began reading "Nigger" by Randall Kennedy
and tried out for "Angels in America"
it has been quite a day...
Today at lunch I started to use the word gay as a synonym for other words, like chair, or coffee, or other things.
Such as, "Wow! This gay that I'm sitting on is really comfortable, and also geeez, this gay is way to hot to drink now.
I used this tactic throughout a conversation that I had with my friend that constantly uses the word gay to mean to mean bad. At the end of the conversation I couldn't stop laughing because i was sounding so absurd to myself; my friend was very confused.
I noticed that Randall, though his book is titled "Nigger" and is supposed to be about the word, that he uses many synonyms for the word nigger, such as negro, black, and others. This is interesting to me because he seems to weave them in and out of the text so inconspicuously. He writes once, "a candid portrayal of the n-word..." and then in another passage, "for some observers, the only legitamate use of the word nigger (nigger being italicized but i couldnt figure out how to do that.)" He seems to shift the way her refers to his topic so gracefully and without a trace that it really seems to demonstrate the way the word has so many shades of meaning. He has also choosen to being the book with some case examples, and also some infromation on how the word nigger was used in politics, by politicians, in laws, and then how laws began to form up around these instances. I am really enjoying the way this book is organized. It is a very tough read, if I allow my heart to be in it. I try to take my heart and put it somewhere else why I am reading this book. But that is not always easy,
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Sunday, January 28, 2007
today I found a facebook.com group about the use of the word "gay" as a synonym for stupid.
http://beloit.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2205049197&ref=mf
It is easy to feel the amount of frustration behind the creation of this site. The site contains two inital obligatory warnings:
"PLEASE NOTE: Topics posted on the discussion board that are intended to just tell us about how "effing gay" we are will be deleted as soon as possible. So don't waste your time and ours. In addition to your inane topic being deleted, you will be both banned and reported. You have been warned. Thanks."
"FOR THE HATERS: The Bible is not an end-all, be-all argument. If you have a genuine point to make, make it, but please don't simply write "This and that is a sin because Chapter Whatever Verse Blah Blah Blah says it is." Argue logically, not childishly."
I fel that these two warnings highlight the divergent group interpretations of this phenomenon: one group of jokers, and the other of those that truely have hate or disdain for gay people.
It seems that this group anticipates a large amount of resistance from these two groups. The way a person talks is apart of their identity. Therefore they feel that they are personally being criticiszed whenever someone challenges their use of this word. People also live by their beliefs, and perhaps find it necessary or fun to express them whenever they have the chance. The warning addressed to the"haters" is very interesting because it anticipates a biblical argument, which the moderator considers childish. I think that it is also notable that the moderator says to argue "logically, not childishly." The moderator is in this statement assuming that this word does not have as strong meaning for those groups that believe the religious argument, as it may those that are gay.
The moderator then presents a nice grammatical argument, which is as follows:
gay /geɪ/ adjective, -er, -est, noun, adverb
–adjective
1. having or showing a merry, lively mood: gay spirits; gay music.
2. bright or showy: gay colors; gay ornaments.
3. given to or abounding in social or other pleasures: a gay social season.
4. licentious; dissipated; wanton: The baron is a gay old rogue with an eye for the ladies.
5. homosexual.
6. of, indicating, or supporting homosexual interests or issues: a gay organization.
–noun
7. a homosexual person, esp. a male.
–adverb
8. in a gay manner.
Synonyms: alert, animate, animated, blithe, blithesome, bouncy, brash, carefree, cheerful, cheery, chipper*, chirpy, confident, convivial, devil-may-care*, festive, forward, frivolous, frolicsome, fun-loving, gamesome, glad, gleeful, hilarious, insouciant, jocund, jolly, jovial, joyful, joyous, keen, light-hearted, lively, merry, mirthful, playful, pleasure-seeking, presuming, pushy, rollicking, self-assertive, sparkling, spirited, sportive, sprightly, sunny, vivacious, wild, zippy
Every facebook group is allowed to upload a picture for its group. This group as uploaded a rainbow flag with the title "Hate Free Zone" on it. This moderator must believe that there is hate behind this new usage of the word "gay" as a synonym for stupid if they have uploaded the picture. However, their argument is based on grammatical evidence. Those that the moderator warns against probably believe that the word "gay" is signified to mean stupid only, and those that believe the religious argument probably believe that the word gay is meant to mean gay, as in a homosexual.
