I  never had a bad experience in school. I grew up in a solid middle class area. My school was filled with everyone from the small local community. One of my teachers even taught my aunt! As I read “Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Work” I found my education experience with school throughout the years was exactly like Ayon described the middle class schools. 

          Anyon describes middle class schools’ as curriculum that is based on getting enough right answers to get a good grade. I believe all my teachers taught this. Every test and every worksheet was graded by how many right answers. Learning how to test correctly was consisted of knowing how many you would have to get right. This strange and erie similarity was alarming. Not coming from a working class area, I did not realize the drastic difference in education there is. It is very unfair that the working class students get treated different from the other schools. It is concerning. Teachers must also realize that not all working class schools need to focus on behavior problems. I wonder if they would treat the kids as they treated the children in the middle class if they would still need to focus on the behavior because the kids would possible feel like they were being treated “better”.

 

            Anyon research however is very outdated. Many reforms have been put on schools nowadays.  It is fair to say that these interpretations hold a lot of truth for the time but further research must be done to conclude that this evidence was recurring and completely valid. All students should have the same education. Having the same education across the board can actually show who is talented in school and who is not. Giving everyone the same curriculum would generalize and create a more trusted system. In my opinion I don't think social class should determine what kind of educationsomeone will receive. 

3 Quotes That Stuck Out to Me in From “Social Class and Hidden Curriculum of Work”



“ They were to cut it out. She said, “Don’t cut it until I check it”

“ It’s very good because it gives hands-on- experience -- so they can make sense of it.”

“The teacher’s attempt to control the class involves contant negotiation”

                                                        Student Rights to Their Language 

           “YOOOOOOOOOO!” “Whats up?” “She was so deadass.”  These are all examples of how non-standard language is used nowadays. “Yo” is now a greeting and also could be a word that people use when other people say something that is outrageous. “Whats up?” is a term used for “How are you?” or “What are you doing?”. “Deadass” has multiple meanings, they include it meaning “Are you serious?” and “I am serious.”. This one word can mean a question or a statement. A lot of nonstandard words have more than one meaning.  I agree that students should be able to use their won language to a certain degree. This is why boundaries need to be set. 

                A lot of people who don’t use slang   Not everyone likes the sound of it and not everyone will. Even though I agree that students should be able to use their own language in their writing, I also believe that there should be boundaries in place so that one student doesn't go over the fine line between expression and inappropriate. We must write for every audience including the ones who don't find slang appropriate just as they write so we can understand. I agree with this because of the changing society, we must conform to certain things. Today’s language is different and evolving as we speak. Words, phrases and acronyms are created and changed everyday by millions of young adults. As writers of a “new form” with a new language we have to show that just because we use different words does not make us any less educated and mature. Our jobs as new writers is to be the good change and stick up for our language, show that we have confidence. 

 Identity :

 my cousins,my sister, and myself with my grandparents

                                                                                      My sister and I

                 In fifth grade I was asked “the” question. I was taking a standardized test in my school and the ethnicity box only let you choose one choice. I was in fifth grade and it was my first time taking this tests. I remember vividly the feeling of being very confused. So like any fifth grader I raise my hand and asked the teacher" why cant I choose more than one”. She responded with ”go by your mother’s”. Soon after it was spring and we took these tests again. Once again I was faced with this question with only the one choice to choose when I clearly couldn’t. At that time, in fifth grade there was no other option or mix ethnicity option. So I'm the second test I went with my father’s. From fifth grade to eighth grade I went back and forth between checking white and checking black. When high school came along I met a group of friends and they asked me "What do you identify yourself as?” As a high schooler you don't think much of the question, I just answered I grew up pretty much Italian if thats what you’re asking. Now, in college, that question has 1000 different answers than it did when I was in high school. 

        We put multiple things on the board surrounding identity. These things included race, job, culture, name, birthday, clothing, religion and traditions. My name is Jayde Moira Frederick.  I always hated my name, got annoyed when everyone forgot the “y” but now its fun being different. It’s unique to me. I am 18. I was born on March 19,1997.  I am Irish, Italian, and African American. My mother is white and my father is black. I couldn't have a more mixed family if we tried. We have many different ethnicities in my family from Guyanese to Japanese; we all look different but come from one big loving family. I grew up with the mindset of family means everything. My mom and my sister are my best friends. Being in a very Italian-American Community, I grew up with most Italian-Irish traditions. I make cheesecake with my grandfather, christmas cookies with my grandmother, who still by the way doesn't let me touch the oven, and eat pasta like it’s my religion. We celebrate St. Joseph’s Day and St. Patrick’s Day like they should be actual holidays and get mad if we all aren't off to be together. I am Roman Catholic and very spiritual. I play softball and volleyball. My life is amazing and I love the life I live. 

