MidniteSuN's Blog

Tashame Ali Hatten

WRT 104

Instructor Shapiro

11/10/11

The 3 articles that I attend to use in this essay unit will be Lisa Delphit’s ” The Silence Dialogue: Power and Pedagogy in Educating Other People’s Children”   ” IQ and Standard English” by Thomas J. Farrell and  ” Our Apartheid: Writing Instructions & Inequality”

3 important and relevant passages from each 3 articles…

Mr. Thomas J . Ferrell on I Q and Standard English

1. Report that black children adopted by white families performed better than their ghetto peers generally do on I Q tests, which supports the inference that the difference is environmental. ( 472)

2. This circumstantial evidence leads me to make the inference that they need to learn the grammar of standard English, which the black children whom Scarr Weinberg refer to undoubtedly learned in their adopted familes. (477)

3. My hypothesis then, is that black ghetto students will get statistically significantly higher scores on measures of abstract thinking when they have mastered the grammar of standard  English. ( There are educated blacks who speak standard English,  and their children generally score better than most of their black ghetto peers on I Q tests.

Lisa Delphit ” The Silenced Dialogue: Power and Pedagogy in Educating Other People’s Children”

1.” I described the estrangement that I and many teachers of color feel from the progressive movement when writing process advocates dismiss us aas too ” skills orientated ” I ended the article suggesting that it was incumbent upon writing process advocates , or indeed , advocates of any progressive movement, to enter dialogue with teachers of color, who may not share their enthusiasm about so-called new , liberal, or progressive ideas.(23)

2. ” The codes or rules I’m speaking of relate to linguistic forms , communicative strategies, and presentation of self; that is, ways of talking, ways of writing, ways of dressing, and ways of interacting. ( 25)

3. Now you may have inferred that I believe that because there is a culture of power, everyone should learn the codes to participate in it, and that is how the world should be, Actually, nothing could be  futher from the truth. I believe in a diversity of style , and I believe the world will be diminished if cultural diversity is ever obliterated. Furthermore, I believe strongly , as do my liberal colleagues, that teach cultural group should have the right to maintain it’s own language style. When I speak, therefore, of the culture of power, I don ‘t speak of how I wish things to be but of how they are. (39)

Ira Shor  ” Our Apartheid : Writing Instruction & Inequality”

1. BW, in sum, has functioned inside the larger saga of American society; it has been part of the undemocratic tracking system pervading American mass education, an added layer of linguistic control to help manage some disturbing economic and political conditions on campus and off. (94)

2. People of color still have twice the unemployment rate of whites ( Bureau of labor Statistics , 160-163). Whitkids are twice as likely as black kids to graduate college. ( Postsecondary Education Oppurtunity,3). Woman are still over-represented in college majors and doctoral fields that pay least; only 25% of tenured faculties are female ( Digest of Education Statistics, Tables 221, 235)  ( 94)

3.  ” To help secure the status quo against  democratic change in school and society , a  BW language policy producing an extra layer of control was apparently needed to discipline students in a undisciplined age. At the time  of bw’s explosive birth, the system was under siege by mass demands for equality , access, and cultural democracy. Since then, the economy, short in graduate labor until about 1970, has been unable to absorb the educated workers produced by higher education in the past 25 years. In this scenerio , BW has helped to slow the output of college graduates.” (93)

 By focusing on Basic Writing . Authors Lisa Delphit, Ira Shore, and Thomas J. Farrell explains the deeper problem of race, language, and teaching.  Although I am of two minds. I agree that Basic Writing is vital in life and business. I also know that If you understand the process then you are able to write stories, get jobs which involve use of “Standard English”. However, there are opposing philospies and statistics that can be found in much of today’s discussions over how to end class and racial injustice based on language, race , and teaching in regards to Basic Writing.

