ENGL 3001 Position Paper "Beowulf"

Year: 2014-2015

Professor: Nellie Vázquez

Class: INGL 3001

College: University of Puerto Rico, Cayey Campus

Grace H. Rodríguez Cruz

Professor N. Vázquez

English 3001

September 3rd, 2014

The “Beowulf” epic and the Christian approach to Pagan cultures

During the time “Beowulf” was created, the Christian religion was surfacing as one of the most influential of all. The followers would begin to write poems where they could attach the love for their religion and the need to spread it to heroes and events so appealing that they would capture the admiration of the pagans and teach them about their terms of salvation and righteousness. “Beowulf” is one of these poems, if not the most influential of the time. It is stated that the Old English Poetry had a set of characteristics to which the timeless epic also holds dear to its source; holding the figure of a Viking hero so close to a resemblance of Jesus Christ and the everlasting battle with evil, which in this case, takes the form of Grendel.

Even from the very beginning, the Christian references are shown even when it is being talked about Grendel’s parents: “Monsters born of Cain, murderous creatures banished by God, punished forever for the crime of Abel’s death.”(verse 20) These make it more influential for a pagan audience to learn about Christianity to understand the reference in a more enjoyable matter. The people who would hear or read the epic would feel curious as to why these similes are being done to feel more connected. The heroic part is obviously centered on the main character: “Beowulf, Higlac’s follower and the strongest of the Geats-greater and stronger than anyone anywhere in this world-“ (verse 110) as one of the many ways we are referred to the heroic prince. Another characteristic is the extensive use of figurative language; from the examples found in the epic, one of my personal favorites will be the reference to Beowulf’s sword in the fight with Grendel’s mother. “The iron sang its fierce song, sang Beowulf’s strength” (verse 475) which bring the elegance of the art of oral stories to the maximum visual image stimulation for the audience and makes the next characteristic, the elegiac, even more beautiful to experience. We can find triumph and failure in the epic. One of the examples is the triumph over Grendel “The battle was over, Beowulf had been granted new glory” (verse 340) and the failure can be felt almost at the end of the story when old Beowulf is defeated in the dragon fight “…Wrapped around in swirling flames-a king, before, but now a beaten warrior.” (verse 690). The audience becomes very fond of our hero because we see his suffering, bravery and growth throughout the poem. Our hero is glorified, persecuted, abandoned, adored and has the charm to conquest himself some loyal readers and hearers. Just like that, the Christians bring to life another version of Christ and a new set of fans to learn more about this real-life hero who, like Beowulf, became a legend.

Sources: "From Beowulf." The Language of Literature: British Literature. Evanston, IL: McDougal Littell, 2000. N. pag. Print.

Kirtlan, Ernest J.B. The Story of Beowulf: Translated from Anglo-Saxon into Modern English Prose. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell, 1914. Internet Archive: Digital Library of Free Books, Movies, Music & Wayback Machine. Web. 01 Sept. 2014.

ENGL 3225 Critique

Year: 2013-2014
Professor: David Luciano
Class: INGL 3225
College: University of Puerto Rico, Cayey Campus

Grace H. Rodríguez Cruz

ENGL3225- Introduction to Language

Prof. D.H. Luciano

March 10th, 2014

Humans have always wanted to find the answers of the mysteries of everyday life. Some may aim for space, and others may aim for closer grounds. Marc D. Hauser, Noam Chomsky and W. Tecumseh Fitch introduced the article: “ The Faculty of Language: What Is it Who has It and How Did It Evolve?” in which the main purpose of the writing is to explain the relation between the biology with and the linguistic outbreak the humans created to distinct themselves from other animals. “One aim of this essay is to promote a stronger connection between biology and linguistics by identifying points of contact and agreement between the fields.”

From the main topics, the authors mainly focus on proving how the faculty of language has a broad sense called the FLB and the narrow sense (FLN). The broad sense includes what provides the capacity to generate an infinite range of expressions from limited elements. These will include the  sensory-motor system, a conceptual-intentional system and the computational mechanisms of recursión. However, the FLN brings to the article the distinction of human exclusive components like using numbers, navigation systems and social relations.

The level of expertise of the authors is highly convincing due to the fact of all three of them domaining the topic of study. The authors convincingly talked with the Works and examples done by other fellow researchers such as Darwin, Boysen and Matsuzawa, Galileo, Descartes and so on to bring forth proof and to bring the thesis from their own works. The accuracy of the article was spot on in everything they explained, giving a table to proof the emphirical behaviors and pictures to make the visual learning easier. The article might be from the early 2000s, but it shows good domain and a still belieavable argument that dates today’s mystery with language.

