Deplit & Smitherman

Deplit & Smitherman

Delpit:

Questions for Discussion and Journaling

1. Personally I don't think Delpit's race has anything to do with this article. It wasn't nessarcy for it to be revealed in order to determine anything about this article. I think it was part of her plan, to not reveal her race in article to prove a point. Since many can be judgmental about race and stick to stereotypes, not revealing her race helped prove her point even more than before. I think it's important to realize that it was all in her plan when writing this. At the end of the day, writing and race shouldn't have a connection. Writing is writing, it should not be judged on who you are rather how you write and express your thoughts. To me, her message wouldn't change my perception of her identity, I don't judge people's work based on their race, instead I judge on the facts that are given to me. 

3. I do agree with Delpit's arguments. She has factual arguments to back it up, and a personal connection to tie it in together. I believe the most effective part was when she pulled her own story into the argument. Instead of making it sound biased and unprofessional, she made it as a perfect example. The weakness are some of her arguments, I think she meant well, but I don't think she took it into the right direction. I don't think she told people to embrace what they had, she only encouraged equality and learning in a way. I thought she should have covered more about embracing who you are. 

Applying and Exploring Ideas

3. I do see generalizations in this text, I think you can see the generalizations in the overall reading. But I think her point throughout the writing. It's to show that generalizations can hurt people and writing itself. In my own experience, generalizations are always problematic and never end up too well. For example when you generalize in a paper, teachers will automatically assume you don't know what you're talking about and question why. Generalization doesn't help in many situations because they create more questions and assumptions that may or may not be true. It's important to put everything as clear as possible. 

Smitherman :

"Pre Reading"

During high school, I had to read 'Romeo and Juliet', like most students it was like reading a different language. I didn't understand any of the meanings of sentences, yet I could read the words. Even though many people may think Shakespeare might not be 'dialect', however it is in a way. There are words and sayings that are not used anymore. It would come to the point that our teacher would have to explain every sentence that was said in the book because as freshmen we were not expecting this 'language'. It made reading this story extremely difficult to understand and make sense of. 

Questions for Discussion and Journaling 

2. He's using Black Idiom rhetorically as an example and to prove his argument. Smitherman is using this to show the readers the connection that should be broken. Even though many people don't think in such a biased and negative way, he uses this example to make a point to people. Many may confuse for what he's saying as ignorant, instead of seeing his irony to convince the audience about the argument. 

Applying and Exploring Ideas

5. I don't think it has any difference in the meaning, just grammatically. I think anyone who would read this would realize the double negatives. However, in the generation we have today, it would be almost impossible to not understand the meaning even with the double negative. I don't think there is a significance in the title because it means the same thing. Personally I'm not fazed by the language. It's the idea of "text talk", writing what you think or say in 'real life'. Think of someone saying "lol" in a paper, it's unprofessional however, the message is still there "laugh out loud".