Why Our Discourse are Not Accepted?

Why are we writing white? Why is there a professor telling how to write? Why can’t we write the way we feel? Why our discourse are being pushed away?

In english classes, we are being taught how to write formal way or to be more specific “white”. Writing the white way and not letting students write the way they want to express is taking away the students persona. Once children start school they start teaching them how to write the formal way and it does not seem like a problem. But once those children grow up as a student not all realize how we have been taught to only write “formal” and no other way. If a student does not follow up with the rules they writing is wrong and there paper is consider as a bad grade. Like in SRTOL, he talks and agree with the fact that students should all be able to write in their discourse and have teachers trained to understand each student’s writing.

If the teachers would understand and let students write in their own discourse students wouldn’t have such difficulty trying to fit in into another discourse. Trying to write the way they are being told too just pushes the students away from their discourse. Is like trying to get in their heads that their discourse does not matter and there should be only one kind of writing.

The “America” formal writing is being expected in almost everywhere. Such as when you are trying to apply for a job, interview, meetings, etc. The discourse of “white” comes up because we are taught that that is the way to speak with others if not you are uneducated. This country is controlled by the whites and if you don’t learn and speak or write the discourse you are not consider to be inside the white discourse.

Freedom of Speech?

As soon as you start school, you are forced to assimilate into the "White" standards of writing. You are penalized for writing in your own comfortable discourse, but is it really a bad thing? According to SRTOL, they believe that students have the right to write in their own discourse and that teachers must respect diversity. If students are allowed to write in their own discourse, they are able to write exactly how they feel. This can also help to promote creativity and the expansion of students minds.

This idea of writing seems to be like an utopia. However, in the real world, writing in your own discourse will get you no where in life. When you are applying for jobs, you must assimilate to the "proper white standards" or you will not be hired. When you are filling out your college applications, you definitely cannot write in your own discourse or you will be viewed as "unprofessional" or "un-fit" for the university. In a certain extent, it may be a little bit discriminating, however, if you were to travel to another country, you would need to assimilate into their cultures and their "standards of writing." What makes it any different in America?

In conclusion, I like the idea of writing in your own discourse, however, writing in your own discourse will not bring you success. If you are living in America, everyone will always follow the "American White standards." It is impossible to change how Americans will view "proper English." Even if everyone fought for the rights to write in our own discourses, it would cause a chain of future events and problems. For example, teachers would need to change their method of teaching. Teachers would also need to change their curriculum  and adjust everything to fit the needs of every different student. This would be time consuming and inefficient.

American English Class standards

Learning about the standard way of writing in english class is certainly an interesting topic to talk about or discuss. After reading the SRTOL article it appears to me that it is pretty clear that english classes want you speak english and write like if it was your first language. The only problem with that is that not every student in an english class is going to be white. So this means if people are of different races and cultures and their first language is not english then it is harder for them to learn how to write english correctly which includes writing at American english standards. Therefore, if students were able to write in english at their own comfort they would still be able to learn the English standard way of writing with due time. But since english teachers also tend to help out the students who they see fit better, results in discrimination. Which leads to oppression, and we cannot let english teacher oppress us students of color just, because our first language is not english. It would be the same scenario for english teachers if they were students at another country like Mexico, and they were trying to learn the Mexican Spanish standard way of writing in Spanish class. They would also feel discriminated against and oppressed by Spanish teachers since their first language is not Spanish. Every student in English should be treated with the same assistance and equality as any white American student. Just, because a colored student might be having trouble with writing a language that is not their native dialect should not get put down or oppressed over, on the contrary they should get more assistance than usual by English teachers, so they can be up to pare with English standards of writing.  

Frustration and Confusion

Assignment #3 has been by far the most frustrating assignment so far. Having to choose a single major debatable topic, finding primary and secondary sources, and finally deciding where i stand on the topic; all of these steps have been difficult. There are so many options to choose from when it came to the topic, any law can be debated and both sides have their reasoning behind it. Finding the sources were difficult too, not only because it was hard to find a legitimate one but the use of google scholar was a bad one. It was a waste of time, it would bring me to websites that required a membership to access. Even though I know where i stand on my topic, its hard to write the assignment only because i understand the other side of the argument. Overall, i like the challenge of the assignment and the challenge of making an argument that anyone can debate on.

