Gloria Naylor is saying that the way she has learned about words and heard them were not always as the negative word they actually are. That the way she first heard a word or who says it around her has an impact on the meaning individually for her. I do agree with this because just like how you talk or the words you actually say, are impacted by those around you. So why is your meaning of a word not effected by those around you
In paragraph 4, Flower opens up how particular words veils positive and negative meaning. One can begin to question how does the positive and negative meanings come take toll. The affiliations that corresponds to a word can be influenced due to certain experiences or knowledge on the word. In addition, many people can begin repetitively take on usage of particular word that binds to a certain scenario such as “awkward,” which can be negative due to the tone and body language one may have. An example, is the word “politician.” One can assume that word is negative due to negative experiences that occurs such as politician misrepresenting them or not taking action for promised
Gwen Harwood’s The Violets (1963) is the persona’s reflection as an adult in the present, linked to the memory of childhood in the past using a motif of violets. The Violets communicates the concepts of time, the beauty of youth and personal reflection, demonstrating the immortality of memory.
Climate change is one of today’s most hotly debated topic. Scientists for many decades have made supposed claims that current energy creation and reliance on fossil fuels will lead to inevitable changes to the planet. Today, climate change denial is still a popular to most of the world despite the mounds of evidence to support that it exists. The climate change issue suffers from being mismanaged by various parties through focusing on the wrong issues and the lack of true commitment from the general public, according to Sandra Steingraber.
Language is a powerful ensemble of instruments that all eject different tones. How instruments are played, effect the tone that is given. The way language is used affects the feelings that are released. The power of language has different uses: it can hurt or heal, it can destroy relationships or build new ones, it can make a girl feel like nothing or make her feel as though she is on top of the world. No matter what language is used for, it can make a huge impact, how language is used determines whether the impact is positive or negative. In her essay “The Meanings of a Word”, Gloria Naylor’s effective depiction of language is revealed through syntax, diction, and imagery.
Patricia G. Devine (1989) argued that prejudice will continue to exist simultaneously with stereotypes and that stereotyping occurs automatically and inevitably. To prove this, Devine and her team conducted three studies to examine the automatic and controlled components of prejudice.
The essay “The Meanings of a Word” by Gloria Naylor discusses the many definitions of a word and how its meaning can change according to context and delivery. She made this point by telling a story of her childhood and the first time she heard the n-word used by a white person in a derogatory, demeaning way. She described her this situation that took place when she was in third-grade and a boy in front of her in math class called her the n-word. She had no idea what it meant to be called that in a negative way because the people she grew up around only used it as positive and empowering. At the end of her essay, she once again emphasized how easy it is to change a word into something hateful simply depending on who says it and their
In the short story, “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid, you hear about the many words of wisdom, or advice that a mother is attempting to pass on to her daughter. The condescending tone of the story is portrayed by the use of semi colons, showing a steady stream of advice and preaching of the mother onto the daughter. The story follows an almost poetic or lyrical style of writing that flows from basic advice like how to sweep a corner to advice like how to handle a man bullying you or how to have an abortion. Although a lot of the advice given to the daughter may be useful in her life and in the culture they live in, it is delivered in a way that seems very callous, and is said with a stern tone, much like a dictator. The daughter in the story tries to speak up only twice throughout the entire thig, only to be completely unheard as the mother continues her chant. The only time the mother’s advice is repeating is when she refers to her daughter as a slut, or her inevitable “becoming of a slut”, which occurs four times throughout the work. The story is written with no real chronological timeline and does not have the traditional beginning, middle, and ending.
In “Identity, Authority, and learning to Write in New Workplaces,” Elizabeth Wardle attempts to explain how identity and authority issues affect the process of enculturation for workers in new environments. Wardle argues that the issues of identity and authority can affect one’s assimilation in a new working environment and that miscommunication with the two can lead to one being viewed as a “tool” and stress.
