Final Reflection

 

Wobble.

To lose balance.

To be unsteady.

To falter or stagger.



In this course, there have been many moments of "wobble" for me to work through.  I mentioned my literacy narrative in the last post, and the first and perhaps most prominent struggle has been to reconsider my identity as percieved from the outside in this new college atmosphere.  Because of band and AP, almost all of my classes during my last year of high school were year-long courses, in which I really got to know my teachers and fellow students.  In this situation, I could without issue be my quiet self and over the time, people around me gradually got to know me, and I them.  Here at UNC Charlotte it is much different.  In a class that only meets 33 times, one must be much more outgoing to create friendships.  Because I live at home and commute to Charlotte on school days instead of living in a dorm and having the traditional meal plan, I miss the main opportunity to connect with other students. 

In a traditional lecture course, this conflict is circumvented.  Walking into a class like that, the purpose of the student is clearly set forth: come to class, listen, and leave.  In contrast, this course demanded much more interaction and I became known by my name instead of a face in the crowd.  That, in itself, wasn't the rub; it actually made it feel more like high school.  The issue arouse when we began discussing our personal thoughts and life stories with those we just met.  This was very uncomfortable for me, (and still is! haha ) and many times I would talk more about what I thought my partner easily nod along with, than actually sharing my true opinion or experiences.  I would listen around me as to clues on what others were talking about and find something similiar to say; my true response often felt too sincere for 9:30 in the morning.  I think we all do this to some degree, monitoring our speech depending on who we are speaking with and the external situation, but the struggle for me was to decide how much.  God is the most influencial and important person in my life, and the experiences of every day are put into the context of his presence.  The way He has changed me means the world to me, and His plans for my future do too, though I don't yet know what those might be.  This sort of thing is difficult to mold into a casual, minute discussion with a stranger, especially when its so close to my heart.  Deciding how much I would "hide" was my greatest wobble of this course.

Literacy Narrative Reflection

My literacy narrative.  Sigh.  There is so much that could be said about this assignment. 

Let's start from the beginning.  Or before the beginning.  When I first heard about this project, I seriously debated not doing it.  (and this is coming from the girl who thought she had to make perfect grades in high school!)  As it was described to us, I felt like there were only two ways to write this paper: either as a metaphor, or as a paper centered on me and my writing progression.  The former seemed impossible to me.  When I read the Living Like Weasels and Carpet is Mungers, neither one made any sense to me, and weasel analogy kind of grossed me out.  Because I felt that I wasn't creative (or crazy) enough to write a good metaphorical literacy narrative, I was stuck with option number two.  Writing about the development of my literacy seemed very self-centered, like when you write a resume or scholarship application and only talk about all the great things you've done.  I hate doing those, so I thought a 3-5 page paper would be absolutely horrid.  This is what I wrote for my writing into the day...

I hate papers about myself.  Who am I?  Who cares? ...but my greatest opposition is this: I am dead.  "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live! Christ lives in me!  ...It would be like the ocean boasting about its water, when the real majesty lies in what lives within.   In the grand scheme, I'm not important!  It almost seems wrong...to focus three pages completely on myself and my desires/accomplishments...Perhaps that's why I haven't started!!  "Even if I should choose to boast, I would not be a fool because I would be speaking the truth.  But I refrain, so no one will think more of me than is warranted by what I do or say."  Should I, like Paul, also refrain??

However, I realized the centrality of this project to the course and its eventual impact on my grade and decided that since my parents were paying this semester of college for me, that I should honor them and do my best to make good grades.  Plus, from the outside, not doing a homework assignment just looks lazy.  After deciding to do it, I then waited until the last minute to actually start writing because I didn't really know what to say.  It started out as a general narrative on how I learned to read, but about halfway through the first page, I realized how I could change up this assignment so that it didn't feel so self-absorbed.  I look back now and it seems obvious... I wonder how I didn't see this sooner!  I decided to write the first draft not focusing on how I have improved my literacy, but how God has impacted my life, including but not limited to, my literacy.  Just changed the focus. :)