Free or Tied to the Curriculum?

Free or Tied to the Curriculum?

Being able to write in our discourse is something we have been discussing in class a lot for a while now.  We all seem to agree that we should be able to write freely with no judgment and without telling us that is not the way to do it. We also seem to agree that we need to know how to write some stuff the same way everyone else does in order to be prepared to go out to and do good in society. So what would you prefer? To be free and write how ever you want without having to follow the rules of standard English writing or constantly be wondering you are writing the right way instead of focusing on content? I personally think that we should be able to write the way we are most confortable in.

Ever since I was in middle school I was taught that the is one way of writing and that is standard English, one that every teacher understands and is able to easily grade a paper looking for parts where you broke the rule. 

Up until this year there was no teacher that et us write however we wanted it was always abut following the rules. That is why I really like this class because although we do follow the curriculum we are able to write in our own discourse. It makes us feel comfortable with writing and even extending more on our papers.  Students often think that having an English class past high school is a waste of time, we don’t appreciate it because it does not let us express the way we want to and need to.  We don’t think we need any more English classes because we are just too tired of being told that the way we want to express our thoughts is just wrong.  But my whole view on English classes changed when I entered this classroom and learned that our teacher was about to let us freely express our thoughts.

From what we have read about this idea we also discovered that there is a lot of controversy on whether or not we should be able to write freely once we enter the English classroom or if we should stick to the Standard English. Something I found really interesting g was the fact that the New SRTOL mentioned that teachers should be trained so that they are able to grade their students papers when they write in their own discourse.

Teachers being able to grade you without judging if you are writing the way you should or not is something that would be very much appreciated by many students. It would not only help them to be able to raise their grades in this particular subject but they would also stop complaining on how boring English class is. We don’t have to completely go off the curriculum in order to fit some of that Standard English into our writing; it would be nice to learn a little about both. 

This Class has opened my eyes. Blog Assignment #2

English class has made me realize that there are things in reality that we don't realize or critically ask questions about. An question was brought up in class whether English class should let students writing in their own dialect. And at first I was like, yeah we should be allowed as students to talk and write in our own dialect. Having the right to write in our dialect gives off the feeling of being able to express how we feel without the restrictions of the guidelines on the Standard Academic Writing. Although writing or speaking in our own dialect might lead to judgment by others because we are not following the standard way to speak and write.

First let's make it clear what is Standard English and Academic Writing. The dictionary's definition of standard English is that the English language in its most widely accepted form, as written and spoken by educated people in both formal and informal contexts, having universal currency while incorporating regional differences. Meaning that though people have different cultures, standard English is the way of being accepted. In essays, teachers teach students how to write a standard five paragraph essay, which consists an introduction with thesis, three body paragraphs that have topic sentences relating back to the thesis, and an conclusion that overall sums up the general idea of the paper. But in reality we write and speak standard English is to be accepted by society and avoid crucial judgments by others.

Assignment 3 and other overall information review

So far, Assignment 3 has been the most difficult assignment that I have ever worked in all of english. I worked overnight just to find a controversial ethic topic and finding the primary source and two secondary sources to boot. I have shed blood, sweat, and tears throughout the entire day just to find the topic of my assignment, and luckily I found a topic based upon the Ebola Quarantine. I was to read upon a woman who was placed under quarantine in New York for traveling to Africa and back as a working nurse. I began too stress even further when I had trouble find the secondary sources for the arguments on the topic. Furthermore, after finally searching for my two secondary sources, I had to create an outline of my paper before turning in the actual draft before Friday. I have not been at my A game all this week. If were to get less lazy and more focused on the assignment, I would not have to worry as much. Despite all the havoc over the weekend, I can finally look forward to going back to school and have a lot more energy and less stress. Still, the question is how. How will my new week turn out to be after all the pain from the previous weeks? That I do not know.