My thoughts on whether Student's should have a right to their own language.

Ethan Sousa-Gomes
ENGW 1100
September 22, 2016
Opinion: Students' Rights to their Own Language

      The animated image shown above is my initial reaction towards this subject as both sides of the argument are viable however I will be siding with the argument "yes students should be allowed to use their own language." Although I believe it should be limited in some ways students should be able to freely express themselves. Whether it be by how they talk, dress (to a degree), and especially how they write. When students write in only the academic standard (assuming they don't talk academic standard 100% of the time) it makes them sound as if they are trying to be someone they are not, as if they have been replaced with this robot named Bob. Now there's absolutely nothing wrong with Bob as he (Yes he's a male robot.) hasn't done anything wrong but the student, in this case we'll name him Dylan, is not Bob therefore he shouldn't write exactly like him.

       The man in the video above is a comedian by the name of George Carlin. He was known for his satiric comedy and how damned good it was. In my opinion he was one of the best comedians to ever live as he died back in June 22, 2008. This comedy act was based upon how our language continues to get "softer", by being changed from "harsher" words to more complicated words that increase the syllables. I want you to imagine this entire skit but instead of him cursing he would use nicer words, more academic English friendly words. His whole career as a comedian would've never gotten to where it was without his ability to speak his mind and come up with those acts. As students our writing is our comedy act. It is our duty to engage the reader with whatever we write and to make sure it sounds like us and not some other bloke.

      The show above is from a book series named Game Of Thrones: A Song of Fire and Ice. The series was written by the magnificent George R.R. Martin who is also a lazy sack of s*** when it comes to releasing the books as readers, including myself, have been waiting for the next book since 2011 when the last one came out. Due to this many of us were forced to watch the show to see what happens next. The book most likely will be released by the time he dies which won't matter because the producers of the show were already told the entire rest of the plot line as well as the conclusion. Now that I've gotten past the boring information I thought you should know let's get on into my point. The reason I brought this show up is because George R.R. Martin does have amazing skills when it comes to writing. The books have so much detail and it includes subjects such as incest, rape, brothels, murder, heresy, and tons of backstabbing. Now all these topics alone are not the usual topics you would choose to right about if you are writing in academic English as it would be difficult to find the write words to use to create the same "impact" on the reader and it wouldn't give the reader the ability to see the difference between the different languages and races if they all spoke the same tongue.

      If George Carlin and George R.R. Martin are allowed to express themselves and to show their individuality as human beings why aren't we, as students, allowed to do the same. We are human beings just the same and silencing our true way of speaking can only hither us in the short and long term. 

   Before you say "but you said that it should be in modera...", Yes I did. If we do not use our language in moderation you will only confuse and upset your readers while at the same time make yourself look stubborn as you refuse to be "normal." Language however is the way of communication so if you are to attempt to communicate try mixing both academic with your own, you might just find that combining both ends up being better then just using one or the other.

It could be a Façade, or it could be the real me.

For a long time and even to this day I feel as if I have at least two different sides of me. There's the side of me that always acts laid-back and just seems like someone who really doesn't care. You'd be around me and just feel as if you can just relax because I won't get angry at anything that happens. Then there's the extremely serious side of me which takes everything seriously and sometimes feels like anything you say is aimed directly at me. These two sides of me are my public and private self, and without both of these personalities I wouldn't be me. I can switch these personalities like a flick of switch easily just changing from great mood to foul. Of course this can be said about anyone, I mean if you were to give a kid a piece of candy you'd make him happy, but if you smacked it out of his hands right when he went to eat it you'd make him foul. So what makes this identity so important to me? Well a large part of it has to do with my past experiences. In the beginning of High School I gained a façade, a mask I used to just get along with anyone, despite the fact that some of the people bullied me back in Middle School, or even just ignored me all together. The "unmasked" version of me could only be seen at home or just when I was gaming with friends I'd never met face to face online. By using this façade or Public-Self I was able to actually make friends with people and although this could have partially been due to the fact that I had hit my growth spurt and my voice had gone from squeaky to deep it still helped. Online however I would speak my mind and act more to the “nonstandard” side of things. I could be open and enjoy talking about my hobby and no-one would berate me for it. When Gloria Anzaldua says that “Wild tongues can’t be tamed, they can only be cut out”, I grasp her meaning quickly because I myself would fake “cutting out my own tongue” with my façade. The reasoning I would never speak about my hobby when using my Public-Self was so I wouldn’t feel hurt by others deconstructing the feelings I had for it. I found the fact the Gloria was so willing to tell you “So, if you want to really hurt me, talk badly about my language” was incredible in the sense that she is tougher then I was because she told you her weakness instead of hiding it. Back then, video games were all I had to learn to get rid of my anti-socialism. My parents would see it as a 14-year-old just hiding in his room playing video games instead of focusing on school work and making friends but in reality I was just trying to talk to people and improve my Private-Self to bring some of it to my Public-Self. Gloria Anzaldua said “I am my language” which to me would be both my Public and Private-Self which eventually after Freshman and Sophomore year of High School  meshed together to create my current public self, but at the same time a new Private Self was created and I ended up creating another different version of me for those that know me personally. I feel like sometimes my main personality is still the façade I had originally started out with but then I start talking about my hobby without even giving a second thought and I know that isn't the case. It truly does scare however sometimes because my Public and Private-Self tend to change too often and it can really hurt those around me when I change completely, as if they've lost the person they used to know.

