IAR

"Taking Black Technology Use Seriously: African American Discursive Traditions in the Digital Underground" by Adam J. Banks

What is invention?

• research on AAVE, its uses and rhetoric/gramatical features
• research previously written information on this topic by scholars
• Smitherman, Powell, Rickford
• find websites that use and discuss AAVE, blackplanet.com

What is being invented?

• how do African Americans express themselves in different situations online
• BlackPlanet allows them to express who they really are
• African American accessibility to the internet and digital space
• interaction with others let them know they are not alone

What is being arranged?

• the internet to AAVE
• AAVE to the "underground"
• the "underground" to the digital divide
• the digital divide to Blackplanet.com
• Blackplanet.com to feedback from peers
• feedback from peers to rhetoric features
• rhetoric features to allowing blacks to use their own language

What is arrangement?

• example of what is not used much
• general to specific
• specific problem
• problem to solution
• example of solution
• general to specific
• what should be done

What is being revised?

• allow blacks to use their own language
• allow greater access to the internet
• let them explore their culture
• they need an outlet to be themselves
• bridge the gap of the digital divide

What is revision?

• examples of real life and how blacks can express themselves
• examples of specific AAVE language
• quotes from scholars, many resources
• solution to bridge the gap

DW 2b

Professor Peter L. Patrick created an Ebonics frequently asked questions site and provided some simple answers. On his website through the University of Essex near London, England provides reasons and perceptions of Ebonics as a language and a dialect. He does not say what he thinks it is, but instead gives the reader the opportunity to discover what they think about Ebonics, or African American Vernacular English (AAVE). He discusses how linguists argue over whether it is a language or a dialect and even he admits there is no right answer. His website allows us, as readers, to form our own opinions and judgements so when we see the use of AAVE, we will understand it that much better.

Our in class readings have also discussed the use of AAVE and have actually provided examples of AAVE, especially in the use of digital space. Adam J. Banks' work is in A Reader For Writers and is entitled "Taking Black Technology Use Seriously: African American Discursive Traditions in the Digital Underground." In this piece, a website called BlackPlanet is the primary base of discussion. This website is intended to give blacks a place where they can express themselves. The use of AAVE is very prominent on this website. There are certain rules and regulations that determine that something is considered to be AAVE. In this blog post by a BlackPlanet user, we can see the use of sermonic tone and repetition, "Be Strong. We are not here to play, dream, or drift. we've got hard work to do and heavy loads to lift. Shun not the struggle, for it is God's gift. Be Strong (107)." It is obvious to hear and see the use of AAVE in this passage. It is obvious that this particular user is a typical AAVE speaker and uses it in her everyday life.

We can read passages such as these and see how they are considered to be AAVE. It is obvious that many people speak this but we still do not know if it is a language or a dialect. When we see a passage such as the one in the previous paragraph, it is easy to think back to the thoughts of Professor Peter L. Patrick and determine what we think about the passage. From my interpretation of the passage I would conclude that AAVE is a language. It is obvious that the rhetoric features are very much AAVE features. However, when you read Patrick's page, you realize that in fact, the passage still follows many similar features of Standard English. This is very conflicting viewpoints. This one passage could be written in both, its own language, or a dialect of english. Which is it? I don't think we will ever really know what to consider AAVE. The important thing is that people in this world speak it and those of us who do not, are able to recognize it and still understand it. Patrick's ideas give us a background to AAVE but it is our own perception that really matters. If we can learn to accept the use of this language or dialect then the world will become a stronger place. As long as we can all be understood, that is all that ultimately matters.

DW 2a

Professor Peter L. Patrick of the University of Essex near London, England uses his website to try to give readers a better understanding of African American Vernacular English (AAVE) or Ebonics. He answers generic questions to give an overview of AAVE. On his website he says that AAVE is a dialect of english. Patrick says, "AAVE is an English dialect, too. Most of its components in the dimensions of grammar, lexicon, and pronunciation are widely shared with English - either with standard American English, or with Southern White English, or with vernacular dialects of English around the world." This helps to give us a comparison to other dialects. We've all learned Standard English through our schooling and we've all heard what a southern accent sounds like. We hear the differences but we know they are both dialects of english. When Patrick compares all of these to we are able to think about AAVE and how it really does sound like English with just a few differences that aren't too noticable.

An interesting question Patrick discusses is that if AAVE is a language then how come it isn't spoken by a particular country. Before this I had never thought about how we associate English with the United States and England, Spanish with Mexico and Spain, Japanese with Japan, etc. We know that these are all languages and they also have countries associated with them. Peter Patrick goes on to say that, "Languages existed long before the modern world became organized into "countries", or nation-states. A languages doesn't need to be the official speech of a nation-state in order to be real. Yet it is a fact that giving such official status tends to increase the prestige of a language." A language is spoken by a particular type of people. Those who speak AAVE are African American. African American's are a particular type of people. Many of these people are decendents of the slaves directly from Africa and still encompass the African culture. By sharing this culture, they developed their own language and there is no reason for us to refer to that as being a wrong way to talk. We never say that something such as French, which we do consider a language, as being wrong. If AAVE is a language then African Americans have the right to speak it and we must accept that.

AAVE is not specifically for African American use. While many African Americans use this language at the very least, at home, not all are fluent in it. In fact, while some African Americans are not fluent in it, some members of other cultures, whether it be white or latino, are fluent in it. As Patrick says, "almost all African Americans have some command of other forms of English, including Standard American English." Not only do African Americans have the ability to use more than one form of English but everyone else usually has more than one form of their language that they can use. We all have some knowledge of different forms and we can use them whenever we need to. AAVE is just another form and there is nothing wrong with that.

