Essay on Dialects in American Literature

If you choose, you can compare or contrast the U.S. Constitution with the Haudenosaunee Great Law of Peace (the Iroquois Constitution).

Using dialect in society is natural and people can often not control how they sound. When that same person writes however they are expected to drop their dialect and only use proper english. Vershawn Ashanti Young discusses this topic in his article “Should Writer’s Use They Own English?”. Young has several good points including that their accent comes through their writing and that “code meshing” can be effective in a person's’ writing. On the contrary, I agree more with the fact that we need a “universal” way of speaking in America, because of the fact that it is harder to learn several “languages” as a child and it would be almost impossible for people from other countries to learn all the slang if we don't have one set way of speaking.

     Although the dialect by itself does not seem to be an important quality, however, “when it is presented with all dramatic skill”, it is important (Barksdale 3). In “Mother to Son”, Hughes uses dialect to show that the mother is not as well educated as many people. When she says phrases such as “For I’se still goin’, honey,” it is understood that she means that she is still going,

People in “American Tongues” shared a very present and negative opinion about different accents present in the United States. With regards to southern accents, people saw this accent as being one of “hillbillies” and the “worst accent.” I feel like this is a view that is still seen today and it is one I grew seeing on TV. For the New York/Boston accent, the speakers were seen as having “nasal problems” and also as being the “worst” accent. I have not had much exposure to this accent or the views still associated with it, but I’m sure that these opinions continue in the present. As for other accents shown in the film, such as the “Dutchified”

He was one of the first to descriptively verbalize southern speech in writing. Not only was it uncommon for people of Twain’s era to write in vernacular, it was new-fangled for him to write about the subject of vernacular itself. It is a difficult task to write about, much less in, a dialect to which one is foreign without appearing foolish. Twain’s ability to both with ease marked him as an authority on the subject.

    One of the most notable techniques of realism was the simplicity of its writing and dialogue. Realism usually followed the adventures and life of the common person, therefore in order to accurately portray the average man authors had to drop the fancy words and grammar of romanticism and pick up the simple dialect of daily life. Twain is best known for his ability to replicate dialogue in this way. He would usually break the rules of grammar and spelling to capture the accents of an area, as seen in his story “ The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Cavalier County”. “H'm so 'tis. Well, what's he good for… Well, I don't see no p'ints about that frog that's any

People from the south, especially the deep south like Missouri didn’t want to be seen in that kind of way. They felt like they were more than just some racist and uneducated fools. Pearl James assertion of how “Twain creates the impression of American folk culture through his use of dialect and phonetic spelling, which mimics speech, rather than writing” is valid because in the real world people are not all the same, everyone is different. Their actions are different the way they speak and the vocabulary is different. Twain wanted to use this information and put it into his writing. He creates various dialects to all the characters he adds into his novel. For example, one reason why this book was first band from schools and libraries was because it had a vigorous debate over the numerous appearance of the “N” word. As awful and disrespectful word that is, Twain used it over and over again throughout the novel. The reason being was because that’s how people talked back then. He wanted his novel to be as accurate as he can make it. Furthermore, without the use of this word the novel and dialect would change dramatically. It wouldn’t seem to give it that extra kick to make the reader feel like they were there listening to the character’s conversation. He uses this specific type of language to access the culture and to accurately define a character and to make it more believable, complex, and therefore dignified. Or it can make them seem merely uneducated, and caricatured.

As the new world struggled to gain impendence from its mother country, Britain, native authors also try to develop their own style of writings. It quickly became evident that the search for a native literature became a national obsession. Then with the triumph of American independence, many at the time saw this as a divine sign that America and her people were destined for greatness. Greatness came with a strong nation and thousands of poems and stories that still shape our nation. The recent revolution greatly expressed the heart of the American people. However, it would take another fifty years of development throughout American before it produced the first great generation of American writers such as, Washington Irving, Ralph

The Conference on College Composition and Communication discusses two very important and controversial questions within their article “Students’ Right to Their Own Language”: “What should the schools do about the language habits of students who come from a wide variety of social, economic, and cultural backgrounds?” (2), and “Should the schools try to uphold language variety, or to modify it, or to eradicate it?” (2). While for academic writing purposes students should be expected to use standard American dialect, it is important to respect the diversity and various heritages throughout the country by allowing students to use the dialect they choose when speaking.

United States of America, small in history but large in diversity continues to face new challenges with language as time continues to turn. In the documentary “Do You Speak American?” Robert MacNeil analyzes the English language and reveals many dialects that culturally defines us. Regional dialect is one of the many strongholds of all cultures and now it has reached its’ zenith and today it is slowly declining because it does not possess the human nature of advancement. Optimistically, it allows people to learn how to cooperate with each other. In order to advance and adopt a person has to change; I believe that the acceptance of cultural adaptations, diversity, and industrialization can prove that the decline of speech does not cause a

"We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their creator with inherent and inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness," says the Declaration of Independence. This phrase encompasses three major values shown throughout early American literature. The strong belief in religion, freedom, and a strong will for a better life. Each piece had one or more of these themes within them.

American literature 1865-1914 is an American literary time period that began in 1865 and ended in 1914. This time period was flourished by three distinct features and the first of these features is: The Aftermath of the Civil War. It is estimated that a total of 620,000 Americans were killed in the Civil War, and for what? At the time, we were an America that was divided by one huge issue that ran supreme and it was slavery and the unequal treatment of African Americans. At this time the nation needed to figure a way to unite the North who were against slavery and the South who were for slavery. As Abraham Lincoln says in our Bedford Anthology of American Literature: “No one man has authority to give up the rebellion for any other man, we simply must begin with, and mould from, disorganized and discordant elements,” (4). He is saying that we must not start a new, but rather we need to start from what we had and mould and shape our country into one. Prior to the Civil War, America was not a whole, it was ruled by states’ rights and was divided on countless issues, and when referring to America, people said the United States are… It wasn’t until under President Lincoln, and concluding the Civil War that the United States began to be referred to as the United States is.. Honest Abe, brought our nation together as one, but the racial tension that remained was something one man can never fix. The literature around this time period was dominated by ideas and feelings circled

“A Tale Intended to be After the Fact…” is how Stephan Crane introduced his harrowing story, “The Open Boat,” but this statement also shows that history influences American Literature. Throughout history, there has been a connection among literary works from different periods. The connection is that History, current events, and social events have influenced American Literature. Authors, their literary works, and the specific writing styles; are affected and influenced by the world around them. Authors have long used experiences they have lived through and/or taken out of history to help shape and express in their works. Writing styles are also affected by the current trends and opinions of the period they represent. By reading American

Each witter has their own style and uses syntax and diction in different and unique ways. Chapter 12 of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County,” written by Mark Twain both demonstrate a great American theme through the use of these three forms of writing. The novel and the short story consist of the first-person point of view style of writing, as well as patterned syntax sentences, and finally informal diction with polysyndeton.

“Persons attempting to find a motive in this narrative will be prosecuted; persons attempting to find a moral in it will be banished; persons attempting to find a plot in it will be shot.” (Twain, ix) Mark Twain opens his book with a personal notice, abstract from the storyline, to discourage the reader from looking for depth in his words. This severe yet humorous personal caution is written as such almost to dissuade his readers from having any high expectations. The language in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is completely “American” beyond the need for perfect grammar. “Mark Twain’s novel, of course, is widely considered to be a definitively American literary text.” (Robert Jackson,