When I was in the second grade, I was put in an advanced reading and writing group. I didn’t leave the “advanced” category until I left high school and entered the level playing field of college. I always wondered what they did in the other language arts classes that could possibly be so different than what we were doing in my A.L.A (Advanced Language Arts) classes. It seemed like we were taught the same thing, we just read different material and I had a heavier work load. To this day, I’m still not really sure that anything was fundamental difference.
I learned (along with everyone else) about nouns, verbs, accordion paragraphs, thesis statements, sentence clauses, five paragraph essays, MLA bibliographies, alliteration, personification…the list goes on and on. It’s funny how when you walk into class and the teacher has MLA citation written on the board for the first time, you have no clue what their talking about. But year after year of MLA being the standard when it comes to formatting a research paper, it becomes second nature. We read Lee, Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Hesse, Hurston, Angelou. The books were daunting at first, but as soon as the unit was over, it seemed like a small feat to have overcome.
None of the lessons I endured during primary and secondary school have hurt me during my time in college. I also can’t say that there are specific lessons that I truly draw on to help me. It was the stuff that was drilled into my head from early on that I find I rely on the most. Those things that at first I thought I would never use, and now they’re my basic instinct. My teachers made me practice them until they were second nature to me. I’m not saying that practice makes perfect, but it certainly makes reading and writing a little bit easier.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Warm Up Chapter 6
Rose chose unique assingments to give the Veterans, like taking a poem or a song lyric, or a sentence from a book and merely anylyzing and talking about the language. The veterans really responded to studying language, as Rose says, mostly because linguistic play was a part of their culture, or they merely liked to get Rose worked up over what they were saying. He would always try to sneak word play into a lesson.
I think that Rose chose to make linguistic play a part of his lessons because he knew that the veterans had experience with it outside of the classroom. They needed a connection to the type of language that they were used to in order to be able to connect the content of the classroom to their outside lives. These play-on-words discussions allowed some vets who may not have considered themselves intellectuals to become more comfortable as "insiders" in classroom discussions. They were all able to understand the language and draw their own conclusions from it.
I think that Rose chose to make linguistic play a part of his lessons because he knew that the veterans had experience with it outside of the classroom. They needed a connection to the type of language that they were used to in order to be able to connect the content of the classroom to their outside lives. These play-on-words discussions allowed some vets who may not have considered themselves intellectuals to become more comfortable as "insiders" in classroom discussions. They were all able to understand the language and draw their own conclusions from it.
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Language Investigation #2
“I need a DD for my life car”. – I said this to my two best friends one night after a very bad day. My two best friends happen to be a couple, so we joke that I am their adopted child. I was under a lot of stress at this point and I felt like I just needed something to give. My friends were patiently listening to me vent, and when I stopped to take a breath, this thought just came to me. I was not presently fit to drive on the road of life. So I told them “I need a DD for my life car”. They assured me that they had my back, and from then on, when anyone of us feels a little overwhelmed, we simply ask for a DD for our life cars for a while. You wouldn’t trust just anyone to be your DD, so of course you ask your best friends. Now it’s sort of a joke, but we know that in all seriousness, we are always willing to take the wheel for a little while.
“Really?” – Now I know that this seems like a very basic thing to say, but for my friends and me, it carries a lot of implied meaning. It’s typically said with a cocked head and raised eyebrows, and in a sarcastic tone. I have no idea how this got started, but it gets said very very frequently. It doesn’t simply mean “really?” but more like “seriously?” or “shut up you’re full of it”. It usually results in whoever received the “really?” trying to explain themselves and everyone else laughing at them. All in good fun of course. It is a good sign in my group of friends if we make fun of you. It means that we like you and that we feel comfortable around you. The “really?” is a perfect example of that.
