Lastly, she reflects how physical writing gave the “at risk” students a voice for the first time. Analysis The apparent audience for Anna Quindlen’s essay is those interested in the movie “Freedom Writers,” and those interested in how writing impacts our lives.
In James Baldwin’s essay titled “If Black English Isn’t a Language, Then Tell Me What Is?” Baldwin highlights his major argument by capitalizing the words in the title so that it can stand out to the readers. His main idea is that all languages are equal, and there is an inequality in society where one is judged by the way they speak. Baldwin wanted the readers to understand that all languages do serve a purpose no matter how a person articulates it. Baldwin also wanted to convey that there is racism that is placed upon a black person just because of the way they speak.
In the use of rhetorical appeal, ethos was not affected in his article’s argument. In the article, “The Case for Reparation” describes the 250 years of unfair treatment towards the minority group, but the main issues Coates focuses on African-Americans not getting reparation for unfair and unruly
"Nobody means more to me than you and the future life of willie Jordan" is a powerful and moving essay by June Jordan that explores the themes of language, communication, love, family, and community. Through her use of language and imagery, Jordan creates a vivid picture of the importance of human language and the impact that different dialects can have on the lives of those around them. Black English use is very important in America and I agree with the fact that Black English should be more accepted in America. African American Vernacular English (AAVE), is a distinct dialect of English that is spoken by many African Americans in the United States. The use of AAVE has long been a topic of debate and controversy in American society, with some people viewing it as a legitimate form of expression, while others view it as incorrect or inferior to standard English.
The format of this book is a letter to Coates’s son and it is divided into three parts. Although this is meant to be a letter to his son, Coates uses some very complex and advanced language that can be hard to understand for a fifteen-year-old boy. However, I think the way this book was written definitely helps get the powerful message across. The personal aspect helps understand how gender, class, and race impact everyday experiences. Coates tells his son many different stories, some in which are very harsh.
Language and cultural discourse can make a lot of changes. America is a good country where you can explore different cultures and start to understand their jargon. There are a lot of discourse styles, and when we use them we have to be careful to not hurt the person in front of us. Going back to the Charlie Hebdo magazine story, where they used profanity and sarcastic language, caused problems and killed people. In the readings “Palestine: Reffugeeland” by Joe Sacco, “Not Human Beings” by Etgar Keret and “Language and Literature from a Pueblo Indian Perspective” by Leslie Marmon Silko we see examples of how even one word can make changes, how language and gestures can make changes.
James Baldwin’s essay on “Black English” comes from the perspective of a distinguished black man, articulating the idea of “What is English”. Baldwin writes in an eloquent tone that creates an atmosphere supporting his argument on why black english is a language because of his racial background. In Order to further his claim he utilizes antecedent to explain how “black english” evolved over time. He also employs antithesis to compare different languages,African Americans and white people.
“If Black English Isn’t a Language Then Tell Me What Is” In the essay “If Black Isn’t a Language Then Tell Me What Is” (The New York Times, 1979) written by James Baldwin, the author asserts that the African American community has altered the English language into a new language during the last five centuries to accommodate the black experience in American history despite the white’s attempt to submerge it. To begin the essay he makes his argument clear by referencing the alterations the French made to their native language to describe how people will eventually “...evolve a language in order to describe and thus control their circumstances…”; furthermore he continues to analyze how the caucasian people of America have only accepted the black language when it came out of a white mouth; he ends the essay by reinforcing his position, elaborating on the racism black’s have faced when they were denied the right to an education unless it was for the white benefit. His liberal purpose is to bring light to the subtle racism that African Americans experience even after the Civil Rights movement and to acknowledge the cultural influence they have in America. His writing appears very personal and intimate like he’s voluntarily opening up to his audience by letting them know of his own struggles as an African American, targeting mostly minorities and people who feel oppressed by white America.
The Book “between the world and me” published in 2015, was written by a black author named Ta- Nehisi Coates. Coates wrote this book as a memoir to his son which at the time was in his teenage years. In this memoir, Coates expresses to his son the feelings, life, dream, and ambition of being a young African-American male in America. Throughout the book, Coates brings up major arguments such as “what does it mean to be free, the American dream, being black in America, and that America operates under race”. I perceive that the major argument in this memoir is simple the fact that.
The Skin That We Speak The way a person speaks is a direct link to a person’s culture and the environment which he or she was raised in. A person’s language, skin color as well as economic status influences the way he or she is perceived by others. Lisa Delpit and eleven other educators provide different viewpoints on how language from students of different cultures, ethnicity, and even economic status can be misinterpreted due to slang and dialect or nonstandard English by the teachers as well as his or her own peers. The Skin That We Speak: Thoughts on Language and Culture in the Classroom by Lisa Delpit and Joanne Kilgour Dowdy, who collected essays from a diverse group of educators and scholars to reflect on the issue of language
Mother Tongue Mother Tongue, by Amy Tan, focuses on how to not criticize her mother's English and the different English languages she uses with other people and her mother. It also shows the readers her passion, rhythm and stylistic devices to express herself throughout the essay. She starts the essay with "I am not a scholar of English" and then the next paragraph says "I am a writer. " She used a parallel between the two sentences with the words "I Am" which created a word pattern so we the readers could follow along easily. Knowing that you can emphasize the words "I am" into two different sentences makes the word pattern easier to break down with the paragraphs.
What we consider different in our own eyes could be the knowledge. Someone who uses “Black English” should not be depicted by their dialect, but by their character and performance as a
“You Are Not Special” presented by David McCullough, Jr. This was a graduation speech presented in front of the graduating class of Wellesley High School. McCulloch presented this informative speech to let all the seniors at WHS what the real world is really like. McCullough goes off stating that this class of graduating class is not special at all.
African American Vernacular English (AAVE), sometimes called Ebonics, refers to the unique linguistic patterns found in African American communities. Though linguists debate whether AAVE is an entirely distinct language or a non-mainstream dialect of English, it is clear that AAVE is rich in cultural significance, history, and sociolinguistic importance. Today, mainstream perspectives on African American Vernacular English are highly political and rife with linguistic racism, making the question of AAVE in public schools a particularly polarizing, controversial issue. In this paper I will explore African American Vernacular English from a cultural and sociolinguistic perspective.
The audience in my critical analysis essay is my college peers. The audience is a variety of students, ranging in age and gender. My audience could benefit from my analysis, because of my point of view. By reading my points about the essay, I could change or open the perspective of my readers and their opinions on gender neutral language. Analysis is so important in my selected reading because the article can be interpreted a couple of different ways.
