- 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.
- 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.