Transcript ENG 181 002 - Alyssa Duck

ENG 181 002
Ms. Duck
Agenda
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Workshop on Developing “Voice”
Chesnutt and Minstrelsy
What do words mean?
White and Black Magic
“The Journey,” by Mary Oliver
One day you finally knew
what you had to do, and began,
though the voices around you
kept shouting
their bad advice – – –
though the whole house
began to tremble
and you felt the old tug
at your ankles.
‘Mend my life!’
each voice cried.
But you didn’t stop.
You knew what you had to do,
though the wind pried
with its stiff fingers
at the very foundations – – –
though their melancholy
was terrible. It was already late
enough, and a wild night,
and the road full of fallen
branches and stones.
But little by little,
as you left their voices behind,
the stars began to burn
through the sheets of clouds,
and there was a new voice,
which you slowly
recognized as your own,
that kept you company
as you strode deeper and deeper
into the world,
determined to do
the only thing you could do – – –
determined to save
the only life you could save.
Developing Your Writing Style
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Word Choice
 Did
I use the most precise word rather than the easiest?
 Did
I use the right word rather than the most smartsounding?
 Could I use synonyms to spice up my sentences?
 Did I use filler words like “very,” “practically,” “really,”
“mostly”?
 Did I use avoidable clichés?
 Did I use strong rather than weak verbs?
 Did
I explain any terms that might be unfamiliar?
 Did I vary my word choice?
 Did I work to use active rather than passive verbs?
Developing Your Writing Style