In my opinion, the article is beautifuly written with logical proof and an enthusiasm for teaching others that I’ve rarely seen around a neuroscience article. I definitely agree with their aim and the relationship between the biological factor and the linguistic development because it has a good part of the “how” and the “why” language started.

ENGL 3225 Bilingualism

Year: 2013-2014
Professor: David Luciano
Class: INGL 3225
College: University of Puerto Rico, Cayey Campus

Grace H. Rodríguez Cruz

INGL3225- An Introduction to Language

Prof. David H. Luciano

April 29^th, 2014

Bilingualism

·         What is bilingualism?

According to ASHA, 2004: Bilingualism is “commonly defined as the use of at least two languages by an individual. It is a dynamic and fluid process across a number of domains, including experience, tasks, topics, and time.” This can be categorized in two different ways: Simultaneous bilingualism and Sequential bilingualism. “Simultaneous bilingualism occurs when a young child has had significant and meaningful exposure to two languages from birth. Ideally, the child will have equal, quality experiences with both languages. Sequential bilingualism-Occurs when an individual has had significant and meaningful exposure to a second language, usually after the age of 3 and after the first language is well established.”

·         Types of bilinguists individuals

According to Maria Rosaria M’Acierno, there are three types of individuals when it comes to bilingualism: compound, coordinate and sub-coordinate. A compound learner is “who learns two languages in the same environment so that he/she acquires one notion with two verbal expressions.” Coordinate learners “acquire the two languages in different contexts (e.g., home and school), so the words of the two languages belong to separate and independent systems”; and a sub-coordinate learner is that who one language dominates more than the other.

·         Six ways of acquiring bilingualism

Eduardo Hernández Rangel, 2009, explains on his writings about six different ways to acquire two languages:

1.       One person- One language

1.1.    Each parent has a different native language and a certain knowledge of the other’s.

1.2.    The community has the dominant language of one of the parents.

1.3.    Strategy-Each parent speaks to the child in their own native language.

2.       Non-dominant home language

2.1.    Parents have different native languages

2.2.    Community has the dominant language of one of the parents.

2.3.    Strategy-Both parents speak the non-dominant language to the child and he/she is exposed to the dominant language only outside the house.

3.       Non-dominant home language without community support

3.1.    Parents have the same native language.

3.2.    The community’s language is different from the parents’.

3.3.    Strategy-The parents speak their own language to the child.

4.       Double non-dominant home language without community support

4.1.    Parents have different native languages.

4.2.    The community’s language is different from the parents’.

4.3.    Strategy-Parents speak their own language to the child.

5.       Non-native parents

5.1.    Parents share the same native language.

5.2.    The community’s language is that of the parents’.

5.3.    Strategy- One of the parents addresses the child in a language which is not his/her native one.

6.       Mixed Languages

6.1.    Bilingual parents

6.2.    A sector of the community is also bilingual.

6.3.    Strategy-The parents use code-switching.

·         Advantages of being bilingual

According to Anne Merritt’s article on 2013, being bilingual can boost you more than just on your professional career, it can also:

1.       Improve the functionality of your brain. This skill boosts your ability to negotiate meaning in other problem-solving tasks as well.

2.       Makes good multi-taskers, because they can easily switch between different structures.

3.        Delays Dementia and Alzheimer’s.

3.1.1. Bilinguals tend to have the first signs at the age of 75.5 instead of the average 71.4

4.        Multiple language speakers are better at remembering lists or sequences

5.       Better at observing their surroundings.

5.1.1. They are more adept at focusing on relevant information and editing out the irrelevant. They’re also better at spotting misleading information.

6.       Make more rational decisions.

6.1.1. Bilinguals are more confident with their choices after thinking it over in the second language and seeing whether their initial conclusions still stand up.

7.       More effective communicator and a sharper editor and writer. Language speakers also develop a better ear for listening.

·         References:

1.       American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. (2004). The Advantages of Being Bilingual. Retrieved from ASHA: http://www.asha.org/public/speech/development/The-Advantages-of-Being-Bilingual/

2.       American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. (2004). Bilingualism. Retrieved from ASHA: http://www.asha.org/practice/multicultural/issues/bll.htm

3.      Merritt, A. (2013, June 19). Why learn a foreign language? Benefits of Bilingualism. Retrieved from The Telegraph: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationopinion/10126883/Why-learn-a-foreign-language-Benefits-of-bilingualism.html

4.       Hernández, Eduardo. (2009). Bilingualism. Retrieved from SlideShare:http://www.slideshare.net/lalohr/types-of-bilingual-acquisition

5.       D’Acierno, Maria R. (1990, March). Three Types of Bilingualism. Retrieved from ERIC: http://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED321574 

