Slang: My Social Dialect :: Essays Papers

Slang My Social DialectFrom the student In Writing Studio 205, we focused on the rhetoric of discourse communities. For this particular assignment, we were asked to plow a discourse community that we are a part of, and its effect on people outside of that community. I decided to use my experiences growing up in New York City as my focal point. In all my writings, I tend to reflect on my experiences to enrich and personalize texts. From the teacher In her essay, Kimberlea begins by analyzing her social dialect but broadens her essay to address the larger implications of Black English in American culture. Her essay weaves narrative, analytical and argumentative elements her remainder ends with a flourish of manifesto. Overall, this essay is an exploration of the social context of language use, with close attention to the ways in which language use conveys messages about class, status, induce and power. As a black woman, I must peach differently. I must be able to communicate with m y peers and with those who I interact with on a regular basis. I must also be able to speak in the business world. I must know the right time to voice my opinion and the most effective way to do it. I must be powerful and dynamic in my speech and presence. Does that remove me any less(prenominal) of a person? Does that mean that I am allowing myself to be homogenized by White America? Does that make me a sell-out? To some people that would make me a sell-out. They would say that I am leaving behind my language for something else. For something that is not mine. I think not. It makes me an intelligent woman who will not allow the constraints of language hold me back. Yeah, thats right, I have a dialect. I have a social dialect that if used in the wrong place at the wrong time will immediately classify me as being an uneducated, black, hip-hop talking bad girl. But there is more to me than that. I speak to reveal the ideas and notions in my head. I speak to you so that you can unde rstand me, so that the conversation flows. I speak to my peers differently, so that they can understand me and ascertain comfortable around me. My social dialect is that of a young black woman. Not psyche from the deep South or someone from Oakland, just someone from Brooklyn.