Old: When comparing the many themes Gee introduces to the beliefs of Jordan and Delpit we see that there are some issues that are clear with Gee’s theory about how discourses work. Gee’s first theorem states this “Discourses (and therefore literacies) are not like languages in one very important regard. Someone can speak English, but not fluently. However, someone cannot engage in a discourse in a less than fully fluent manner. You are either in it or you’re not” (9). What I took from this upon reading was that if you aren’t born into a discourse or adapt to it quickly then basically you aren’t and never will be a part of that discourse. But I wasn’t sure if I felt this was entirely right. See Jordan and Delpit show very good evidence that argues against Gee’s claims and it got me to think.
New: When comparing the many claims Gee introduces to the beliefs of Jordan and Delpit I realize that there are parts of Gee’s views that I don’t agree with. As G’s first theorem states, “Discourses (and therefore literacies) are not like languages in one very important regard. Someone can speak English, but not fluently. However, someone cannot engage in a discourse in a less than fully fluent manner. You are either in it or you’re not” (9). What I took from this upon reading was that if you aren’t born into a discourse or adapt to it quickly then basically you aren’t and never will be a part of that discourse. But I felt this was entirely right. See Jordan and Delpit show very good evidence that argues against Gee’s claims. Delpit expresses her disapproval of Gee’s claim when she argues, “Clearly such a stance can leave a teacher feeling powerless to effect change, and a student feeling hopeless that change can occur” (546). Delpit then goes on to provide evidence to further prove this wrong when she introduces the story of her friend Bill Trent, “His father, a cook, earned an 8th grade education by going to night school. His mother, a domestic, had a third grade education.” She continues to explain how Bill Trent was able to graduate from college along with some of his classmates even though his parents hadn’t even made it to high school. Even though Trent’s parents had never been involved in such a sophisticated and advance discourse such as a college classroom that didn’t stop him from pursuing it and being successful. Success is a mindset and if you put your mind to it anything is possible. While the road to climb to peaks you want to reach might be difficult that doesn’t mean it’s impossible.
Old: Another common theme that I saw throughout the reading was embracing one’s own discourse. June Jordan invites us to a time when Willie Jordan was shot and killed by the cops. Jordan discusses how the community that was in uproar decided what manner to write their letter addressed to the cops and anybody else that would listen. They feared that if the letter was written in “black english” that their message wouldn’t reach the audience they wanted. “Now we had to make more tactical decisions. Because we wanted the messages published, and because we thought it imperative that our outrage be known by the police, the tactical question was this: Should the opening, group paragraph be written in Black English or Standard English?” (Jordan 371) Eventually, they decided that they wanted to write the letter in Black English because by doing so they were not only standing beside Willie but all the others like him. I agree with this decision that was made because I believe that no one person should have the power to make a specific discourse acceptable. Who cares how someone talks? If we are able to communicate isn’t that all that matters. It is the power behind ones message that makes it important more than the content itself. You can tell if someone’s words has authenticity behind them and that is what we should strive for. Not for everyone to speak in a “proper” manner.
New: Another common theme that I saw throughout the reading was embracing one’s own discourse. June Jordan invites us to a time when Willie Jordan was shot and killed by the cops. Jordan discusses how the community that was in uproar decided what manner to write their letter addressed to the cops and anybody else that would listen. They feared that if the letter was written in “black english” that their message wouldn’t reach the audience they wanted. “Now we had to make more tactical decisions. Because we wanted the messages published, and because we thought it imperative that our outrage be known by the police, the tactical question was this: Should the opening, group paragraph be written in Black English or Standard English?” (Jordan 371) Eventually, they decided that they wanted to write the letter in Black English because by doing so they were not only standing beside Willie but all the others like him. I agree with this decision that was made because I believe that no one person should have the power to make a specific discourse acceptable. Who cares how someone talks? If we are able to communicate isn’t that all that matters. Gee introduces the theme of resistance and provides an example. “Now one can certainly encourage students to simply “resist” such “superficial features of language. And indeed they will get to do so from the bottom of society” (Gee, 12). Gee is saying that if these students aren’t taught the “correct” way to speak or just choose to ignore it then they will never be able to pick it up ever again. In other words he believes that it is too late for them to learn how to do so when they are out of school. Once again I believe this is incorrect. Gee only says that this is not possible because the task is a difficult one. Just because it is difficult does not mean that it isn’t possible and hasn’t been done before. People learn a whole new language years after they have been out of school. Though it might not be perfect it is enough to communicate with another who is fluent in that same language. As long as there is a way for us to communicate it does not matter how we do it. What matters is that we understand one another. It is the power behind ones message that makes it important more than the content itself. You can tell if someone’s words has authenticity behind them and that is what we should strive for. Not for everyone to speak in a “proper” manner.