By focusing on Basic Writing, Lisa Delphit, Ira Shor, and Thomas J. Farrel explains the deeper problem of race, language, and teaching. I am here to make my claim that Basic Writing is relevant to the cause and that it’s important to the viewer that we need ” Standard English” as a tool of survival and key to success. Lisa Delphit : [ when you're talking to white people they still want it to be their way. You can try to talk to them and give them examples, but they're so headstrong, they think they know what's best for everybody, for everybody's children. They won't listen , white folks are going to do what they want to do anyway.( 21) ] I stongly agree when she writes this claim. The inner city of black youths are suffering based on their S A T scores.  More minorities are taking the S A T, but the scores for black students remain lowest among racial and ethnic groups. Thomas J. Farrell apparently assumes the same claim from quote 3 ” My hypothesis then, is that black ghetto students will get statistically higher on measures of abstract thinking when they have mastered the grammar of ” Standard English”, and their children generally score better than most of their black ghetto peers on I Q tests. Mr. Farrell is surely right about this claim because, as he may not be aware, recent studies have shown that black students almost across the board are not being adequately schooled to perform well on the S A T and similiar tests. A mass of public schools in predominally black populated areas are underfunded, and inadequately staffed, and not equipped to provide the same quality of secondary education that is offered in predominately white suburban school districts.

Tashame Ali Hatten

WRT 104

Instructor Shapiro

10/27/11

THIS IS BULLSHYT!!!!

1) “But since the neocortex in the brain of all human beings is structurally the same, we can infer that black children have simply not yet learned whatever they need to learn to develop abstract thinking. ( But it is resonable to assume that potential intelligence is genetically transmitted and that it is distrubuted in pattern that fits the normal distrubution curve, as Scarr and Weinberg suggest)” (472)

2)  ” But before I described the nature of this transformation, let explain why i say black ghetto children come from a functionally oral cultural environment.” (472)

(3)  ” This circumstatial evidence leads me to make the inference that they need to learn the grammar of standard English, which  the black children whom Scarr and Weinberg refer to undoubtly learned in their adopted families.” ( 477).

(4) ” My hypothesis, then is that black ghetto students will get statistically significantly higher scores on measures of abstract thinking when they have mastered the grammar of standard Englinsh. ( There are educated blacks who speak standard English, and their children generally score better than most of their ghetto peers on IQ tests.” ( 479)

Tashame Ali Hatten

WRT 104

Instructor Shapiro

10/25/11

Immigrants  come to America to seek opportunity and give their family the same hope and dreams to live out as well. Cut along the process of the ‘ American Dream” nightmares of non exception, lack of economic success, fitting into society, leaves them open to be exploited, and possibly hurt the future welfare of their generation to come. When it comes to “English” do Immigrants except it as a first class language or second class ? By changing  your native tongue to become ” Americanized” does it change  your identity of who you are ? If Americans stop to think about it, many of them might simply assume that most Immigrants should adjust quickly to American culture. However. U. S. writer of mexican Orgin Robert Rodriguez, Aria: Memoir of a Bilingual Child puts it bluntly by stating that (his parents) [ despite all they achieved, perhaps because they had so much to achieve, any deep feeling of ease, the confidence of "belonging" in public was withheld from both. They regarded the people at work, the faces in crowds, as very distant from us. They were the others, los gringos] (328). That term was interchangable in their speech with another, even more telling, Los Americanos. In addition South Asian political novel writer Amitava Kumar ” Language” voices his thoughts on frustration of discrimination and racism in America when it comes to immigrants landing here on American soil. ” It is between words that immigrants must choose to suggest who they are. And if these words , and their meanings, belong to others, then it’s broken language that we must find refuge , consider this example” (17). Kumar gets in depth of explaining  the millions of aliens illegelly in the United States, a fact opposed by the vast majority of Americans. Kumar advocates by using  honest vocabulary and discuss the problem as a legal issue apart from race. Qoutes a verse from the Heavy Metal Rock Group ” Guns & Roses” states: [ Immigrants and faggots, they make me no sense to me, they come to our country -and think they'll do what they please-like start some mini-iran, or spread some disease fuckin disease] (17). In addition Kumar defends all nationalities of Immigrants that come to America that face racism and depict on by their language by identifying who they are. ” What does the word “Jap” mean ? What is the difference between a Japanese and a Chinese American and a used car “?(19). How does language mean and how does it matter ? KUmar also voices that him and other immigrants share similar struggles in trying to adapt and survive in a country where they feel unwelcomed. Although that it is true that the meanings of words like passports and visa are tied to dreams and fantasies , they are also, on the other, inextricably woven into the fabric of power and social prejudice. Kumar deeply express the signs of social disenfranchisement and anger of how immigrants leave one dream by chasing another one as being accepted in Americas culture despite the native tongue that they speak and their true identity being recieved and respected from Americans.

