ENG 2100: Writing 1 with Jay Thompson

Nick Serrao, Reading Responses Week 4

In Baldwin’s paper, “If Black English Isn’t a Language, Then Tell
Me, What Is?”, he explained his idea that language is the story of who we are, and where we came from. Languages are created due to the need of communication between others in the same area. This stems to Baldwin’s idea of Black English being an important language back in times of slavery so they can communicate freely with each other . Baldwin’s argument relates to Belmihoub and Corcoran’s ideas of translanguaging, in the sense that they believe that certain language is used in certain situations. One writer that explored the ideas Belmihoub and Corcoran was Amy tan in her paper, “Mother Tongue “. Tan said, “I again found myself conscious of the English I was using, the English I do use with her”(80) This is an example of translanguaging, in the sense that Tan uses a different style of english with her mom, then when she does with any other Enlgish speaker.

One piece of advice on responding to student work in Straub’s essay that was helpful to me was on how to sound. When i revise others papers, i never know what tone to use, I don’t want to sound too harsh, but also not too friendly. He explained how you should try to sound like a helpful reader that wants the best for the writer. Someone that wants to help you in your writing, and is not afraid to tell you whats wrong or what to fix. One thing that I wish my high school teachers did with my writing was writing a message at the end, that sums up my errors and puts me on the right track when it comes to fixing my writing. This would have helped me improve my writing skills rather then just fixing my silly punctuation and capitalizing letters.

Aria Malovany Reading Response 5

  1. “…language is also a political instrument, means, and proof of power. It is the most vivid and crucial key to identify: It reveals the private identity, and connects one with, or divorces one from, the larger, public, or communal identity,” (Baldwin, 1). Baldwin is saying here that language is identity. Without language, nobody would be able to articulate. If Black English isn’t accepted as a language, then why is any language accepted? He answers this at the end of his piece by explaining that the disapproval of Black English is actually derived from the white peoples’ despise of the black community, not from the language itself. Black English emerged from a significant time in black history and should have every right to be acknowledged just like every other language in existence. Translanguaging is incorporated into Balwin’s piece when he explained the necessary creation of Black English by slaves from around the world who couldn’t communicate with one another. They had to use all of their language resources to communicate with each other. I see Anzaldua exploring the ideas of  Belmihoub and Corcoran. She wanted to be able to speak and write billinguity, but always had a problem with it. In her literacy narrative, she does switch between languages, ultimately practicing translanguaging. “…the term translanguaging into the conversation…hopes to represent how bilinguals use all of their language resources in order to communicate in a variety of different circumstances, (Belmihoub and Corcoran, 55)”
  2. “Before you up and start reading the paper, take a minute (alright, thirty seconds) to make a mental checklist about the circumstances of the writing, the context,” (Straub, 35). I think this is a very helpful piece of advice for proofreading purposes. It’s always good to take a step back from writing and make sure your flow, context, and structure make sense. When a writer puts themselves in the shoes of a reader, proofreading will be more successful. I wish my previous teacher would’ve given more context to his comments instead of two word responses. Straub says that comments should be written out in full statements, not shorthand and vague like I have experienced. It would be helpful so that I can clearly see where I made an error so that I won’t do it again in the future. The more feedback, the better. 

Selina Wang Week 4 Literacy Sponsor

My literacy sponsor is my sister Christine Wang. She is younger than me by two years and lives across the world, in a Chinese province called, Fuzhou. We’ve been separated for the majority of our lives and our relationship only started to get closer over the last few years. Growing up in the US, and being surrounded by mostly Americans for my entire life has made me somewhat white-washed. I had forgotten how to read Chinese from the lack of practice over the years, and my sister is the one who brought me back, closer to my Chinese culture.

I remember the times when I was crying while face-timing her from the frustration of not understanding the Chinese homework given by my high school teachers. I felt stupid and useless, but my sister was always there for me when I needed her. She would laugh at me at times and say “What you’re learning right now is taught to first graders here in China”, and that would push me even harder. I can’t lose to these kids, I thought to myself. From that day on, with the help and patience of my sister, I have relearned my Chinese and can read and write quite a bit now. There is still a lot to learn but at least I am fluent in speaking it. Although we may only see each other once every 10 years, we are just as close as any other sister around the world. Thanks for being both my sister and my mentor.

