Month: February 2019

Michael Vignoles 

Dr. Hall

A response to “Voices of the self”

Keith Gilyard uses personal experiences and imagery to help portray his experience being a minority and his own drug problems while maintain high school. I really enjoyed when Gilyard was writing about his experience he was not afraid to use his own language he grew up with and used during time of the story. The main fact that Gilyard was trying to prove is that you do not need proper English to writing a great story with meaning. Gilyard describes his language as “Black English” which some can argue is not the proper English society has chosen to be correct.

Gilyard had to struggle dealing with being a minority and being surrounded around a ghetto community. He dealt with finical struggles which lead to him drug dealing and burglary.

“I became involved in a series of crimes that initially ranged from purse snatching to burglary. Ripping off some White woman down in Jackson Heights”.  (p. 227) He dealt with finical struggles which lead to him drug dealing and burglary. This ultimately started his decline in his academics as well as the use of heroine. However, the environment that he was raised gave him the identity to be able to talk “black english” which is argued to not be correct. However, Gilyard is able to use black English to help connect and create a colorful image for the reader. Giliyard is painting an image for the reader during a burglary gone wrong

‘“Should I shoot him?” Wallace asked me. 

“Naw man,” I replied, my mind on the real business at hand. “We ain’t got time for that.”

“Only take a second.” 

“Naw man, stop jiving.” However, I wasn’t totally convinced he was. Tango was quietly pathetic, what you might call a hope fiend.’ (p. 233)

Gilyard is not afraid to use his own personal language that he grew up speaking to his family and friends. Ultimately this gives the reader an idea of Gilyard struggle and point of view before even knowing the writer. Using improper words like “Naw man” or “We ain’t got time.”

I also really enjoy that Gilyard was not scared to show his true literature abilities in the conclusion to make a strong and solid argument about whether Black English is proper and should be embraced more in public education.

“What has been commonly referred to by educators as “failure” to learn Standard English is more accurately termed an act of resistance: Black students affirming, through Black  English, their sense of self in the face of a school system and society that deny the same.”(p. 258)

As a minority, Gilyard and many other have been oppressed and dined their true home culture because society gets to choose what is proper and what is not. Gilyard broke social boundaries and stereotypes by writing a great narrative with a life lesson to never give up. Moving forward this piece has inspired me to not be afraid to use my personal experience and culture to paint a vivid image for my readers.

Karina Ramsey

Dr. Carrie Hall

English 1121

02/05/19

 

Gilyard’s reading was very interesting. I like the fact that Gilyard is a storyteller. With this being very personal to him he wrote it in a way that draws his audience in. Something that Gilyard did in his writing that I would like to do in my own writing is, be able to organize my ideas, especially when it comes to writing about my life. There is so much detail that can be included when writing about personal experience, so I liked how Gilyard was able to transition into different parts of his story, but not get lost with providing too much detail. For example, when he mentions how he started failing classes like gym. In the next paragraph as a result of failing classes, he started going down the wrong path and started committing several crimes. He connected his failures in school to his failures out of school. I also liked when he mentioned his reason for getting out of the drug life “The truth of that proposition was as clear as the bright caps of angry ocean waves hurtling toward a shore in clear darkness.” He was able to use two literary devices, simile and imagery to explain his clear state of mind in that moment, which is something that I would also like to be able to do in my writing.

 

Gilyard writes in a  way that would 10/10 times make me want to continue reading. Hes not afraid to make comments of his real life to impress his own readers. For example when he says “my main pursuit was money for drugs” . Just saying that shows you a raw side of him that would you wouldn’t really expect a writer to say about himself. Also in Gilyards writing his is very clear when he speaks about a time for example he would say the year and place so people can really picture what he seen. Reading this shows me some tips on how I can really hook my reader and make my essays more interesting.