Whereas Kumar, Rodriguez explains how he was brought up in a spanish speaking home but had to adapt to learning how to speak English outside the home. Rodriguez quotes [ A family member would say something to me, and I would feel myself specially recognized] (330). Furthermore Rodriguez adds on paying regards to the sounds of how he felt from his parents  [ I am speaking with ease in spanish. I am addressing you in words I never use with los gringos. i recognize you as a special, clos, like no one outside. You belong with us. In family (Ricardo) (330). As of results, Rodriguez goes on to explain that his parents  still mainly spoke Spanish, and he felt they should atleast began to assimilate to the Amerucan culture and identity. Nevertheless after adapting  to the american culture he began having a normal life , and feeling like he was a part of society. Rodriguez demonstrates his point of view by stating [ I would dishonor those I have loved and those i love now to claim anything else. I would dishonor our closeness by holding on to a particular language and calling it my family language] (348).

Kumar and Rodriguez have different opinions on language and identity inside of  America. Kumar upholds his in just figurative speeches and quotes from songs and movies that he witnessed as an eye opener as an immigrant in ” Languages” A movie scene in ” Falling  Down’ between Mr. Lee an korean store owner and ” Foster” an white American male played by Micheal Douglas, shares a controversial moment on Americans not respecting on how most immigrants still struggle with the ” American Language” by correcting his natural native tongue obviously stating that  it is no longer his language anymore. regardless if you’re a buisness owner or not, you’re in America so speak like you’re an American ! Rodriguez on the other hand disagrees. he supports  the fact that the importance of learning English in America takes alot of pressure off of you and your familyas being immigrants. Rodriguez feels that the quicker you learn the easier you will be accepted in society. [ I consider Spanish to be a private language. What I needed to learn in school was that I had the right-and the obligation -to speak the public language  of gringos.] (330).  Rodriguez states [ As more of a confident speaker of English it didn't take troble him to listen to how strangers sounded speaking to him. he aslo expresses that he no longer felt alienated because he could not decipher  on how and what Americans were saying (335). " Conversations became content-full, Transparent, hearing someone's tone of voice-angry or questioning or sarcastic or happy or sad-I didn't distinguish it from the words expressed. [ This public silence measured and quickned the change in my life.] Similarily both authors agree that speaking another language other then English does put you in a uncomfortable state as being  accepted as an American, and alienates you from the rest of society.

My feelings on this topic on language and identity go in several directions. I do support both arguments respectively from both authors in Kumar and Rodriguez. Although Rodriguez may seem of concern to a small group of listeners, it should in fact concern anyone who cares about the extreme pressure of being bilingual assimilating to the American culture. i would also support that the Immigrants who do come to America seek the ” American Dream” for their children but gets left behind for not being able to study or learn English quicker due to having work hard labor , and no education. Consequently everything has an advantage and disadavantage, and Robert Rodriguez makes me understand his importance on being accepted as an American in society and his personal reflection on change. On the contrary I feel that Kumar is trying to deliver a message on on why Americans feel forced to treat immigrants different due to them coming to America because they speak differently? as an Black American I share the same effects as kumar when it comes to language and still being looked upon in America as being different, and how culture surpisingly still places you in a classes and divisions. In conclussion, Kumar and Rodriguez shares similarities and opposing differences but still give you an idea on what immigrants go through here in America based on language and identity. The language of order and acceptance is not the first language you’re born with  and both authors agree to this concept and support immigrants in communicating proposals for practical improvement for generations to come. Thhis way people will then begin to understand the boundaries and disadvantages that Immigrants face in today’s society.