 

Week 4 Reading Responses Eric Noah

The argument that Baldwin is stating is that language and speaking is one of the most important features that can reveal someone’s identity. Furthermore, Baldwin continues by stating that even if certain people speak the same languages it can be very difficult to understand them because they can be from different regions. “A Frenchman living in Paris speaks a subtly and crucially different language from that of the man living in Marseilles; neither sounds very much like a man living in Quebec;” ( pg 1 ). She states here that speaking the same language can sound very different if you are from another region.  In addition, “Black English ” is the creation of black diaspora, a term they used to describe enslaved black people. Baldwin’s argument has a relation to Belmihoub and Corcoran’s ideas since they bring up the idea of translanguaging being used as a form of communication. This shows a significant connection to Baldwin’s argument because Black Enslaved People had to create a secret language to prevent the people who were harming them to understand. You can also call translanguaging a way of self-defense and sort of privacy and protection. Kamal Belmihoub and Lucas Corcoran stated in their writing  “Translanguaging suggests that language is always a negotiation between the linguistic features that speakers already know and the communicative situations in which they find themselves.” (page 65). This also shows a connection to Baldwin’s writing when she stated that they used that tactic when the enslaved people found themselves in a situation in which they had no other option. 

 

Week 4 Reading Responses, Tasnim Khan

  1. Summarize Baldwin’s argument in your own words. Then show how Baldwin’s argument relates to Belmihoub and Corcoran’s ideas of either translanguaging or idiolect. Finally, identify another instance of a writer we’ve read so far referring to, or exploring, the ideas and experiences these terms describe. (No other writers we’ve read so far have used these terms, but many have explored the ideas Belmihoub and Corcoran give these names to.) Support your identification with quotations.

Baldwin is attempting to convey the idea that language is simply only a product of desire. Furthermore, language is a dynamic entity that is always changing. As a result, “Black English” was developed as a means of survival for enslaved people. Baldwin’s argument connects to Belmihoub and Corcoran’s views because they bring up the notion of translanguaging being utilized as a method of expression depending on contemporary conditions. Amy Tan of Mother Tongue is another writer who has looked at some of the themes surrounding Belmihoub and Corcoran. “Just last week, I was walking down the street with my mother, and I again found myself conscious of the English I was using, the English I do use with her” (JTC 80). In her story, she exemplifies how language has been modified and she is a product of that result. She uses a different “dialect” of English with her mother as opposed to when she is with fluent speakers.

  1. What is a piece of advice on responding to student work in Straub’s essay that is new and helpful to you, and how is it helpful? What is a piece of advice you wish a previous teacher had followed in commenting on your writing in high school, and how would it have been helpful?

A piece of advice in Straub’s essay that is new and helpful to me is that we as editors are there to “Look at your task as a simple one. You’re there to playback to the writer how you read the paper: what you got from it; what you found interesting; where you were confused; where you wanted more” (JTC 35).  I sometimes forget how to properly edit a paper and what kind of helpful advice to give to the writer. However, it is very simple and clear, we are not critiquing and trying to change the writing, rather we are modifying it and suggesting helpful comments to considerably improve their writing. A piece of advice I wish a previous teacher has followed in commenting on my writing in high school is to not use 1-3 word comments such as “add detail” or “sentence unclear.” These comments have never proven to be helpful and instead have put my brain into a haze because I have nothing to work with. More detail and suggestions on what kind of details to add and which parts are unclear would help me go a long way.

Literacy Sponsor Blog Post, Tasnim Khan

An important “literacy sponsor” in my life so far has been my dance instructor, Majid. He is someone who has encouraged me to open the door to a previously closed hobby of dancing. When I first moved to New York, I was reluctant to put myself out there as I was missing my friends and reluctant about moving again for the third time. I was upset about not having any friends and at the same time, I was not doing anything about either. I closed myself off to the kids at my high school because I couldn’t connect with them. Furthermore, I quit performing activities and hobbies, like dancing, that I cherished. However, my aunt introduced me to a dance team because she had discerned this period of distress I was experiencing. “Tasnim, you will only feel better if you allow yourself to.” She was right, I am in control of my life and only I could change my experience in a new city to better myself. Through this introduction, I met a leader whose energy was infectious and he aided me in indulging myself back into a hobby I loved.

We don’t dance for the money or praise, we dance because we love the little community we have built here and it feels good to perform together.” This is what my instructor first proclaimed when he called to invite me to one of our first rehearsals for a show we had coming up. Dancing is also a type of linguistic art.  There are steps, body movements, beats, and rhythms that all make up the semantics of it. My instructor always encouraged me to do better and was never hesitant to critique me in instances that I required improvement. This push made me confident in myself and I later started stepping outside of my comfort zone. Once I found something here in my community that made me happy, I felt inspired to do more. I started doing better in school, I promoted myself to make friends, I got a job on the side to make some money, all while I was practicing a hobby that I admired. I relished the team we had built as we all shared one similar passion outside of our personal lives. Who would’ve known that all it took was one push from a leader in my life to appreciate a language I had once abandoned to puzzle everything else together.

