English Essay

This is my English Essay.  Submitted within the past half hour.  Hopefully it will be worth a decent grade.  I'm a little nervous about it.

Richard Nash                                                                                                                          Page 1

English 102

Robert Poulos

21 February 2011

Applied Language Lessons

            “We’ve got off quite well don’t you think?  Shall I come over later and knock you up?” Thus begins a dilemma that can range from a simple misunderstanding, to an international incident.  In London this would be a perfectly normal sentence in conversation.  The U.S. translation might sound more like; “We’ve had a great time, can I come over later for a visit?”  A Brit on his first visit to the U.S. would identify himself as an overexcited moron bent on impregnating a young lady he just met recently, but in Great Britain, the speaker’s identity is interpreted as someone pleased with the way things are going, and he just wants to visit later at the lady’s home.  Language even within our own United States can be just as diverse and misunderstood when slang and local colloquialisms are taken into consideration, and who we are as a people can be difficult to dissect when misunderstandings due to language occur.

            I have to admit to having entirely too much fun with the British version of the English language while “playing” with patrons at the Kansas City Renaissance Festival.  I worked for 10 years at Front Gate welcoming people, and saying “Fare Thee Well” at the exit gate.  I had tremendous fun in the lanes of the festival in times that ranged from the August heat in excess of 100 degrees to the snow that arrived in mid-October.  No matter the time of year, or the weather, people enjoyed my manufactured British accent that was so good; I even fooled natives of London who wanted to know what part of “England” I was from.  The language was a sensual mystery to some, and a complete mystery to others.  One weekend my brother and I even created a made-up language in an Italian accent.  People could still understand the basics of what we were intimating by our body language and physical comedy.  Our identities forever changed in the mind of the masses, if only for a little while.  Traditionally at the end of the day, it was difficult to get away from using the accent, so we repeatedly used the natural enemy of the “English” accent; the ‘Hick’ accent.  We would quote the same sentence 5 times. “The beer is in the pick-up truck.” which would miraculously cure us of our pretentious British identity, and we were demoted to simple Missourians.

            If you think about language origins and consider the different languages in the world, there are many examples that we can draw from to learn about the past of our own English language, and what the future may hold.  For example: The people in Finland and Estonia speak different languages, but can understand each other.  Swedish people can understand a good portion of Finnish people, and those from Norway as well.  Estonian people cannot understand those from Norway or Sweden, and those from Norway cannot understand any of what the Finnish or Estonian people are saying.  All of these languages share some common roots, or at least have been in relation to each other for so long that those in close geographic proximity have a common understanding.

            In the essay; English Belongs to Everybody, Robert MacNeil speaks of a widespread anxiety about English, and says; “There is anxiety about a crisis of literacy, or a crisis of semi literacy among high school, even college, graduates.”  He uses this to illustrate that there is sometimes an over-reaction to a change in language.  Surely language changes over the centuries and entirely new languages can emerge.  Spanglish is a term that has emerged in recent times to describe a mishmash of English and Spanish, and it spans the border between the U.S. and Mexico.  Here we have an example of what MacNeil was talking about.  The more amazing thing about it is that English has its roots in Germanic languages, yet Spanish is one of the romantic languages.  They have met half way around the world and united in a people who have more of an identity crisis than difficulty with language.  It seems the greater question than language is a question of assimilation of culture.

            The combining of languages, the addition of slang, and the lack of understanding of the language of origin, all emphasize the necessity of language and grammar rules from which to work.  These may cast a shadow on the identity of certain groups of people as a side effect, but the importance of the rules themselves is undeniable.  In an essay by Malcom X entitled; Discovering the Power of Language, Mr. X illustrates how a simple dictionary can be a truly powerful tool to transform ordinary lives into extraordinary lives that have an impact felt for generations beyond their own. He also stated that simply reading and understanding the words in a dictionary allowed him to read and gain understanding. He said; “Anyone who has read a great deal can imagine a new world that opened.” and “You couldn’t have gotten me out of books with a wedge.” Without dictionaries and learning language uses, a language, or combination of languages can become top-heavy and collapse and be reabsorbed into more dominant languages.  Even when using the diverse smorgasbord of slang from which to choose in our daily language, it is critical we are understood, and that ambiguity is set aside in favor of real understanding.  It is imperative that we keep an essentialist mind as we educate the young, and use the tools available so that when the leaders of our country speak, that citizens are able to understand not just the words on the surface, but can also question the meaning and of those words, and the true identity behind them.

