Essay 3 New Topic Sentence

Andrew Hamer

English 1100_35

November 16, 2015

Essay 3 Topic Sentence

        Because the police are viewed badly by society, it is causing a divide between the police and the people.

        The police are being viewed badly by society, therefore it is causing a divide between the 

people and them.

Topic Questions

Andrew Hamer

English 1100_35

November 8, 2015

Topic Questions

Public Mentality towards Police

1. Why do so many people in society view the police as bad?
2. Why does the media portray the police in one light compared to another?
3. Why does the media show more stories of police doing bad things compared to them doing good?
4. Why do people of different classes view the police differently?
5. What can the police do to be seen in a better way by the people?
6. How can civilians learn to see the police as people who are there to help?
7. Why does race become such a big issue when it comes to any problem with police?
8. What can be done/is being done to help stop police brutality?
9. What people are more likely to see the police as bad?
10. How has public view of the police changed throughout the last couple of decades?

Kozol Quotes

Andrew Hamer

English 1100_35

October 26, 2015

Professor Young

Jonathan Kozol Quotes

1. "Many Americans who live far from our major cities and who have no firsthand knowledge of the realities to be found in urban public schools seem to have the rather vague and general impression that the great extremes of racial isolation that were matters of grave national significance some thirty-five or forty years ago have gradually but steadily diminished in more recent years"

2. "Even these statistics, as stark as they are, cannot begin to convey how deeply isolated children in the poorest and most segregated sections of these cities have become"

3. "One of the most disheartening experiences for those who grew up in the years when Martin Luther King Jr. and Thurgood Marshall were alive is to visit public schools today that bear their names, or names of other honored leaders of the integration struggles that produced the temporary progress that took place in the three decades after Brown v. Board of Education"

Jean Anyon Essay Responce

Andrew Hamer

English 1100_35

September 23, 2015

Prof. Young

Jean Anyon Essay

Even though Jean Anyon’s essay on social class and education was written in the nineteen seventies I still believe that it holds merit in many parts of the country today. She stated that children in high class or rich areas are being trained and prepared for high paying jobs and further education while the middle and lower classes are being prepared for blue collar jobs and trade skill jobs. I myself grew up in a town where her point can be seen pretty clearly. In my hometown of Jefferson there are many schools, we have basic kindergarten, elementary schools, and middle schools but once the younger people of town get out of the middle school they have the opportunity to go to one of three high school options.

For the people willing to pay for their education they can go to Pope John a school known in Jefferson for its wonderful education that is payed for by the children’s parents, who normally have very well paying jobs such as being a doctor, a lawyer, or a large business owner of some sort. Pope John is considered to be the upper class school for the people of Jefferson and the surrounding towns and the people who go their normally end up in similar well paying jobs like their parents. This proves Ms. Anyon’s point on the upper class schools in this country and she even proved that the middle class schools are still the same.

The school I went to is considered the middle class school of my home as it was the town’s public school and like Jean Anyon stated the people in this school were the children of government workers and blue collar workers. Also again how Jean Anyon made clear the children in the middle class schools normally ended up in similar if not the same jobs as their parents, i.e. my mother works for the government,  my father works for transit and is a Naval Officer in the reserves, and I plan on going into law enforcement. So again my home town proved that the middle class school system is still the same as it was when she wrote her essay.

Even the lower class is still the same forty years ago. While the people in the lower class part 

of town still went to the public high school they were normally the ones who went to Votech. a 

technical school for people who want to know how to do a trade school and who normally don’t go to 

college. These people who went to Votech. unfortunately do fit into Jean Anyon’s description of the 

lower class when it came to schools. For the most part they did come from single parent families and 

their parents had a very minimal education. So in total I do agree that the school systems in this 

country still reflect her ideals to this day.

Resolution on Student's Right to Their Own Language

Andrew Hamer

English 1100_35

September 16, 2015

Prof. Young

Students’ Right to their own Language

“Language scholars long ago denied that the myth of a standard American dialect has any validity.” This quote from the first page of the Conference on College Composition and Communication’s Students’ Right to Their Own Language says it all. Trying to fit all of the people in this country into a common way of speaking is impossible. There are so many different ways to portray a language especially in America. With all of the different dialects spoken throughout the U.S., and because of all of the different forms of slang and different ways people speak it seems unreasonable to me that students should not be able to write in a form of language that fits with who they are. For almost every writing assignment that I have had throughout my years of going to school I have been told to make my writing original and to make my writing true to who I am. If I am not able to write in my own language how am I supposed to make my writing true to me and original, that is why students having the right to their own language in an academic setting is important. Teachers and Professors are always telling students to do their work to the best of their ability, but in order to do that we need to be able to think and write in a way that makes sense to us. I’m not saying that students should be allowed to curse and insult people in what they write but as far as using slang or certain terminology so that the student can understand and feel better about the work that they did then having the right to write in a way that they understand sounds pretty good.

