Report: Basanta Adhikari

Every day, people are faced with responsibility. Some thrive under the pressure while others crumble. Responsibility is a sign of independence. Teenagers with greater amounts of responsibility feel freedom from their parents. In the same case, too much responsibility can put more stress on that freedom-seeking teen and can have devastating effects. John Steinbeck shows the theme that in life, responsibility is best taken in moderation in his novel Of Mice and Men.

With a background affected tremendously by the dark history of African Americans, language has become a significant problem to what the term Black English really means to different people. In If Black Language Isn’t a Language, Then Tell Me, What Is, James Baldwin attempts to analyze what a language really means and how Black English evolved to fulfill an important role for Americans. Black English sounds proper to blacks, but to whites it may not be a proper use of language. Throughout this essay, Baldwin uses a specific tone and relates to his audience by opening his mind to both emotion and logic while still upholding his credibility. Baldwin tries to persuade the audience to respect the language of Black English using his personal experience. The history of different languages mentioned in the essay is used to help convince the audience of thinking about the term language from a new perspective. Whites and Blacks both may speak the same language, but that does not mean that they understand each other because the language can be spoken in different matters. As Baldwin states, “The white man could not possibly understand, and that, indeed, he cannot understand, until today”. A white man or black man had to be careful about the words they used in front of each other because some words would be considered offensive for one another. Baldwin uses African American language and culture to reveal the impact that the English language Americans use has created.

For example, they differ in the language that they present and the diction that they use. Both X and Henry use powerful diction throughout their speeches however, X’s diction is meant to be more emotion provoking. Henry does attempt to provoke thought as well as emotion from the delegates, the difference is that the delegates have a job that mandates them to look at things objectively. On the other side of the coin, X uses diction that is focused towards a large black audience. The choice of words do not have to be as carefully selected as Henry’s, he has already won over the crowd on past events and is using this speech to further influence them, which is not the case in Henry’s speech. X continually uses words like “Afro-American”, “Uncle Sam”, “cracker”, “Uncle-Tom-handkerchief-heads”, in order to relate to the audience. The words that X uses have purpose to them; these words are important to the audience because each word has a meaning to it. When X talks about “Afro-Americans” the black community feel that they have been labeled in a good way and are different. During this speech, X uses the name “Uncle Sam” three times when referring to the government and the white man that runs it. Using “Uncle Sam” lets the black community know that this is their enemy and the one that continuously oppresses them. Ultimately, each one of these profound speakers use diction to persuade the crowd in their own way

Speech is often associate with race because some individuals believe that if the person does not sound “educated” enough the person comes from a lower class and was brought up in the so called “ghettos” and this association is often made towards someone that forms part of a minority group. The author illustrates that race is tight up with speech

“… not all English speakers are privileged equitably in the US. Expressing racist, classist, ableism,

Personal responsibility to me means taking accountability for your own actions, Making a commitment and sticking to it. In order to be a success in college, you have to apply your life learned lessons to the equation, to balance both school and out of school priorities. Because You are responsible for the choices you make, you are ultimately responsible for your success. Becoming a master organizer and learning how to manage your time efficiently, will help you achieve your goals. Taking responsibility for all that happens while you are in college will help you prevail in areas, where you may have lacked confidence. Critical thinking and a desire to succeed will help you accomplish your goals.

For example, Coates did not use the same diction he used with his peers and his family that he used with others outside his community. This is partially due to the assumption that they will not understand him or judge him. Coates and most other African Americans know when to use the correct word choice to get his point across. In The Wire the Black secret service agent diction was not understood when talking to his white counterpart. On the other hand, when Snoop went to purchase a nail gun she translated to the white sales person’s diction into her own. Both forms of word choice meant the same thing, but can be described differently from different ethnic

Martin Luther King Jr. was an important public figure especially towards the African American people in order to bring equality through peaceful means and the power of speech (Media 2014). Through his cultural context, we can see the power of speech to emotionally engage his audience is demonstrated through his use of stylistic active verbs to fit the occasion. In his speech, rhetoric seems to be planned and adapted towards the audience (Herrick 2005). This was seen through the use of anaphora and symbolism to constantly engage the audience towards the central theme of movement for social justice. Thus by using both, grammatical choices and rhetorical techniques, a particular message to the reader or audience can be strengthened as seen in Martin Luther King Jr.’s

Summary: Language Philosopher and author Ian Olasov wrote an article expressing the current issue in the BLM movement. The article is titled, “How Did All Lives Matter Come to Oppose Black Lives Matter? A Philosopher of Language Weighs In.” Olasov explains that the debate going on between the “Black Lives Matter” movement and the “All Lives Matter” rally is not based on rather specific lives matter or not. This whole argument is actually stimulated over the use of words chosen by the two groups. Olasov tackles how the use or terms is what’s actually causing the separation of protesters in this division. Not the matter of one ethnicity being more or less superior than the other. The author places examples of how words are commonly placed together

Also responsibility is the state of being the person who causes something to happen. Being responsible refers our own interests and the interest of others. People can do different things of responsibility as being a daughter, a student and an employer. That is what I think about about responsibility that's why I prefer to change.

Phrases and words are utterly powerful. Whichever words or phrases you decide to say can impact amazing results. Language is a powerful source of symbols for us to communicate to others. Many people receive advantages and disadvantages for what they say. A few times every month you would see the president present a speech to the public.

Being responsible refers to our ability to make decisions that serve our own interests and the interests of others. We first need to be responsible for ourselves before we can be responsible for others. In learning to be more responsible it is important that we know our limitations. It does not matter how smart we are, there is only so much responsibility that one person can handle at any given time. It is also important to remember that we are not responsible for thing that are out of our control, for example, how other people think and feel or how they react to ourselves or others. Sharing responsibility for both success and failure can lead to increased responsibility to oneself and to others. When you

When one recognizes that they are 100% responsible for their life, they will soon see the great achievements that come with being a responsible person. Responsibility is a very valuable trait in all that we do. Taking responsibility for one’s self leads to a more optimistic life and one is able to accomplish all that they want. Sometimes taking responsibility can be a very difficult thing, but in the end one is usually happy that they did. If one chose’s to lead an irresponsible life, they will soon see that they will be living a much uncontrolled life and therefore grow to be very pessimistic. One’s health is also affected by the choices one makes. When we choose

     If I say that I am currently employed with a major petroleum distribution center, you may think that I am a highly qualified person making limitless amounts of money. However, I am using the power of language to merely say that I work at a gas station making minimum wage. Great historical figures throughout history have used the power of language, the ability to use words to their advantage, to inspire people to unite under one common cause and to change the world.

From my readings to research from Edutopia to literature courses, I have gained a deeper appreciation for language. In order to understand what one is speaking, a person needs to spend time listening to one’s language and before responding must reflect and analyze what the other said and how to respond. If a person wants to love another person they have to listen to their language in order to speak their language, and the core part of learning another language is by listening. According to Joan Blaska, author of The Power of Language: Speak and Write Using “Person First” the language people use shows one’s bias and prejudices.  Beliefs and another’s performance fall under the influence of language. Blaska claimed “ the degree to which children are able to perceive themselves as competent and worthy, or the opposite, is heavily influenced by the verbalizations used by their teachers...Studies have found that labeling of students does affect teacher expectations which in turn affects student progress”. People have heavy influence with their words, because of this, our language must be intentional in a way, that breaks down negative stereotypes and helps one gain empathy as well as seeing others capabilities. Communicating and reading others comments and inquiring others has helped me to accept