Twain Time

The first time I read through the story what struck me was the 'Misto C' character asking Aunt Rachel how she had never had any trouble in her life. I mean, really? I loved that Twain used that statement as a starting point for her story, because to me, the reader, I was astonished by Misto C's ignorance in asking her this question, as though a black woman living through the Civil War era could have lived her life without any trouble.  I know this does not answer the question of the assignment, I just thought that it greatly complimented the juxtaposition between the two characters that the language Twain uses so strongly solidifies.

The story begins with poetic, wordy sentences from the narrator. Long and slow and serenely calm. The narrator reflects on the weather and the end of the day, and observes Aunt Rachel's demeanor and physique in an honest and affectionate manner. As soon as he asks her about the lack of trouble in her life, we first hear from Aunt Rachel and she is just as surprised with his question as I was. 

What I initially noticed with Aunt Rachel's language was of course the misspellings of the words to convey the way she spoke. Most notably the letter 'd' where it shouldn't be ('de', 'den', 'dey') and missing in places where it should be ('an', 'husban', 'chil'en'). There is a general lacking of consonants in the language and a switching of vowel sounds in many words ('jist', 'sah' 'turrible'). A general lack of 'r's in words ('chil'en', 'yo', 'mash') creates an effect of blended speaking that can make the words seem difficult to discern from one another, creating a less concise and more flowing effect.

I found myself reading through the story once out loud to get a grip on how all the words should sound, then I read it again so I could take in the story she was telling more coherently. The initial newness to the look of the words initially held me up but after I got over this they created a vivid and dramatic vehicle to hear Aunt Rachel's story which is how I would imagine it would have felt to Misto C.

Hannah

I have never had a blog before and really wanted to post a photo of my dog. Her name is Hannah.

a Few Words on Words

Studying one's first language offers a unique opportunity to allow the language to be the topic of study on its own. While courses in other subjects utilize language to communicate lessons, English studies allow the language itself to become the primary focus. It is also unique to learning a foreign language because basic principles of the language have already been established, and the topic of the language can be approached more abstractly and in greater detail.  Because of this unique situation, it is very important that English teachers spend plenty of time exploring the English language itself.  When reading and discussing novels in English class, instructors must focus on formal analysis of the texts as well as focusing on the topics of plot, characters and historical context.  Without the close reading of texts by students, language again becomes simply a tool to communicate a lesson about something else. The breakdown of the meter and language in Emily Dickinson's poetry needs to be at least as important and represented in lessons as her biography.

Showing students how language can be used creatively is extremely important in helping to develop their own individual writing style.  Introducing students to close reading techniques allows them to learn ways to flesh out their own writing more purposefully, and to become more actively critical readers.  Exploring the many ways that language can be used, whether it be in stories, poems, or lyrics, help students become more comfortable with language in their own lives.  Developing a better sense of interpreting language can make them much more confident speakers as well. The more comfortable a student is with how intentionally they can use their language, the easier it becomes to clearly express their own thoughts and ideas for others.