There are 16 group moderators in total, and one moderator that created the site. All of the moderators appear to be highschool students, which i think is really neat. None of their profiles are viewable to be because of privacy settings. I can only read their name, school, and year in school.
The site has another disclaimer that the discussion board has been shut down due to hateful posts. As a researcher, I wish that this wasn;t that case, and I wish that I could get a glimpse of thises hateful posts, but alas they have been deleted, or so the site claims.
There are about 397 topic discussions total, each with their own set of responses. I plan to slowly go through them.
Right now I am about to begin the book "nigger: the strange career of a troublesome word" by Randall Kennedy. I feel that these two sources will inform eachother nicely.
I am particularly interested in the ways that words get their meaning and shift meaning over time.
In the early 90's rap group 2 live crew's album "bad as they wanna be" was banned because of explicit lyrics. Supporters of the group made the distinction betwee the act of signifying and signifyin'. The first being refering to the mode of meaning giving practiced by the dominant group, and the later, the form of meaning giving practiced by black americans, which favors tropes, hyperbole, and loud talking. Thr group was supported heavily by Henry Louis Gates Jr- linguist, academic, professor, and criticised heavily by the 80% white population in florida at the time. Ultimately Gates was trying to say that which Wittgenstein said many years before, and that is that words get their meanings through use. family resemblance words: look the same, mean different things, are very common, especially between different cultural groups living within close proximity to one another....
(breakfast time..making pancakes...2BCont...)
http://beloit.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2205049197&ref=mf
It is easy to feel the amount of frustration behind the creation of this site. The site contains two inital obligatory warnings:
"PLEASE NOTE: Topics posted on the discussion board that are intended to just tell us about how "effing gay" we are will be deleted as soon as possible. So don't waste your time and ours. In addition to your inane topic being deleted, you will be both banned and reported. You have been warned. Thanks."
"FOR THE HATERS: The Bible is not an end-all, be-all argument. If you have a genuine point to make, make it, but please don't simply write "This and that is a sin because Chapter Whatever Verse Blah Blah Blah says it is." Argue logically, not childishly."
I fel that these two warnings highlight the divergent group interpretations of this phenomenon: one group of jokers, and the other of those that truely have hate or disdain for gay people.
It seems that this group anticipates a large amount of resistance from these two groups. The way a person talks is apart of their identity. Therefore they feel that they are personally being criticiszed whenever someone challenges their use of this word. People also live by their beliefs, and perhaps find it necessary or fun to express them whenever they have the chance. The warning addressed to the"haters" is very interesting because it anticipates a biblical argument, which the moderator considers childish. I think that it is also notable that the moderator says to argue "logically, not childishly." The moderator is in this statement assuming that this word does not have as strong meaning for those groups that believe the religious argument, as it may those that are gay.
The moderator then presents a nice grammatical argument, which is as follows:
gay /geɪ/ adjective, -er, -est, noun, adverb
–adjective
1. having or showing a merry, lively mood: gay spirits; gay music.
2. bright or showy: gay colors; gay ornaments.
3. given to or abounding in social or other pleasures: a gay social season.
4. licentious; dissipated; wanton: The baron is a gay old rogue with an eye for the ladies.
5. homosexual.
6. of, indicating, or supporting homosexual interests or issues: a gay organization.
–noun
7. a homosexual person, esp. a male.
–adverb
8. in a gay manner.
Synonyms: alert, animate, animated, blithe, blithesome, bouncy, brash, carefree, cheerful, cheery, chipper*, chirpy, confident, convivial, devil-may-care*, festive, forward, frivolous, frolicsome, fun-loving, gamesome, glad, gleeful, hilarious, insouciant, jocund, jolly, jovial, joyful, joyous, keen, light-hearted, lively, merry, mirthful, playful, pleasure-seeking, presuming, pushy, rollicking, self-assertive, sparkling, spirited, sportive, sprightly, sunny, vivacious, wild, zippy
Every facebook group is allowed to upload a picture for its group. This group as uploaded a rainbow flag with the title "Hate Free Zone" on it. This moderator must believe that there is hate behind this new usage of the word "gay" as a synonym for stupid if they have uploaded the picture. However, their argument is based on grammatical evidence. Those that the moderator warns against probably believe that the word "gay" is signified to mean stupid only, and those that believe the religious argument probably believe that the word gay is meant to mean gay, as in a homosexual.
