Mac Jeffrey
English 1100

Prof. Young

Language

September 13, 2015

Language

It is a common discussion weather or not students should be able to write like they talk in school assignments. I think that both sides of the argument have truth and I'm not totally sure there is a right answer to the question, but it is definitely worth taking a closer look at. It was a rule with most of my teachers in high school that we weren't able to write like we talk and I have to say I never really understood that rule. After all, we do have freedom of speech in this country. After looking back, I think the purpose of that rule was probably to prepare us for the real world because you might not be able to write exactly how you talk if you are writing a letter to your boss or any other authority figure. Also, if you write in Academic English, it is pretty much universally recognized so it is a safer bet when you aren't sure how to phrase an essay. On the other hand, the style of writing that most teachers teach gives you no authenticity. I think writing should reflect your unique personality and writing in Academic English might not be your preferred style. Some people speak more properly, and some people like to throw a lot of slang into their speech. Of coarse, every student's writing still has to be understandable to the teacher. The question becomes where do you draw the line between authentic and proper? There has to be a bit of both in a student's writing. If the whole thing has to be in proper English, the students might not be being true to themselves. If it is in total modern day slang, it might not be readable for the teacher. The student must be able to write clearly while still being true to who they are. A great example of using your own language is in the song "Fuck Tha Police" by NWA. They talk about all of the terrible things they have seen the police force in Compton do. While a lot of people will have a problem with this song, I think that it was somewhat appropriate them for them to say what they said. They are talking about what they know to be true and they are getting their anger out by rapping. However, it is wrong to assume this about all police and it could cause some people to rebel.

Mac Jeffrey
7 September 2015
English 1100
Prof. Young

Identity

 

     In the essay "How to Tame a Wild Tongue", Gloria Anzaldua talks about identity. What she

mainly focuses on is how much her unique Chicano language has shaped who she is. She had taken a lot of crap on her life because most people don't recognize her language and they assume it is incorrect. But after reading the essay, we know that this couldn't be further from the truth. Anzaldua shows us in her writing how important identity really is. She learned throughout her life to be true to herself and not to follow what other people think she should do. To me, identity is important because it distinguishes you from the crowd and makes you unique.      

 

       Identity should be something that nobody can take away from you. It is something that is yours alone and it is just a little bit different from person to person. All the time people say things like "they are exactly alike" or "you're just like him" when in reality, no two people in the world are exactly the same. Even two people who seem incredibly similar on the surface might be completely different on the inside. There are so many tiny qualities that make us up as human beings and they are different for everyone. This is why your identity is so important, because it is who you are in your heart and you should never try to be anything other than that.

 

       Everyone has their own unique personality. Part of having an identity is being able to let your personality shine through in whatever you do. If you constantly have to switch up who you are to impress everyone, I don't think you don't have a true identity. Of coarse, everyone has to put on a front from time to time to impress certain people, such as your boss or your parents. But if you change drastically with different groups that you hang out with, that isn't your real identity. Most people who do this are scared of what people will think about them, when in reality much more people would respect them if they were true to who they are.

      

      If you have your own identity, that means you know exactly who you are. If you know your identity, you will be a much happier person because you know what you want to do with yourself. It is definitely very impressive to see someone who knows their identity and doesn't change who they are to fit in or to try to impress people. I would say most people in the world try to change who they are to try to fit in to some degree, but the less you do that the more you will be respected. Also, people will look at you as a leader if they see that you have your own unique identity.

      The most important thing to remember about identity is that you need to own it. Be true to who you are and no one will be able to tell you to be a certain way.  The real reason that identity is important is because nothing makes a person more happy than knowing exactly who they are. So many people try to push you in a certain direction so it is important to be able to make your own decisions so you could have your own identity. Anzaldua could have listened to the people telling her that her language was incorrect, but she stayed true to herself and ended up writing a great essay that many people can learn from.



Mac Jeffrey
3 September 2015
English 1100
Prof. Young

Identity

 

      In my opinion, identity is everything about you that makes you who you are. In class we discussed how identity is everything that you can tell about a person just by looking at them, but I believe it is a bit deeper than that. I think identity is any trait that makes you unique, such as your interests, personality, or what you are good at. For example, no one would be able to tell just by looking at me that I am a basketball player, but I consider that to be a huge part of my identity. I also really like music and I am a pretty good guitar player, which I consider a part of my identity.

 



      In "How to Tame a Wild Tongue", Gloria Anzaldua mostly talks about her language being her identity. Language is definitely a huge part of your identity, but even more so in Anzaldua's case because of how much it has shaped her life. Her entire story is about how her unique language has impacted her life. Her entire life she was told that the way she talks is wrong and that clearly had a huge affect on her. Because of how unusual her language is and how much she was ridiculed for it, het language is an extremely important part of who she is. However, there are many other intangible things that also make her who she is.
     Identity could be shaped by how you were raised, but it is also greatly influenced by your individual personality. The majority of people don't change too much from the culture they were brought up in, although some people do break away from their upbringing and start their own path. It is ultimately up to you what your identity is. Anzaldua could have listened to everyone and spoke the way they thought she was supposed to, but she decided to be strong and stick with what she felt comfortable with regardless of what people thought.

