A letter to the editor.

Dear editor,
     
           I am writing to you about your article "The English language in peril?". I feel as if though brought up some good points it does not quite support you very well, saying that the English language is a fixed structure that needs to be followed objectifies language to one fixed type of direction and does not let it branch out to different accents and different ways of speaking. I do believe that having broken English is important as it shows the culture of the person as soon as you talk to them and I don't find it asinine that there English is equivalent, understood the point where you have stated that "they are uneducated" but the key problem with this is that a person does not need to know the basic structure of English to be educated there are multiple fields in which people are considered educated that do not require English.

        The statement "It’s like saying that any interpretation of history is correct. Facts are facts and words have meaning!". This to me makes no sense as history can not be compared to English. English is more flexible and over time has proven that there are variations that people live by, it is a matter of perspective if you ask someone their perspective on a certain event it might not be completely different to someone else but it won't be the same as everyone else will it. Same for English if you question someone on the way they speak he won't find fault, ignorant as it is his perspective on English as his culture may have been robbed from him.

    This has been my perspective on this topic as, with all due respect, infuriates me to see such ignorance.


    Thank you,
           Hasan Khan

(Article "The English language in peril": https://yalealumnimagazine.com/articles/3739-the-english-language-in-peril)

Source:  
          "The English Language in Peril?" Yale Alumni Magazine. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Oct. 2016.

An interview with Bob Marley.

        An interview was conducted in The Rolling Stones headquarters with Bob Marley being interviewed for his new song "Redemption Song" and his album "Uprising", The song is widespread and is spreading peace around many African-American Communities, our interview is based on what he thinks of this situation.

 The interview is being conducted by Vince blake in The Rolling Stones headquarters with Bob Marley being interviewed for his effect on the recent widespread of peace in many African-American Communities. (This interview has been modified for better understanding due to Bob Marley's thick Jamaican accent).

Vince Blake: Before we get started I want to thank you on behalf of Rolling Stones for this gracious devotion of time to come and meet with me for this interview.

Bob Marley: No problem man, I am glad to talk about the peace in the world.

Vince Blake: Right, your new song "Redemption Song" talks about "Emancipate yourself from mental slavery". What do you mean when you say this?

Bob Marley: Well I see many politicians talk about improving the world and it's all seems fake to me so what I mean when I say "Emancipate yourself from mental slavery" I mean to set yourself free the oppression because we have been oppressed for many generations and now seeing all my brothers and sisters uniting, makes me proud.

Vince Blake: It very much should, was the song originally intended the African-American community or was its purpose for every community seeking freedom?

Bob Marley: I was mainly meant for African-American community as they are constantly being attacked and having racism thrown at them. But I feel that we are rising above the hate and uprising.

Vince Blake: Speaking of an uprising, the new album "Uprising" is a big hit how do you feel about that and What do you think that the African-American community looks up to you as a source of guidance and leader?

Bob Marley: Success is not what I seek, I seek freedom and liberty for my people, success means nothing to me. for your other question of being a leader,  I don't want to be a leader, I am just a man trying to spread peace around the world.

Vince Blake: Alright, another line in your song "Redemption song" the line "None but ourselves can free our mind. Wo! Have no fear for atomic energy". What do you mean by setting ourselves free and having no fear of atomic energy?

Bob Marley: What I mean by it, I mean you are the only one that can free yourself no one in the world can do that for you, the other line "Have no fear for atomic energy" I mean that no one should fear the war and stand up for yourself as that is what is important. The whole purpose was for this song to become an inspiration for my community.

Vince Blake: I see, well thank you for your time again Bob Marley.

Bob Marley: No problem, thanks for having me.

Agree to disagree

"Language shapes our identity, but doesn’t define who we are."


              The definition of identity "is the condition of being oneself or itself, and not another". So when someone tells me that the way I articulate my words that I must be from this region annoys me. I very much agree with that statement as the better you get with a certain language the way you speak and the way you act while using that type of language shapes you into a different type of person. For example, Amy Tan wrote an article named "Mother Tongue" which a memoir based on her experience with the way she talks to different people, in that article she talks about how when she is talking with her mother she uses broken English and when talking to her friends and husband she uses proper English in a sense that it is grammatically correct. Now Amy Tan knows how to speak proper English but that is not what defines her as a whole, but the English she speaks are her a key factor in her identity and how she learned to excel at English. Thus the misconception of her being defined by the way she speaks shows how quickly someone might assume she was surrounded by grammatically correct English and not broken English, which was not the case. In the article, she would consistently remind us how bad her mother's English was. Another example from the same article can be seen when she talks about how the school's influence the decision making of the students based what they think is more suited to him (I have talked about this topic in my previous blog post). This shows how language can impact the way of seeing that person. There have been many intelligent people in this world that do not know how to speak grammatically correct English that is judged by the way they speak. I do agree with this quote as it shows how most people judge a person by the way they speak as seen from the examples I have given this is clearly not the case. A person is defined as how he represents himself with his identity, agreed that language does shape identity but it is not the biggest part of one's identity.


Citation:

"The Definition of Identity." Dictionary.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Oct. 2016. <http://www.dictionary.com/browse/identity>.