Read James Baldwin, “The Discovery of What it Means to Be an American” (pp. 7-10 in Language packet). Come in prepared to discuss your thoughts on the form/style/craft of one sentence as well as 5 helpful vocabulary words. Â
Write a response to the below prompt (on your personal history of your relation to language):
Etel Adnan, “To Write in a Foreign Language”
Re-read excerpts: p. 1—”I was born in Beirut…”—through p. 3—”…French as a commercial language
Discussion Qs
–What “educational experiences’ do we notice?
–How is the influence of colonization on language registered in this essay?
–To what extent and in what ways might we think of English a “colonial” language?
–What do we make of Adnan’s interest in “copying” the language of other Arabic writers? Is “copying” a viable way to learn? Why/not? In what ways?
Writing Prompt / Freewrite
Begin making an outline (a list) of a 5-10-step history of your own relation to language(s). Make a list of the experiences whereby your relationship to language—English and/or others—has evolved in some way.
