"We are the Same"

       In Emily Renie’s personal essay, “We are the Same,” (2015), she suggests that two people from totally different cultures and backgrounds can have a lot more in common than what meets the eye. The author develops her thesis by recalling a couple of experiences she had regarding the way people see herself and others. Renie wrote this essay in order to tell people not to let others define who they are. The audience of Renie’s essay was her English Composition professor.
       As human beings, we tend to always see the negative more than the positive things about other people. The narrator, Emily, was able to connect to the Tonga girl due to past experience of being bullied. My best friend, Shona, and I became friends because emotionally we were connected to each other. When she tells me her problem I was able to see a reflection of myself. I was in Shona's position once; therefore, I was able to empathize with her story. Over the years, Emily learned to love herself, and she was hoping the little girl would soon learn to embrace herself also. This is very crucial for everyone to understand. Self-love is the best love.
       Renie’s personal essay was written to highlight that everyone, no matter where they come from, experience insecurities. “Although we lived 8,000 miles apart, grew up in different cultures, and did not share the same skin color...We both felt the same insecurities and the way they constantly pick away our source of courage.” Renie gave us insight to an insecurity that she held concerning her smile, and how it did not affect her until someone rudely pointed out her “flawed” teeth. I’ve noticed that no one is ever insecure about themselves until they see something that tells them or makes them think of that part of themselves as not beautiful. Renie wanted to combat this by making a girl who had been picked on feel better about herself. “I smiled and very gently touched the tip of her nose. ‘Mubontu’...‘Mubontu’ means beautiful in Tonga I wanted her to know exactly what she is despite what others say.”(Renie, 147) Even though Renie did not have to encourage the girl, she seemed to realize that sometimes it helps to hear positive words from someone else.

"Talking in Color"

       

       In Tiffany Hendrickson’s personal essay, “Talking in Color: Collision of Cultures,” (2013), she explores the idea that different people speak differently depending on their race or background. The author develops by explaining her experience with the different ways people spoke around her. Hendrickson wrote this essay to explain how developing your voice is important in determining where you stand in society. The intended audience was her English composition professor at University of Cincinnati.
       It is sad that as a nation we are divided in so many ways such the colors of our skin, our cultural background, and even the differences in our dialect. Obviously, the sound of our voice has colors attached to it. This is the problem Tiffany Hendrickson faced throughout her life; she is a white person with a “black voice”. I can relate to Tiffany when she stated she was afraid to talk due to her accent. I don’t speak perfect English because I am not from this country. Time and time again I tend to have an Asian accent which I think is really embarrassing. I believe if I do not speak English the white/proper way or with the right accent, then I am being judged and looked down upon. Tiffany’s story is very inspiring because she learned to love her dialect and accent. She also brought up a social issue in our society. People tend to shame those who speak broken and improper English and classified it as talking “black”. This stereotype has been going on for so long and it is degrading the African American people. 

        This text was written to ask the question, “is there a voice associated with color?” Hendrickson went throughout life with a “black voice” simply because she grew up around black people. Her mother was deaf and her father had a limited education, so she learned speech from her environment. However, she wasn’t aware of how black she sounded until it was pointed out. “ this... walked right up to me and said, ‘Are you white?’ I replied, ‘Ahhhh, yes.’ He had this look of disappointment on his face and said, ‘Well, then talk white. Stop talking like a nigger!’” (Hendrickson) Hendrickson did a good job of her confusion of the linguistic gap by using her own life experiences. “ I’ve always been told, ‘You sound like a black girl.’ Is it because my language isn’t white enough? ... What does a black girl sound like? Illiterate? I ask myself this regularly.”

"Context"

In Dorothy Allison’s short story, “Context,” (1994), she suggests that having context is important in understanding people of different classes or backgrounds.  The author supports this claim by recalling a personal experience of hers.  Allison wrote this story in order to inform people of the importance of context.  The audience was people who are interested in literature and are concerned about issues amongst different classes of people.

Even though my family is not financially struggling, I can feel her pain and embarrassment. However, nobody is perfect and neither are their family members. Obviously, you are not going to have the perfect ideal family that will suit your girlfriend/boyfriend best. Therefore, it’s always nerve wrecking to bring your significant other around your family for the first time. Lucky for me, my generation is more open to homosexual or gay relationships compared to back in the day. I am not in one but  I cans see why Dorothy was concerned about how her folks might have perceived them in a negative way.