Minhaj Uddin

English 1121

 

I feel that Gilyards write is very interesting. The way he grabs the readers attention is very unique and i would like my writing to be as interesting and unique as his. One part in his story i admired was when he was talking about when he got accused of the type writers. Gilyard was using a dialogue on when he was speaking to the cops and what they were saying to him and what he was saying to them. I find that very interesting and i plan on using in my writing in the future as well.

Gilyard uses numerous stories to give readers a clear understanding or idea of what he is trying to say. When describing his younger days with friends he uses slang and non-standard english such as “But i’m tellin you homes, they ain’t gon do nothing but fuck you up.” I would definitely use this in my writing because it gives me a sense of realism from the author. Letting you see the raw, the good and the ugly no matter how it’s written. The dialogue he uses when telling the stories of his friends help build the story and where it’s heading and it sets the tone of his characters. It makes me want to read more and find out what’s at the end of it. Gilyard uses a lot of imagery to create visuals including other figurative language such as personification, this is language I enjoy because it makes the story feel real without it sounding boring and flat. Not only does he express significantly how he feels majority of the way, he indeed gives you a closer look at his tone throughout the book and how he portrays most of the events he’s explaining. To express some of the points he tried to make on his argument he used statistics, I feel this is a very strong thing to do in writing and trying to get a point across because facts are essential. They open the readers eyes and pull them in to what’s being told.

I truly enjoyed Gilyard’s reading. liked the way he included a lot of details about his personal life. What Gilyard does in his writing that I would like to include in my own is talk about my personal life and how it shaped me into the person I am today. He uses specific details to connect with his audience about his life. Gilyard recalled the time when he was in court after being aprehended for a crime and he recalled the moment when his mother turned to him and “repressed hurt and anger twisted together in her face.” In this English class, I want to connect and show a side of myself in my writing so my audience could be engaged and want to read more and more and find out what happens next. For 7-8 pages Gilyard started off by sayin “Heroin was the first thing that I feared could make me late in life.” As a reader you want to find out more and more, so he drawed my attention with that line. That’s what I want to do in my writing. I don’t have anything negative to say about Gilyard’s writing, I truly enjoy it and I hope to read more pieces of it in the future.

Erik Yan

Dr. Carrie Hall

2/4/19

I liked how Gilyard told his story with a lot of detail on a certain experience and also using dialogue to bring you more into the moment. Gilyard uses a lot of back and forth dialogue with his friends when they commit crimes together. He tells his story in a casual tone because he uses a lot of curse words and slang. His use of these words and slang help to portray how he was when he was younger. He didn’t really listen to older people who are trying to help him. For example, the part when he was in jail, the prison was asking him about how he ended up in jail and Gilyard just responses with ” Fuck you. Leave me the fuck alone”. This shows his arrogant mindset when he was younger. This is an interesting way to get readers attention in my opinion. I would like to do something like this in my essay because as a reader, you can just connect and understand a little bit easier.

Hend Elwahwah

Dr. Hall

2/03/2019

 

Throughout Gilyard’s book I had realized that his writing style relates to many of us teenagers. Gilyard’s writing is not similar to many authors nowadays. He wrote this book with an amazing flow that can help many people understand it easier. Rather than, struggling to understand it. What Gilyard is doing in his writing that I would like to do in my own is go with a better flow that alerts the reader’s attention in wanting to finish what they are reading. Also, I would want to go as deep as Gilyard goes in his writing. Explaining all the details that every reader is interested in. In the past I’ve read many excerpts that are so boring because there is no flow, no deep detailing, nothing I was basically interested in. That’s exactly what I do not want to do. When Gilyard stated, “There were no customers when we entered the laundry, only the woman behind the counter who had a fit when Wallace pointed the pistol at her. She began backing away slowly, shaking her head “no no no” with her hands pressed up against the sides of her face.” That right there made me stop and say to myself, this is what I want to do, I want to immerse myself in my writing as intensely as Gilyard dwelled in his writing. In my opinion, it makes me want to continue reading the passage and have much more interest in what is going to happen next.