Tashame Ali Hatten

WRT 104

Instructor Shapiro

10/16/11

Immigrants come to A merica to seek oppurtunity and give their family the same hope and dreams to live  out as well. Cut along with the process of the “American Dream” nightmares of  non exception , lack of economic success, fitting into society, leaves them open to be exploited, and possibly hurt the future welfare of their  generation to come. When it comes to “English” do Immigrants except it as a first class language or second class? By changing your native tongue to become “Americanized” does it changes your identity of who you are ? If Americans stop to think about it, many of them might simply assume that most Immigrants should adjust quickly to American culture. However, U.S. writer of Mexican Orgin Robert Rodriguez,  Aria: Memoir of a Bilingual Child (328) puts it bluntly by stating that (his parents) [ Despite all they achieved, perhaps because they had so much to achieve, any deep feeing of ease, the confidence of "belonging" in public was witheld from both. They regagrded the people at work, the faces in crowds, as very distant from us. They were the others, los gringos. That term was interchangable in their speech with another; even more telling, los americanos. In addition South Asian political novel writer Amitava Kumar " Language" voices his thoughts on frustration of discrimination and racism in America when it comes to immigrants landing here on American soil. (17) " It is between different words that immigrants must choose to suggest who they are. And if these words, and their meanings, belong to others , then it is in a broken langauge that we must find refuge. Consider this example." Kumar gets in depth of explaining the Millions of aliens illegally in the United States, a fact opposed by the vast majority of Americans. Kumar advocates by using honest vocabulary and discuss the problem as a legal issue apart from race. (17) qoutes a verse from the heavy Metal Rock group Guns & Roses states: Immogrants and faggots, they make no sense to me , they come to our country-and think they'll do as they pleas-like start some mini-Iran, or spread some fuckin disease. In addition Kumar defends all nationalities of Immigrants that come to America that face racism and depict on by there language by identifying who they are. (19) " what does the word "Jap" mean ? What is the difference between a japanese and a Chinese American and a used car? How does language mean and how does it matter? Kumar also voices that him & otherimmigrants share similar struggles in trying to adapt and survive in a country where they feel un welcomed. Although that it is true that the meanings of words like passports and visa are tied to dreams and fantasies, they are also, on the other, inextricably woven into the fabric of power and social prejudice. Kumar deeply express the signs of social disenfranchisement and anger of how immigrants leave one dream by chasing another one as being accepted in Americas culture despite the native tongue that they speak and their true identity being recieved and respected from Americans.

Whereas Kumar, Rodriguez explains how he was brought up in a spanish speaking home but had to adapt to learning how to speak English outside the home. Rodriguez quotes(330)  [ A family member would say something to me, and I would feel myself specially recognized] Furthermore Rodriguez adds on paying regards to the sounds of how he felt from his parents [ I am speaking with ease in spanish.I am addressing you in words I never use with los gringos. I recognize you as a special, close, like no one outside. You belong with us. In the family ( Ricardo)] As of results, Rodriguez goes on to explain that his parents still mainly spoke soanish, and he felt they should atleast began to to assimilate to the American culture by learning to speak English too. he realized that he had a hard time dealing with his own culture and identity. Nevertheless after adapting to the American culture he began having a normal life, and feeling like he was apart of society. Rodriguez demontrates his point of view by stating (348) [ I would dishonor those I have loved and those I love now to claim anything else. I would dishonor our closeness by holding on to a particular language and calling it my family language]