In this short story, the word “context” is used to mean perspective. I say this because, when Dorothy is laying next to her girlfriend, she says “I thought I understood what you meant when you said working class’ but I just didn’t have a context.” This means that Dorothy’s girlfriend didn’t have anything to compare Dorothy’s words to. She hadn’t experienced what Dorothy had in order to fully understand until she came and visited for herself. At the very end of the text, Dorothy wrote that “Context is so little to share, and so vital.” This means that context, or in this case one’s perspective, is important in every relationship, and it does not take much to share it. But what I also gathered from this story was that not everyone is so quick to share their experience. This comes from a fear of judgement and betrayal. “I wondered what she would have thought of Folly Beach, the poor man’s Jersey Shore, or of us if she could have seen us there. I burned with old shame...” Allison did a good job portaying this theme of context with sharing some of her life story with the readers.

"The Beat Up Generation"

In Abby Ellin’s article, “The Beat Up Generation,” (2014), she suggests that the way the new millennial generation likes to do things clashes with the way the older baby boomers and gen-Xers like to do things.  She supports this by citing different studies on the different generations and quoting different baby boomers and millennials regarding the other generation. Ellin wrote this article in order to inform people of the different ways the generations work and of the resentment it has caused. The intended audience of this piece was people studying psychology.  
Being that we are all considered Millennials, It was a little hurtful reading the perception older individuals had about our generation; “... they are thought to be entitled, narcissistic, self-promotional, coddled, opinionated, whiny, and needy, especially at work (when they’re not complaining about unemployment, that is).”(Ellin Abby, “The Beat Up Generation”, 205). It seems that we come across in a very negative light to many older adults. However I feel that we are simply getting acclimated with the times.
Change is inevitable. This is one of the main reasons why there’s conflict between different generations. They all have opposing perspectives on life in general. The Baby Boomers generation views the Millennial generation as arrogant, narcissistic, and needy because of their behavior, especially in the work environment. There are many factors that contribute to the differences in behaviors and technology plays a big part in it. “They have a different value set-on global interconnectedness, the Internet, cell phones, instantly knowing what’s going on in the world,” (Ellin, 208).  The new generation is more technically savvy while the older folks despise their obsession with smartphones, laptop, and etc. The Baby Boomers can’t keep up with the rapid shifts in technology, and this frustrates them. The differences in the upbringing results in the conflicting attitudes and personalities between them. The younger folks are more-needy because they are used to doing group works since grade school. “They’re sensitive to criticism and unable to work alone,” (Ellin 205). On the other hand, the older generation can work independently just fine. Another problem is that the Millennials do not cooperate to the traditional workplace hierarchies. They believed in earning respect rather than given. Due to their age and work experiences the Baby Boomers feel as if they should be respected.  

"Mother Tongue"

In Amy Tan’s memoir, "Mother Tongue," (2016), she asserts that all the Englishes she grew up with helped shape her as a writer.  She explains this by recalling her experience with her mother’s simple English and her own more refined style of English. The author wrote "Mother Tongue" to explain to people how the different Englishes she grew up with, even the “broken” one, eventually became an important part of her writing.  Tan was targeting aspiring writers when she wrote this.

  "Mother Tongue" was a very heartwarming story to read.  The part when Amy Tan talked about how she thought her mother’s broken English reflected broken thoughts, and then later went on to explain how this isn’t actually true was very well said in our opinion.  It was also very interesting to hear her explain the way society looked at her mother’s broken English compared to her own more refined English.  The part that was really inspiring, though, was when she explained how she was expected to have a career in math or science but instead pursued a writing career.  Overall, the story was very engaging, and it did a good job at showing that just because people think you can’t do something doesn’t mean it’s true.  It was very inspiring.  

Amy Tan, writer of "Mother Tongue," does her best to show us that, as people, we can only exhibit what we are familiar with. Tan explained that as a child growing up in a Chinese American home, She was taught by her surroundings. There was a specific way that her family spoke with each other, and it worked for them. Language was never seen as a barrier by Tan until she noticed the way people reacted to how her mother spoke. No one ever took her mother seriously simply because of her vernacular. This goes to show that society plays a part in our early development.  Being exposed to the opinions of others affects us, whether it be positive or negative. Tan then began to grow embarrassed of her mother's ‘broken’ English, even though she could understand her perfectly. She explained that her mom's speech coupled with the opinions of many started to shape her future.  It was perceived that she would also display this kind of limited English, so her teachers pushed her towards the fields of math and science. However, tan defied this push and started pursuing a career in writing. It was always evident that Tan was a good English speaker, but even as an adult she found herself talking to her mother with the same ‘simple speech’ she was around when growing up. Long story short, Amy Tan used her own experiences to show that even though we eventually become our own unique selves, parts of our upbringing will never leave us.

Creativity

     Hey everyone! Welcome to our blog. We are English 1101 bloggers. This is one of our projects in class that will help improve our writing skills by exposing us to different styles of writing. Our main goals for the end of this semester are to become creative writers and be able to write in a shorter amount of time. Hopefully you will enjoy our blog! :)