ENGL 4011 Phonetics Chapter 2

Year: 2013-2014

Professor: María Rodríguez

Class: INGL 4011

College: University of Puerto Rico, Cayey Campus

Grace H. Rodríguez Cruz

843 09 6818

ENGL4011- Phonetics

      Many of the teachers I’ve had the opportunity to take classes with struggle to get the attention of the students. From the main complains I’ve heard, the excuse I hear the most to not pay attention to class is how much the teacher lacks the correct articulations and accent. Due to this, the students lose credibility in the teacher and stamp the “incompetence” sticker on the forehead without making any further observation. Henry Sweet, the creator of the phonetic alphabet believed that phonetics was “the indispensable foundation of all study in language…” In other words, these teachers may have known many of what they might’ve been teaching, but they didn’t know how to grasp the essence of the word in the pronunciation. That is what the future teachers need to prevent and what we need to obtain and wrap it around our students’ head to give to the world as a gift.

      The knowledge of phonetics gives the teacher an advantage when it comes to planning strategies for a better learning of the English pronunciation. The students will be exposing their learned material from past classes, giving an idea of how much there is and how much is needed. The diagnosis of this will help on making a better daily plan to the groups that include the material and more participation in reading and answering in front of class. Besides helping in their skills of projection in front of crowds; this will give us the opportunity to help correct the phonetic errors while a good communication is being developed. The orthography can be also checked with the knowledge of phonetics by helping out in story writing and essay making instead of the basic questions the students are used to answer and break the monotone replies consisting in building sentences around the same words of a question. The students will learn how to express themselves creatively and correctly while their own personality starts to shine in paper. The pragmatics is essential to our students. The rules of conversation are crucial and understanding the pragmatics of language is something that should be constantly reminded to our students.

      Whatever they learn or remember will be the educator’s responsibility. And even if the students forget a thing or two in the end, the most important goal for a teacher is to alert the groups of errors and to correct themselves when they do them. The self-awareness is one of the most important objectives when it comes to learning a second language, and it will be satisfactory to pass on the introspective to the fresh minds. The ability to understand and to correct what is wrong is the fresh start of a different L2 learning generation.

ENGL 4011 Phonetics Chapter 1

Year: 2013-2014

Professor: María Rodríguez

Class: INGL 4011

College: University of Puerto Rico, Cayey Campus

Grace H. Rodríguez Cruz

ENGL4011

August 22^nd, 2013

 “Speech is a distinctly human phenomenon.” The beauty of language goes way beyond the naked eye does. This brings the concepts of the six independent subsystems of language: Phonology (speech, sounds), Morphology (word inflection and derivation), Syntax (order and construction), Lexicon (vocabulary), Semantics (meaning) and Pragmatics (context). Language also depends on dialects; these are always present and different even if the same language is being spoken. The types of lects include: Sociolect (depends on the social and economic position), Genderlect (based on gender differences), geolect (depending on the place) and Idiolect (the uniqueness of every individual). In the area of linguistics, the study of the word can be conducted in a theoretical (nature of the individual versus the linguistic background) or descriptive (the study of how the components operate). In a descriptive level, language can be studied based on the existing patterns of the language (synchronic) or the changes given to the root of speech (diachronic). These studies can be tested with a native speaker but linguists cannot expect any explanation from which the language has the certain structures. He/she may have the morphology, syntax and semantics because it is learned in an arbitrary way, not because he/she was obliged to learn.

In order to study a language, the linguist must make a corpus (an outline or example to work with). The corpus can be based in three things: (A) Select a certain author or time period, which is a closed/limited investigation. (B) Take recordings and notes from a native speaker, which starts in an open matter but closes when the data is collected and ready to investigate. Or (C) beginning the investigation with an intuition or insight about the language, leaving the act of collecting data in an always open matter.

ENGL 4920 Elements of a Literary Work

Year: 2013-2014

Professor: Walter Rybarckewicz

Class: INGL 4920

University: University of Puerto Rico, Cayey Campus

“The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones” novel takes place in present everyday New York filled with heavy traffic, fumes and crowds the city is so used to. The main characters of the novel are Jace Wayland, a cocky heart-breaker whose past child abuse turned him into someone who doesn’t trust nor feels easily; Isabelle and Alec Lightwood, a pair of dark-hair brothers highly skilled in fighting with weapons; Simon Lewis, a geeky soft-hearted boy who doesn’t let his hope down on drastic situations; and the main character, Clarissa Fray, a petite-size, redhead who has the heart of a lion, even if she cannot do much of physical defense.