As you can see both Kumar and Rodriguez have different opinions on language and Identity in America. Kumar upholds his injust figurative speeches and quotes from  songs and movies that he witnessed as an eye opener as an immigrant in” Languages”  A movie scene in ” Falling Down” (18) between Mr. Lee an Korean store owner and ” Foster” an white American male played by Micheal Douglas, shares a controversial moment on Americans not respecting  on how most immigrants still struggle with the ” American Language”  by correcting his natural native tongue obviously stating that it is no longer his language anymore. Regardless if your a buisness owner or not, your in America so speak like one. Rodriguez on the otherhand disagrees. He supports the fact that the importance of learning English in America takes alot of pressure off of you and your family as being immigrants. Rodriguez feels that the quicker you learn the easier you will be accepted in society.( 333) ” I considered Spanish to be a private language. What I needed to learn in school was that I had the right -and the obligation-to speak the public language of gringos.] Rodriguez states( 335) As a more confident speaker of English it didn’t trouble him to listen to how strangers sounded speaking to him. He also expresses that he no longer felt alienated because he could no decipher the sounds on how and what Americans were saying.(335) ” Conversations became content content-full. Transparent. hearing someone’s tone of voice -angry or questioning or sarcastic or happy or sad-I didn’t distinguish it from the words expressed. [ this public silence measured and quickned the change in my life.] Similarly both authors agree that speaking another language other the English does put you in a uncomfortable state as being accepted as an American, and alienates you from the rest of society.

My feelings on this topic on Language and Identity goes in several directions. I do support both arguments respectively from both authors in Kumar and Rodriguez.  Although Rodriguez may seem of concern to only a small group of listners, it should in fact concern anyone who cares about the extreme pressure of being bilingual assimilating to the American culture. I would also support that Immigrants who do come to Americato seek the ” American Dream” for their children but get left behind for not being able to study or learn English quicker due to having work hard labor, and no education. Consequently everything has an advantage and disadvantage, and Robert Rodriguez makes me me understand his importance on being accepted as an American  in society and his personal reflection on change. On the contrary I feel that Kumar is trying  to deliver a message on why Americans feel forced to treat immigrants different due to them coming to America because they speak differently ? As an Black American i share the same effects as Kumar when it comes to language and identity only not being an immigrant but feeling alienated due to my original tongue as being my first language and still being looked upon in America as being different, and how culture surprisingly still places you in classes and divisions.

In conclussion, Kumar and Rodriguez shares similarities and opposing differences but still give you an idea on what immigrants go through here in America based on langauge and identity. The language of order and acceptance is not the first langauge your born with and both authors agree to this concept and support immigrants in communicating proposals for pratical improvement for generations to come. This way people will then begin to understand the boundaries and disadvantages that Immigrants face in todays society.

Tashame Ali Hatten

WRT 104

Instructor Shapiro

10/ 16/11

5 quotations from Kumar & Rodriguez based on Language & Identity….

Kumar’s Quotes from ” Langauge”

(17) [My passport provides no information about my language.It simply presumes I have one.] [It is between different words that immigrants must choose to suggest who they are. And if these words, and their meanings, belong to others, then it is in a broken langauge that we must find refuge. Consider this example.]

(20) [If you have been patient with my exposition so far, we might ask the same question of the object called the passport. How do we understand it as a term of language?]

(22) [ You start with inquiry into the meaning of a word and you enter a world of difference. What are the answers  to the question of an Indian woman's identity?]

(34) [I brough two bags from home, but there was a third that I left behind. In this new country. apart from the struggles that made me a stranger, were your needs, of the ones who bid me goodbye, those I left behind]    [ I didn't want want to forget my traditions, thre tradition of forgetting I left behind. Bags, passport, my shoe crossed the yellow lines, something was left behind. Here I am, a sum of different parts; travel agents everywhere are selling ads for the parts that were left behind.]

Rodriguez quotes from “Aria: menoir of a Bilingual Childhood”

(330) [ A family member would say something to me and I would feel myself specifically recognized. My parents would say something to me and I would feel embraced by the sounds of their words.]

(332) [ like others who know the pain of public alienation, we transformed the knowledge of our public separtness and made it consoling-the reminder of intimacy. Excited, we joined our voices in a celebration of sounds.]