My second draft was hard for me to write too.  I remember being rather annoyed that I had to completely rework an essay that I had already put alot of myself into.  Often times when I write an essay, I will outline and revise its form, structure, and thought progression in my head, wait until the night before its due, and then dump it all out on paper all at once.  The idea that I had to go back and dig up all these old ideas that felt complete to me and readdress them felt kind of frustrating.  Eventually this second draft served as a giant experiment of sorts.  From the October 4th assignment, I thought it would be cool if I combined the idea of focusing on one specific event, describing it in overblown detail and the idea of converting it to a poem.  The poem idea also flowed nicely into the mentor text that our writing group had found in the library, Owl Moon.  I decided that it would be neat to reminisce about the night I was saved through the mood of Jane Yolen's children's story...I have rerun it many times in my head, but have never taken the time to write it poetically.  In the end, I actually really enjoyed doing this draft, but when I finished, I found it difficult to throw the context back on my literacy and still stay within the same lyrical mood, so it kind of fell to the wayside.

For the final draft, at first I was really excited about the rolling due date, but the longer I thought about what to write, the more I couldn't decide!  There are so many possible things to talk about, so many different perspectives to take that I felt like the extra time just made me more indecisive.  Several times I thought about trying the idea my teacher suggested, which was to start at my 40th birthday and work backwards, which was a really cool idea, but what if I didn't meet my goal?  It felt presumptuous to me.  A lot of things can happen in 22 plus years.  I also considered completely rewriting it, viewing the third draft more as a progression of ideas than as a replacement for the first two.  I would use it to relate the literacy narrative to what's been going on recently, focusing on apologetics.  In the end I chose to dismantle the end of the first draft and add these other new thoughts to the end.  I still ended up liking the first draft better, perhaps because of its focus, but I wasn't about to erase my work. :)

Overall, this assignment was an all-around struggle for me, but it was certainly successful in driving home the fact that literacy is dynamic and hopelessly intertwined in each of our lives. 

Ethnography Project Reflection

Here are some of my thoughts from throughout the process of creating our group's ethnography project.

As previously mentioned on this website, at first I wanted to do this project as a study of the literacy in the natural world, such as different types of patterns, animal communication, and even that of our own DNA.  However as we were split up into groups, that was not a feasible option.  I instead decided to join the group searching for literacy in everyday objects; I had some thoughts on this that came up in one of our past assignments and I thought they would be interesting to flesh out in totality. 

As our group met together and began talking, it was clear that we each had different directions we wanted to take this project, based on how we understood our individual definitions of literacy.  This was especially troubling for me, because I'm not an assertive person, and yet I always have an opinion.  Eventually we came to a consensus to focus on objects like symbols, places, and buildings more than anything else.  Getting to that position wasn't clear cut though.  On our first day out of class, we simply wandered the campus discussing what could be considered literacy, taking pictures of viable options.

This Google Doc shows our development of thought on both these pictures and what to do with this project as a whole.  It serves as a good little representation of our revision process and all that it entailed.  Although the end product is clean and ordered, the road to get there was actually rather messy.  Ideas of kinetic text videos built on PowerPoint and sped-up videos of cartoon drawings flowed freely and eventually we scratched them both, along with the pictures and interviews, and made a video.  This concept, however, did in a sense build on top of what we had done while getting the pictures.  It was a sped up version of our journey with music in the background and text in the forefront.  I give all the props to Michael and Caity on the great video they made because I wasn't there when the finished product was birthed.  Kudos to them. 

Concerning the media form, this was, admittedly, more on the uncomfortable side for me.  I don't own a camera or know how to edit video, so I was at the mercy of Michael's video expertise when we decided that's what we were going to do.  It was also hard because we weren't sure what was expected, or even desired.  I would much rather write a ten page research paper with strict guidelines than do any kind of vague multi-media project.  It's just out of my comfort zone.  Overall, I loved the change of pace compared to any other project I've done, and it gave me a chance to learn more about our campus... and I got to go through the tunnel!

Many Meanings :)

"Something's meaning is subjective."
                                             
...If so, then wouldn't that statement also be subjective?  ...And if the statement is absolutely true, then wouldn't it defeat itself?  These were some of the things that were running through my head during class last week, aching to be voiced but with no opportunity.  Sometimes I feel that truth is being bullied and shoved into a dark closet, with no one willing to question or stand up for her.  I am no philosopher, but I am a thinking human being, a title with which I believe holds responsibility to critically examine the world around us.

