S. I. Hayakawa and Alan R. Hayakawa. Language in Thought and Action. 5th ed. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1990.…
Email: Please use the CULearn discussion board for questions. If you do not want other students to see the question, please use the CULearn messaging system. Please do not use regular email—with 600 students we would be overwhelmed.…
Language is central to every single culture on Earth. Not only is it the human race’s main method of communication, it also is the only truly accurate way to record the human experience with integrity. Therefore, language shows most everything about who we are, from one’s homeland to education and everything in between. For instance, in Firoozeh Dumas’ The ‘F Word,’ a young Iranian girl is judged for who she is without any of her contemporaries taking a moment to figure out why.…
Both articles reflect how the language an individual speak is linked with their identity. Anzaldúa and Tan’s article both displayed a strong aid for their claim that many languages one’s speaks has a major impact on the way they interact with the society. They both demonstrate the essence of language, using their own experiences. They both talked about how they grew up surrounded with limited…
Throughout our lives we communicate to a vast array of people on a daily basis from teachers to friends to family. Each time we speak to these individuals there tends to be a different “slang” that is used with each yet at the same time still portraying the same message. In groups of different cultures they have a similar voice through language. Even though the languages they speak are different the meanings can be the same. Through this everyone has the ability to show love, anger, sadness, and the ability to teach right from wrong. Two authors from different ethnic backgrounds show how language affects them personally and the ones around them. Kingston, a Chinese author, writes about stories based on the things she heard from her mother and…
In the essay “Nommo, Kawaida, and Communicative Practice: Bringing Good Into the World,” Kerenga explores the Afrocentric concepts to describe the origins and use of rhetoric in Africa and its influence on the African American community in today’s American society. Karenga also argues in this essay that in order for a culture to understand itself and thrive within a global context it must know and be able to operate fully in the orature of its culture. When separated from its language, a culture loses a part of its history and its posterity. This is especially true of the African American community who Karenga believes has consciously or subconsciously relied upon various forms of rhetoric to communicate and persevere through the “holocaust of enslavement” and beyond (7). Karenga notes Molefi Asante’s observation that “. . . the African brought to America a fertile oral tradition, and the generating and sustaining powers of the spoken word permeated every area of his life. . . . [And] prohibited by law from reading and writing,” African Americans embraced the spoken word even more vehemently (8). Moreover, Karenga reiterates Asante’s position that “. . . the Afro-American developed, consciously or subconsciously, a consummate skill in using language to produce his own alternative communication patterns” in response to the oppression and repression that he experienced (9).…
The all mighty question at hand is who has the power when it comes to human’s form of communication? Is it the person who says the word or the person receiving the words, who truly holds the power of interpretation? In my eyes it’s the way people choose to say the word and most of all it’s the words meaning that holds the all mighty dominance. Language is how our culture communicates with each other; it’s the words within our language that really impact the way we speak to each other. After all it’s not only words that have the power, it’s the people, it’s the brain. In “Decolonizing the Mind” written by Ggugi wa Thiong’o, he presents the facts of how culture and…
Language throughout our culture is extremely powerful. It is used to make connections with other people, it is used in business, and countless other things. Without language there would be no unity or diversity. Both Anzaldúa and Morrison explore the power of language in their own perspectives.…
By analyzing Amy Tans’s essay “Mother Tongue” we draw connections to our past, ourselves and our world. In asking questions we see that the language division…
The brain “runs” our body, and has complete control of everything from muscle movement to our ability to study and remember the material. In some cases, it controls limbs that are not even there. This is known as phantom limb syndrome. The patient in the study can feel the limb, even though it is not there. In tests that were done, it is believed that there may be a cross-wiring of the neuropathways. The path that controls the amputated arm is sending out signals, but is not receiving any back, so it keeps sending more signals. This resending of the signals over and over causes pain to the patient that feels like it is in the arm that is not there. To alleviate the pain, the doctor puts the patient’s good arm in a box; next to it is a mirror where the amputated arm would be. The patient clenches and unclenches his arm, while looking at the mirror. The brain is basically tricked to stop sending signals, so the patient is relieved of the pain.…
“There is more pleasure to building castles in the air than on the ground.” This quote by Edward Gibbon illustrates the intensity of writing and what gratification it can hold. When one writes, they are not confined to one certain formula. A person is able to express their thoughts and feelings in any way they choose. Language is a border for many people in that some cannot comprehend a certain language, understand how to use it, or recognize what is being said to them. On the other side of the border, they are not viewed as equals or as important compared to those who are not competing with this barrier. In his essay “Coming into Language,” Jimmy Santiago Baca uses his personal experiences to demonstrate how much crossing the border of language can change a person and show them new ways of expressing themselves.…
In the book, “Mother Tongue”, Amy Tan asserts that language is a tool of communication.…
Tannen, Munoz, and Tan wrote personal essays explaining the impact of language in their lives. Problems arising from lack of communication are happening now more than ever, and these three authors state three completely different ways about how language is affecting their own lives as well as others. Though the three authors come from different backgrounds and share different stories, all the problems written by these authors can be traced back to a simple lack of communication. All of communication errors discussed prove to be unfair to one side or the other.…
Language plays an important role in communication by bringing people together and enriching their relationships. Language can also alienate those who do not speak it properly, or at all, from those who do. The essays, Mother Tongue, by Amy Tan, best known for her book, The Joy Luck Club, and Se Habla Espanol, by Tanya Barrientos, delve into the many powers that language holds. These essays reflect how by not speaking a language in proper form and by not speaking a language at all, affects the lives of the subjects of the stories.…
Ngugi wa Thiong'o, currently Distinguished Professor of English and Comparative Literature at the University of California, Irvine, was born in Kenya, in 1938 into a large peasant family. He was educated at Kamandura, Manguu and Kinyogori primary schools; Alliance High School, all in Kenya; Makerere University College (then a campus of London University), Kampala, Uganda; and the University of Leeds, Britain. He is recipient of seven Honorary Doctorates viz D Litt (Albright); PhD (Roskilde); D Litt (Leeds); D Litt &Ph D (Walter Sisulu University); PhD (Carlstate); D Litt (Dillard) and D Litt (Auckland University). He is also Honorary Member of American Academy of Letters. A many-sided intellectual, he is novelist, essayist, playwright, journalist, editor, academic and social activist.…