[ having to learn the language of public society. I would of have evaded-and for how long could I have afforded to delay?-learning the great lesson of school, that I had a public identity.]

(337) Though, even then, their sounds caused me less and less concern. For I was increasingly confident of my own public identity.]

(343) [ no longer heard  intimate voices as often as I had earlier, It was because I used public language for most of the day. I moved easily at last, a citizen in a crowded city of words.] 

The setting takes place on a park bench in NYC. A bench long enough for 3 men who have nothing but time on their hands..sharing the same thought on language:

Tashame: I’m sorry sir but I couldn’t help but to over hear you conversation on the phone regarding your children in school ? What’s the problem are they getting picked on ?

Kumar: Yes they are. I just don’t understand why people can’t just leave you alone and let well be enough. My children are human just like other kids, regardless of how they speak there still Americans !!!

Tashame: I agree with you 100%  I’ve been in the same situation coming up as a child. You almost feel like an alien, being an outcast does give you an empty feeling inside.

Kumar: Just because my language is different . i just don’t think that it’s right trying to survive and adapt to a place that I call home yet feel unwelcomed ! I’m proud of who I am, I’m Indian first then American second ! except me for who I am and my family !

Rodriguez: Excuse me sir, I feel exactly what your saying. I am a Spanish American, but I love the American English too. When I was a child I wasn’t force to learn the English right away because my parents felt comfortable with just being here was good enough. And yes at once I did feel alienated as well ( stands up with pride) until I learned the American English!

Kumar: Thank you sir. very well said, My work, blood, sweat and tears are needed to soil your land ! as a matter of fact buying manufacturing products from my homeland is also mandatory, but as being an American you have a problem on the way I speak? who does that ?

tashame: personally me being a black American and never came here on a visa, passport, or whatever, but still get the same reputation as you  do or did. I use to get corrected all the time by white teachers in school when i would pronounce the ask like “axe” ( a.x.e.) and the white children would fill laughter all over the room. ( as we all find this humerous) the teacher would respond to me ” I hope you aren’t planning on doing that cause you just may kill me ! don’t you mean ask?

rodriguez:  sir maybe if you can get the children in a bilingual class where they could learn there English better it probably would be a great help to them and could take off alot of the pressure. For one moment put your place in their shoes. If your not helping them at home with their English then it will be a great burden to them everyday when they step outside of their home. With all due respect We are Americans and I want what’s best for my childrens’ future. Thhis is the land of oppurtunity and if it means bettering my family by being able to speak proper English then it’s another job within itself. I’m up for that job. Everything has an advantage and a dis advantage, what about survival ? The key word again is oppurtunity and oppurtunity is education and we must learn the English language to become the main ingredient in the America’s melting pot.

Tashame Ali Hatten

WRT 104

Instructor Shapiro

10/13/11

Kumar was born in the city of Arrah in the Indian state of Bihar on march 17, 1963. he grew up closw to his birth place in patna, also in Bihar. he holds teo master Degrees in Linguistics and Literature from Delhi University (1986) and Syracuse University( 1988) respectively. In 1993 he recieved his doctoral degree from the department of cultural studies and comparative literaure at the University of Minnesota.

(30) [ I took this photograph very close to the U.S.-Mexico boarder, somewhere between San Diego and Tijuana. There was a tear in the fence;  I climbed under it and came up close to the highway to get a better shot. When I went back to the place in the fence, I startled out of my skin by a Boarder patrol van that was driving very slowly driving past. The officer did not see me, however, and i was soon back in the bar next to my motel. While sippin my beer, I imagined a conversation with the boarder patrol officer who had narrowly missed catching me.]

In this essay of ” Languages” kumar gets in depth of explaining the millions of aliens illegally in the United States, a fact opposed by the vast majority of Americans. Kumar advocates b y using honest vocabulary and discuss the problem as a legal issue from race.

