The English language has captivated my heart and soul ever since I began to learn how to read and write. Words never fail to amaze me. Sentences always find a way to leave me awestruck. Stories seep into my being and move me in ways that I have never fully understood. However, somewhere in my ever-growing love for English, a deep-seated feeling of hostility has been flowering. Amongst my fondness for commas and my appreciation of subject-verb agreement lies my most tragic secret. I passionately hate capital letters. Although my loathing for a seemingly neutral object appears to be unfounded, I do have reasonable explanations. English has always been my favorite subject, and my favorite part of English has always been punctuation. Commas, periods, and even the exotic semicolons make perfect sense to me. Punctuation expresses everything clearly that a reader would need to know without having to make certain letters of certain words larger. I always believed that if periods, question marks, and exclamation points indicate the end of a sentence, then capitalization to mark the beginning of a sentence is unnecessary. The capitalization of proper names and places is also futile because readers easily recognize these words without the additional emphasis of capitalization. …show more content…
I first realized my animosity towards capital letters when I was in first grade and began to do real class work. I noticed how pretty I thought my handwriting was; however, I only liked the way my handwriting looked if I only wrote in lowercase. Capital letters were these grotesque, evil monsters whose sole purpose was defacing my beautiful handwriting. I slowly grew to hate these uselessly large letters. To me, these letters began to symbolize elitism in a way. The big, bad letters were overpowering the poor, defenseless small
I became an English major my first year in college, after being enrolled as pre-med.” (Tan 3). Much like in her academic life, Tan believes in disproving critics and those who pigeon-hole people with pre-determined ideas. Her purpose is reflected by her “enjoying the challenge”. In this essay, she also enjoys the challenge of sharing her story and clearing up the negative stigma of broken English. Another example of her purpose is indicated when she explains other people’s ideas of her mom. People use degrading language when describing her mother and other “broken” English speakers. Tan shares her thoughts: “I’ve heard other terms used, ‘limited English,’ for example. But they seem just as bad, as if everything is limited, including people’s perceptions of the limited English speaker.” (Tan 2). Tan’s purpose becomes clear here when she describes people’s negative perception of “broken” English speakers. The last part of that quote is extra powerful, when she describes the English speaker as limited. It is
Amy Tan talks of the English she grew up with. Tan describes an English her mother uses and an English she shares with her husband. Tan sprinkles in the emotional intricacies of a personalized language that is burdened by misconceptions and apprehensively describes this language as “broken,” but expression through the use of a “broken language doesn’t invalidate what is being said, it doesn’t devoid passion, intention or imagination it simply differs from a normality. Envisage expression as ubiquitous. The differences rest in the vessels used to express. Here, I am using the English language, a grandiose entangling of words and a structured system, to indite my thoughts.
Since it’s been a predominant topic of our discussion, let us talk about the infamous English language. We can be sure that it has painstakingly progressed throughout generations of reevaluation and modernization, and has thus become what it is today. It has gone in several directions to try and mesh with the various epochs of language, from the Shakespearean era to the common English slang we use now, we can all agree that English is a language that has been transcending and will continue to transcend into many
Throughout the span of the past few weeks I have traversed the globe, visiting several countries and regions, only to realize that although new methods develop, language as a way of expressing ones self has remained the most effective. Despite this fact, language still has its pitfalls. Neil Postman, in his essay “Defending Against the Indefensible,'; outlines seven concepts that can be used to aid a student in better understanding the language as a means of communication. He describes how modern teaching methods leave a student vulnerable to the “prejudices of their elders';, further stating that a good teacher must always be skeptical. He urges teachers of all subjects to break free from traditional teachings as well as “linguistical tyranny';
Christmas, Christmas is awesome. How could you not like Christmas. The only person that could hate Christmas is Ebenezer Scrooge, or someone like Scrooge. Someone greedy, rich, and lonely
Despite the warnings of Orwell through both his essay and dystopian novel, bad English is still used today, and could be argued to affect more English than it did during Orwell’s life. The consequences are also just as he predicted, those who control the language are able to wield control over the thoughts of others. The usage of poor quality English by media has he effect of making the recipients of news more detached from events and as a consequence, more self-focused. The clumsiness and foolishness imposed by bad English ultimately degrading thought, politics, culture, and society is what Orwell had foretold. This is the English tragedy that is disregarded, modern thoughts of “English” are not of language but of the English Queen.