How important is identity to you? Does Anzaldua believe it's important to have an identity? Use some examples from "How to Tame a Wild Tongue, " to support your answer.

I only really started thinking about identity when we recently discussed in class so I'd have to say my identity isn't too important to me right now, but It will probably become more important as time continues and as my identity refines itself. I believe this whole essay was to show how important her identity is to her especially when she says things like "I am my language" and "When the other races have given up their tongue, we've kept ours." These two lines alone shows how much her language means to her as a whole.

Can the language you speak be a part of your identity? Why?

To that question I have to answer with absolutely. What you speak makes up a big part of who you are, it can show your heritage and your pride to be apart of that heritage.

Talk specifically about how the introduction and conclusion connect.

It connects when she says""But more then we count the blows, we count the days the weeks the years the centuries the eons until the white laws and commerce and customs will rot in the deserts they've created." This references specifically when she was harassed by her teacher who said "If you want to be American, speak American. If you don't like it, go back to Mexico where you belong."

"I am my language." What does this mean? How does this statement connect to a person's identity?

When we discussed "What does Identity mean?" I learned that language plays a large part in your identity and by saying this she wants to make sure you understand that her language is such a large part of her that if she were to lose it she would lose who she is.

Chicano Spanish can be compared to non-standard English. What form of english do you speak with your friends? What form of English do you speak when you talk to your mother, professor? Why?

When speaking to my friends or parents I speak the same, which is sarcastic, funny, and normally with a laid back personality. When I speak to my professors or when I speak to employers I talk with a more motivated and optimistic outgoing personality, whether I'm using a facade or not depends on how I actually feel at the time. Reasoning for this is to give the professor or employer I'm talking to a more positive look at me instead of just thinking that I'm something lesser.

Pachuco. Do you use a secret language, secret identity, to communicate to your friends? If so, what?

I do not use a secret language to communicate with my friends.

Anzaldua describes different types of Spanish, identities. Discuss the various types of English, identities you know.

Well hoping I'm understanding this question correctly different types of English identities I know would probably be the Southern Style English and Boston Style English. However the differences are just in pronunciation of the words depending on accent but looking at the Chicano Spanish to Standard Spanish it works similarly.

Discuss the necessity speaking and/writing in Academic English as an identity. Is it necessary?

Speaking and writing Academic English is for the most part necessary as it is the most common form in the society we live in. Now language is only one part of many of an identity but it still weighs heavily, but its weight changes depending on where it is being spoken. If you live in a region such as the United States it's extremely important for you to know how to do either for you to do anything.

Can Academic English be defined as Spanish (Standard) and can Chicano Spanish be described as nonstandard? Why? What inferences, conclusions, can be made from referring to one identity (language) as standard versus nonstandard?

Yes, it can in fact be considered as nonstandard compared to Spanish which is the standard. Reasoning for this can be found by actually checking statistics for how many people speak Standard Spanish vs. Chicano Spanish Nonstandard. From reading this essay I can guess that Spanish has a greater speaking population then Chicano although I do not know that for sure. There are issues with considering one or the other standard and nonstandard, that being that one will become more "acceptable" within that society therefore making the other one obsolete and anyone who uses it may be berated for not speaking the "standard".

Discuss Anzaldua's use of the Spanish throughout her writing. Did it make sense? What was her purpose?

The reasoning behind the Spanish used throughout the essay is to show her pride for her own language and identity. She wants the reader, no matter if they understand it or not, to see how even though they try to silence her she will only speak louder.

Discuss how the opening scene of Anzaldua in the dentist's chair connects to the overall point/message of the essay and title.

The opening scene at the dentist  connects directly to the main point of the essay as she herself asks the question in the second to last sentence. In this short scene the dentist says things like "We're going to have to control your tongue," and "I've never seen anything as strong or as stubborn." This could be perceived as someone trying to censor her but she fights back not allowing them to silence her.

Rating myself as a writer

As I writer, if this was about 2 years ago I would say C or even D but ever since Senior year of High School I have found my style of writing and since then I have to say I'd rate myself with a B.

What problem or issue is important to you and why?

Racism has to be my biggest issue with society as a whole. The whole concept of treating some differently due to race is moronic. Morgan Freeman has a good opinion on this that I agree with. Morgan Freeman's Opinion on Racism. We are all human, there is no reason to treat one different unless that said person does something inhumane towards another human or animal.