Abbrevs—Abbrevs is short for abbreviations. My friends and I speak in abbreviations most of the time. For example, we will say “whatev” for whatever, “jeal” for jealous, or “ridic” for ridiculous. There are many more, but I think the point is across. It isn’t that we’re lazy, but we actually think that it is very funny. We get a good laugh when someone pops out a new, creative abbrev that no one has said before, such as “ev” for everyone. That one definitely stuck. I don’t think that people don’t understand what we’re talking about so much as they don’t understand why we think it’s so funny. We don’t really either. But it is a running joke that gets put into nearly every “convo” that we have.
“Really?” – Now I know that this seems like a very basic thing to say, but for my friends and me, it carries a lot of implied meaning. It’s typically said with a cocked head and raised eyebrows, and in a sarcastic tone. I have no idea how this got started, but it gets said very very frequently. It doesn’t simply mean “really?” but more like “seriously?” or “shut up you’re full of it”. It usually results in whoever received the “really?” trying to explain themselves and everyone else laughing at them. All in good fun of course. It is a good sign in my group of friends if we make fun of you. It means that we like you and that we feel comfortable around you. The “really?” is a perfect example of that.
Abbrevs—Abbrevs is short for abbreviations. My friends and I speak in abbreviations most of the time. For example, we will say “whatev” for whatever, “jeal” for jealous, or “ridic” for ridiculous. There are many more, but I think the point is across. It isn’t that we’re lazy, but we actually think that it is very funny. We get a good laugh when someone pops out a new, creative abbrev that no one has said before, such as “ev” for everyone. That one definitely stuck. I don’t think that people don’t understand what we’re talking about so much as they don’t understand why we think it’s so funny. We don’t really either. But it is a running joke that gets put into nearly every “convo” that we have.
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
9/3/08 Warm Up
1. I noticed that most of the language that people shared exculisvly with thier families usually had something to do with an inside joke, or a fond memory that the family had in common. Saying particular things would make people laugh or remind them of what triggered them to start saying those things in the first place. Another pattern was language arising from a family's heritage. Certain greetings or responses often tied back to where the family cam from, like Italy or Poland.
2. I feel that these patterns show that people really do have strong connections with their familes. Nothing that I read was negative or sad. All of it was funny or simply related to where the family was from or where they were currently living. We spend a lot of time with our families, so it is to be expected that we develope our own language with them.
3. Being an "insider" means that the language doesn't need to be explained to you when it is used. We are all insiders in our families, so therefore, the language doesn't need to be explained. We get it because we were there.
2. I feel that these patterns show that people really do have strong connections with their familes. Nothing that I read was negative or sad. All of it was funny or simply related to where the family was from or where they were currently living. We spend a lot of time with our families, so it is to be expected that we develope our own language with them.
3. Being an "insider" means that the language doesn't need to be explained to you when it is used. We are all insiders in our families, so therefore, the language doesn't need to be explained. We get it because we were there.
Monday, September 1, 2008
Things My Family Might Say
“Careful!” – When a member of my family (my family being my mom and dad and older sister) tells another member family to be careful, it has to be in a lovingly sarcastic way. My grandpa on my dad’s side never really had a taste for risk, living his entire life in the same tiny town, worrying about everything. A fond and funny memory that my family will forever have of my grandpa was his constant fretting. “Careful! Chew you food up!” or, “careful! Do you have good treads on your shoes?” or, “They say that there’s chemicals in the lake. You need to be careful and not swim in there!” We always share a laugh when we bark “careful!” at each other, mimicking his serious, urgent tone. The word usually sends us into a warm walk of memories about my grandpa, and I know the joke won’t ever become unfunny.
“Walter’s here!” – If you’ve ever seen the movie Grumpy Old Men or Denis the Menace, then you are familiar with Walter Matthau. All of the characters he plays are crotchety old men who bark and complain about everything. Walter has become my dad’s nickname. It probably started in a parking lot somewhere. My dad has a thing about parking lots. He insists that some people lose all common sense when they’re in a parking lot, therefore giving him a lot of reasons to gripe about them. So now, anytime my dad starts to complain about something, from oblivious people in parking lots to electronics, we always announce his mood by one of our favorite phrases, “Walter’s here!” My dad always smiles and checks himself, lightening the mood for everyone. My dad has proclaimed Grumpy Old Men his favorite movie.
