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- WRC 1013/1023: Freshman Composition: Exploring Critical Issues
WRC 1013/1023: Freshman Composition: Exploring Critical Issues
Sources for WRC 1013: Christina Frasier, Darren Meritz & Pamela Mahan
Introduction: Language and Power
Language reveals many things about who we are, whether it is the way we carefully craft words to express our thoughts, or if our manner of speaking reflects our cultural roots. Many people learn to adjust their language between how they write and how they speak, or they learn to alter their manner of speaking for different audiences. Language can be used to wield power through establishing a dominant discourse, or privileging one way of speaking over another. How do you adapt your language to different audiences? Does your writing reflect a different style than your spoken language? The sources in this section reflect the way language has been used in various parts of America, such as Appalachia and the Texas/Mexico border, to impress people and to assert power. Make sure to click on the “Books” tab to view all resources in this section.
Language & Power
- Christensen, Linda M., “Teaching Standard English: Whose Standard?” The English Journal
Article argues that grammar is an indication of class and cultural background in the US and that a bias exists against those people who do not use language correctly. - Eighner, Lars, "On Dumpster Diving," New England Journal of Public Policy.
"I like the frankness of the word 'scavenging,' which I can hardly think of without picturing a big black snail on the aquarium wall. I live from the refuse of others." - Mellix, Barbara, "From Outside, In," The Georgia Review
"Like my children, I grew up speaking what I considered two distinctively different languages--black English and standard English (or as I thought of them then, the ordinary everyday speech of "country" coloreds and "proper" English)--and in the process of acquiring these languages, I developed an understanding of when, where, and how to use them. But unlike my children, I grew up in a world that was primarily black." - Graff, G., "Hidden intellectualism,"
"Schooling certainly did little to encourage or channel my intellectualism. History, for example, was represented to me not as a set of debates between interpretations of the past, but as a series of contextless facts that one crammed the night before the test and then forgot as quickly as possible after-ward. Literature was a mass of set passages to be memorized, like the prologue to The Canterbury Tales and Mark Antony’s funeral oration in Julius Caesar. Such memory work might have been valuable had there been some larger context of issues or problems to give it point and meaning, but there rarely was." - Orwell, George, "Politics and the English Language," in Literary Calvalcade
"In our time, political speech and writing are largely the defense of the indefensible."
Anzaldua, Gloria et al., The Gloria Anzaldúa ReaderBorn in the Rio Grande Valley of south Texas, independent scholar and creative writer Gloria Anzaldua was an internationally acclaimed cultural theorist. As the author of Borderlands / La Frontera: The New Mestiza, Anzaldua played a major role in shaping contemporary Chicano/a and lesbian/queer theories and identities.
Clark, Amy et al., Talking AppalachianTradition, community, and pride are fundamental aspects of the history of Appalachia, and the language of the region is a living testament to its rich heritage. Despite the persistence of unflattering stereotypes and cultural discrimination associated with their style of speech, Appalachians have organized to preserve regional dialects -- complex forms of English peppered with words, phrases, and pronunciations unique to the area and its people. Talking Appalachian examines these distinctive speech varieties and emphasizes their role in expressing local history and promoting a shared identity.
Lyon, George Ella, "VoicePlace," Talking Appalachian: Voice, Identify, and Community The contributors explore a variety of subjects, including the success of African American Appalachian English and southern Appalachian English speakers in professional and corporate positions. In addition, editors Amy D. Clark and Nancy M. Hayward provide excerpts from essays, poetry, short fiction, and novels to illustrate usage. With contributions from well-known authors such as George Ella Lyon and Silas House, this balanced collection is the most comprehensive, accessible study of Appalachian language available today.