The story opens with Clary and Simon on their way to a club where she witnesses a murder of one of the boys from the place. However, it is only then she realizes no one else can see the three killers except for herself. Keeping the secret for others to not believe she has lost her sanity, she starts seeing one of the boys responsible for the murder and begins to feel anxious and unsafe. When the boy finally talks with her, she is explained the killed boy was a demon who wanted to feed on mundanes-who are humans with no exceptional power-and as a shadowhunter-an instrument of good and order in the hidden supernatural world-needed to destroy him. Shortly after this encounter, Clary’s mother gets kidnapped, leaving no logical explanation for her about why. It is then that her journey starts with her best friend and the three newly-found shadowhunters to find her mother and an explanation to all the problems that have been appearing ever since.

During the course of the story, Clary finds out about the Mortal Cup, a device who her mother’s kidnapper wants and was hidden in a place no one knows. The climax of the story comes out when she figures that the cup is hidden in a drawing her mother made and sealed with magic. The end of the novels shows the finding of her mother in an unexplained coma state, the realization that her mother’s kidnapper is her father and her love interest is her newfound lost brother.

The end of the book was a little frustrating because the main goal of the character was finding her mother, but now that she found her in a coma state, a whole new adventure opens up for another part of the story. I wasn’t expecting the ending as it was but it was an enjoyable read.

The narrator is an omnipresent being who gets into a character’s head and explains the thoughts and the scenery of the situation. Even if the narrator doesn’t really identify as any character, we see the thoughts of them dominating the points of view.

The work is written in prose and is an easy, believable read due to an everyday speech used. The cruel honesty and the sarcasm used give the feeling of the recent way of talking among teens.

Some of the metonymies I can remember are the references to Idirs is usually referred to be the place where shadowhunters belong; their birth place. Also, besides the mundanes, the term Downworlders are the creatures who have a demonish quality to them, whether a vampire, a werewolf, a witch, a faerie or any other kind that is constantly portrayed as evil. Some of the symbols are the Tarot cards and coffee reading, which explain to the characters the wanting of the impossible. We later find out that the whole romance part of the story gets its hopes shattered when the whole realization of Jace and Clarissa being siblings.

The work has a mixture of humor and suspense, making it a better read; even if the book is pretty slow paced.

The message of the story was to keep your hopes and determination on the same page and to reach the goal you want. It also describes a strong female character and not a damsel in distress as a main character.

The story was not as predictable as I believed it would have been. Considering this is a Young-Adult novel and was expecting more of a teenage girl drama, however I got pleasant plot twists here and there and not much of a “cheesy” atmosphere. Making it more focused on storyline and character development.

ENGL 3231 The American Romanticism and the impact in the New England culture

Year taken: 2013-2014

Professor: Nereida Prado

Class: INGL3231

University: University of Puerto Rico, Cayey Campus

Grace H. Rodriguez Cruz

INGL-3251-American Literature I

Prof. N. Prado

December 2^nd, 2013

The American Romanticism and the impact in the New England culture

          The American culture has dedicated itself to be define in their own ways based on other ideas. As an example to this, we find how the American Romanticism has its unique authors and signatures to separate from the famous British one. As part of this, we find the “negative Romantics” such as Nathaniel Hawthorne with his famous work “Young Goodman Brown”. In here we see passages such as: “By the sympathy of your human hearts for sin ye shall scent out all the places—whether in church, bedchamber, street, field, or forest—where crime has been committed, and shall exult to behold the whole earth one stain of guilt, one mighty blood spot.” This represents the moment where the devil breaks the illusion of good society Brown had of Salem and the evil essence of humans is shown to his and the reader’s eyes. However, Henry David Thoreau expresses optimistic views in his work “Walden”: “Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity! I say, let your affairs be as two or three, and not a hundred or a thousand; instead of a million count half a dozen, and keep your accounts on your thumb nail” and “Every morning was a cheerful invitation to make my life of equal simplicity, and I may say innocence, with Nature herself.” These are examples of the optimistic nature that can be portrayed and expressed of a positive and harmonious human life. But even with these differences, the authors of a complex group maintained certain characteristics that kept the essence of Romantics from the 1830s to the 1860s. It is by this that we can find the interest in nature, the social criticism and the intuition over logic as main themes for the works and inspiration for the unique authors.

          The interest in nature is an outstanding theme to many, but it became the signature to beloved author Ralph Waldo Emerson. In his work “Hamatreya” we see the peculiar Earth Song that sweeps us to reality on how would nature feel if we try to control it: “They called me theirs, Who so controlled me; Yet every one Wished to stay, and is gone, How am I theirs, If they cannot hold me, But I hold them?” The never-ending thought Emerson portrays in his poem make us reflect more about how we treat what we have and to have empathy with our roots with nature. This characteristic is always portrayed in the Romanticism; not necessarily pasted as a strong emotion to nature, but mostly towards a certain person or our own self. Emerson was the father of nature-loving poems on this period of time, but he also left behind other poems like “Give all to Love” where the encouragement to give in the impulses of strong feelings is portrayed and the encouraging of love and positivity is the daily quote “Give all to love; Obey thy heart/Friends kindred days/Estate good fame/Plans credit and the Muse/Nothing refuse.” Even though, it also talks about heartbreak, it gives the option of moving forward and expect a greater love and happiness.

