In Jamila Layiscott, “3 Ways to Speak English” I carefully analyze her hand and mouth movement each time she use the word articulate. It was a needed way for her to express speaking proper English. In parts of the video you see her audience looking confused at the message that she was giving. As for the message on her tee shirt “I tried avoid looking forward for backward and try to keep looking upward” pretty much it express what she was talking about in her spoken word. We tend to quickly past judgement for the way people talk and pronounce words.
When growing up it was important that when you spoke to your parents you would have to speak proper English not like today you have parents and children speaking equal languages from slang to street talk. Who to say that the language we speak is not articulated. It has been times when I’m around a different group of people I will try to make sure that I speak correctly so i will not be judge for what I saying. It is hard at times knowing people judge my English. As Jamila said in her spoken word we Afro American have be rape from our language and force to take on a language spoken by those who neither speak the proper language.
While watching Jamila she made it clear that English have many aspects or phrases. Looking at her audience who were mostly white American I would think she wanted them to know that speaking in a broken language does’t necessary make a person less knowledgeable. Every ethnic group have a certain way of expressing themselves when they are with their own group of people. It’s like speaking in code where you and that other person understand, that’s being articulated.
While analyzing Jamila during the part of the speech when she stated “sometime I fight back two tongues while I use the other one in the classroom and When I mistakenly mix them up I feel crazy like I’m cooking in the bathroom I know that I had to borrow your language because mines was stolen the look of the audience was so stung or amaze of how she put history into explaining why its important to us to speak Ebonics to remind us that we too once had a language. Her voice became emotional as if she is tired being judge about the way she speak.
What I learn during this exercise is how to analyze people thoughts by looking at their body and facial movement, listening to the tone of voice by which they communicated the message. I can’t say that I didn’t learn anything because I actually learn to appreciate listening to spoken word. This deep analysis of reading/viewing/interacting and coming up with specific questions to investigate an poem can be use when reading a book I can take one part of the reading to come up what ways to understand what I’m reading. I choose this MLA format because i thought it would be easy to just analyze the poem into an essay. It turn out that it was difficult staying focus on one particular point. I think I should had chosen the analytical essay which I would have been able to develop a strong topics sentences in each part of my paragraph telling my readers what exactly what section is going to be about to make my claim. I should had be able to tie my evidence to my topic sentence. Hopefully in my next project I will be to put all the pieces together completely.