             I’m often told that I don't “act black enough” by many people I come in contact with, the arrogance and stereo typicalness of that statement makes me sick now. “The” question doesn't bother me at all, nowadays there is most likely an “other” or “mixed” option. I learned through myself that you cant always judge a book by its cover, the text and inside of a book is always better. I am a daughter. I am a sister. I am student. I am a friend. I am a peer. I am tall. I am black. I am white. I am american. I am an athlete. I can name thousand things that I am and a thousand things that I am not. You might not be able to tell these things right away but they all make me different from you and you different from me. 

             These are some quotes that stuck out to me while reading this passage:

            “Attacks on one’s form of expression with the intent to censor are a violation of the First     Amendment” 

              “ I will overcome the traditions of silence”

                “ Yet i couldn’t stop my feet from thumping to the music, could not stop humming the                               words...”     

       


           

                                              "How To Tame a Wild Tongue"

  1) When Anzaldua is sitting in the dentist chair the dentist makes a comment that her tongue is always in the way. While she is getting her teeth caped she continues to move the cotton and distract the process from continuing.  This connects to the overall theme because as we continue to read we learn that her tongue and her language always proposed a problem. 

2) Throughout Anzaldua’s writing she uses Spanish. It makes sense for her to do this because she explains why writing in Chicano Spanish which is like a “slang” for standard Spanish can be okay for people to read and understand. Her purpose was to show people that it is okay to write in whatever way you feel comfortable. She comments on how she was never able to feel pride in her language  I believe that this shows how she has come to accept her self and her culture and wants everyone to too. 

3) Academic English can be defined as standard for anyone living in the United States if we want to compare that to Spanish then yes, Spanish is standard as well for Spanish speakers. In my personal opinion I think that Chicano Spanish is nonstandard because it is just like unstandard english that we and Anzaldua’s article defined as “working class english and slang english”. I concluded, after reading this article that a standard language is one that has been already established and is taught and known by many. The new languages are slang because they are new to everyone who was already taught something law.

4) Speaking in and writing academic english is, in my option,  an identity. I identify with growing up learning how to speak “properly” and always to speak loud, clear and to annunciate. It is necessary for it to be an identity if thats what you grow up with.

5) Anzaldua discusses many different types of Spanish throughout the story, the various types of languages change between states and location within states. I know I use working class-english slang. 

6) My friends and I don't necessarily use a different language but we often create code names for things so when your outside you can talk freely without anyone knowing what you're saying. I have often realized that when your from different parts of states and even different states the slang and words used range from simple to words that you would need to look up the definition of.

7) When comparing Chicano Spanish to slang English they are both non-standard. When addressing my friends and other peers I use this type of english to connect with them. Yet when I'm talking to my mother, family,  or professor I attempt to use my best English. 

8)  “I am my language” means that how you talk and associate with it creates the type of person. In a world that is very superficial words and the way words are said shows a lot about social class, origin, location and self worth. This statement connects to a persons identity because of how they talk they will be view different depending on the person who is listening. 

9) The introduction and the conclusion connect using key points brought up in the introduction such as, how her wild tongue was a problem when she was younger but now she embraces it.  In the introduction she talks about how can she “saddle” her tongue and by the conclusion she talks about how many generations use this language and it’s who she is, “ We know how to survive”.

10)  Yes, I believe the language you speak and how you speak can be part of your identity. It becomes a part of you when people start to create their own parts of language and all of  a sudden everyones saying a new word. It affects people. Identity has to do with what people can tell by you only by superficial qualities and speech is definitely one. Language tells people where you are from. 

11) I think when you're growing up prior to college you think that your looks and what you have is everything to you, or at least thats how i felt. I think it is important for people to see me the way i choose for them too. Identity says a lot about how you hold yourself and how you were taught.  Anzaldua believes identity is important because she has pride in where she is coming from and doesn't believe her language should affect  how she is viewed.  She  “ When other races gave up their tongue, we’ve kept ours.” Her pride int hat tells us its important for her to have an identity which can be linked to the Chicano Spanish. Anzaldua also says  “Yet the struggle of identity continues…” suggesting that her struggle with language and identity is not just alone just hers either, many people of all walks of life have felt this way and it’s a problem.