Language Investigation 3

In primary school I don't remember having to read a lot of "required" material. I remember reading books like A Christmas Carol, Number the Stars, and others. I mostly remember reading books of my choice or short stories found in large "reading" books. These stories were always incredibly boring and the books always had a weird smell. For writing, I was taught grammatical "rules" that were easy to rhyme such as: "I before E, except after C" or the vowels, "A,E,I,O,U and sometimes Y." There are others I can't recall at the moment. There were always rules though when you were spelling words or putting them together in a sentence. I remember doing worksheet after worksheet of noun/verb/adjective practice. I also remember doing a lot of vocabulary from vocab books. In retrospect, these vocab books were very helpful and I still remember words from them that I didn't think I would ever use. The elementary school I went to was very strict about homework, directions, and most importantly, rules. So all of the teachers taught rules and didn't allow you to question them. It wasn't until later, in my secondary (and further) years of schooling that I realized that rules weren't necessary for a lot of my English studies.

In my secondary years of school, I remember learning that there were exceptions to the rules. For example, in elementary school I was taught to never start a sentence with the word "Because." In middle school, my English teacher taught me ways that you could start a sentence with the word "Because" that still worked and were acceptable in the English community. This is the same class I learned what clauses, conjunctions, and other fancy terms for sentences were called. I also recall getting my pick of books to read (at least in seventh grade.) Required reading for eighth grade included books such as: Oliver Twist, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, and others. As I progressed into High School, I began to learn about Greek Mythology, How to Kill a Mockingbird, American Literature, and most importantly, how to write a thesis statement. There were strict rules on how to write a thesis statement correctly during this time. Thesis statements were only one sentence that told your reader what your entire paper/opinion was. This was tricky to learn, but I can look back now and see that strict rules were required for thesis statements because otherwise it would have been too confusing to learn. These rules were taught to help beginner students get an idea of the patterns in the English language. At the time however, these rules were hard to completely understand, but helped me develop basic skills that could be elaborated in college.

As a college reader and writer, these conventions were an excellent base for what I now know I can take creative liberty with. In college, I feel that professors are less concerned with a correct following of grammatical rules, and more concerned with the content and critical analysis a paper demonstrates about a reading. As you get older, less people will correct you for having "poor grammar" or not wording a sentence correctly. While it is important, in college you learn that if it makes sense and it does a good job of critically analyzing a text, then that is satisfactory enough for a good paper.

Ch 5,6 Warm Up

1. What kinds of reading and writing did you see students doing in school? Why do you think Rose chose these assignments?
Students seemed to enjoy and participate in Rose’s writing activities. They wrote about stories, pictures, and personal experiences. Rose chose these assignments to get students thinking about how they can create their own voice in writing. By prompting students to write about what inspires, disturbs, or motivates them in writing, Rose gathered some quality writings from students.

2. What “rules and regulations” did students appear to be following as they read and wrote? In light of the students’ overall schooling experiences, did these seem useful or not? Speculate about how they might have influenced students’ literacy development.
Students seemed to be worried about spelling and other prescriptive grammar issues while they were writing. Other students had a hard time reading their writing aloud. Still others had trouble overcoming labels that had been placed on them by schools when they were young. These are labels such as “slow” or even “mentally disabled.” These labels stuck with students for the rest of their academic career and affected their confidence and sense of identity in the classroom.

3. What did you notice about the language schools used to refer to the students Rose featured in this chapter? How did this language mark students as “insiders” or “outsiders” to school? How do you think these labels might have influenced students’ literacy development later on?
I wrote the same sort of response in question #2, but I got the feeling that the labels placed on kids by the school really affected their own perceived academic capabilities. Many students were considered outsiders because of their lack of confidence in their reading and writing because they were behind in school.

4. What larger generalizations/questions do these patterns raise? Make a list of 2-3 of these generalizations/questions. Beside each item, also note the writerly moves Rose took to arrive at these generalizations and/or to prompt these questions in you as a reader. List page numbers of passages you want to refer to when you share your findings with the rest of the class.
Generalizations: Many of the students were labeled “retarded.”

