ENG 101 Essay Power of Language PDF

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ENG 101 Essay Power of Language...

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ENG 101

“The power of Language”

In Amy Tan’s reading, the writer wants us to understand how in our modern world the fact that we don’t speak the same language can affect you and those around you, like your family or friends. Her professional and social life has been affected by her mom’s English. Language is more than just a few words, it is very difficult to define because of various societies, but it can be defined as the ability to communicate and exchange yourself with another person or group. It allows people to express themselves with their own thoughts, fears, feelings and ideas. Language is used in many different ways, and as the language used in a household will be different from the language used in a political debate, and often that same language is difficult to understand while talking with one another. It is perhaps necessary to understand that we live in a world where language comes in different ways, and the human being needs to accept the fact that language itself cannot come under a single burden. In Amy Tan’s reading, “Mother tongue”, the author writes “I spend a great deal of my time thinking about the power of language; language is the tool of my trade”. Tan shows us how her mother language affected her life and somehow limited the trade she had in her social life. She questions herself about her language upbringing, a language that she does not know how to define, a language called English but not understood from English speakers. This reminds me of my situation when I first came in the United States. My English was not good enough, but with help and practice I started speaking. However, this was not enough for the American people who looked at me with concern and misunderstanding, like I was not even speaking their language. Furthermore, I noticed in person how language can shape your personality in different ways. I remember when I was in English school and I used to talk with my classmates in an incomplete English, but as soon as I stepped outside the classroom, my English was completely different. I don't define the language I spoke with my

classmates a proper English, but just some sort of language we used to express how we saw and experienced things. Once out of the classroom, where I could have a conversation with a real native speaker, my English was articulate and smooth. Language can express thoughts and feelings in very different ways, and it is the main tool used to connect with people. Recently, we also have seen language used in political matters. The language used in politics is different from the one used in our daily social life. Politicians are usually the ones that we believe in, but nowadays something has changed in people’s mind. Politicians have the power, with their language and their speech, to make us believe that something is going to change, our lives are going to get better, but that is just a lie. Every single politician in his own way does not tell direct lies to the public, but they tell shaded versions of what the real truth is. Over the years, people became more and more cynical and don't expect changes or innovations anymore. However, sometimes politicians lie, due to a public who does not want to hear the truth. People want to hear what they want to hear, not anything else. As George Orwell writes in “Politics and the English Language", “Political language — is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.” Orwell believes that language used in vague and meaningless ways and full of foolish thoughts. Language is a very powerful tool, and it is language that shapes the world, both internally and externally, shapes your experience to see and hear things, shapes the way the world responds to you. Through words, people shape their identities. Language shapes your identity, but at the same time, before judging other people’s language, it is necessary to understand where that language comes from and what it means for that particular person or community. In James Baldwin “If Black English isn’t a Language, Then tell Me, What Is?”, he writes “People evolve a language in order to describe and thus control their circumstances, or in order not to be submerged by a reality that they cannot articulate” and “What joins all languages, and all men, is the necessity to confront life”. With these two quotes, Baldwin emphasizes how different

people with a common language, but different background and pronunciation at some point reach their common ground to understanding one another. He shows us, that knowledge is power, and the more we understand the variations of a language, the more will we be able to connect to the world. This situation sounds very familiar to me, because back when I was in my hometown not everyone used to speak with the same language. My parents used to talk to me in dialect so I had to adapt myself to that language in order to get to my parents and let them feel at ease. However, when a friend come over I found myself in trouble because of my parents’s language. All of my friends spoke different dialects or proper Italian, so I sometimes had to translate what my parents said to them in order to make a bridge between what my parents said, and let my friend understand it. My friends never complained about it, because they knew and they did the same thing when other friends or I went over to their house, in order to make a connection with their parents. I think we should try to expand our knowledge and understand that language does not come only under one form, but in different ways and from different people. In conclusion, language is a very powerful tool for all the species and our society. As we stated above, language has many different ways to express itself, but at the end language is what define us and shape our personality.

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