Mother Tongue
In reading Mother Tongue, I was able to make individual connections to the authors’ presentation of language and personal identity. Tan talks give a story of her mother’s spoken English. Mainly, I find the line, “recently, I was made keenly aware of the different Englishes I do use” (p. 161). From this sentence, I noticed that the words people use are English, yet the way one talks seem like there is a difference. She uses an archetype to explain what the “power of language” represents “the way it can evoke an emotion, a visual image, a complex idea, or a simple truth” (p. 164). Here, I was able to connect that everyone uses language differently and as a form of personal identity.
The theme of language and personal identity also comes out in Alexi’s story. I found Alexie’s novel growing up as an Indian and learning to read at a young age, eventually becoming a writer describing the stereotypes that Native Americans are foolish. I made a particular connection to Alexie’s fight against stereotypes to achieve her personal identity through eagerness to read everything. She says, “I refused to fail. I was smart. I was arrogant. I was lucky. I read books late into the night until I could barely keep my eyes open” (Alexie 3). In this statement, we find that Alexie fought against oppression and stereotyping and opened her world view to fond the personal identity. Thus, I was able to comprehend the effects of limited language that lead to a misunderstanding of their identity.
Wilkens’ article also describes the concept of language and personal identity concerning professional terms. In reading the article, I find the author’s description of the term “social distancing” “self-quarantine” and “lockdown” as a form of identity for epidemiologists. In some way, these words mean something different in other professions. For example, Wilkens writer, social distancing was the degree of rejection or acceptable between individuals based on gender, race, class, or ethnicity” (Wilkens par. 5). In some way, these readings depict individual confidence and aspiration to go against the social oppressions and low-grading of others in a bid to obtain personal identity.