"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>.
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>.
Hasan, I like how you used the article 'Mother Tongue' to support your judgement. Also, it was very interesting how you agreed with the statement, but not completely.
ReplyDeleteHey Hasan, the use of the definition at the beginning of your blog post is quite powerful, it allows your reader to slowly be introduced to the topic at hand while enforcing the opinion you are trying to present. Then, you go on to explain your opinion and support with the texts we have read, it is a structure that builds onto the main point. You mentioned how school influences the discussion making of those around us and their language and I was wondering if you have gone through such a situation?
ReplyDeleteThis was an insightful response. In the future, when writing an analytically, focus on crafting structured paragraphs. This could have allowed you to develop and argument, as opposed to sharing your opinion. Also, please make sure you are reaching the minimum word count.
ReplyDeleteHello Hasan
ReplyDeleteYour blog was really interesting to read and the use of definitions helped-to make your topic sentence more clearer. Having to speak in a language which may be identified as broken to other fluent speaker of that certain language can however be understood by the ones close to you. As yo clearly marked that in your written task. I think it shows both perspectives of how people perceive and process information to make it more understandable in their own nature.