*Website* http://privatewww.essex.ac.uk/~patrickp/aavesem/EbonicsQ&A.html

DW 1b

One of the ideas what stuck out to me from our readings was mych #3 in Leah A. Zuidema's "Myth Education: Rationale and Strategies for Teaching Against Linguistic Prejudice." The myth states that standard english is better than all other varieties of english. Leah asks us about what really is "good" and "bad" english. She also talks about how we think that only the most educated and intelligent people speak perfect standard english all the time. In reality, does anyone actually speak this type of english?

All throughout my school years teachers have taught us to use standard english. They made sure we knew the proper grammar and spelling. We had to put things in the correct order all the time. These teachers pounded into our heads that if we could not use this standard english all the time then we would not be successful. We were always corrected if we said something wrong and papers were always graded on how perfect our grammar was. It is hard to be perfect all the time. Especially when away from school no one uses that standard english because it is too formal.

When I think back to high school I can remember the paper that I wrote that I am most proud of. It was first semester of my sophomore year and we had to write a paper on a moment in our life that changed the way we looked at things. I knew exactly what I wanted to write about and how I was going to do it. When I sat down to write that paper it was easy and I loved the way it sounded after my first draft. It said everything I wanted to say how I wanted to say it so I didn't bother doing too much editing besides a few commas here and there. I may have gotten points marked off for my improper grammar but even my teacher thought it was a fantastic paper with great content.

I don't really think it should matter so much if you use perfect standard english. I think communicating is really all about the content of what you say. I understand that people have to be able to understand you but its ok to not be so perfect all the time. There are and always will be times when it is necessary to use this proper english but I don't think its nearly as often as we are told. As long as we say what we mean and mean what we say it shouldn't matter that I misplaced a comma or switched a few words around. No one is perfect. Not even the smartest people in the world. There are so many dialects of english that who says we all have to use this "standard" english. We don't even really know what that is since no dialect is even close to that.

DW 1a

My use of language in both reading and writing are so different at home then it is at school. Throughout all my years, teachers have pounded into my head the "proper" way to talk. What really is the proper way to talk though? I can hear the differences in me depending on where I am and I can hear it in other people as well. Teachers and employers have this image that there is only one way you should talk but even they do not use the same language all the time. There are even differences in reading and writing.

It really amazes me how different the same conversation can be either at school or at home. I can be talking about the exact same thing but minus the context of the sentence nothing is similar about it. The other day I realized that I have a statistics test on the same day as a career fair I was hoping to attend. They were at the same time and obviously I can't skip a test but I really wanted to go to the career fair to get a feel for jobs that interest me. Originally I talked to my mom about how I was going to talk to my professor to see if I could take the test on another day. That conversation sounded something like this, "Yeah, so I found out the time for the career fair and guess what, I have a test that day. I guess I'm gonna have to talk to the prof to see if maybe I can take it some other time. I hope he lets me do that, it would suck to miss this thing." Those few sentences sound so casual. When I asked the professor if I could take the test another time the conversation sounded more like this, "We have a test on February 11 and there is a career fair in Detroit that I was hoping to attend. Is there anyway I can come by your office to take it at another time?" Those two conversations are talking about the exact same thing but they are said in completely different ways. Neither is necessarily more correct but they fit the situation at hand.

Not only is my speech different but the way I write at home and school are very different. This blog post is for school so it sounds much more formally written than if I were talking to a friend online. If I were to type this paper as I would talking to my friend, the previous two sentences would look more like this, "speech and writing are diff at home and school..im doing this post for school..its more formal..not like im talkin to you..." It is easy to see the differences. They say the exact same thing but the second one is very choppy and not real sentences. There is little to no punctuation and the grammar is far from "proper."

Despite the obvious differences between language from home and school the point of the conversation still gets across. We all learn early on to switch our language depending on the situation. We learn when to use formal speech and when we can be informal. I recognize the differences but I know that both ways are okay and they can both be understood. The "proper" way to talk may not necessarily be correct as they tell us in school.

IAR of "It Bees Dat Way Sometime"

What is invention?
-study of AAE language
-comparing and contrasting AAE to SAE
-translating AAE to SAE and vice versa
-determine rules for AAE

What is being invented?
-AAE has its own specific rules to follow
-There is correct and incorrect AAE
-AAE speakers can generally speak AAE and SAE depending on the situation
-AAE is a proper way to speak even if everyone doesn't realize it
-AAE has a language of words and a style of what to do with the words

What is being arranged?
-language to style
-style to specific sounds
-specific sounds to use of the word "be"
-use of the word "be" to non use of the word "be"
-non use of the word "be" to use of word "been"
-use of word "been" to to use of word "done"
-use of word "done" to use of context or conversation to determine time
-use of context or conversation to determine time to the same verb for all subjects
-the same verb to all subjects to plurality
-plurality to stressing subjects
-stressing subjects to use of negatives
-use of negatives to not every black using the all the rules all the time
-not every black using all the rules all the time to poems by Langston Hughes

What is arrangement?
-one point to the next
-building on previously known things
-examples
-comparing and contrasting
-general to specific

What is being revised?
-idea that AAE has no rules
-proving that AAE is a language
-dismissing beliefs that AAE speakers are "dumb"
-showing how AAE relates to SAE

What is revision?
-examples of conversations
-examples of specific sentences in AAE and SAE
-incorrect forms of AAE compared to correct forms
-use of poet to get final point across
-using both AAE and SAE styles in context