For example (17) quotes a verse from the heavy Metal Rock group Guns & Roses: “Immigrants and faggots, they make no sense to me, they come to our country-and think they’ll do as they please-like start some mini-iran, or spread some fuckin disease”. In addition Kumar defends all nationalities of Immigrants that come to America that face racism and depict on by there language by mis identifying who they are. (19) [ what does the word " Jap" mean ? What is the difference between a Japanese and a Chinese American ? What is the difference between a chinese American and a used car ? How does language mean and why does it matter?] On the the contary I feel that the message that Kumar is trying to deliver is why Americans feel forced to treat immigrants different due to them coming to America and their language is different ? Kumar also voices that him & other immigrants share similar struggles in trying to adapt and survive in a country where they feel unwelcomed. Although it is true that the meanings of words like passports and visa are tied to dreams and fantasies, they are also, on the other, inextricably woven into the fabric of power and social prejudice. In conclusion of this essay” Language” Kumar will deeply express the signs pf social disenfrancisement and anger of how immigrants leave one dream by chasing another one being accepted in Americas culture despite the language they speak.

Tashame Ali Hatten

WRT 104

Instructor Shapiro

10/12/11

(339)[ I grew up victim to disabling confusion. As I grew fluent in English, I no longer could speak spanish with confidence. I continued to understand spoken Spanish, and in high school, i learned how to read and write Spanish. But for many years I could not pronounce it. A powerful guilt blocked my spoken words; ]

Born in 1944 in San Francisco and raised in Sacramento California, Rodriguez is brought up by two parents that are  Mexican Immigrants , who spoke very fluent spanish inside the probably more a safeguard for their family, but encouraged Rodriguez to lean and speak English on the outside world.

Rodriguez qoutes (330) [ A family member would say something to me and i would feel myself specially recognized] furthermore Rodriguez adds on paying regards to the sounds of how he felt from his parents [ I am speaking with ease in spanish. I am addressing you in words I never use with los gringos. I recognize you as special, close, like no one outside. You belong with us us. In the family (Ricardo) ] Although Rodriguez may seem of concern to only a small group of listners, it should in fact concern anyone who cares about the extreme pressure of being bilingual assimilating to the American culture. Although the guilt of  Rodriguez’s parents leaving him alone by sending him to school to try and consume the English langauge on his own, Rodriguez was able to become a better learner once his English had became better. he was able to make friends, and became more comfortable in his own state Rodriguez started feeling that he had now became apart of society. The better Rodriguez language became the more distant he became at home with his parents. The once closeness of a secured family with the voices of  spoken spanish had now started to dissapear.(332) [ Our laughing ( so deep was the pleasure! ) became screaming. Like others who know the pain of public alienaton, we transformed the knowledge of our public separatness and made it consoling]

It hurted Rodriguez to see his parents struggle with English in public where Rodriguez would say ( 330) [ hearing them I'd grow nervous, my clutching trust in their protection and power weakned ] I feel what this author is trying to indicate is that it was much more then his parents coming to this country and becoming an American, but the ultimate pleasure of being able to speak and talk like an American, Rodriguez still stood uneasy feeling sorry for his parents. (332) [Supporters of bilingual education today imply that students like me miss a great deal by not being taught in their family's language]  Rodriguez argues “what they fail to realize is that as a socially dis advantage child I considered spanish to b a private language.”

Rodriguez demontrates his point of view by stating (348) [ I would dishonor those I have loved and those I love now to claim anything else. I would dishonor our closeness by holding on to a particular language and calling it my family language ] [ Death finally qiets the voice, and there is no way to deney it. No way to stand in the crowd , uttering one's family language] Consequently everything has an advantage and dis advantage, and Robert Rodriguez essay will give you a personal indepth look on m exican Immigrants being part of the ingredients of America’s melting pot.