Accompanying the literacy "digs" we have been performing, it is necessary to discuss the nature of the meanings that we pull from our subjects.  In class, the professor put forth the opinion that any meaning drawn is solely subject to the perciever's perception of it.  She founded this in an activity dealing with Gertrude Steiner's poetry, telling us to find the meaning and compare with a neighbor.  While explaining the activity, we were told to not worry what we wrote, because it was her personal goal as a writer to make it impossible to discern any underlying meaning. These are a couple of Steiner's direct quotes I found:

"Why should a sequence of words be anything but a pleasure?”

“A writer should write with his eyes and a painter paint with his ears.”

From my basic reading up on her, Steiner appears to be very interested in writing in a "stream of conciousness" and from a more artistic perspective.  Given her struggles and background, it looks like she was trying to say something through the lack of conformity in her writing, more than any of the actual writing itself.

So we sat, creatively attempting to discover the meaning to a poem to which no meaning had been given.  We compared our different stories, all different of course.  But even if this text did have an ascribed meaning, would our different interpretations of that text prove that meaning is subjective?  I would say no.  Let's step back for a second.  Imagine that your mom told you to go the grocery store tomorrow.  You wake up the next morning and find a slip of paper on the counter with the carefully scribed words, "chocolate ice cream" on it.  Now you remember that your mom is on a diet and always buys a certain type in a certain size.  So you go to the store, buy the one she wants, bring it back and all is well.  In this example, we see that the "creator" (your mom) of the "literate" object in question (the grocery list) means something absolute, and any other interpretation would hold negative consequences.  There is a right and a wrong, according to the creator's ascribed meaning.  Imagine if you came home with any other kind of ice cream.  If it was my mom, I know she'd be upset and say, "Come on, you know what I meant!"

This same principle can, and should, be applied to our literacy digs as well.  When we look at a piece of art, we must remember that the author is the one who creates the meaning, and based on that, our perception must be compared.  When we pass a speed limit sign, its meaning cannot be defined individually by the driver, but by the government.  When we see a ring on someone's finger, its meaning cannot be defined by us, but by its wearer.  The meaning is created by the observed, not the observer.

These meanings, however amorphous or mutable, are absolute. 
Our interpretations of these meanings are what is subjective.

Frog or Prince?

Our writing into the day on November 8th was inspired by the poem, Hazel tells Laverne by Kathryn Machan.  It gives an interesting twist on the classic fairytale of the princess and the frog.  In the original, the young maiden listens to the frog, kisses him, and discovers he truly is a handsome prince.  This story plays out another girl's encounter with such a frog, who, at the very inquiry of a kiss from her, accuses him of being a "little green pervert" and promptly flushes him down the toilet. 

We all laugh because we see the sad irony running beneath it and the great mistake the princess is making.  But what if we are doing that same thing?

When Jesus came to earth and took on human flesh, he chose not to come as one physically attractive or appealing.  Despite all the murals of Jesus with a glowing halo, or the stained glass window protrayals of him, on the outside he was just another ordinary looking carpenter.  The Bible says this of him, "He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him."  This is the same Jesus "through whom and for whom all things were created," who is the "king of kings and lord of lords."  He was, in a sense, a prince in a frog's body.  In the same way that the little frog promised the girl royalty, so Jesus promised everlasting life to those that would accept him.  He doesn't promise an easy life devoid of problems, but he does offer life "to the fullest," along with "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control," and on the list goes.  But the greatest promise of all is that of God's presence, that he will never leave us nor forsake us, that he will help us through all the troubles that come our way, and that we will have the privledge to spend forever with him.  Like the girl in the poem, often times we are frightened away by the froggy appearance that we immediately flush him down the toilet, not realizing the authentic truth to the promise that we flushed away with him.

Annotated Bibliography

Belk Tower at University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte. 30 Oct. 2012. Personal photograph by author. JPEG file.

This is a photograph taken of the Belk Tower in the middle of campus.  In accordance with this project, it demonstrates the communication from structure to student, as the tower represents a pen with a jar of ink and it has been denoted by the students as a place to use their freedom of speech. 