Identity Essay

Andrew Hamer

English 1100_35

September 2nd, 2015

Prof. Young

Identity of me

Identity, identity can mean a lot of things depending on how you think of it. It can simply mean your name if you want to break this down to its simplest point, it can mean who you are to others, or who you are to yourself. According to our class, identity is the uniqueness of a person. It is their religion, culture, traditions, gender, race, and how we see ourselves as well as others perceive us. I can definitely agree to this definition because many if not all of those examples can be different when comparing any two people. Much like how Gloria Anzaldua said in How to Tame a Wild Tongue “I am my language.”, I can agree and say that I am my traditions, I am my religion, and I am my culture. Each of these different ways of looking at identity change for everyone, but I believe that they are just as important to all of us. Identity is one of the most important things to me because when it comes down to it your identity isn't just who you are, it's what you are and what you want to be.

Obviously my name is Andrew so I’ve covered my identity at the simplest point possible, but who I am to others and to myself is something that is a lot harder to explain. I honestly don’t know what everyone thinks of me and who they identify me as. The few things I’ve been told about how others identify me is that I’m a nice guy, I am very dependable, and that my friends trust me. I don’t know if they were telling me the truth or not but I’d like to believe that my friends were being honest. If that is really how others identify me then I am pretty good with that. The fact that people identify me as someone that they trust and can depend on makes me feel amazing, and makes my identity that much more important to me. Especially since those are some of the traits that I identify myself with most of the time.

Quotes from "How to Tame a Wild Tongue"

Andrew Hamer
English 1100_35
August 30th, 2015
Young
How to Tame a Wild Tongue Quotes

"And I think, how do you tame a wild tongue, train it to be quiet, how do you bridle and saddle it? How do you make it lie down?"

Anzaldua, Gloria. "How to Tame a Wild Tongue." Teaching Developmental Writing. Ed. Susan  
          Naomi Bernstein. Fourth ed. New York: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2013. 250. Print.

"There is the quiet of the Indian about us. We know how to survive. When other races have given up their tongue, we've kept ours."

Anzaldua, Gloria. "How to Tame a Wild Tongue." Teaching Developmental Writing. Ed. Susan  
          Naomi Bernstein. Fourth ed. New York: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2013. 264. Print.

"So, if you want to really hurt me, talk badly about my language. Ethnic identity is twin skin to linguistic identity - I am my language."

Anzaldua, Gloria. "How to Tame a Wild Tongue." Teaching Developmental Writing. Ed. Susan  
          Naomi Bernstein. Fourth ed. New York: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2013. 260. Print.

How to Tame a Wild Tongue

Andrew Hamer
English 1100_35
August 29th, 2015
Young
How to Tame a Wild Tongue

1. Discuss how the opening scene of Anzaldua in the dentist's chair connects to the overall point/message of the essay and title.

The opening scene of Anzaldua in the dentist's chair connects to the overall point that throughout her life people have been trying to control her tongue (as in her accent) and now the dentist is trying to control her actual tongue that wouldn't sit still. I think this was a smart way of opening the essay because mostly everyone has been to a dentist at one point and it is a very relatable situation.

2. Discuss Anzaldua's use of the Spanish throughout her writing. Did it make sense? What was her purpose?

I think Anzaldua's use of Spanish throughout her writing made perfect sense to the writing style of the essay. I think her purpose was to help connect all of the readers to a part of her identity and to show us how connected she really is to her culture and how even after all those years of people trying to repress her and the way she speaks she wouldn't give up who she is.

3. Can Academic English be defined as Spanish (Standard) and can Chicano Spanish be described as nonstandard? Why? What inference, conclusions, can be made from referring to one identity (language) as standard versus nonstandard?

To a person who mainly speaks standard Spanish Academic English can defined as standard while Chicano Spanish can be described as nonstandard. This is because Spanish and Academic English are two larger languages while Chicano Spanish isn't spoken on as large of a scale. By referring to one language as standard and the other as nonstandard one is basically saying that one language is normal and the other isn't as important.

4. Discuss the necessity of speaking and/writing in Academic English as an identity. Is it necessary?

Speaking/writing in Academic English maybe necessary to some but not to all people who learn it. I've been in classes with many people who are very confident vocally and who didn't take classes on writing/speaking very seriously, so to people like this Academic English isn't a big part of who they are and it isn't really necessary.