Tashame Ali Hatten

wrt 104

Instructor Shapir0

10/3/11

June Jordan’s essay ***Nobody Means More To Me Than You And The Future Of Willie Jordan*** opens up a discussion based on race , culture , and of course ” English” and how it all affects the future of the African American in regards to language , culture , and nationality.  Jordan (293) expresses ” what we casually call ” English” less and less defers to England and it’s gentleman” [ English is no longer a specific matter of geography or an element of class privileged; more than thirty-three countries use this tool as a means of international communication"] What Jordan is arguing that there are other countries who keeps their own resources that is of importance to their culture as an identity to their race of people , and only uses “English” as a second language. June Jordan [goes into detail explaining the debate of " Black English" and " Standard English" is being sought out to be proven wrong considering what is incorrect, bad English, or improper English] June Jordan teaches her students how to read and write their own verbal system to hopefully prove a point on it’s importance to keep our voice alive for generations to come. The students reads Alice Walkers’ ” The Color Purple” so they would be able to see and understand the language that their culture speaks and how it looks in writing, However due to the nature of how it must of felt for the student to see their language written and then translating it verbally showed the importance on why “Black English” is our way of life and is structured only for us as communicating. ” Black English” is not exactly a linguistic buffalo”, but we should understand it’s status as an endangered species, as a perishing, irreplaceable system of community intelligence, nor we should expect it’s extinction and along with that the extinguishing of much that constitutes our own proud, and singular identity.”  June Jordan continually voices that anyone who is not of our ancestors does not have the right to annihilate a language that does not belong to them and to determine that “Black English” is wrong. Although Willie Jordan a student of June Jordan who was a very intelligent and bright student who interests were the policies of South Africa [note] this essay was based from the early and 80′s and apartheid was very well noticed throughout the world. Willie Jordan was in highly favorite of “Standard English” and requested this South Africa studies by the approval of June Jordan. During the project Willie Jordan ends up missing in action. Nobody hears from here or no his whereabouts? Finally Willie Jordan shows up with some bad and disturbing news that his brother “Reggie Jordan” was murdered by the NYPD. The students become outraged and wants to support Willie by sending out a letter to the NYPD , newspapers, and news media. When the students didn’t get a respond from anyone, Willie Jordan decided to write an essay pulling together everything important to him from that semester and expressed himself deeply with frustration and amazement, and loss by writing it all in “Standard English” in it’s entirety. ” Black English” is a surving tool that has kept the black race as one. It is our own source of communication on who we are and what we represent. It’s our voice, it’s our ancestors, and we must carry it out as a blanket to cover our future before it becomes non existent.

Tashame Ali Hatten

wrt 104

Instructor Shapiro

9/28/11

June Jordan’s essay opens up discussion based on race , culture, and of course “English” and how  it affects the future of the African American. Jordan expresses  (296) “what we casually call “English” less defers to England and it’s gentlemen” “English is no longer  a specific matter of geography or an element of privledged; more than  thirty -three countries use this tool as  a means of international communication” The essay Nobody Means More To Me Than You And The Future Of Willie Jordan” goes into detail explaining the cultral shock of  “Black English” vs “Standard English” and how ” Black English” is being sought out to be proven wrong , incorrect, bad English , and or “improper English”. Jordan teaches her students how to read and write their own verbal system of communication to hopefully prove a point on how it’s important to keep our voice alive for generations to come. This excercise was practiced through Alice Walker’s “The Color Purple” and the students got a chance to see but not hear the effects of ” Black English” and what it means as a surviving tool in America today. ” Black English” is not exactly a liguistic buffalo, but we should  understand it’s status as an endagered species, as a perishing , irresplaceable system of community intelligence, or we should expect it’s extinction , and along with that the extinguishing of much that constitutes our own proud , and singular identity.”(293) breaks it down clearly that anyone who is not of our ancestors does not have the right to annilihate a language that does not belong to them and to determine that ” Black English” is wrong continued voiced by Jordan. Although Willie Jordan a student of hers goes through the dilema of loosing a brother name ” Reggie Jordan” through the violence and hands of  the NYPD, and “Black English” vs “Standard English” is placed in full effect, as Willie Jordan decides to take a journey out of “racism” and do what he feels is right for his future and success.