There are 16 group moderators in total, and one moderator that created the site. All of the moderators appear to be highschool students, which i think is really neat. None of their profiles are viewable to be because of privacy settings. I can only read their name, school, and year in school.
The site has another disclaimer that the discussion board has been shut down due to hateful posts. As a researcher, I wish that this wasn;t that case, and I wish that I could get a glimpse of thises hateful posts, but alas they have been deleted, or so the site claims.
There are about 397 topic discussions total, each with their own set of responses. I plan to slowly go through them.
Right now I am about to begin the book "nigger: the strange career of a troublesome word" by Randall Kennedy. I feel that these two sources will inform eachother nicely.
I am particularly interested in the ways that words get their meaning and shift meaning over time.
In the early 90's rap group 2 live crew's album "bad as they wanna be" was banned because of explicit lyrics. Supporters of the group made the distinction betwee the act of signifying and signifyin'. The first being refering to the mode of meaning giving practiced by the dominant group, and the later, the form of meaning giving practiced by black americans, which favors tropes, hyperbole, and loud talking. Thr group was supported heavily by Henry Louis Gates Jr- linguist, academic, professor, and criticised heavily by the 80% white population in florida at the time. Ultimately Gates was trying to say that which Wittgenstein said many years before, and that is that words get their meanings through use. family resemblance words: look the same, mean different things, are very common, especially between different cultural groups living within close proximity to one another....
(breakfast time..making pancakes...2BCont...)
Saturday, January 27, 2007
have you ever thought about the difference between,
"that's gay" in response to something no sequitor in casual conversation
and "you're a fag" (as a synonym for you're silly)
or
"I hate homosexuals"
I have. I am becoming increasingly more aware of the way that hate words have been transformed to serve many different uses by many different groups. I noticed that one of my friends, who always uses the word "gay" to mean"stupid" or well you know...has spread the word to his immediate friend group. Now they are all saying it. Everything that is not good is now called gay. it sounds ridiculous hearing some of them say it. I believe that there isn;t any hate behind the use of this word. it seems to have taken on a new signified meaning in this group. Even some of my gay friends use this word to refer to something that is "dumb" or "stupid" is it being too p.c. to call people out for this use of the word? is there hate behind it?
What about the word...nigger?
"that's gay" in response to something no sequitor in casual conversation
and "you're a fag" (as a synonym for you're silly)
or
"I hate homosexuals"
I have. I am becoming increasingly more aware of the way that hate words have been transformed to serve many different uses by many different groups. I noticed that one of my friends, who always uses the word "gay" to mean"stupid" or well you know...has spread the word to his immediate friend group. Now they are all saying it. Everything that is not good is now called gay. it sounds ridiculous hearing some of them say it. I believe that there isn;t any hate behind the use of this word. it seems to have taken on a new signified meaning in this group. Even some of my gay friends use this word to refer to something that is "dumb" or "stupid" is it being too p.c. to call people out for this use of the word? is there hate behind it?
What about the word...nigger?
Friday, January 26, 2007
Thursday, January 25, 2007
bilingual brain
http://www.cnn.com/TECH/9801/23/t_t/bilingual.brain/
Wow! I learned something crazy today! So, at this website I listed above i read that children who learn a 2nd language at a young age use the same place in their brain to proccess both languages. However, for those that learned a 2nd language in high school, college, or later, two separate parts of the brain are used to proccess the language.
In developmental psychology I learned that different neural connections exist within an individual's brain during different developmental stages. There are in fact some connections that only exist before puberty, and then disappear.
Wow! I learned something crazy today! So, at this website I listed above i read that children who learn a 2nd language at a young age use the same place in their brain to proccess both languages. However, for those that learned a 2nd language in high school, college, or later, two separate parts of the brain are used to proccess the language.
In developmental psychology I learned that different neural connections exist within an individual's brain during different developmental stages. There are in fact some connections that only exist before puberty, and then disappear.
Notes
Some things to find out:
Language and the brain.
Teachers and t.a.s that will let me film or at least observe their class.
Language Field Notes-
Beloit College: English frequently spoken in the class. The teacher does not reprimand students for speaking English. Conversations don’t usually occur in the L2, but rather only drilling instead. I have personally had more success with immersion, but it was also a lot more painful.
CLS: Immersions style program. English is not encouraged; actually it is frowned upon.