“Just a small portion please.” – Again another pearl from my dad’s dad. It never failed that after his dinner of meat and potatoes (pronounced badadas) when my grandma asked him if he wanted dessert, he always told her that he would have a small portion. My grandma was never quite able to figure out what that meant because she either ended up giving him too much or too little for his liking. Finally one evening she was a little fed up and after his steadfast request for a small portion of pie, she cut him the tiniest sliver possible and when he began to complain, she shot his small portion remark right back in his face. Although he never stopped requesting a small portion of dessert, he never again complained about how much he was given.
“Wifely duty” – The story with this one goes that my dad is a big joker and wasn’t being terribly smart when my older sister was learning to talk so many years ago. He was being so not-so-smart in fact, that to this day, my mother will not let him live it down. After my parents had been married a while, my dad started to tell my mom (very jokingly of course) that the things he wanted her to do (i.e. cooking, cleaning, watching the movies he wanted to watch) were all part of her wifely duty. Much to my mom’s dismay, he did not catch her hints that the joke wasn’t really funny and it continued several years up until the point that my sister could talk in complete sentences. Having spent some very formative years listening to my dad tell my mom about her wifely duties, my sister thought that it was ok for her to say as well. So one day, my sister boldly told my mom that letting her watch a movie was part of her wifely duty. The daggers my mom sent my dad finally sent the message across. He still gets a sheepish look on his face whenever anyone brings up that little incident, and my mom laughs and laughs remembering how my dad bit himself in the butt with his own joke.
“Walter’s here!” – If you’ve ever seen the movie Grumpy Old Men or Denis the Menace, then you are familiar with Walter Matthau. All of the characters he plays are crotchety old men who bark and complain about everything. Walter has become my dad’s nickname. It probably started in a parking lot somewhere. My dad has a thing about parking lots. He insists that some people lose all common sense when they’re in a parking lot, therefore giving him a lot of reasons to gripe about them. So now, anytime my dad starts to complain about something, from oblivious people in parking lots to electronics, we always announce his mood by one of our favorite phrases, “Walter’s here!” My dad always smiles and checks himself, lightening the mood for everyone. My dad has proclaimed Grumpy Old Men his favorite movie.
“Just a small portion please.” – Again another pearl from my dad’s dad. It never failed that after his dinner of meat and potatoes (pronounced badadas) when my grandma asked him if he wanted dessert, he always told her that he would have a small portion. My grandma was never quite able to figure out what that meant because she either ended up giving him too much or too little for his liking. Finally one evening she was a little fed up and after his steadfast request for a small portion of pie, she cut him the tiniest sliver possible and when he began to complain, she shot his small portion remark right back in his face. Although he never stopped requesting a small portion of dessert, he never again complained about how much he was given.
“Wifely duty” – The story with this one goes that my dad is a big joker and wasn’t being terribly smart when my older sister was learning to talk so many years ago. He was being so not-so-smart in fact, that to this day, my mother will not let him live it down. After my parents had been married a while, my dad started to tell my mom (very jokingly of course) that the things he wanted her to do (i.e. cooking, cleaning, watching the movies he wanted to watch) were all part of her wifely duty. Much to my mom’s dismay, he did not catch her hints that the joke wasn’t really funny and it continued several years up until the point that my sister could talk in complete sentences. Having spent some very formative years listening to my dad tell my mom about her wifely duties, my sister thought that it was ok for her to say as well. So one day, my sister boldly told my mom that letting her watch a movie was part of her wifely duty. The daggers my mom sent my dad finally sent the message across. He still gets a sheepish look on his face whenever anyone brings up that little incident, and my mom laughs and laughs remembering how my dad bit himself in the butt with his own joke.
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