Story, Situation, Question
Story – what you have so far:
Personal narrative “Nativity of My Spanish Tongue”
My journey of cultural identity and language
Situations – ideas and/or rhetorical situations that underpin my story:
- Language and Identity
- Preservation of Culture
- Assimilation vs Cultural Identity
- Modernization of Language
- Growing up with Culture
Questions – research question, the expectation for your reader
- How does language/culture shape individuals as they grow up?
- How can we effectively preserve our culture and encourage newer generations to continue it?
- How important is language in shaping one’s cultural identity and sense of belonging?
- How do people navigate the complexities of multilingualism?
- To what extent are newer generations losing touch with their culture?
- How is language changing over time?
- What sparks our lifelong journies of self-discovery?
I plan on conducting my research by checking scholarly articles, whether it be on Google Scholar, Gale Literature, or the Baruch Database. The types of sources I think I will need are statistical, psychological, historical, and maybe personal stories. Some obstacles I may run into while conducting my research might be not finding the right information I want to include in my essay if it is too specific to one culture, some articles may be biased, their reliability, and the complexity of the topic of language and culture.
I care about this topic because it is one that not only I am faced with, but many of those in our generation are too. It is an important aspect of our upbringing, identity, belonging, and self-expression, and continuing this will not only be beneficial to us but also to our ancestors, the ones who brought their values and traditions from another country into America. It gives us a sense of pride for our countries of origin and helps build our communities with the richness that our cultures bring.
My readers should care about this topic because the loss of culture is plaguing our world, and is affecting even their cultures. It makes up the center of the human experience, filling it with richness, uniqueness, and complexity that shapes how we perceive the world and ourselves. It helps us gain more understanding and empathy for other cultures, and foster communities where everyone is heard, appreciated, and wanted.