Last, First. Personal interview. Day Month. Year.

I have not yet conducted this interview, but eventually the plan is to find someone with a tattoo and ask them what it means to them.  As getting a tattoo is a permanent decision, often times people will have serious reasons for getting them, so as to remind them of something or to symbolize some important person or event. This is potentially a very interesting form of literacy that deserves some acknowledgement and a role in this project.

No Smoking Sign at Atkins Library, Charlotte. 30 Oct. 2012. Personal Photograph by author. JPEG file.

This is another photograph, but of a no smoking sign.  We will use an just one commonly seen example of symbols with a specific meaning in our culture.  Eventually, it might become a collage of different symbols, and the citation would adjust accordingly. 

Ethnography Project

 

eth·nog·ra·phy

/ɛθˈnɒg rə fi/ Show Spelled [eth-nog-ruh-fee]   

noun

a branch of anthropology dealing with the scientific description of individual cultures.

 

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Clear as mud, right?  It's basically a close-up, scientific and objective study of people groups and their lifestyles in order to document and hopefully explain their way of life.  So what does this have to do with an English 1101 course?  That's what I've been anxiously wondering all semester!

 

Leading up to this assignment, we have been discussing the meaning of literacy, and its involvement in our day to day lives. When I think of literacy, the first things that flood to my mind are the impossible literacy tests to disenfranchise blacks during Reconstruction Era and the strikingly low literacy rates in some third world countries.  Following to these two examples, literacy to me always meant knowing how to read and write.  But as we questioned this definition most of us agreed with, Lacy encouraged us to broaden our definition.  Eventually, literacy became defined as simply as this: "things that communicate or represent other things." 

 

Now to the project.  Our trio was assigned to venture around UNC Charlotte in search of objects which could be perceived as forms of literacy.  To relate back to what an ethnography is, this project could be seen as a study of the culture on our campus with a focus on literacy.  A true ethnography though? Ehh...That's quite a stretch.

 

But nevertheless, our group met up early Tuesday morning at the Belk Tower to do a project virtually devoid of guidelines.  I really enjoyed spending a class period walking around campus and taking the time to get to know the weird quirks around it.  For example, we explored an old blacksmith shop, walked through the trails in the woods, found the grave of the founder of UNCC and the echo circle in the middle of campus. (Super cool side fact!  The echo circle is not simply an echo, but an amplification of your voice.  As the sound waves reflect off the brick building, exactly in phase with those traveling toward, they constructively interfere, increasing the amplitude of the waves, and thereby making it sound louder!)

 

On our wonderful adventure, we first noted the Belk Tower, which is allegedly supposed to be a pen with a jar of ink. Considering it's one of the tallest structures on campus, it could be taken to represent the power of the written word, and inferably, the spoken word as well.  This is interesting to consider when we remember that this spot has a reputation for being where people often use their freedom of speech. 

 

As we continued, we also recognized symbols as an object with an intent meaning recognized by everyone.  Things like a picture of a man in a wheelchair painted in blue on the floors of parking decks or the image of a lit ciragrette with a red slash through it are understood by all.  Certainly these are literate objects, warning to their viewers, "Don't smoke here!" or "Park somewhere else!"

 

In my previous post, I brought up how clothing could be literate, which is definitely an example that would fit under this category.  Objects like rings could send messages like, "Married, Keep your distance!" or perhaps give mixed messages, like if a purity ring was confused with simple jewelry.  The type of clothes we wear sends messages too.  Professional attire shouts out, "I deserve your respect," while sweatpants might casually say, "Hey, I'm jus' chillin'." Sorority logos, religious symbols and hairstyles all can say things too. 

 

This angle has really convicted me, because often times I just wear what's been given to me over the years without too much consideration.  This project has made me stop to really consider what messages my clothes are throwing out there and what messages I want to be throwing out there.  Especially since I am representing Someone.

 

So what are you saying...

                                            when you aren't using words?

 

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Pictures to come! Waiting to get them from a friend.

 

Mapping UNCC

This assignment was to go to a familiar part of campus and examine the different expressions of literacy around us, both obvious and profound.

