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June Jordan and David Sedaris' Description of Experiences with Linguistic Diversity: A Comparative Analysis

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Both June Jordan and David Sedaris describe their experiences with linguistic diversity. Jordan's June Jordan "Nobody Mean More to Me than You and the Future Life of Willie Jordan" is an essay on the importance of teaching and acknowledging Black English. According to Jordan, "Black English is not exactly a linguistic buffalo," meaning that the language is not rare or extinct (160). This is true even if Black English develops within a world that is "alien and hostile to us," (160). David Sedaris's "Me Talk Pretty One Day" is the author's recollection of his experience learning French in France. Like Jordan's depiction of Standard English, Sedaris's description of formal French shows how language can be rigid and unforgiving. However much they share in common, these two essays on linguistic diversity are completely different. Sedaris's is purely entertaining; Jordan's is also informative. Jordan imbues her essay with political and social consciousness, which is absent from Sedaris's writing. Sedaris is willing to temporarily "surrender his own voice," something that Jordan warns against (160). The main differences between Jordan's and Sedaris's essays can be classified into three categories: content, style, and purpose or theme. The content of the two essays is completely different: Sedaris writes about being an American in Paris, whereas Jordan writes about being an English teacher in America. Sedaris's essay is about how hard it can be to acquire mastery of the French

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