When people tell stories they tend to be about what they know. One thing that most people know is the environment around them. They pick up habits from their family, friends, and neighbors. They begin to talk like them using dialect and slang inherent to their region. Also, it is not uncommon for people to write about a fictional community that is based from their own community. As community affects how we write, writing can also affect the community. In other words, communities influence authors of literature and literature can also influence communities.
Language is how we express ourselves. There are many different languages in our world. Within those languages there are different dialects. Those dialects are affected by the communities that use them. People add slang or shorten words to make the language their own. This has an immense impact on how authors write. Some authors will attempt to use proper English, but often times will use words common to their community.
In “The Lesson” by Toni Cade Bambara (DiYanni, 2007, pp. 427-432) we witness the effects of community on literature first hand. The characters in the story constantly use slang that is associated with African-Americans. One of the best examples is when Sylvia describes Miss Moore as a lady with “…nappy hair and proper speech and no makeup” (p. 427). Other slang words such as “somethinorother” and “gonna” are used in the story. Also Bambara seems to enjoy taking the letter “g” from many present participles such as “thinkin” or misspelling words like “nuthin.” Because Bambara grew up mostly in Harlem these are examples of her environment’s affect on her writing.
Another example of how a community can affect an author’s writing is illustrated in...
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...e Rice’s literature. This is a strong example of how an author can affect a community.
Authors obviously can have a great influence on a community. However, the author was also probably influenced by their own community. They incorporate their own heritage and slang into their literary works. Many times they will even write about their own community. Therefore it is quite obvious that community has a great affect on authors and an author can greatly affect a community.
References DiYanni, R. (2007). Literature, reading fiction, poetry, and drama. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Goodlad, L.M.E. & Bibby, M. (2007). Goth: Undead Subculture. Durham, NC: Duke University Press
Community is defined as a group a people living in an area under the same conditions. Realistically, a community is so much more than this definition. It is people and their different beliefs that form a community. In the town of Milagro, Amarante Cordova, Ruby Archuleta, and a town coming together to rescue a fellow community member from jail exemplify the true spirit of what community is.
...ant issues facing our world today. At the end of the day, every one could learn much from a writer that was never afraid to share his opinion on any subject no matter what anyone else thought about it. This goes to show, no matter how much an opinion differs from the majority, or the popular opinion, everyone still has a right and responsibility to let it be known.
In “Writing to Connect,” Pipher writes, “Any form of writing can change the world…” and goes on to say, “Ordinary people can and do change the world every day” (440). Pipher’s intended audience “is not directed toward sophisticates or literary critics. It is designed to influence cousin Shirley, farmer Dale, coworker Jan, Dr. Lisa, neighbor Carol, businessman Carl, or voter Sylvia” (438). Pipher uses every day language in “Writing to
Finegan says this is something “living languages must do”. For me, I was raised in a military home in which we moved to a new region every couple of years. Coming from Germany, moving to Rochester, and then to Lowville, my dialect is a combination of all three speech communities. It is different than my parents, and will mostly be passed down to my children. As I age and move locations it is opted to change again as well. So it is not that I speak differently or incorrect than the rest of my family, my speech community is merely growing and changing as it is passed generation to generation. Richard Lederer stated in his article, “We are a teeming nations within a nation, a country that is like a world.” (150) He was portraying how our country, with a universal language, can be so diverted by each region’s version of the English language. I agree completely that although we all “sing” the same song of the American language, “we talk in melodies of infinite variety.” (150) The way our country was built was by different American regions doing their own work, for example, the south had plantations, where my ancestors were small town farmers who worked with manufacturing in mills and
Wright, Katy M. “The Role of Dialect Representation in Speaking from the Margins: “The Lesson” of Toni Cade Bambara.” Style. 42.1 (2008): 73-87. Proquest. SEMO Kent Lib., Cape Girardeau, MO. 12 April 2009. .
Orenstein, Peggy. “What’s Wrong with Cinderella?” The New York Times Magazine. 4 Dec. 2006. Rpt. in Writing Communities and Identities. Ed. Cynthia Debes et al. 6th ed. Plymouth, MI: Hayden-McNeil Publishing, 2009. 50-54.