After receiving this task, the first building I saw walking out of Friday was Prospector, so as I watched people flock into the Chick-fil-a, I decided it would be a great place to start.

I sat down at the high counters in the middle of the room and began watching all that was going on around me.  Some people simply munched their chicken sandwiches in silence while others met up with friends, or downed a milkshake while studying.  But what does this have to do with literacy??  From the outside, not much, but the longer I sat there, the more of it I noticed.

At the beginning of my search, my eyes were pulled toward the bright posters tacked to the column in front of me, the advertisement for the blood drive on the table, and the great wall that divides the room, bearing a chalkboard that is used to promote every known organization on campus.  There were also two televisions, one shouting opinions of the last presidential debate, the other tuned into sports channel, but muted.  To me, these were the conspicuous forms of literacy.

However, in class we have defined literacy as anything that portrays a specific meaning.  As I thought about this, I noticed famous logos that we would all recognize: the Toms banner on a girl's backpack, the apple on a Mac laptop, the NY symbol on a Yankees baseball cap.  There were watches and clocks, which indicate meaning through the passage of time.  I also saw a couple intriguing tattoos; it would be interesting to know the meaning they hold.  I think what we wear can also communicate meaning.  As I sat there, I watched as the janitors, signified by their dull green uniform, were often times ignored for being just that.  Others came in dressed professionally, while yet others entered in athletic clothing.  Each of these spoke just as much as the attention-grabbing posters on the wall, calling out an aspect of the identity of the person wearing them.  This is proven by the acknowledgement of stereotypes and the importance of first-impressions, and serves as a great example of literacy in our culture, without the use of words.

Grammar... ):) Friend or Foe?

Everyone hates to get back that paper that they stayed up all night writing just to find it dissected by their "grammar Nazi" of a teacher.  Very few people know things about the imperfect subjunctive tense, where to place those nasty little commas, or how to spell words like argument, perseverance or separate, but is grammar really as horrible as we make it out to be?

Grammar helps us to say what we mean and to mean what we say.  This cartoon is funny because it is obvious to us that the pig doesn't realize his mistake, but you can see how big of a difference that little preposition makes.  It may not always be this black and white, (haha!) but the manner in which we say something can affect how it is interpreted.  In every field, whether music or astrophysics, certain words hold specific meaning, outside their vernacular usage.  When misused, you could say something that you had no intention of saying, or have your ideas discredited because you misused the established terminology.  This is also seen cross culturally, like if you asked your British roommate to go get some biscuits to go with the fried chicken, and they came back with some strange-looking cookies.  Awkward!

In another light, our use (or misuse) of grammar affects the way people look at us.  This is simple: If you meet a man who has command of a large vocabulary, it is likely that you will respect him, whereas you would be less likely to honor a man who rambles aimlessly through each sentence or uses coarse language.  The image we project is directly related to the way we speak and write.  For instance, if you email a prospective employer with the same casual phrases that you would send to a friend, that person might interpret your message as disrespectful or lazy, despite the content. 

Remember though, we can use this to our advantage!  A proper use of language can be an avenue to protray our outstanding character or a tool to back up our progressing ideas or opinions.  Like Taylor Mali mentioned in his poem we read, when we believe in something avidly and need to defend it, we should speak with conviction. Grammar is the route by which we can do that.

So why don't more English teachers spend more time on vocabulary and grammar?  Beats me.  I think they should.  I must confess that almost all the grammar I know, I've learned through studying French and Spanish.  In those classes teachers are forced to discuss concepts like syntax and verb conjugations because otherwise we would all sound like fools!  In English, we often depend solely on what we hear and simply go off "what sounds right."  For better or worse.

I must admit, when we get down to the nitty-gritty-- like the difference between a colon and a dash, (I had to look up which I should use in this sentence! haha!) punctuation does start to seem frivolous and not important.  While I was looking this up, I ran into this website...
http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/dashes-parentheses-commas.aspx
It contains pages and pages on the rules regulating those frisky little commas, semi-colons, dashes, and parenthesis, but also the exceptions that circumvent them!  I think this is when grammar becomes more flexible.  These rules seem like they are meant to be bent by the writer, in order to create a certain tone.  The author of the website herself even admits that grammar can be frustrating, because "there aren't hard-and-fast rules about when to use commas, parentheses, or dashes," but says that "learning to use your judgment is part of finding your voice and becoming a better writer."