          The social criticism was forever engraved in the Romantics’ heart when Harriet Beecher Stowe took on her shoulders the writing of slavery. “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” displeased many and set the bar of empathy and civil rights movement for colored people. “Of course, in a novel, people’s hearts break, and they die, and that is the end of it; and in a story this is very convenient. But in real life we do not die when all that makes life bright dies to us. There is a most busy and important round of eating, drinking, dressing, walking, visiting, buying, selling, talking, reading, and all that makes up what is commonly called living, yet to be gone through…” This explains that, even if Tom’s life was only in a book and his suffering ended by the end of it, the other slaves who do dream and live every day in a terrible condition for a human being, are out there waiting to have equality and a real life to live. The only life they’ll get. Many anti-Tom’s Cabin literature appeared as counterpart for her work but the allies of the abolition, mostly northern men, encouraged the tales of real life slaves to be published and to accentuate the negative and most inhuman aspects of the practice. This gave way to the “Life and Times of Frederick Douglas” which was a book about said person and the treatment of slaves. “Where justice is denied, where poverty is enforced, where ignorance prevails, and where any one class is made to feel that society is an organized conspiracy to oppress, rob and degrade them, neither persons nor property will be safe.” This encouraging quote by Douglas was one of the many reflective moments shown to express the need of a change and to express the empathy for others.

          The intuition over logic and reasoning is one of the most outstanding characteristics for the Romantics to maintain, however, it will be Edgar Allan Poe’s poetry who will be forever engraved in what the character believes to see and not in what you’re expecting. “I cannot, for my soul, remember how, when or even precisely where, I fist became acquainted with the Lady Ligeia.” With the first sentence of “Ligeia” it is expressed the doubt of the character towards his memories but he chooses to go along with his instincts. However, the opium addict is conscious enough to know he might hallucinate every now and then to certain things, but his love for Ligeia was ever so strong that he brought her back to life in the body of his deceased wife in the end of the story. In other works, like “Anabelle Lee” the passion and love is extreme and powerful “I was a child and she was a child/In this kingdom by the sea;/But we loved with a love that was more than love-/I and my Annabel Lee;/With a love that the winged seraphs of heaven/Coveted her and me.” This pessimistic author always gives us the view of one character and how his believes become facts, leaving the reader to decide whether logic has bended or his illusions were strong enough.

           Different yet the same; the Romantics of the New World stated how a group of completely different ideas can co-exist with each other to bring us an eternal mark of a beautiful and controversial period. Setting from optimistic and pessimistic levels to the love and state of mind. The group of this period signed history with extreme ideas and logical pushes to the minds of the readers and rulers for the greater good or the bad.

ENGL 3231 "The margined Puritans margin"

Year taken: 2013-2014

Professor: Nereida Prado

Class: INGL3231

University: University of Puerto Rico, Cayey Campus

Grace H. Rodríguez Cruz

843 09 6818

ENGL3251- American Literature I

Prof. N. Prado

       “…The land of the free and the home of the brave.” The Star-Spangled Banner definitely bursts out the label of the United States of America. From the first steps the Puritan settles placed in the new world to the battle for independence against England. However, in the battle for expression of the population, the fight for freedom and equality transformed in favor to the advantages of the white male puritan population with the excuse to expand the “good deed” of the religious culture. The margined group became the authority to margin in fear and panic and the label of “freedom” comes down to be question and to rewrite history.

       The purpose to invade American territory was to create a holy land for the “pure” outcasts of Europe. William Bradford quotes well how the purpose was to “recover their primitive order, liberty, and beauty”. This was decided when the Puritan population noticed how “many of their children by…the great licentiousness…were drawn away by evil examples into extravagant and dangerous courses…” The creation of Heaven on Earth begun by adapting the Pilgrims to the new primitive life. The Natives made a home to those in need and the myth of “Thanksgiving” began the symbol of peace between diversity and a fresh start in God’s glory. This only lasted so long before the white repressed the red skin people with the excuse of “savage devils” influence by a dark force against God’s way.

