Synthesis Essay: Does Everyone Have An Accent?

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Out of the many personal characteristics individuals attain, the most defining characteristic is an accent. It is a characteristic we take pride in because of its ability to tell a story to outsiders, such as where we are from, how we were raised, etc. However, even though we are all unique, we often fail to realize we each have an accent. This perception of “everyone has an accent except me” is due to our mindset being relative to our surroundings. I support the author’s criticism of how illogical this myth is; the proof that the myth is truly nonsensical stems from the process of the detailed awareness of others around you.
The author delved into the commonly held myth of individuals believing they lack accents. The origin of this myth stems from one becoming accustomed to their typical environment and “human perception being categorical”; they find that they lack unique characteristics in the way they communicate due to what is normalized in their community. The only exception to this, in the perspective of the person speaking, is when the individual goes to another area and other locals find their “new accent” to be distinct. The consequences of this mindset leads to unknowledgeable stereotypes, …show more content…

The author proves this point with an example using a close friend. Even though we know the friend quite well, their accent tends to disappear over time due to us being accustomed to their way of speaking. However, “if they [did not] have a distinguishable ensemble of accent features, we couldn’t tell their voice apart from other people’s”. This further supports that everyone has an accent depending on their voice quality. “Some voices are nasal, others low and resonant; others breathy, and still others high pitched and squeaky”; there are numerous characteristics that define everyone’s distinctive accent (Esling

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