In Barbara Mellix literacy narrative “From Outside, In”, she took us through her life as an outsider to eventually getting in. A young Mellix, along with her family developed public personas that spoke standard English. In public, Barbara's enunciation, articulation and grammar changed dramatically from how she spoke at home. She felt uncomfortable when she puts on this persona and felt like she was basically betraying herself. After couple years of putting on this front she became this front.
In Chapter 9 of Behind the Scenes, Elizabeth Keckley describes two very different reactions to liberty she witnessed while working among freed slaves. Some freedmen and freedwomen were miserable in the North, and even wished to return to their southern homes and their old lives. Others began building new homes and new lives for themselves, happy to be on their own and free. Keckley states that some slaves had exalted views of what freedom was going to be like.
In the article, “Against Antiheroes”, Laura Bennett demonstrates the characterizations of an antihero, while providing information that allows the antihero to be depicted as prevalent. An antihero is defined as a person that does not possess heroic attributes, and may be seen as selfish, corrupt, or sullen. Antiheroes usually tend to acquire the sympathy of another individual, causing them to become relatable, as seen as Bennett writes, “‘Antihero’ implies that a character encourages a conflicted sympathy; Walt forfeited our sympathy long ago” (472). Bennett’s characterization of an antihero demonstrates a sense of an internal struggle on behalf of the audience and the hero. An antihero may appear to be haunted by a tragic past, encounters
What she previously thought was “bad” English is merely a language variation, each variation with its own history and culture. Lanehart now believes these variations need to be celebrated and that they don't always need to be corrected. The more Lanehart learned, the more she believed that English can vary as long as we can all understand each other. Lanehart decides she doesn’t want to correct people anymore.
In “An Insider’s Perspective: The Donna Beegle Story,” the author, Donna Beegle retell the movements in her life since she is a kid until when she gets her doctorate degree. At first, she dreams to become a mother and to have many children as possible. However, she cannot support her family due to the low income. After overcame numerous obstacles, she asked for assistances from a Community Action Agency and her life started to change. She began her education by getting a GED, 2 and 4 years degree, and her doctorate degree continuously.
In discussing Black English, John McWhorter talks about the theories of the origin of the language. McWhorter talks about how people have made claims that Black English is related and comes from African languages. He also tells how their research on this subject is unreliable and “sketchy.” These people making these claims are outside of linguistics, meaning they practice things such as education and speech pathology. People like Dr. Smith, a teacher at a medical college, suggested that Black English is a mixture of African languages with English, where these African languages have altered English into a new language.
I think what Hinton meant by the term “outsider” is because the gang weren’t like most greasers and they were definitely not socs so they were outside the normal social groups. I think this because Ponyboy and the gang aren’t searching for fights and they are respectful of the rules (most of the time) and they are not high class and rude. So I believe outsider means not in the regular social classes and they are there own thing and they wouldn’t change for anyone. I think Hinton was referencing Ponyboy and the gang as well as Randy and Cherry.
Throughout the article, Tan uses a number of personal examples to show and support her point. These examples span from phone conversations and hospital visits to standardized tests. By using examples that cover a wide variety of topics, Tan is able to demonstrate the large effect that her mother’s style of english had and how it was woven into her whole life and not just a part of it. Particularly in the hospital example, Tan also brings in the stereotyping of people who speak “broken” english as not being very smart. In bringing this issue that is at the very root of our society, she darkens the tone to melancholy.
Suresh Canagarajah’s essay proves that English is a difficult language to learn, especially to those whose first language is not English (23-37). This essay centers around Canagarajah’s experiences and struggles to improve his writing as he progresses through life. From the moment he was born to when he became a successful bilingual writer, Canagarajah struggled to show the world that growing up bilingual is a life changing experience that can leave a great impact on people’s lives, Canagarajah uses evidence of personal experiences with the English language throughout the autobiography, allowing him to effectively appealed to his audience and helped him persuasively support his
Internal conflicts are those that take place within the mind of a person, while external conflicts take place between a person or group and another entity of some kind. Internal conflicts often have to do with resolving a moral dilemma or making a decision. External conflicts often deal with obstacles that people face in completing accomplishments or in lengthier battles over situational outcomes. In S.E. Hinton's novel "The Outsiders," one of the internal conflicts that the main character, Ponyboy, faces involves his relationship with his brother Darry. Their parents have died, leaving Darry in charge of keeping the family together.
The essay, "If Black English Isn’t a language, Then Tell Me, What Is It?" by James Baldwin tell us how the English language has become a system of marginalization for Afro-descendant society in the United States. According to Baldwin, the role of black English is associated with American history, since language reveals and defines the speaker. In addition, the author affirms that the existence of a common language among the inhabitants of a country does not prevent the pronunciation of this varied from one region to another. Besides, this essay indicates that the necessity to confront life and its eagerness not to disappear join all languages.
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.
Language can either separate someone from this larger identity or connect him or her to it. This essay shows that black people in America have been systematically and institutionally marginalized by white society that their creation of separate and distinct language was a necessity, and this essay brings to light the struggles my community ---------- the black community --------- had faced in an effort to break through stereotypes and erroneous assumptions .I personally enjoyed how Baldwin incorporated historical examples into his essay, such as the Irish and the Germans, because it showed me that African Americans were not the only ones who felt marginalized by the way they use
The question of what is the value of human life has been discussed for thousands and many civilizations, and everyone has a different view. The question has been discussed in two pieces “Out, out” by Robert Frost and “Veronica” by Adewale Maja-Pearce. In “Out, out” it is conveyed to us that objects that seem not to be alive can be personified to be alive “the saw snarled and rattled”, the verbs “snarled and rattled” convey to us that life is not limited to only humans and animals, but seemingly inanimate objects can become alive, this idea de-values the value of human life. Whereas in “Veronica” life seems to be limited to humans and not to lifeless objects.
"I saw a world where everyone was struggling in the body he or she 'd been given. That world and struggle seemed bearable to me, and even beautiful. "(Alvar 154). This quote is a good summary of the message that Mia Alvar is trying to portray throughout her various short stories in Into The Country as she chronicles the lives of those who are outcasts or abnormal.
