literacy and language project

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  • 8/10/2019 Literacy and Language Project

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    Lex Miller

    Dr. Rand

    UWRT 1103HSeptember 9

    th, 2014

    Id like to think of myself as the greatest example of an American. I dont

    associate myself with one area or region of the country. Coming from an extremely

    nomadic military family, I believe the term linguistic chameleon would describe meperfectly. By this term of course, I mean that I am able to speak so that someone from

    every region of our nation can understand me. This is what makes me the greatest

    example of an American; I am not defined culturally or linguistically by one region of the

    United States.In order for one to be successful in an area, one must be able to accurately

    interpret, understand, and intellectually use and relay the language of that area. In order

    to properly express ones ideas and be understood is to be articulate. I, against my will,have been forced to learn a variety of languages within our nation in order to survive.

    Being a child, I of course was not fond of consistently being uprooted and torn away

    from my friends and comfortable home. I had no idea that later on in life, I would greatly

    appreciate being able to look back on my amazing opportunities to learn and obtain bothlinguistic and cultural characteristics of many areas in the United States. While both my

    immediate and extended family speak Western New York, my immediate family have

    also found it necessary to learn a plethora of American languages such as those out Westand in the Deep South.

    My language affects who I am as a person because I hold parts of every region in

    this nation within myself. I am able to understand and relate to all different types of

    people in the United States. Because of this, I believe I am articulate of the United States.Also, all the places I have lived in this country have contributed to the development of

    my personality, beliefs, and opinions I hold. With that being said, I do not believe nor

    follow any stereotypes of the regions I have lived in and when individuals approach mewith those stereotypes, I try to dissolve them. Not everyone from the south is religious

    and just because they speak slowly does not mean they are unintelligent, and people from

    New York are not all selfish and rude. In fact, most people that make these assumptionsand believe stereotypes of regions in the US have most likely never been there before.

    Moving frequently has caused my dialect to change. When moving down south I

    learned to soften my vowels and not speak as fast. I also had to learn to change certain

    words such as pop and crick to soda and creek. At first, this transition feltawkward, but as aforementioned, I was young and wanted to fit in. Later on, it became a

    habit and felt natural. As depicted in many movies and TV shows, the southern drawl and

    use of yall is widely known. Unlike many stereotypes that entertainment exaggerates,

    these are true of the South. Of course, the southern accent wasnt exactly something Icould learn and pick up overnight, much like the acquired taste of sweet tea that I still

    find repulsive to this day. However, speaking slower and understanding that yall

    meant you guys/you all was something that I found necessary to learn quickly. I hadalways thought that the slow speaking of southerners had a correlation with that persons

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    intelligence. However, I have learned that life goes slower in the south and the people are

    more relaxed, therefore their speaking is just the same. Understanding this, has led to me

    becoming a more relaxed person overall. Before living in the south, I felt as if everythingwas rushed and needed to be done as soon as possible. Southern living has taught me that

    sometimes its okay to do nothing but sit.

    Saying life out west was the opposite would be an understatement. Living inHenderson, Nevada, not 10 minutes away from Las Vegas, I truly believe everyoneoperated on a work hard, play hard mentality. I watched my mother work a 9-5 sitting

    at a reception desk, pick up waitressing hours after work, and then use her tips on a

    nickels machine to see just how much of a profit she could make from that nightsearnings. It is here that I learned that I learned the discipline of hard work and continuing

    to work hard because eventually it would pay off. I still believe this and I believe that it

    has made me very successful academically. While this contributed to my identity, my

    language was also molded by Sin City. Anywhere else in the US, a person with a pokeraddiction is typically called a gambler, where in the west we call them slot zombies;

    and 86 in the service industry meant something was missing. Language wise, due to the

    prominent number of Hispanics that live out west, I spent the majority of my time eitherspeaking Spanish, or being confused and speaking Spanglish. Either way, what I was

    speaking, was not something I spoke on the eastern side of the US.

    Although I speak many languages, Buffalo is what I speak best. We Buffalonians

    like to over-pronounce and emphasize our vowels. We have a flat A which makeswords like Amherst sounds like Aymherst. Similarly, our pronunciation of e makes

    words like bed sound like bad. The Buffalo region is also home to a large number of

    Polish and Irish people, which I consider myself both. Their accent carries over intowords like cold, which sounds like colt. We also tend to give possession to things

    that dont need possession at all while also inserting the word the in places it doesnt

    need to be used. An example that sheds light on both of these things would be You can

    get it at the Kmarts on Transit. Kmart doesnt own anything yet thats just how we sayit. Throughout the U.S, many make fun and mock the strong vowels in the Western New

    York accent. This is probably due to how exaggerated and heightened the words sound

    for absolutely no reason at all. Along with the language, living in Buffalo for such anextended amount of time and constantly going back has contributed to the majority of my

    identity. Buffalonians are passionate and loyal. We also tend to believe that we are

    capable of accomplishing things that we arent necessarily capable of accomplishing.With these traits that I hold, I believe that being a buffalonian has led me to not only be a

    good friend, but to be motivated and driven.

    Conclusion: Because I have seen both the positive and not so shining moments of all ofthe areas of the country, I would want people to be able to see what I have seen and to see

    that there is beauty in the fact that our nation isnt symmetrical and all areas have

    different assets to bring to the table that make this country so great and successful.