular and there­ fore any other pronoun referring to everybody In a relatively famous linguistic exchange, are some moments of egregious pronoun shift. should also be singular. What many prescrip­ Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and Elmer Fudd arc For example, in first-year college composition livists forget, though, is that even when an trying lo determine who is going to be shot. classes, when writers are beginning to think utterance fails to meet their grammatical stan­ First, the que<;tion of whether it's duck season or seriously about the process of wriling, freshmen dards, the meaning of lhe utterance can he rabbit season has to be answered. Second, regularly confuse the he/she perspective with absolutely unambiguous. Even though every­ Elmer has to suffer through a barrage of claims the you perspective. Grammatically, this is body is grammatically singular, I think most and counter-claims in which Bugs and Daffy try called a shift in person, from he/she (3rd per­ people understand it to mean plural. to avoid being Elmer's target son) to you (2nd person). But it isn't just inex­ The prescriptively correct version of the Although [ couldn't find a copy of this video, perienced writers who get mixed up; even above sentence is "Everybody brought his own ! believe it is Chuck Jones's "Rabbit Seasoning" famous people shift pronoun perspective. Stevie beverage to the parly." Rut the pronoun his ( 1952), and the premise is very similar to 195 ! 's Nicks notoriou~ly changes pronoum in some of only refers to males. (Prescriptivisls sometimes "Rabbit Fire/' which I was able lo rent on video. her songs, as illustrated in this excerpt from her disagree and say that he refers to both males At any rate, the situation goes something like 1983 hit "Stand l3ack", and females. However, linguistic research has this. While Bugs and Daffy argue aboul which No one knows /10w Jfeel shown otherwise,. this use of the pronoun he season it is (duck or rabbit), Elmer looks on, What I say 1mless yol! red between my lines excludes women and is therefore sexist.) dressed in his hunling camouflage and carrying One m{ln w,i/ked away from nie So what is a conscientiou~ [nglish his shotgun. The following dialogue is approxi­ Fint l,e look my hmid ... tdke me home ~pcaker/writer supposed to do? l would suggest manl. Bugs first addresses Elmer. Stand back ... stand lu1ek lhat we pay full atlention to the environment Bugs, Would you like to shoot me now or T11 tlx middle of 111y room we find ourselves in. Almost all siluations allow wail till you get home? ) dii/ ,t1bt hear from you everybody/their constructions. The exceptions Daffy, Shoot him now! Shoot him now! It's hard to know exactly who she's talking might be documents written for a formal or Bugs: You stay out of this. He doesn't have to/about, but because it's music and because it's semiformal audience, like the boss, the teacher, to shoot you now. poetry, we don't have too much trouble figuring the president, etc. Eventually, Daffy says to Elmer, "I demand out that the word,;; man and him and you all And unlike Daffy Duck and Bugs Bunny, that you ~hool me now!" KABLAM! Elmer refer to the same person. Even with this signifi­ who were unable to reach a consensus about obliges Daffy's requesl. Of course, this isn't cant shift in perspective, we can still understand which pronouns to use, everybody else can exactly how Daffy wanted the negotiation to what Stevie's singing about. make up their own mind about il.

80 medium JANUARY ISSUE 2003