5. Anzaldua describes different types of Spanish, identities. Discuss the various types of English, identities, you know and use.

I would say that the only varied type of English I use is the dialect that is used in the area of New Jersey I am from, but besides that the only varied English I use is what I say when I'm around my friends that only we understand.

6. Pachuco. Do you use a secret language, secret identity, to communicate to your friends? If so, what?

I would definitely say that I use a secret language with my friends. I wouldn't say that someone who didn't know us all that well couldn't understand us but we talk very fast with each other and use a lot of references to things that we like and we always mention a lot of inside jokes.

7. Chicano Spanish can be compared to non-standard English. What form of English (standard or nonstandard) do you speak with your friends (audience)? What form of English do you speak when you talk to your mother (audience), professor, (audience)? Why?

When I speak to my friends I would say that I speak a form of nonstandard English. This is do to the fact that when I'm with my friends I tend to swear a lot more, I will confront them more on things, and I definitely joke with them more than I would other people. When it comes to speaking to parents, teachers, or anyone with authority the way I speak doesn't change that much. While I try to show respect and be polite to most people I will show teacher/parents more respect than I would my friends, not because I don't respect my friends but because I see parents/teachers as people who deserve more respect than those that I would be jokingly insulting.

8. "I am my language." What does this mean? How does this statement connect to a person's identity?

By saying that "I am my language." you are saying that your voice and your way of life as well as your culture are a part of you and that you aren't going to deny that part of your identity. This connects to a person's identity by saying that the history of their culture is a part of them and that they accept this as who they are.

9. Talk specifically about how the introduction and conclusion connect.

In the introduction Anzaldua talks about how a wild tongue can not be tamed it can be cut out, this connects to the conclusion because at the end she says how Chicanos will be patient and wait for the day where they don't have to be silent, so that one day they won't have to choose between losing a part of them or being quiet.

10. Can the language you speak be a part of your identity? Why?

I only see language as a small part of my identity. Yes having a voice is important to me as a person but unlike Anzaldua I've never had someone telling me that I couldn't say things one way or another.

11. How important is identity to you? Does Anzaldua believe it's important to have identity? Use some examples from "How to Tame a Wild Tongue," to support your answer.

Identity is very important to me, ones identity is literally who they are, if I didn't know who I was I'm not sure I would know what I was. I also believe that Anzaldua believes that identity is important, the fact that she stresses that her language is a big part of who she is throughout her life shows that since language is a big part of her life without it she wouldn't be the same person.

Getting to know me

Andrew Hamer
English 1100_35
August 28th, 2015
Prof. Young

1. If you play an sports, what type of sports do you play? How long have you been playing this sport?
       
I do not play on any sports teams, but I'm always open to play a sport if any of my friends want to do a small game.

2. What are you passionate about? For example, in your free time, what do you enjoy doing most?

I enjoy hiking, reading, watching TV, and just hanging out with friends during my free time.

3. What is your nickname and how did you get this name?

I don't really have a nickname. Most people just call me Andrew and sometimes my friends call me by my last name Hamer.

4. When you write, do you just sit at a computer and allow the words to flow or do you have an outline?

My thoughts have always been kind of jumbled so making a really defined outline messes me up. If I do make an outline it is normally just a piece of scrap paper with some concepts on it that I plan on writing about, otherwise I just let the words flow.

5. How would you describe your writing experience in high school? For example did your teachers allow you multiple times for you to revise your essays to earn a high grade? Did you learn grammar rules and structure? Did you learn about the five paragraph structure?

I would describe my writing experience as about average. My teachers would allow me to revise papers a few times in order to achieve a higher grade. We didn't have any actual lessons on grammar rules and structure but when ever we received our papers back the teacher would mark incorrect grammar and tell us to correct it. I am not sure if I learned about the five paragraph structure, I may have but it could have been taught under a different name.

6. What type of music do you most listen to and who is your favorite artist?

I mainly listen to a lot of classic rock with the band Queen being my favorite.

7. Do you use social media and if so how often do you use social media: Facebook, twitter, Snap Chat, Instagram?

I do use some social media such as Facebook and Snap Chat, but I don't really check them that much.

8. What is most important for you to learn this semester?

I'm not really sure what I think is most important. I guess just what is required.

9. Rate yourself as a writer: A, B, C or D. Explain why?

I would say I am a B or C writer because while I know that I am a decent writer I can always find room for improvement.