Doris Jean’s parents were frightened with the news of Doris Jean being deaf. Doris Jean’s father left it up to her mother to really take care of Doris Jean. Her mother worked hard to know about Doris Jean’s condition and would read books about Helen Keller. When Doris Jean was six her parents took her to a school for the deaf and left her there. This school was focused on teaching oral skills and never taught sign language, but sign language was allowed to be used.
Keller describes, “I was keenly delighted when I felt the fragments of the broken doll at my feet” (92). The fact that she broke something makes her feel accomplished, for she lives in a dark world where there is no tenderness (93). Suddenly, Anne finds the key to teaching Keller everything has a name, …water. Keller illustrates, “Suddenly I felt a misty consciousness as of something forgotten - a thrill of returning thought; and somehow the mystery of language was revealed to me. I knew then that “w-a-t-e-r” meant the wonderful cool something that was flowing over my hand” (93).
Similarily, the reflective article, “The Mother Tongue” takes this approach. Amy Tan describes how language is what “evokes emotion, a visual image, a complex idea, or a simple truth” with language also being a “fascination in her daily life” (Tan 178). Tan describes throughout her article how she believes language shows imagery and that our language is a reflection of who we are. However, similar to the other article, she brings in her personal experience. One example being that of when she was a child.
June 27, 1880 in Tuscumbia Alabama, a healthy baby girl, with the name Helen Adams Keller, was born into the world. But at nine-teen months Helen had been suffering with an unknown illness, that left her both blind and deaf. After that all the way till Helen was six she was a very angry child because she wanted to find a way to express her other feelings, yet didn’t know how. She kicked, screamed, and became a very wild and an unruly child. Until a couple months after turning six, Helen’s father and mother connected with Alexander Graham Bell, who contacted Ann sullivan.
“Mother Tongue” by Amy Tan is the short story about the importance of language and how it is a key for communication. Tan emigrated from China to Oakland, California and she was a first generation of Asian-American. The author is very fascinated by the language and she believes that the language has the power of emotions, a visual image, a complex idea, and a simple truth. She also believes that there are many different types of “Englishes”.
Instead, she emphasizes the importance of cultivating a deeper appreciation for the power of words and the impact that they can have on others. She encourages readers to reflect on the ways in which their language use can either promote or hinder human flourishing and to strive for greater integrity in all aspects of their communication. McEntyre's emphasis on the importance of language in promoting human flourishing is a theme that runs throughout the book. She argues that language is not simply a tool for conveying information but is a fundamental aspect of our humanity.
“Sullivan used the manual alphabet to teach Helen”(Bailey). Sullivan would teach Keller by spelling the signed letters into Kellers palm. Keller eventually learned basic words but she did not understand that the words had connection, for example she knew words like mug or milk but could not connect them to their objects. Sullivan and Keller finally had reached a crisis salvation when Sullivan poured water on Kellers hand while spelling water. “Helen suddenly caught on and began to demand the names of everything and everyone around her”(Bailey).
Lera Boroditsky, a professor at Stanford, introduces readers to the question of whether a person’s language can shape their thought processes and views of the world around them through her research conducted at Stanford and MIT. Boroditsky explores further into the questioning about a language’s influence in her article “Lost in Translation”. Boroditsky proves to an audience of broad audience of scholars and people interested in cultural psychology that a person’s language not only influences the way a person thinks but can change a person’s perception of the world and media around them. Lera Boroditsky, through her use of rhetorical questions, comparisons, and addressing the counterargument achieves her purpose of proving that language does
Many will never be able to grasp the full capacity of the power of language. Although, some of us can experience the depths of its ability through personal experience of upbringings and struggles. Jimmy Santiago Baca in “Coming into Language” talks about his own obstacles he had to overcome and how language became a way of life through the dark times of hopelessness. Whereas, Christine Marin in “Spanish Lessons” used language to find and learn about her identity to later become a voice for it and also make a difference in the community. These stories and our own backgrounds with language allow us to understand its capabilities of how it can transcend the mere means of just communication into a world of discovery and exploration.
Language has always been a barrier for many families especially those who have immigrated to new countries and are raising children who don't speak their “Mother Tongue”. In the passage Mother Tongue by Amy Tan she uses many symbols to explain the different types of English she has grown up with and how it has influenced her life. At first Amy believes that her mothers English was embarrassing or thought of as “broken” but as she grew up she began to embrace this “broken” English because it truly shows her background. In the beginning of the passage Amy uses the phrase, “Power of language” then proceeds to explain it as, “The way it can evoke an emotion, a visual image, a complex idea, or a simple truth.” The way Amy uses this phrase throughout
Our identity is a place upon many attributes of a human being. Whether the person is someone who goes on promoting themselves to the world or not, and it shows how people communicate to others around them. Language is one of the main components that unveils the person’s identity in their everyday life, and they are many different ways to approach a person’s language. Relating to the article of Yiyun Li, “To Speak is to Blunder,” she knows two languages that has its positive and negative outcomes in her life. I to relate to her understanding of language, but a different view of what language means to me.
While at a public speaking, Tan realized that she was using all these large words that her audience understood but her mother did not. “I was saying things like, “The intersection of memory upon imagination” and “There is an aspect of my fiction that relates to thus–and-thus…the forms of English I did not use at home with my mother” (Tan 58). Tan’s mother was in the room while Tan was giving the speech and that was when she realized that language could be a powerful tool that can connect each other in different ways. The English language can also bring people together who speak English but not in such a common way. “We were talking about the price of new and used furniture and I heard myself saying this: “Not waste money that way” (Tan 58).
“Solitude vivifies; isolation kills” -Joseph Roux This quote unveils that the idea of choosing to be alone for philosophical pursuit and the stimulation of the mind doesn’t deviate from an ultimate outsider who longs for companionship as well as affection. Isolation can lead to destruction and insanity. In Chapter 14 of Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, the creature gets an insight on the cottagers’ lives in the past.
Introduction There are roughly 6500 spoken language in the world today. People mostly spend their life talking and destining and advanced society reading and writing. The use of language is an intrinsic part of being human. It is clear that language and abstract thought are very close to each other but many people think that these two characteristic distinguish human being from animals.
On the one hand, some argue that language constructs our thoughts. From this perspective, Deborah Tannen, from the language constructs thought community, states that “This is how language works. It invisibly molds our way of thinking about people, actions, and the world around us” (Tannen 14). On the other hand, however, others such as Richard Selzer, might say that language is used to represent our thoughts, but it can fall short. One of his view’s main proponents are, “these extremes of sensation remain beyond the power of language to express” (Selzer 28).