Gabrielle(Ellie) Nolan- week 4 “literacy sponsor”

A literacy sponsor in my life so far would be my father. When I was eight years old, I have my earliest memory of my dad opening my eyes to a new world. As I walked on the playground with my disabled brother, I looked at my father dubiously as kids stared at my brother with inconceivable cruelty. I didn’t understand why kids looked at him like he wasn’t human. Then my father said, “This should motivate you to talk to as many kids as you can, since your brother can’t.” I was in an unassailable position- there was no way I could not talk to other kids after hearing that. I had to use that as motivation to be a social butterfly, do everything Tom can’t do.

This memory is something I will cherish forever. No matter how nervous I was to go talk to other people, I knew I had to do it for my brother. This scenario comes into my life all the time now. Anytime I don’t want to study for a test or go out, I think of how grateful I am to be able to do all these things. It was important for me to branch out as a child and communicate with people of all ages. This definitely helped me become a better speaker and writer- undeniable confidence in myself.

 

Gabrielle(Ellie) Nolan- Week 4 Reading Responses

Baldwin’s argument states that language is crucial to identity and speaking reveals our identity, background, and upbringing. She brings up how it’s hard to understand people from different regions, even if they speak the same language. Furthermore, “Black English ” refers to black diaspora, which was a term used in the 90s that described the displacement of enslaved black people over 15 different places on the globe. Their language was created as a necessity for enslaved people for survival. Baldwin’s argument relates to Belmihoub and Corcoran’s ideas since they bring up the idea of translanguaging being used as a form of communication based on current situations. This relates to Baldwin’s argument that Black Enslaved Peoples created their own way of communicating in order to talk to each other without the people who were harming them understanding. It was a survival tactic. According to “Translingualism…” (JTC 61), “Translanguaging suggests that language is always a negotiation between the linguistic features that speakers already know and the communicative situations in which they find themselves.” (page 65)

 

There are several pieces of advice in Straub’s essay that I found helpful. This includes focusing on what was learned in class, understanding the importance of drafting, and concentrating what was interesting/confusing. Many times, I see students trying to act as teacher’s when reading over someone’s work and I’m glad Straub brings that up. When reading a piece of literature, it’s important to look back on what was taught in class and how the writer demonstrated that skill or lacked it. I wish my teachers in the past would understand the stages of drafting and look at the big picture. It’s helpful to give guidance on the arrangement and pacing of the work opposed to spelling and grammatical errors.

 

Eryk Trela: Week 4 – “Literacy Sponsor”

One important literacy sponsor in my life that I truly appreciate would be my Power-plant teacher Mr. Persad. He was exceptional, taught me everything I needed to know to about aviation when I attended Aviation High School(AVHS). Although I took 2 years of aviation courses before he’d be my teacher, the impact he had on the amount of aviation language that I was about to learn is mind boggling. Whenever, I would walk into his class I’d just absorb information like a sponge, so much that I never thought I was competent of learning. His rapturous lessons were extremely interesting and everything taught was in an innate pace.

In the beginning I was confused, lost quite frankly. However, he told me to be rein in a benign way. Then with his help, constantly correcting me, I started too memorized the aviation terminology and started to get hang on to things. After, continuously beating so many terms to death everyday whilst we’d hold and flip pages of this old yellow rough paged book and our necks would feel as if we had a scaly boa constrictor around our necks squeezing tightly whilst looking down at these books most of the period. Ultimately, I had become fluent in the aviation language realm.

Eryk Trela: Week 4-Reading Responses

1-Baldwin from “If Black English Isn’t a Language, Then Tell Me, What Is?” is trying to express that language is brought up (created) simply from demand. In addition, language is something that is forever evolving as time flies. Baldwin mentions how African Americans had formed their own language, also mentioning how whites took phrases and words from Black English to incorporate in their English (“common”). Another, writer which had explored some of  ideas relating to Belmihoub and Corcoran would be Amy Tan from Mother Tongue. For instance, “use all of their language resources in order to communicate in a variety of different circumstances.” (page 65) which relates to Amy Tan, like the way she spoke to her mother in broken english, while she writes and speaks to other in proper non broken english.

2- Straub’s essay had contained some tips that are new to me. For instance, you have to make a mental check list in your head in the moments before you start reading a paper, and consider what are the circumstances that they’re writing in and the context. After you create the lists in your head it gives me a clear understanding of what I have to truly comment on. I wish that I have had previous teachers that weren’t stingy when it comes to making comments, they would write a very brief comment when they meant/should’ve written a full statement. Also, I wish previous teachers adopted both margin comments and an end note comment. It would be so helpful, making every critique of theirs clear and understandable.