Sentence Fluency
Do I use transition sentences to effectively move between ideas
and paragraphs?
 Do I vary my sentence structure?
 Do I vary my punctuation?
 Do I vary my “sentence opening” phrases?
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Voice
Does my writerly “voice” reflect the genre and audience of the
piece I’m writing?
 Does my voice build ethos? Does it use pathos and logos
effectively?
 Is the appropriate amount of “me” in the voice?
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Revise It!
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Word Choice
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Did I use the most precise word
rather than the easiest?
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Did I use the right word rather than
the most smart-sounding?
Could I use synonyms to spice up
my sentences?
Did I use filler words like “very,”
“practically,” “really,” “mostly”?
Did I use avoidable clichés?
Did I use strong rather than weak
verbs?
Did I explain any terms that might
be unfamiliar?
Did I vary my word choice?
Did I work to use active rather
than passive verbs?
Sentence Fluency
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
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Do I use transition sentences to
effectively move between ideas
and paragraphs?
Do I vary my sentence structure?
Do I vary my punctuation?
Do I vary my “sentence opening”
phrases?
Voice
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Does my writerly “voice” reflect
the genre and audience of the
piece I’m writing?
Does my voice build ethos? Does it
use pathos and logos effectively?
Is the appropriate amount of “me”
in the voice?
Sisyphus
Painting by Nicci Bedson
Charles Chesnutt
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Charles Waddell Chesnutt, 18581932
Emancipation Proclamation: 1863
Born to two “free people of color”
Both grandfathers were the white
slaveowners of his grandmothers
Chose to identify as black
 Legally
could have registered as
white until the “one drop law” passed
in 1920; Chesnutt was 7/8 white
Minstrelsy & “Dialect Writing”
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Minstrelsy Video
Minstrel shows included
either men in blackface or
hired former slaves
Shows included song, dance,
and monologue, and
glorified the romanticized
“plantation days”
Slaves were caricatured as
foolish and childlike,
dependent on generous and
benevolent masters for their
survival
Minstrelsy & ”Dialect Writing”
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“Dialect Writing” drew on
the popularity of the genre
of minstrelsy
Many African American
writers of the late 19th and
early 20th century chose to
publish works “in dialect”
Some works “in dialect”
reinforced stereotypes of
African Americans, and
some works resisted them
Why do you think some of
these writers chose to write
in the “voice” of dialect?
Group Think
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Group 1: Think about the way that the story is framed. Who is
the narrator? How does the narrator’s voice contrast with that
of Julius? Why do you think Chesnutt chose to ”frame” his story
this way?
Group 2: What do you make of the contrast between the
narrator’s dialect and Julius’s dialect. Why does Chesnutt
include both?
Group 3: What purpose does witchcraft serve for the slaves in
the story? To Julius? Why is it useful, even necessary, for their
survival?
Group 4: How does Julius use “witchcraft” to his advantage, in
order to subvert oppressive institutions? Do you think the magic
in the text is “white” or “black” magic?
What do words mean?
chat
What do words mean?
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Words are signs that point to
something.
Words represent people, places,
things, ideas, and actions.
But words are not themselves the
people, places, things, ideas, and
actions that they represent.
Words themselves, in fact, have
nothing to do with the things they
represent.
Check out that moustache.
What Do Words Mean?
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Language relies on systems of power in order to have meaning.
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Nationality determines the language you learn.
 e.g. the word “‫ ”زهرة االوركيد‬means nothing to me.
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Subcultures determine the words you use and their meaning.
 Did your grandmothers “schlep” you around as a kid and
then passive aggressively “bless your heart”?
 What on earth is a “road verge”
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Education Systems valorize certain words and delegitimize
others.
 You can say “genital” but not “pussy” in your papers.
As systems of power changes, the meaning of words change. Do
the things themselves change?
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“blackface”
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“girl”
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“spinster”
What Do Words Mean?
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Time flies like an arrow.
Derrida with his cat.
What Do Words Mean?
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Time (noun) flies (verb) like an arrow (adverb clause)
= Time passes quickly.
Time (verb) flies (object) like an arrow (adverb clause)
= Get out your stopwatch and time the speed of flies
as you would time an arrow's flight.
Time flies (noun) like (verb) an arrow (object) = Time
flies are fond of arrows (or at least of one particular
arrow).
What Do Words Mean?
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Jacques Derrida theorized that
the disconnect between word
and object leaves space for
wordplay.
This “play” opens up new
meanings, sometimes even
meanings the author never
intended.
This can cause confusion – and
is often meant to. We take
language for granted, but it’s
actually pretty disjointed.
Derrida et son chat.
What Do Words Mean?
I got a one track mind and shorty you're fine but you
sorta remind me of a 49'er
'Cause you've been a gold digger since you was a miner
Been tryin' ta hunt me down like a dog 'cause you're on
my ass but you can't get a cent
'Cause all of my spare time's spent
On my nose in this binder, so don't bother tryin'
[…]
It ain't never gonna stop, a pessimist who transformed to
an optimist in his prime
So even if I'm half-dead, I'm half alive
Poured my half-empty glass in a cup now my cup has
runneth over
And I'm about to set it on you like a muthafuckin' coaster
I'm goin' back to what got me here, yeah cocky and
Can't knock bein' Rudolph, so fear not my deer.
[Eminem, “Asshole,” lyrics via Dr. C. Glen]
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All language is like
this Eminem lyric.
We don’t like to
think about
language this way,
because to admit
that language isn’t
unified is to admit
that meaning isn’t
unified, and that
the world is chaotic.
What Does This Have to Do With Dialect?
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Sisyphus has to roll that rock up
the hill. We have to use language.
But just like Sisyphus finds a way
to rebel against the gods by
refusing to be bitter, we can find
a way to rebel against language
by refusing to pretend it’s a
unified, cohesive, sensical system.
Group Think
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So how do you think this “subversion” of language
relates to authors like Chesnutt deciding to write ”in
dialect”? What does performing this voice do for black
writers?
If writing in this dialect is a kind of “linguistic alchemy,”
do you think this is “white magic” or “black magic”?
Why? What is transformed in the process?
Chesnutt’s “Voice”
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Word Choice
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Did I use the most precise word
rather than the easiest?









Did I use the right word rather than
the most smart-sounding?
Could I use synonyms to spice up
my sentences?
Did I use filler words like “very,”
“practically,” “really,” “mostly”?
Did I use avoidable clichés?
Did I use strong rather than weak
verbs?
Did I explain any terms that might
be unfamiliar?
Did I vary my word choice?
Did I work to use active rather
than passive verbs?
Sentence Fluency





Do I use transition sentences to
effectively move between ideas
and paragraphs?
Do I vary my sentence structure?
Do I vary my punctuation?
Do I vary my “sentence opening”
phrases?
Voice
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

Does my writerly “voice” reflect
the genre and audience of the
piece I’m writing?
Does my voice build ethos? Does it
use pathos and logos effectively?
Is the appropriate amount of “me”
in the voice?