Chief Logan’s lament is a fine example of the treaty given to the natives compared to the one they gave to the white population: “I appeal to any white man to say, if ever he entered Logan's cabin hungry, and he gave him not meat; if ever he came cold and naked, and he clothed him not… Col. Cresap, the last spring, in cold blood, and unprovoked, murdered all the relations of Logan, not sparing even my women and children.” The horrible idea of bringing the red men to extinction because the land they arrived in was destined to become a pure place for the settlers but not for others. The love for freedom came with an urge to clean the earth from what was believed as unholy and not human. “Manifest Destiny” was the movement driving the Puritans and many of its figures to fulfill the exclusion of the natives to the border and away from their land to give the whites the expansion they so desperately wanted. When the hopes of the red people started to leave and wanted to rise, Speckled Snake convinced his people to move farther in order to save them by promising the ending of their suffer: “I have listened to his[Great Father]  present talk. He says that the land where you now live is not yours. Go beyond the Mississippi; there is game; and you may remain “while the grass grows or the water runs.”… Brothers! Our great father says we must go beyond the Mississippi. We shall be there under his care, and experience his kindness. He is very good! We have felt it all before…” While the natives were margined out, the Puritans were starting to feel more free and less threaten to “evil” But, for how long this paranoid population was to experience the peace without a new rising doubt?

       The fight to maintain the land had begun and with it came drastic and strict culture. The dancing was forbidden, the sermons were law and those who didn’t follow this were a threat. Without any logical and concrete proof, others could be blamed for disturbance and evil just by the simple act of telling out loud. This had never been out of control without the rising of Witch Trials in Salem. Any suspicion and/or confirmation that blamed a man or woman as non-puritan or involved in any other act shunned upon the religious council was sentenced to be dehumanized and punished. The deeds were made with the excuse to "overturn this poor plantation, the Puritan colony"[ Cotton Mather’s Wonders of the Invisible World]Thomas Morton gives a description about how Endecott, a cruel puritan leader, treated those accused: “made Fairecloath’s innocent back like the picture of Rawhead-and-Bloody-Bones, and his shirt like a pudding wife’s apron. In this employment Shackles (the executioner) takes great felicity, and glories in the practice of it.” Hawthorne explains how the puritans were ruthless to the physical harmless people in the story of the “Maypole of Merry Mount” by the acts of destroying the Maypole from the dancing and laughter, shooting down a dancing bear the people were venerating  and the punishing the habitants because of the non-puritan ways of free thinking. In the play “The Crucible” we can see the desperation of John Proctor, a man who was forced to confess while innocent and how he refused to sign his name as the devil and the wrong doing that was being accused in town: “Because it is my name!” he explains “Because I cannot have another in my life! Because I lie and sign myself to lies! Because I am not worth the dust on the feet of them to hang! How may I live without my name? I have given you my soul; leave me my name!” The marginal image comes to haunt those who out-casted the different with a greater impact. In the end, is freedom real? Was it worth the seclusion in the Puritan idea of being free?

      The embarrassing chapter of the Puritan chaos needed a closure to give space to the new revolutionary ideas for the better of the people. Even with the margin of blacks and gays as an example of recent decades, the United States have tried to leave behind the paranoia and began to depict itself better in the literature and history records. Just like Hawthorne did with Endecott’s figure and remade a strong, manly ruler to be forever engraved as the stereotype of the man of history; America has reassured the world of their liberty by passing it from spoken words to written ones. The new era had begun.

ENGL 3231 American Dream

Year taken: 2013-2014

Professor: Nereida Prado

Class: INGL3231

University: University of Puerto Rico, Cayey Campus

Grace H. Rodriguez Cruz

INGL 3251-140: American Literature I

Mrs. N. Prado

October 30, 2013

The creation of the American dream and the voices that pursued it

        “Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations get corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters.” says Benjamin Franklin in his so famous autobiography describing his humble beginnings and his ascended life to wealth and power. The United States had just been declared free from England and had begun a lifestyle of their own choice. During this process, we can notice the emergence of illustrious people in the moments the country needed the opinions and guidance to start the independent ways and the powerful political structure needed to prosper. It is no surprise most of these men who succeeded to be heard became some of the most important figures in the American history. These figures needed to explore the optimistic views of hard work and a fresh start which would inspire the humble and the rich to work together for the better of the newborn country and its future generations. It is by their famous and unique contributions that Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson and J. Hector St. John De Crevecoeur outstand apart to become fathers of the American dream.

        Benjamin Franklin sponsored the Enlightenment ways of a virtuous life. It came to acknowledge of the people how with hard work he managed to get to where he was and how many others wanted to follow his footsteps. He sponsored the reading, the reasoning and learning since a young age for he believed that superstitions and fear would only drag the people down a rabbit’s hole. He believed in education and how with it, the virtues of a wonderful being were created: “1. TEMPERANCE. Eat not to dullness; drink not to elevation. 2. SILENCE. Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid trifling conversation. 3. ORDER. Let all your things have their places; let each part of your business have its time. 4. RESOLUTION. Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve. 5. FRUGALITY. Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself; i.e., waste nothing. 6. INDUSTRY. Lose no time; be always employ'd in something useful; cut off all unnecessary actions. 7. SINCERITY. Use no hurtful deceit; think innocently and justly, and, if you...” his optimistic views in a hard life expressed in his autobiography won the hearts of the society and established the faith in social reform. The people began to be less scared and more determined putting the “Witch Trials Era” aside to begin a more logic and educational platform without losing their faith.