            Steven Pinker in the essay; Words Don’t Mean What They Mean, states; “When people talk, they lay lines on each other, do a lot of role-playing, sidestep, shilly-shally, and engage in all manner of vagueness and innuendo.”  The dance this statement implies has become old hat in the arena of politics.  The politicians in power bank on the fact that the majority of the population, are willing to take the words for their surface meaning without attempting to read between the lines. They know that the opposition will dissect their speech for their own constituents so that they don’t have to chew on it themselves and glean any gems of contention.  Sadly many times, there are several questions that are missed, and the majority of the population chooses to ignore the fact that there is so much more than that which is presented to them in an easily digested format.  More immediate would be a person’s own friends and acquaintances who also “lay lines” on their own friends.  If you listen to the choice of the words used, and the manner in which they are used, you can discern those points in the conversation where potential information has a tendency to slip by unnoticed.  The masses become the “sheeple” who follow without thinking, and the two party system dominates the political landscape without any protest or struggle against the ‘powers that be’.  Education is one key to preventing a diminished future in this capacity.  

            Our “English” accents at the Renaissance festival were just a fantasy, but to others they can become a part of their own fantasy.  The only way this can be accomplished is with a suspension of disbelief.  When two fantasies or ideals are at cross purposes, it can have a profound effect.  For example: The Front Gate Performers, as we were known, became weary of the “Trekkies” (fans of Star Trek) who came every year and pretended they were on an ‘Away Mission’ to a primitive culture.  My friends at the time designed a plot to at least jostle them a bit. When they were milling about the entry area, pretending to read from their tri-corders, and role-playing their ranks in Starfleet, one of the Front Gate Performers stood in the middle of the square and yelled; “COMPUTER, FREEZE PROGRAM!” All of the performers froze in their positions.  No one moved for several minutes, and the Trekkies stood stunned.  We had used their sacred language out of turn.  With their identity shattered, they drifted off into the crowd.  We haven’t seen them return, in costume, in over 10 years to the Renaissance Festival.  Did they take their own fantasy too seriously, or was our crime so egregious that we were marked as cruel and banned by Trekkies?

            We can learn many lessons, and ask many questions based on the examples I’ve given, and the lessons we have learned from the authors quoted in this essay.  A couple of questions that I have an opinion on: What is an appropriate minimum for learning the language?  My hope is that we will learn enough so we will not be easily persuaded by words alone, without asking all of the important questions that apply to a given situation.  How do you recognize a real departure from an established language and label it as a new language?  Only time can answer this question as it seems to happen over many centuries.  My thinking is that once that new language has rules of its’ own, it has ceded from the language or languages of origin.

            Clearly no matter the amount of education we attempt to impart, the sarcasm, body language, and slang will continue to evolve without pause.  Individuals and groups will always figure out ways to slight one another, or laud one another using language as their chief tool.  The thing that we should take away without hesitation is that language is alive and growing and diversifying as the years go by.  English, for example, is increasingly being taught to foreign students across the globe, and in some cases is required to learn as a second language.  The presence of English speaking peoples spread across the globe almost guarantees that the language will survive.  Language in general identifies us in ways both positive and negative, and we should embrace learning about the nuances of the language of our origin despite pressure to the contrary.

            My hope is that people will rise in the places where education fails us.  If we know someone who cannot read, teach them.  If you can illustrate how language can affect a person when it comes to the critical things in life, for example; applying for a job, communicating an idea, asking for help, then you will find them more willing to learn.  If a person has a good grasp of language and the rules of that language, I am convinced that they can change their identity.  An education in language can change socio-economic status, outward perception, and open up opportunities.  If an individual rejects learning, they will be more likely to languish in poverty, and subject future generations of their family to the same fate.  It takes generations to change a family sometimes.  Look within yourself and choose the identity you want the world to see.  Know that you are likely choosing the same for your children, and for their children.  The alternative to learning is accepting what the media spoon feeds you about the world around you, and never questioning the policies put in place.  Without the powerful tools of language, it is difficult to see beyond the surface of what we are given.  I end with this question; what path will you reinforce for the innocents you are, or will be responsible for?       

Works Cited

Pinker, Steven. Essay "Words Don’t Mean What They Mean." Language Awareness Readings for College Writers Tenth Edition (2009): Pg. 72.

X, Malcolm. Essay "Discovering the Power of Language." Language Awareness Readings for College Writers Tenth Edition (2009): Pg. 43.

MacNeill, Robert. Essay “English Belongs to Everybody” Language Awareness Readings for College Writers Tenth Edition (2009): Pg. 65.