Cultural expectations have prevented humans from being able to lead their own lives the way they see fit. Gloria Anzaldúa and Sandra Cisneros are two notorious Mexican-American writers that wrote extensively about cultural borders and expectations. Anzaldúa came from the Mexico-Texas border, was a cultural and feminist theorist as well as English scholar, while Cisneros also comes from a Latino background and speaks from her cultural hybridity to illustrate cultural expectations. In this paper, I will use Anzaldúa’s “Borderlands / La Frontera” as a lens for Cisnero’s short story, “Woman Hollering Creek” to draw connections of cultural and gender expectations between two different genres of text.
Lilia Fernandez is a Chicago native who rights about how the city’s neighborhoods changed in the 20th century. The history that she describes in her book with the newcomers that have settled within the city’s urban spaces have transformed it now in the 21st century in conjunction with the changes in the racial dynamics and the physical structure that were seen during the 20 year span from 1950-1970. She explores the question of how these tens of thousands of Latinos ended up settling in Chicago. Her work traces the roots of Mexican and Puerto Ricans particularly in terms of their historical roots and their migration, settlement and overall experiences in Chicago. She writes about the neighborhoods they lived (Pilsen, Lincoln Park and Humbolt
After rejecting to go to bed all evening, Edna is lastly overwhelmed with fatigue. Although Edna won the stand-off with her spouse over Edna joining her husband in bed immediately and got Robert to go to the island with her, she is experiencing the consequences of her impulsive and erratic behavior. While at church, Edna starts to feel faint and gets a cephalgia, so she suddenly leaves the mass with Robert following hastily after her. Robert transports her to Madame Antoine's household, where it is colder, silent, and passive. Madame Antoine is very welcoming and consents Edna to slumber in her vast, hygienic bed. Edna slowly disrobes and she observes the magnificence of her arms for the first time, and her senses are stimulated by the freshness of the sites and people around her, soon falling into slumber.
In this article Rebecca R. Ruiz a reporter from The New York Times as well as a Cornell graduate who has a lot of experience in writing about corruption in the world getting herself a George Polk award for work, explains how two policemen Blane Salamoni and Howie Lake II are responsible for the death of Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and got away with it with the help of Donald Trump's administration. Ruiz shed light on other recent murders of black americans such as Michael Brown, 15 year old Jordan Edwards and Tamir Rice to give evidence of police killings in the last couple of years. She states how the police rarely face repercussions “The bar for charging police officers with federal civil rights violations is extremely high,
Gloria Jiménez wrote an essay at Tuffs University in 2003 named, “Against All Odds and Against the Common Good (Jiménez 116). The purpose of this essay is to persuade and support the following thesis: “Still, when all is said and done about lotteries bringing a vast amount of money into the lives of many people into the lives of a few, the states should not be in the business of urging people to gamble (Jiménez 116).” The evidence given in support of toward this argument does not point toward the proper thesis identified in the beginning of the essay.
What gives language its power is the meaning behind words that are used. Once the meaning of a word is altered to the extent that the word and the definition juxtapose, it leaves the word useless thus killing a part of language. Toni Morrison plays with this ideology in her lecture about preserving language in its purity, which is the foundation of group 4’s seminar. The lecture begins as a blind woman’s wisdom is put into question by the youth. The woman responds by telling the youth to not let language die as it protects us from things with no name. Morrison believes that language is a living thing that can be easily neglected by greed, as displayed by politicians. “Show them belief as it unravels in fear” is a quote that emphasizes the threat of
Victoria Dickerson is a second year teacher at Carolina High School teaching in the Self-Contained special education classroom. Victoria’s expectations for her students are high and she often uses innovative techniques which include project-based learning strategies. Her students are always solving real world problems that will not only prepare them for work but provides them with the necessary life skills they need to be productive after high school. The students in the classroom range from being low-functioning intellectually disabled students to students how are on the middle school level in reading and are categorized as learning disabled. Even with the population she serves, she still challenges her students to be excellent. During