Isaiah Nelson

Engw_1100

Jean Anyon

9/24/15

How relevant is Jean Anyon's essay in today's society

Jean Anyon talks about how wealth influences from early childhood affects one's career in the future. To an extent that might be true however I would like to give an exceptional case of my mother. My mother's name is Catherine Nelson and she was born and raised in the poorer parts of East Orange and now works for new pharmaceutical company Amerigen, all the while she is in the minority as a black woman. So ever since she was young she knew that living such a poor lifestyle was no life that she wanted to live. Often my mom would tell me "you have to go to college to make that money", and she would follow up jokingly with " look at me I worked hard because I like my money". Although that sounds a little harsh and superficial I now understand where she was coming from when she said it. It was not only until later that I understood what she meant, she grew up poor and did not want to raise a family in such conditions and she wants me to go to college so that I do not have to struggle the way she did and going to college would give me that chance.

So in the Jean Anyon's essay where she addresses economic standing being the primary contributor for career choices i believe that that was more effective in the past than now. This is because nowadays there are more resources and more opportunities for people in low economic households to rise in social classes. My mother contributes much of her success to Affirmative Action, that gave her a chance to go to school and get a job out of school. Affirmative action even helped my father because he is the only black detective in his department. That is why Jean Anyon's essay might not be as relevant in today's society.

Isaiah Nelson

Engw_1100

Student's Language

9/17/15

They Should

                  They should, they being students, most definitely be allowed to use their own language in their writing. Making a person write in a way that they aren't accustomed to is like riding a bike for the first time, they simply have no need to be writing in such a manner. Take the quote from NCTE reading Students' Right to Their Own Language “We affirm strongly that teachers must have the experiences and training that will enable them to respect diversity and uphold the right of students to their own language”(4). This quote shows that students should be able to use their own language when they right because it would make it easier to for them to express themselves and enriches our society with the diversity if that student’s style and culture. In not doing so the teacher is in a sense prohibiting the students from learning and reaching their potential. There is also the sense that a student should be able to use their first language especially if it is a foreign language. A student’s ability to write the way they want to is very important to their identity and their self-esteem for their writing. So in cases where a student grew up speaking a different language or they speak a different language a home, and their writing expresses that language then that student is more inclined to be proud of that language. They are able to incorporate a very fundamental part of who they are in a piece of their writing which will truly make their writing their word.

Isaiah Nelson

Engw 1100

Identity

9/2/2015

Identity to me means…

Identity is an idea that is elusive to elusive to many of us but applies to everyone. However in the essay How to Tame a Wild Tongue by Gloria Anzaldua, Anzaldua discusses her identity and how her language defines her. She talks about keeping her identity in a world where other people such as English speaking Americans and even her mother want her to be something that she isn’t, all of which is represented through language. The overall theme of her essay says that her language makes her who she is and no one can change that, with a very similar theme I can make the same argument as to what Identity means to me. One’s identity is made by that person and it is a mix of how the person sees themselves and how they accept others to see them.

If you ask someone what their identity is or who they are they might make a list of features of things that apply to them however that is just what they are not who they are. Anzaldua alluded to who she was when she says “Often it is only with another Chicana tejana that I can freely talk.” in which she states that she can only show her true identity and be herself when she is talking to people that speak the same language the way she does. So this quote represents my overall definition of identity because she sees other Chicanas as accepting. therefore she can express her identity as opposed to in other situations she would need to speak a different language in order to communicate with a particular person.

Citation: Anzaldua, Gloria “How to Tame a Wild Tongue” Teaching Developmental Writing. Ed. Susan Naomi Bernstein. Fourth ed. New York: Bedford/st Martin’s, 2013 245-255. print