So go on, fellow writer, break the rules!  ...But keep their purpose in mind.

Midterm Reflection

Last Thursday we were given our Midterm Assignment, which was to go to the library, find a mentor text and "write beside it" in the same style or manner.  So bright and early Tuesday morning our group met up in Atkin's library to tackle this assignment.

           At first, I think we all felt pretty lost.  The library is ten stories, packed full of books, magazines, newspapers, and the like.  A good mentor text could come from anywhere.  We wandered aimlessly for a while, randomly pulling books off the shelf to read a couple lines.  Nothing seemed to have an original writing style.  Eventually we ended up at a computer, and searched books on writing and even for "mentor texts" as a genre from the library website.  Apparently it doesn't exist. ;)









As we were searching the library website, we had an idea on short stories and found a book of them (simply because we didn't want to have to read a whole novel!) It was a good place to start.  However when we got to the sixth floor and began walking through the tight rows of book shelves, we discovered we wrote down the wrong call number! They are certainly intense at Atkins!

We never found that book, but we continued to browse from there.  We looked through short stories, poetry, (which I thought would have been easy to write beside... haha just make it rhyme!) and found a shelf full of books in Spanish, which interested me too. :) As I was scanning through books (which I could do for hours!!) Johnny had the smarts to go over to the computer and google "popular mentor texts."  Everyone knows Google can answer all life's problems. ;)

We ended up finding Owl Moon, by Jane Yolen, which was a children's book with large pictures and a couple lines per page.  How perfect. Our group got together and Cory set a stopwatch so we could write like Jane Yolen for five minutes.  This is what I wrote.

It was one fair night,
as the blue sky turned gray
like a cold silk scarf
as we waited in line,
my youth group and I.

We walked through the doors
as my friend paid my way,
someone brought pizzas
passing like low-flying birds overhead.

I had noticed her metaphorical descriptions, emphasis on her surroundings, and her repetition of the phrase "Pa and I."  I tried to imitate these in my quick-write. I think this project, and mentor texts in general, help us to realize the potential to describe something of meaning in our lives in a variety of ways. The challenge for us is to find the best one.

Creativity :)

This week in English 1101, we read Barry's "Two Questions."  It spoke on how writers are often plagued by the two questions, "Is this good?" and "Does this suck?" and how that differs from simply letting your ideas flow freely, no matter their attributed quality.

The previous week we viewed this video, "Creativity Takes Time," showing through an experiment with children how creative we can be when we're not on a time crunch. 

Lately, I've been witnessing these two every day with my little brother, Samuel.  He is in the fifth grade, and is a little boy genius...except for the fact that he can't spell!  I've been trying to help him study for his weekly spelling tests, but also just to spend time with him and play around.  At first I was simply trying to get him more interesting in it, but now I really enjoy it too! We fell into this habit of making up little stories to remind him how to spell a given word and what it means. Some would be short like the one we made for the word "denim..."

There once was a baby lion in denim jean pants

who walked up to a man sitting in the corner

and said, "Hey Daniel,"

"I'm in a den!"

...and so, denim.  Others were long drawn out stories connecting multiple words like the one we invented for "society" and "vital..." This one is always told with a funny accent and always acted out! This is the much abridged version.... :)

There once was a big man named V. 

Like a giiiaant V! ..and he always thought he was sooo tough.

Everyday after school he would beat up on poor little I.

I said to V, "Man you are soo tall, but since you are mean,

I'm going to have to take away your last l...

Meanwhile, E, who lived in the country,

Heard of the violence going on in the urban society,

And so he thought it was vital to move

Into the middle of the city.

 

so-ci-e-ty: "e" in the middle of the "city," and v-i-tal: "tall" minus an "l"... Get it? Some of these end up being plotless stories, others just a simple play on words, but some of them turn out really creative.  It's exactly like Barry's "Two Questions."  When it doesn't really matter what it turns out being in the end, we can be free to truly come up with anything, and we do!