Another difficulty cultures deal with is language and the way people speak. In some cases, people struggle to belong by making changes in the way they speak the English language just to be assimilated. They attempt to use words and letters, as well as body language that fit in the norm; all in an attempt to denounce their original intonation and style of pronunciation. One ...
English is an invisible gate. Immigrants are the outsiders. And native speakers are the gatekeepers. Whether the gate is wide open to welcome the broken English speakers depends on their perceptions. Sadly, most of the times, the gate is shut tight, like the case of Tan’s mother as she discusses in her essay, "the mother tongue." People treat her mother with attitudes because of her improper English before they get to know her. Tan sympathizes for her mother as well as other immigrants. Tan, once embarrassed by her mother, now begins her writing journal through a brand-new kaleidoscope. She sees the beauty behind the "broken" English, even though it is different. Tan combines repetition, cause and effect, and exemplification to emphasize her belief that there are more than one proper way (proper English) to communicate with each other. Tan hopes her audience to understand that the power of language- “the way it can evoke an emotion, a visual image, a complex idea, or a simple truth”- purposes to connect societies, cultures, and individuals, rather than to rank our intelligence.
In the essay, “How To Tame A Wild Tongue”, by Gloria Anzaldua and the essay, Mother Tongue, by Amy Tan, the ignorance shown by many people is highlighted. Amy Tan’s essay focuses on how some people look down on others who do not speak English without an accent. Anzaldua’s essay focuses on how people do not have a broad view of language and often look down upon others who do not speak the language that they speak. Both of the essays address language, but the broader topic that they acknowledge is more important. The essays both acknowledge how humans feel uncomfortable around people that are different from them, and often demean others. People demean others due to people wanting to look more powerful by giving their views correctness while discrediting
George Orwell’s essay, Politics and the English Language, first published in 1946, talks about some “bad habits”, which have driven the English language in the wrong direction, that is, away from communicating ideas. In his essay he quotes five passages, each from a different author, which embody the faults he is talking about. He lists dying metaphors, operators, pretentious diction, and meaningless words as things to look out for in your own writing and the writing of others (593-595). He talks about political uses of the English language. Our language has become ugly and the ugliness impedes upon communication. Ugly uses of language have been reinforced and passed down in the population “even among people who should and do know better,” (598). Ugly language has been gaining ground in our population by a positive feedback mechanism.
Traditional, conventional English is the norm in American society. Second generation immigrants, having grown up in America, are well aware of this; however, the English they were surrounded by in their homes directly contrasts it with its use of sentence structures and idioms from the language of their parents’ home country. They face a troubling dichotomy, the English that comes naturally to them is different enough that it will be looked down upon in school and the workplace, but that is the method in which they feel most comfortable expressing their ideas. They are often fluent in both American English and the English of their family life, but they may find it difficult to switch between the two. Tan discloses that, “other Asian-American students whose English spoken in their homes might also be described as ‘broken’...
Crystal, David. The English Language: A Guided Tour of the Language. London: Penguin Books, 2002
Portuguese and English differ in several aspects of capitalization and punctuation. Here are basic Portuguese rules on capitalization and punctuation:
Amy Tan’s short article called “Mother Tongue” shows a limitation in speech does not necessarily mean a limitation on life. She tells the story of how her mother changed her view on language. While giving a well practiced speech, she realized that the speech sounded wrong. Having her mother in the audience gave her this feeling of doubt. “Recently, I was made keenly aware of the different Englishes I do use” (Tan 35). Throughout Tan’s life she’s had to overcome several difficulties that her mother’s “limited English” have brought upon her. She would take on her mother’s responsibilities of communicating with other people. Her mother’s language dependency on Tan made her feel embarrassed. Most Asian people were advised to go into engineering because of their improper English. Tan felt this label was placed on her as well. As she grew up she saw her people’s stereotypes as a reason to try for something deemed unreachable. “Fortunately, I happen to be rebellious in nature and enjoy the challenge of disproving assumptions made about me” (Tan 39). She became an English major her first year of college and started writing fiction in 1985. Tan conquered an assumption put on her by others and even herself. Tan’s article appealed to emotions and has logic because she shared her story and backed it up with how people treated her and her mother. She showed boldness by writing her article and giving her courage to others.
113-117. 151-195. The. English: A Linguistic Tool Kit, (2012), (U214, Worlds of English, DVD ROM), Milton Keynes, The Open University. English in the World, (2012), (U214, Worlds of English, DVD ROM), Milton Keynes, The Open University.