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Comparing Letter 'A' By Christy Brown And From Outside In By Barbara Mellix

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Throughout our lives, we are all forced to develop specific skills essential to living in today’s world. Two of these necessary techniques are learning to read and write. A number of people have the ability to learn these mandatory disciplines much easier than others. In “The Letter “A”’ by Christy Brown and “From Outside, In” by Barbara Mellix two disabilities which corrupt the learning process for two individuals are portrayed. Brown adequately describes these events by utilizing extenuating details to represent how helpless he was; while Mellix strongly contrasts the differences between black English and standard English to prove the disadvantage she had. The narrative which Brown has created strongly portrays himself as someone who is …show more content…

Through this contrasting of the two languages we are able to understand why reading and writing was such a difficult experience for Mellix; however, she makes it relevant how complicated it was on an emotional level rather than an intelligence level. She knew how to speak in standard English and was fully aware how relevant it was to her life when speaking to others, “I was extremely conscious that this was an occasion for proper English”, she says as she recounts an incident while speaking to a policeman (69). Her problem occurs when she is unable to recognize this language as her own. Her entire life she was taught the difference between the two languages and how she was only to speak it when “the others” where around her (68). Her struggle is mainly because she cannot grasp the language which she needs to know because of identity issues. Personally, I never knew this was an issue and to have it brought into the lime light it was extremely interesting to see the dynamics of each language. I never would have imagined someone struggling with a language because they feel as if it is not their language to use; so, I enjoyed observing the contrast which was made throughout the

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