Smitherman

Before You Read.

Yes I have. I feel like this happens to everyone so I do not feel so guilty. But I judged what they said and everything because it was almost like they couldn't pronounce a lot of words correctly. It bothered me.

Summary.

In Smitherman's article "God Don't Never Change': Black English from a Black Perspective", she basically talks about how and why Black English may not be all that important to criticize students for using it. In her article, she goes from writing English to Black English". This can help both teachers and students.

Synthesis.

One person that can connect with this article is Swales. The reason I sat this is because Swales talks about how to fit into a discourse community just like in Smitherman's article. A second person that can relate to this article is Wardle. I say this because Wardle talks about language, identity and acceptance. Lastly, a third person that can relate to this article is Gee. Gee talks about conflicting discourses and that has a lot to do with what Smitherman talked about.

Response	Quotation
This is just talking about grammar. It is kind of telling what is right and wrong with it.	“A quick look at the tradition of schoolroom grammars and the undergirding ideology of early English grammarians reveals that the current ‘national mania for correctness’ has been around a long time” (189).
This is voice being shown in this article. I like what is being said.	“So Americans, lacking a fixed place in society, don’t know where they be in terms of social and personal identity” (190).
This made me sad to think about war. But also happy because of men who are giving their lives for me. God Bless.	"The reason the war in China is bad is that American boys is dying over there" (192).
Not sure. It isn't like it is a completely new language or anything.	"And isn't it interesting that these Superficial features of BI are easily translatable into WE?" (193).
	QD 7.

I think one reason could be because of the amount of power. The disenfranchised individuals do not have too much power and because of that they fear of being taken over or lost of the dominant discourse.

Thoughts.

I thought this article was very interesting. I was not the biggest fan of it, but compared to some of the other articles we have read, I didn't dislike it too much. One thing I liked about it was that it was so different and unexpected. I don't think I would want to ever read this again though.