Slang: My Social Dialect :: Essays Papers

Slang: My Social Dialect From the student: In Writing Studio 205, we focused on the rhetoric of discourse communities. For this particular assignment, we were asked to discuss a discourse community that we are a part of, and its effect on people outside of that community. I decided to use my experiences growing up in New York City as my focal point. In all my writings, I tend to reflect on my experiences to enrich and personalize texts. From the teacher: In her essay, Kimberlea begins by analyzing her social dialect but broadens her essay to address the larger implications of Black English in American culture. Her essay weaves narrative, analytical and argumentative elements; her conclusion ends with a flourish of manifesto. Overall, this essay is an exploration of the social context of language use, with close attention to the ways in which language use conveys messages about class, status, race and power. As a black woman, I must speak differently. I must be able to communicate with my peers and with those who I interact with on a regular basis. I must also be able to speak in the business world. I must know the right time to voice my opinion and the most effective way to do it. I must be powerful and dynamic in my speech and presence. Does that make me any less of a person? Does that mean that I am allowing myself to be homogenized by White America? Does that make me a sell-out? To some people that would make me a sell-out. They would say that I am leaving behind my language for something else. For something that is not mine. I think not. It makes me an intelligent woman who will not let the constraints of language hold me back. Yeah, that's right, I have a dialect. I have a social dialect that if used in the wrong place at the wrong time will immediately classify me as being an uneducated, black, "hip-hop talking bad girl." But there is more to me than that. I speak to reveal the id eas and notions in my head. I speak to you so that you can understand me, so that the conversation flows. I speak to my peers differently, so that they can understand me and feel comfortable around me. My social dialect is that of a young black woman. Not someone from the deep South or someone from Oakland, just someone from Brooklyn.