Language Investigation 2

Over the summer I received my yoga teacher's certification and through this process realized how unique and specific the language is in the yogic tradition. For starters, the native language of yoga is an ancient Indian language known as Sanskrit. All of the words, phrases, and techniques for yoga are said in Sanskrit. Over the summer I became well acquainted with these terms and memorized quite a few terms describing postures, breathing techniques, and states of mind. Here are a few of the translations for yoga positions that you may encounter if you are ever in a yoga class:
bhujangasana: cobra pose
adho mukha svinasana: downward facing dog
vhirabadrasana: warrior pose
In any of these poses, the word "asana" is used at the end of the word. "Asana" means position. So, for example, " Ardha Matsyandrasana" breaks down to "ardha"= Half, "matsy"= Fish, "yan"=lord and "asana"=Pose. So Matsyandrasana translates to "Half Lord of the Fishes Pose." We use Asanas to help students get into positions during yoga class, and also to help keep the Indian tradition in mind during class. Similarly, Sanskrit is used to convey various types of breathing exercises used in class. These cannot fully be translated, but do have special meanings of their own. Here are a few:
Puraka: Breath that extends the inhale so it is longer than the exhale.
Recaka: Breath that extends the exhale so it is longer than the inhale,
Nadi Shadoni: Alternating nostril breath
Ujayi: Victorious Breath, or breath that is audible.
These are just a few examples of the complex and intricate language of Sanskrit used in the yoga community. It is a sacred and traditional language, often said to be the "natural" language of humans because its vibrations mirror those that are closest to the natural rhythm of the breath and psyche. During meditation, the Sanskrit words "Hom" and "Sah" are used during each inhale and exhale because they reflect the natural sound of the breath. "Hom" is used for the inhale and "Sah" for the exhale. These words also translate to English as "I am that."
This is only a surface level analysis of Sanskrit and its meanings in yoga, but it is still insight into the yogic tradition nonethless.

9.3.08 Warm-Up

1. The patterns prevalent in the language of the blogs I read were the friendly, informal tone and diction. Because people were talking about intimacies within their families, they were more likely to write informally about the subject and in explaining the different phrases or words used in their family, more careful to break down the meaning so all could understand. Personally, I did not plan out my writing for this blog, but rather wrote down whatever came to mind first and just rolled with the way I was rephrasing it on the blogspot. This gave my own writing an informal tone and hopefully broke down some of the language used in my family so others could understand it and its origins.

2. The pattern of informality reveals language as an informal aspect of being a part of a family. When you are in a family you rarely think about making every sentence sound extremely intelligent or well-thought out because you are closer than that. People can be themselves and worry more about life issues than being grammatically "correct" with their family members. Unless that is, you come from a family where being grammatically correct is a terribly big deal (as it is with my mom and her side of the family). Language serves in a family as a source of bonding and endearment. We become closer to our families by using language that is exclusive to our families.

3. As a future teacher, it may be helpful to find ways to let students be comfortable with their writing and speaking abilities. Much like in a family, an English classroom should be a place where free-flow of dialogue, ideas, and questions can be addressed and announced without much hesitation.

Language Investigation 1

My dad is the carrier of family stories, traditions, and most importantly, family phrases. The first phrase that comes to mind is "The breath of a thousand buffaloes." This is used to describe bad breath in our family. When my brother and I were little after our parent's divorce, we shared a bed with my dad for a few weeks while he got sorted to move into a different house. My dad said when my brother would roll over in the morning and breathe into his face, it would smell like "the breath of a thousand buffaloes." I'm not sure why he picked buffaloes... but it has stuck with our family ever since. Another family phrase is "Giddy-up like a horsey." This is a phrase my dad would use in the morning to wake my brother and I up for school. Again, not entirely sure why he chose this phrase, but it always indicated the coming of morning and another school day ahead. The last phrase I am going to discuss comes from my brother and I when we would jump on my dad while he was watching television. We would look at each other and count, "1...2....3..." and then shout, "DOUBLES!" and jump together on my dad's stomach. Since then Garrett and I still say, "Doubles!" when we are about to do something together. Once when my youngest brother Jack and I were watching The Simpsons one of the characters said "The berries taste like burning!" Since then, every time Jack is eating something he doesn't like he says, "It tastes like burning!" Only him and my brother Garrett and I understand what it means.