        Thomas Jefferson made his impact with the “Declaration of Independence” and the concept of equality. He believed there were reasonable causes to separate their relation with the government, example to this was the “Great Chain of Being” which explained how the human beings were socioeconomically categorized as inferior or superior and closer to God and his divine creations. Just like Franklin, Jefferson believed in the Enlightenment and the ways of obtaining freedom and happiness: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to affect their Safety and Happiness.” 

        J. Hector St. John De Crevecoeur brought the concept of being an American and the utopian concept of the American people. In “Letter of an American Farmer” he gives meaning to being an American: “What then is the American, this new man?...He is an American, who, leaving behind him all his ancient prejudices and manners, receives new ones from the new mode of life he has embraced, the new government he obeys, and the new rank he holds. He has become an American by being received in the broad lap of our great Alma Mater. Here individuals of all races are melted into a new race of man, whose labors and posterity will one day cause great changes in the world.” Crevecoeur follows by explaining how Europe misses the comfort of its people and the rude ruling towards them when America is a “mixture of English, Scotch, Irish, French, Dutch, Germans, and Swedes" who live among each other and prosper without problems of co-existing. He proceeds to bash his “homeland” while praising the great change of United States: "Can a wretch who wanders about, who works and starves, whose live is a continual scene of sore affliction or pinching penury, can that man call England or any other kingdom his country?", "a country that had no bread for him...", "who met with nothing but frowns from the rich...", "No! urged by a variety of motives, here they came." Because of these, many more people were convinced on how an amazing change it is to live away from the old world to conquer this beautiful idea of freedom and prosperity in the new lands. These gave away many hopes of a better life.

        Even if these illustrious figures did had their down sides and their secrets, it is no secret for us that this type of speech and writing is what we have always known as the “land of the dreams come true”. The United States are still considered to be the place of freedom, dignity, acceptance and overall, equality. Many of these may not apply to its current situations, but this reputation is what keeps the Americans proud of their roots and flag.

ENGL 4290 Language and Gender: The differences between male and female

Year taken: 2012-2013

Professor:Walter Rybarckewicz

Class: INGL4290

University: University of Puerto Rico, Cayey Campus

Grace H. Rodríguez Cruz

Professor W. Rybarkiewicz

INGL4290

May 23, 2013

Language and Gender: The differences between male and female

          From the moment we begin to think, we become fully aware of the social differences that consist being a girl or a boy. We get to play with dolls and houses while the boys get the cars and the skates. This however, marks the contrast of both sexes far beyond than just the reproductive organs. It builds society as we know it: who does what and how is it done. Better yet, how is it expect to be done. In our language, we see this trend going on as well; whether you are a man or a woman, you are socially programmed or pre-destined to be a certain someone regardless of the taste or looks you carry. By the end of it all, language has limited our ways of communication to the standards upon us that we don’t even know when it happened. Why is it so wrong for a woman to have a strong and explicit language and a man to have an emotional wreck? Why are we brainwashed by just shunning upon this without questioning when it all started to happen?

          To understand the differences in our daily lives, we have to remember or learn the meaning of “hegemony”. This is defined as “the predominant influence, as of a state, region, or group, over another or others” by online dictionaries. When it comes to society, the masculinity and its dominance has been latent on the fabric of history. M.Donaldson stated: “Its successful application to a wide range of different cultures suggests that there may well be no known human societies in which some form of masculinity has not emerged as dominant, more socially central, more associated with power, in which a pattern of practices embodying the "currently most honoured way" of being male legitimates the superordination of men over women. Hegemonic masculinity is normative in a social formation.”  As we look back at our social system, we see how being a masculine man gives the advantage and the praise of a crowd;  however, if there is a man with femininity traits, the guy is almost certain to be mocked, bullied and ridiculed in a constant matter by all the peers. Differently from the men’s case, women have the option to follow the masculinity traits, but since the social role is a feminine one for any lady, she will not be able to obtain the same respect of a man, even if she does the same thing or surpasses a male counterpart at tasks. So, when we look at this, we start believing that embracing the femininity in social standards for a woman would be the best, but this is erroneous. Female gender roles are tend to value less than male roles, giving the sense of sensuality as priority and turning those who follow into tools. Women have always been the “weakest”, giving the only good trait as the child bearing and the pleasing of the male counterparts. How this decides the way we speak and communicate? This has everything to do with it. In George Keith and John Shuttleworth’s “Living Language” (p. 222), the following traits come down as the difference in communication with people following the social traits:

• women - talk more than men, talk too much, are more polite, are indecisive/hesitant, complain and nag, ask more questions, support each other, are more co-operative, whereas
• men - swear more, don't talk about emotions, talk about sport more, talk about women and machines in the same way, insult each other frequently, are competitive in conversation, dominate conversation, speak with more authority, give more commands, interrupt more.

