Writing Ethnicity, Spring 2007
Essay #3
Final drafts due April 9
Workshop of essay #1 in class April 2

In most of the works we have read this semester, language plays a significant role in determining individuals’ ethnic identity: the students in June Jordan’s class write in Black English to remain true to themselves, while Richard Rodriguez is called “pocho” by family members who feel he has given up too much by learning English. The other side of the coin is silence, another key idea in these texts: The Woman Warrior begins with the mother’s admonition never to repeat the aunt’s story to anyone, while Hunger of Memory concludes with a family scene in which the father, surrounded by English, speaks only once.

In an essay of 4-6 pages, compare and contrast the role of speech or silence in any two of the works we have read. While the specific focus of the essay is up to you, here are a few ideas to get you started:

Compare and contrast …

• two stories of learning English (for example, those of Eva Hoffman and Richard Rodriguez)
• two approaches to Black English (Baldwin, Jordan)
• Black English and another language or “Standard” English in two of the readings
• silence as portrayed in any two of the works (you might think about who is silent and why, or when silence is negative and when it might be admirable)
• Kingston’s and Rodriguez’s relationships with their parents, with a focus on speaking and silence