 

 

 

This can also be tied back to the video, "Creativity Takes Time." Because of our schedules, on Wednesdays we are always hard pressed for time.  When we only have the ten minutes before he goes to bed, we try to hurry through them, and the little characters don't have time to aimlessly wander about until they find that grand adventure. It is definitely much more fun when we have a whole hour to make up stories for eight words.
When we have time and have conquered the fear of accidently making a "bad" story, we set ourselves free to dream up crazy things and to have fun with the people we love.

Speak Right!

When I was young, I used to try to imitate the accents of the people around me, and my parents would quickly chime in, "Speak right!"  Even today this command is echoed in my mind as I hear it voiced toward my younger brother.  But what is correct speech? And who decides it?

This week in English 1101, we have been looking at what many would call, "improper" language.  We read Anzaldua's "How to Train a Wild Tongue," a bilingual narrative about her struggles with living on una frontera cultural. She gives her account in an unconventional way that both English and Spanish speakers would find difícil para entender a veces. Experimenting with her style of writing, I interchanged languages on the fish bone assignment...

We also looked at two other pieces written in an unusual way: Davis's "Foucault and Pencil" and Kincaid's "Girl." The first was a moment by moment account of reading a book and her resulting confusion and the second was a terse list of commands. I remember being struck by our professor's admiration for them, as they both seemed abrasively simple and unflattering.  Yet I played with this second technique too:

          Eat your broccoli.  Do your homework. Get good grades.  Drive Safe. Where are you going? Don't procrastinate. Exercise. Have fun. Sing. Sing quieter. Turn down the radio. Get all A's. Come here. Go there. No come back here. Take out the trash. Help your brother with his spelling words. Help him quieter. Do the dishes. You want to go where? Talk to your mother. Where? Talk to your father. Wait. Watch this movie with us. Clean the shower. Open the windows. Your homework done? Paint. Turn down the radio. Mop the kitchen. Turn down the radio more.

 

 

I've enjoyed playing with these different types of writing.  Although I wouldn't consider employing any one of them on a regular basis, I find it interesting that each one has a time and a place where it can be used to better explain a situation.  For example, one can see how someone might write using the latter style when frustrated by the incessant commands of an authoritative figure.  Using this approach, one can even emphasize the presence and recurring nature of certain demands. I laughed when I noticed that they used it in this car commercial... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOclC9bbeQU

 

Through Anzaldua's writing methodology of switching languages, we, as readers, are given a special glimpse at her internal battle for self identity between the two cultures.  These different manners of writing, although strange and perhaps "improper," help to voice their writer's perspective quite clearly.

 

So why do we quickly dismiss these as "wrong?" Certainly if one of these pieces would have been submitted for the writing test it would receive low scores, but why? Who decides what English is proper and improper? My best guess is that it is set by the educated and respected class of the day. Those to whom the younger generation looks up to.  I have been reading a book for one of my other classes which talks about the African American struggle for inclusion in America, post Emancipation. Many of them strove after education, hoping it would be the great equalizer.  In their petitions to the presidents at the time, Lincoln and Johnson, you can tell by their phraseology and allusions that they extensively studied the Constitution, Declaration of Independence, and the Bible, the three documents that held authority across the board. When we want respect, we speak and write like the respected. This is seen in how we speak to professors, managers, or how we write applications for scholarships and jobs.  I may be wrong, but I think the successful and prosperous writers inadvertently decide the "rights and wrongs" for writing, simply based on what they did to become successful. We look up to them, and the way they do things quickly becomes our standard from which to judge "proper" and "improper."

 

Lit Dig... My Bedroom.

The homework from Tuesday's English 1101 class was to perform a "literacy dig" on a place where we spend a good portion of our time. I chose my room, glancing around for any items that have affected my literacy over the years, for better or worse. This is what I found.

Literacy Dig of Occupant's Living Quarters.

Object 1. Sticky Notes.

Found on four out of the five walls, these blue, teal, and purple sticky notes serve as decoration for the monotone walls, but also as constant reminders of the occupant's favorite bible verses. They are also found on the window frame, door, and mirror. A definite proponent of literacy.


Object 2. Cat.

