Your Land, My Land

  In the narrative essay "Your English, My English" (2014), written by Cantice Greene and Gaiza Lawson, Greene and Lawson suggest that we should try to communicate with people of other cultures and speak different languages. Greene and Lawson give several examples of the personal experiences in which they encountered while learning a new language and exploring a new environment. Their purpose was to inform us that in order to  understand others and their cultures, we must expand our minds instead of limiting it to one set way of living. The intended audience is for anyone thinking of learning a new language.
  I enjoyed reading the article and it reminded me of when I took Spanish in junior high school. I was a member of the Spanish Club and we would go to conventions  and compete in contest that only allowed you to speak Spanish. Afterwards, we would go to the Mexican restaurant and eat the different foods. It was a wonderful experience and someday I would like to take another Spanish class to refresh what I had previously  learned in order to communicate more with people now, since it seems that Spanish is the next most popular language spoken.
  Greene acknowledges that she was introduced to different languages as she was growing up and had some experience with the Mexican culture. She felt as though it was easier to relate to Spanish because she didn't think she would make it to other countries,"so Spanish just made sense" (127). Even though she was inexperienced with the Mexican culture, "the negative experiences didn't water down my enthusiasm for the Spanish language" (128). Greene also went into details about a story from the bible where God thought more than one language should be used. "Let Us go down and confuse their language that they may not understand one another's speech"(Gen 11:7) (129). "The Lord confused the language of all the earth; and from there scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth" (Gen 11:9) (129). She also adds that "it takes most of us great effort to attempt to communicate with people who speak other languages and live by different customs" (129). Lawson goes on to support his example by comparing the American culture and the way American's get their divorce to that of the African culture. "In American culture I learned you have to one person and divorce according to the law if you feel like the marriage is falling apart" (133). "In Africa, if the marriage is not working, the man sends the woman back to her family with her luggage and that means their union is over or he can take a second, or third wife to add to the first according to tradition" (133). I agree with both Greene and Lawson that learning a new language is beneficial and even though it may be a challenge, overall it can open up a new way you look at different cultures and understand their way of living easier.

A Visit to the Library by Richard Wright

A Visit to the Library

     The personal essay “A Visit to the Library” (1945), written by Richard Wright suggests that reading can change the way racism is interpreted and its connection to the personal life of the Negros in the south. Wright supports his theses by explaining and giving details about his experience with co-workers, a librarian, and other white men. Wright purpose was to let people know that reading was important in order to be able to help understand racism and why it is so frowned on in the south.
The general audience of this essay is for anyone that has experienced racism in the south.

     I am touched by Richard Wright's essay and surprised at  his potential to read books despite the  risks he was taking to get books from the library. Being that blacks did not have equal rights to read, Wright was careful in hiding material from racist men that he works with. I believe from his essay, not all people were racist in those days because it ended up being a white man that made it possible for him to get books for him. In addition, the librarian helped Wright to get the right book even though she was somewhat suspicious of him. I'm really thankful for those people who assisted him to explore his interest in reading books by Mencken.

     Wright explains his experience about racism and how difficult it was to read books for black boys in the south by saying, “There was a huge library near the riverfront, but I knew that Negroes were not allowed to patronize its shelves any more than they were the parks and playgrounds of the city” (118). Wright continues to acknowledge his experience of racism by the way the librarian questioned him by asking him if the books were for him that he was getting and he replies by saying, "Oh, no, ma'am. I can't read "(121). He also described how he would wrap the books in newspaper in order to cover up what he was reading but the men he worked with would still pry into his packages and then in turn question him.  He clearly expressed how reading could change someones life. For example,  “It was not a matter of believing or disbelieving what I read, but of feeling something new, of being affected by something that made the look the world different” (122). Wright learned a lot through reading those books but was careful not to show it. He knew life could be better for him and his family in the north versus the south but he knew he stuck and had no way out.

Context Essay

  In the personal essay "Context"(2014), Dorothy Allison explains that context matter and can influence a person's reception of your family. Allison supports her thesis by giving examples of her personal experiences with her lover as well as her family. Allison also uses contexts of her life in order to express her fear of  what others thought of her sexual preference. Her intended audience was for anyone in fear of introducing their bisexual relationship to their families.
  It is indeed a crazy world that we live in and fear plays a major part in. Since the time she wrote this essay that the nation has had several opinions about the legalization of same sex marriage and I personally feel that it is wrong but my opinion is supported by the was I was raised and taught from the bible. I still however respect everyone and their choice and make no difference to them as being a person just like me.
 Allison uses flashbacks of her life as a child to show context to the dialect of her family's living conditions. "We had never owned an air conditioner, never stayed in a motel, never eaten in a restaurant where my mother did not work".(116) She then goes on to add an incident when her family had gone on a vacation and her stepfather made a racial statement reflecting as the man in the store being a Jew and said that the "Jew bastard will charge me if you break anything."(116) She didn't want to be profiled as being like her stepfather so she said "I gritted my teeth and kept my head up, looked that man in the face and mouthed, I'm sorry."(117). Overall Allison considers "Context is so little to share, and so vital."(117) However, her greatest fear was that no matter how others judge the people she was with, it would still have an effect on what people thought she would be like as well.