Today I plan to reserve a camera and begin to approach some select teachers about filming language classes.
Also Reading:
Fieldwork Reading and Writing Research-Bonnie Stone Suntein and Elizabeth Chiseri-Strater Bedford/St.Martin : Boston 2002
Introducing Foreign Language Acquisition-Muriel Saville Troike Cambridge:Cambridge 2006
Help yourself field notes. Nathan J. Edwards.
Four tutors were there. One student, Christian appeared. She needed help with Algebra 2, though none of the tutors knew how to do it. Mary knew some math, and so she told Christian that she would take a look at the book. She fiddled around with it for a while, but still could not figure out the formulas. The student stayed for another 35 minutes trying to figure it out; she said that she would ultimately get help from her teacher again the next morning. Before Christian left, Mary asked her to come back Wednesday after the test and to also bring the formulas. Had I decided to interact more, I wonder if I could have worked with the student successfully. Though I didn’t know Math, but I felt that I had some experience drawing information out of people. Or helping them to put it all together through questioning.
I work for the tutoring program, though I decided to sort of hang back on my first day to develop a sense of what goes on. Of the five people that were in the room, not counting myself, only two interacted with the student. Mary looked at her homework, occasionally checked in with her progress, and so on. The supervisor seemed to have a personal relationship with the student, and as a matter of fact she offered to take her home after the session. I recall meeting the supervisor upon her first semester at Beloit, which couldn’t have been more than a semester of two ago. We talked about transportation for students. Apparently no busses run to and from either the middle or high schools; only available for the elementary schools. City busses stop running at about 6:00pm. This has been effective for the last 2-3 years. Students find it difficult to find rides home in order to stay after school and get help, which they need.
Nathan came in late, after everyone had left. He had been in a meeting. He seemed very grateful that I was volunteering for the position. He gave me a ew procedural notes and thanked me, a bunch more times. He said that he was very grateful to have someone with prior experience helping out. Mary seemed to really care, the other tutors seemed very aloof; I could see why he was happy.
Language and the brain.
Teachers and t.a.s that will let me film or at least observe their class.
Language Field Notes-
Beloit College: English frequently spoken in the class. The teacher does not reprimand students for speaking English. Conversations don’t usually occur in the L2, but rather only drilling instead. I have personally had more success with immersion, but it was also a lot more painful.
CLS: Immersions style program. English is not encouraged; actually it is frowned upon.
Today I plan to reserve a camera and begin to approach some select teachers about filming language classes.
Also Reading:
Fieldwork Reading and Writing Research-Bonnie Stone Suntein and Elizabeth Chiseri-Strater Bedford/St.Martin : Boston 2002
Introducing Foreign Language Acquisition-Muriel Saville Troike Cambridge:Cambridge 2006
Help yourself field notes. Nathan J. Edwards.
Four tutors were there. One student, Christian appeared. She needed help with Algebra 2, though none of the tutors knew how to do it. Mary knew some math, and so she told Christian that she would take a look at the book. She fiddled around with it for a while, but still could not figure out the formulas. The student stayed for another 35 minutes trying to figure it out; she said that she would ultimately get help from her teacher again the next morning. Before Christian left, Mary asked her to come back Wednesday after the test and to also bring the formulas. Had I decided to interact more, I wonder if I could have worked with the student successfully. Though I didn’t know Math, but I felt that I had some experience drawing information out of people. Or helping them to put it all together through questioning.
I work for the tutoring program, though I decided to sort of hang back on my first day to develop a sense of what goes on. Of the five people that were in the room, not counting myself, only two interacted with the student. Mary looked at her homework, occasionally checked in with her progress, and so on. The supervisor seemed to have a personal relationship with the student, and as a matter of fact she offered to take her home after the session. I recall meeting the supervisor upon her first semester at Beloit, which couldn’t have been more than a semester of two ago. We talked about transportation for students. Apparently no busses run to and from either the middle or high schools; only available for the elementary schools. City busses stop running at about 6:00pm. This has been effective for the last 2-3 years. Students find it difficult to find rides home in order to stay after school and get help, which they need.
Nathan came in late, after everyone had left. He had been in a meeting. He seemed very grateful that I was volunteering for the position. He gave me a ew procedural notes and thanked me, a bunch more times. He said that he was very grateful to have someone with prior experience helping out. Mary seemed to really care, the other tutors seemed very aloof; I could see why he was happy.
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