In the essay if Black English Isn’t a Language, Then Tell Me, What is? by James Baldwin and Mother Tongue by Amy Tan both shows idea of uses of slang and language in different context. In the essay if Black English Isn’t a Language, Then Tell Me, What is? Baldwin states that how language has changed and evolved overtime, Baldwin describes how black English were used as white English, in civil rights movement where blacks were treated as slaves and the used slang language to communicate so that the whites won’t understand. This slang was taken from black language and now everyone uses to make the communication short. In the essay Mother Tongue Tan explains that how language could affect people from different culture. Tan states that how Asian students in America struggle in English. Tan also states that her mother is smart but she couldn’t communicate in English. Tan thinks that’s a big disadvantage for her mother and people coming from different countries cannot show their talent because of their weakness in communication.
Community is like a Venn diagram. It is all about relations between a finite group of people or things. People have their own circles and, sometimes, these circles overlap one another. These interceptions are interests, common attitudes and goals that we share together. These interceptions bond us together as a community, as a Venn diagram. A good community needs good communication where people speak and listen to each other openly and honestly. It needs ti...
...l human character. Writers of American literature have many different opinions on the society. In order for readers to understand an author’s view on the society, they must look at many different aspects including the writer’s life and the time period in which the work was written. Though writers have different theories about the society, they express their philosophies into their work. The town who seem horribly uncivilized, where a son stones his mother, yet they can easily be compared to today's society.
When a writer starts his work, most often than not, they think of ways they can catch their reader’s attention, but more importantly, how to awake emotions within them. They want to stand out from the rest and to do so, they must swim against the social trend that marks a specific society. That will make them significant; the way they write, how they make a reader feel, the specific way they write, and the devotion they have for their work. Washington Irving, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Edgard Allan Poe influenced significantly the American literary canon with their styles, themes, and forms, making them three important writers in America.
As this semester comes to a quick close I have learned about the lives of many authors, the works of many authors and the variety of impact that they had on the nation. American Literature has had many different impacts on America. The literature has shaped the lives of the American people from generation to generation. The literature has shared the lives of those long before and created traditions to be passed on from family to family. From learning of a woman who changed the idea of women in literature to reading about the life of a man who shaped the nation as president, American Literature has increased my knowledge of the nation that I call home. There were authors I had no knowledge of such as Walt Whitman, authors that widely influenced
What is a community? Defined in the dictionary a community is “a group of people living in the same place or having a particular characteristic in common.” (Webster). Communities bring people together but they are tear relationships apart. In the following stories the authors of this story demonstrates community as a whole. In Fully Alive, Story Telling Animal, Robopocalypse, Stepford Wives, The Happiness Machine, The Girl Who was Plugged In and The Cave, are stories that deal with community and how it is negative and positive for the characters in the books.
Generally speaking, the two most frequently used genres in literature are fictional and non-fictional. Having said this, fictional and non-fictional literature are distinct regarding their purpose as well the literary devices they use. Literary devices are specific language methods which writers use to form text that is clear, interesting, and unforgettable. Fictional literature, for instance, is something that is made up; however, non-fictional is factual. Furthermore, non-fictional works of literature such as literary essays usually convey a message using literary devices that differ than those used in fictional literature such as short stories, which are meant to amuse its readers. Literary essays uses literary devices such as description,
According to Meriam-Webster, community is defined as “a group of people who live in the same area (such as a city, town, or neighborhood)” and “a group of people who have the same interests, religion, race, etc”. Many people think of a community as a group of people interacting in a common location. However, to me, a community is a network of people with a common goal, agenda, or concern, individuals who collaborate with one another by sharing information, ideas and other resources. A community consists of individuals who look to form relationships overtime and help one another in their future aspirations. Furthermore, I believe there are three key aspects that define a community; geography, one’s identity and
“People coming together as a community can make things happen”Jacob Rees-Mogg. This quote signifies that communities do not just happen, people have to work towards making it happen. A beloved community consists of different components that should make it unique. The community of Alpena is slow paced and not very intimidating. A community that I would choose to live in would be nice, calm, yet up to date. A good community has good people, and good leaders. Everyone has to work together and agree with each other. The people are what make a community, even though there will be disagreement sometimes, if you have the main qualities it should be a great place.