Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Course Recap for Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Pop Culture and it's Influence on Language
We started class with everyone coming up with words and phrases that were unique to our favorite TV shows, movies, video games, music artists, books, etc.  We were looking for words and phrases that only fans of the piece would know.  Then we wrote them on the board to see how many of the terms and phrases we all knew.  For example, I wrote Apparate and Inferius (from Harry Potter) and smizing and go-sees (from America's Next Top Model).  The one phrase the entire class knew was Hakuna Matata (from The Lion King)

We learned that there are some phrases that are a common part of our everyday discourse that originated from some form of entertainment and we also learn that there are some phrases that can be unique to any community including the fans of specific franchises.
This woman is fist-pumping.  A commonly used phrase that became popular on the reality show, Jersey Shore.

Elaine Richardson "Ill-Literacy Narrative"

We broke up into groups and discussed Richardson's piece.  Our discussions ranged from the definition of sexual consent to the ways that people can be judged simply by whom they associate with.  We examined the different ways that our backgrounds affect the way we interpret different situations. We talked about the different interpretations of the phrase "Hey Baby/Girl/Sexy" and how some men see it as a charming way to approach the opposite sex while a lot of women find it demeaning and uncomfortable.  It suggests the man is more familiar with the woman than he is and there are a lot of sexual connotations to the phrase.

We gave other examples of when having different backgrounds caused us to have misunderstandings with others.  One of our classmates talked about how he once got in fight with a kid because he asked him "What's good?"  In his neighborhood that phrase is a threat, but in the other kid's neighborhood it's a greeting.  The two of them simply misunderstood each other because they have different backgrounds. 

As you think of topics for your narratives, try and think of the ways that your backgrounds affect the way you interact with the world. Or you can examine how your interactions with people that are different from you have either improved or hindered your ability to communicate with others.

Homework
  • Read "Why My Mother Can't Speak English" by Garry Engkent, pgs 32-39 in the Mercury Reader and "Me Talk Pretty One Day" by David Sedaris, pgs 64-68 in the Mercury Reader (Both due by Monday, Sept. 24)
  • Read Part One of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot, pgs. 1-86. Make sure you read A Few Words About This Book and The Prologue.   (Due Wednesday, Sept. 26)

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