This domesticated feline is pushy, slightly overweight, and has an innate talent for extended staring contests. It should be noted that whenever attention is directed to anything other than this subject, she becomes jealous, often doing whatever it takes to disrupt the given distraction. Upon any sort of reading she will seat herself upon the book, and while typing, lie down upon the keyboard, inciting mass havoc. A leading adversary to any literary progress.






Object 3. Dry Erase Boards.

Within the examined space, there has been observed two dry erase boards, cluttered with colored messages of all sorts. These have been written upon the discretion of the occupant, for daily reminder and gradual memorization. The given contents are always colorful, always changing, and the board is always full. The attractive colors and freedom to various handwriting styles make it an instigator of literary advancement.

Object 4. Stuffed Animal.

This seemingly neutral figure has been found to be an inspiration towards proficiency in the Spanish language. Given to the occupant by a friend who witnessed Jeff Coon's Puppy flowering sculpture outside of the Guggenheim Museum on a mission trip to Bilbao, Spain. It serves as a reminder of the passion for foreign language and the wide array of incredible places it may take one. A sure advocate of literacy.

Object 5. Alto Saxophone.



This supporter of literacy is incognito, taking on the guise of a musical instrument. It pushes its agenda through the interpretation of symbols as notes, rhythms, and expressions. Its owner plays it habitually, not recognizing its biased stance on the matter. Mastery of this instrument would also indicate mastery of musical literacy. It too supports the study of foreign language, but only minimally, as all notes to the musician are in Italian. A subtle, yet influential proponent of the occupant's literacy.

Friends and Typewriters

This was my "Writing into the Day," a daily written response to a video, story or poem in English 1101.  As inspiration, we watched "Typewriter," a short film about a man resigning from his job.

At first, I had absolutely no idea what to write about!  After watching this video, I was so suprised to look around and see the other students scribbling away their ideas.  My head was completely empty.  I thought back to the video, searching for any possible plot line or hidden themes, but found none.  I didn't want to think; in the same way you hesitate before jumping into a still pool, not wanting to break the peace.

My mind began to wander back to the music.  It was soft, almost sung in a whisper, and very calming - perhaps it was the reason my thoughts were so quiet.  I sing like that sometimes, when I am sad and the tune within me just doesn't have the strength enough but to drift out in a whisper... or while doing dishes in the kitchen after a long day, too exhausted to sing full force. 

It was truly touching when another voice chimmed in, singing in the same manner.  The song before emmited a spirit of loneliness, but now there were two carrying this melody.  Although the second voice immitated the emotion of the first, the song was markedly different.  As the harmonies meandered along, tranquilly intertwining amongst each other, I realized that this is what friendship was made to be like.  How sweet it is to have someone who will not respond to your worries with a curt but well-meaning, "Cheer up!" but who listens sympathetically, empathizing with whatever struggle you're facing.  That same person will be the one you go to when something great happens, and you want someone else to share in your joy.  This song gives us a picture of a true friend, one that will "Rejoice with those who rejoice, and mourn with those who mourn."

Dear Fellow Writer

This was the letter I wrote to my writing group in English 1101 after reading, "Dear Fellow Writer," a preface to a book by Pat Mora.

Dear Fellow Writer,

 

           Your pen is your sword.  By it nations have split, lives have been saved, and world-changing ideas spread.  It is a powerful tool, so use it well!  It can spread nasty rumors, encourage the masses, and bring wealth without bound to whomever holds it. 

            But shy not away from its power, my fellow writer!  Every young knight that ever became had to unsheathe his sword for the first time, his feeble body wobbling beneath the weight of the great weapon.  So also, we must take the first step, embrace our immaturity in handling the pen, and carry on.  Be not discouraged when you see elders more skilled than you, but be inspired instead!  The young knight spends hours practicing things he's seen, but creating new also, as he realizes who he is in light of the power he bears.  As writers, we too happen upon a new insight into our identity through watching the ideas that flow from our pens.  We must keep this channel open as much as possible, keeping our pen ever by our side, that we might not miss even the tiniest glimmer of light into the dark cavern of our inner being.  Often times we are surprised by what we find.

            So fellow writer, I urge you!  Embrace the impossible; ponder upon the answerless!  Let not your sword depart from your hip, so that you may have the profound joy of celebrating your precious discoveries, whether great or small, with whomever would care to read.