Mac Jeffrey
31 August 2015
Prof. Young
English 1100
Quotes

"How to Tame a Wild Tongue" Quotes

 

"Attacks on one's form of expression with the intent to censor are a violation of the first amendment. Wild tongues can't be tamed, they can only be cut out."

 

 

"And because we internalize how our language has been used against us by the dominant culture, we use our language differences against each other."

 

"Until I am free to write bilingually and to switch codes without having always to translate, while I still have to speak English or Spanish where I would rather speak Spanglish, and as long as I have to accommodate the English speakers rather than having them accommodate me, my tongue will be illegitimate."

Mac Jeffrey
31 August 2015
Prof. Young
English 1100

How to Tame a Wild Tongue

 

 1) The opening scene is of Anzaldua in a dentist office. She is being operated on but she is giving the dentist much trouble because her tongue is pushing out everything he is putting into her mouth. The dentist gets very frustrated and tells her to control her tongue. This is a great representation of the story she then tells because all her life she had been told to speak a different way. The dentist in the introduction represent those people who tried to change her in her life.
 

2) Although I do not speak much Spanish and it was hard for me to understand those parts, it made sense for her to use it. I think her purpose was to bring you into her world and make you realize what she had to go through. The story might have been difficult to understand at times, but it was a glimpse into how hard it was for her.

3) I think it can because most people do not speak Chicano which makes it nonstandard.

4) For certain crowds speaking in Academic English is necessary. It is probably a safer bet because it is the language everyone is taught and it will help you be taken more seriously.

5) There are many different ways of speaking in English. For example, most black people talk different than white people although there are many exceptions to this.

 

6) I think everyone speaks differently around different groups of people. Most of us would not talk to our parents the same way we talk to our friends. I definitely use different language around my friends because we are a part of a certain culture among ourselves.

 

7) When I am with my friends, I use words and phrases that can mostly only be understood by our generation. When I am around my parents or elders, I use more standard English because they would not understand me if I talked to them the way I talk to my friends.

8) This means that your language is a big part of who you are. More than language, your culture of where you are from makes you who you are. No matter what language you are speaking, you will behave based on how you were taught to act based on where you are from.

9) The conclusion ties back to the main idea of the introduction. It talks about how there is a battle between the languages just like in the introduction, only here it says it in a much more concrete way without any symbolism.

10) Absolutely. The language you speak basically determines who you can hang out with. Like I mentioned before, the language you speak has a lot to do with your culture, so there is also a correlation between your language and the way you dress or how you spend your free time.

11) Having an identity is extremely important. If you have an identity, you know exactly who you are and you are not worried about trying to fit into a certain group. Anzaldua talks about this throughout the entire article since she is constantly talking about the different dialects and what makes them who they are.

 





Getting to Know You

 

 

1) I am a basketball player. I have been playing since I was nine years old and now I will be playing for the team at FDU. It really is a dream come true to be playing college basketball, I have had that goal for a very long time. I hope to one day be a Division 1 college coach and now that I am a college player I feel like I am one step closer to that goal.

 

      

 

 

2) Besides basketball, the thing I am most passionate about is working with young kids. If I don't ever become a coach, my backup plan is to be an elementary school teacher. My high school had a program called Student Facilitators which allowed a high school student to be paired up with an elementary school student and help them with their school work. I was in the program for two years and I got a lot out of it.

 

 

3) My full name is Mackenzie but everyone calls me Mac. I have been called out time and time again in my life for having a girl's name, but I am used to it by now. You can get many nicknames out of the name Mac including Big Mac, Mac Truck, and Mac Daddy.

 

4) When I write, I normally just sit down at my computer or with a piece of paper and write my opinions on whatever I am talking about. I don't want to say that I just write whatever comes to my head, but I like to let it flow naturally.

 

5) In high school I was required to use to five paragraph structure every year. Most of my teachers required me to make an outline and a few rough drafts to go along with the final draft. I learned about grammar and sentence structure my senior year.

 

6) I listen to many different kinds of music, but mostly rap and classic rock. My favorite artist right now is Drake because I think he is very musically versatile and a lot of his lyrics really speak to me.

 

 

7) I use social media very often. Like many people my age, the first thing I do when I get bored is go to my phone and look at all my social media pages. The one I use the most is probably Instagram, and I also use Snapchat and Twitter very frequently.

 

 

8)  I am hoping to learn a bit more about the nuances of writing.

 

9) I would say I am a B writer. Everyone tells me that I am a very good writer but it has never been something that I enjoyed and I don't feel like it comes naturally to me. Maybe I have never enjoyed it because I always write what my teacher tells me to and never by choice.