Supporting this, we find men’s competitive nature coming out in conversations when they are interrupting other males or the few females who dare to talk in public. Dale Splender adds to this problem: "The crux of our difficulties lies in being able to identify and transform the rules which govern our behaviour and which bring patriarchal order into existence. Yet the tools we have for doing this are part of that patriarchal order. While we can modify, we must none the less use the only language, the only classification scheme which is at our disposal. We must use it in a way that is acceptable and meaningful. But that very language and the conditions for its use in turn structure a patriarchal order."

          There have existed different types of talkative understanding: the rapport talk and the report talk. This brings up the custom in language when the male is a dominant speaker in any social activity. “The female style is described as one of rapport, sympathy, intimacy and cooperation while the male style is one of reporting, problemsolving, independence and competition (Talbot 2003: 475).”(Black and Seale 2009: 84) In this, Deborah Tannen has become an expert of spotting the differences. She talks about her contrasts in the book “You Just Don’t Understand” which talks about the eternal conflict of men and women in how they think and they express verbally. In these contrasts we find:

Status vs. support: For men, the world is a competition they have to rise as victors. The communication of males mostly hangs on maintaining the prideful place and not letting anyone stomp upon their domination. Women communicate with others to create emotional bonds and comfort. The sharing of ideas and the vulnerability of the process is deeply respected by the female roles.

Independence vs. intimacy: Men struggle in society to maintain the independence they acquire on the daily conversations, keeping count to express their knowledge and dominance. Women tend to use the talking to make connections and preserve the intimacy between the recipients. This explains the different points of view of a single situation and to create misconceptions between the two in a relationship. This will place the woman as nagging and persistent and the man as cold and incommunicative.

Advice vs. understanding: Tannen expresses how a woman can struggle with communicating men. Another example of this is the lack of understanding from the counterpart. Sometimes a woman tends to approach a man when she is not feeling well hoping to find some comfort; but on the contrary, he might just give an advice to solve it instead of the sympathy she required. This happens when men are used to others approaching to him looking for an answer or a solution to a problem instead of a therapy session about life and concerns.

Information vs. feelings: An example to this is the peers and phone calls. A woman will keep herself on the phone talking about insignificant events of the day, but the importance of the feelings experienced in the situations. When it comes to a phone call of men peers, the conversation is precise and straight to the point; detailing the important events that happened or the details of the next meeting. Andrew Moore states to this: “Historically, men's concerns were seen as more important than those of women, but today this situation may be reversed so that the giving of information and brevity of speech are considered of less value than sharing of emotions and elaboration. From the viewpoint of the language student neither is better (or worse) in any absolute sense.”

Orders vs. proposals: This is a simple trait. Women love to answer indirectly and to talk about the surroundings of a specific topic, but rarely enter any specific thing about what she wants. Women like others to understand her without the clear image of things. Men like to go straight to an answer without any wondering. This also applies to giving orders.

Conflict vs. compromise: Tannen explains: “In trying to prevent fights, some women refuse to oppose the will of others openly. But sometimes it's far more effective for a woman to assert herself, even at the risk of conflict. ” Giving in situations in the work place, a woman may accede to a request but not be completely okay with it, getting to complain later about it; while men resist it if they don’t find the situation suitable to their liking.

          When it comes to insults of demeaning one another, women and men do it differently as well. Moore introduces us to this topic with this: “This is not just a gender issue - these are functions (or abuses) of language which may appear in any social situation. But they take particular forms when the speaker (usually) or writer is male and the addressee is female. In some cases the patronizing, controlling or insulting only works because both parties share awareness of these connotations. It is possible for the addressee not to perceive - or the speaker not to intend - the patronizing, controlling or insulting. Patronizing terms include dear, love, pet or addressing a group of adult women as girls. Note that calling men boys or lads is not seen as demeaning.” But when it comes to demeaning, men tend to be insulted by referring one another with petnames or certain callings addressed to women. An example to this, we share the many times used scene from movies where the Army Sargent insults his cadets by calling them girls or sissies. This shows the lowering of men’s pride to a status of women, which, socially recognized, is lower than men’s. For addressing women as an insult, it is mostly used a connotation related to promiscuity and lack of personality such as “slut”, “tart,” “bitch”, and so on… Taboo language has always been found way more acceptable for men to say it than women since the females are educated as proper and educated with rich words to replace the many insults that men use as everyday language. “Coates (2003: 196) argues that ‘men’s use of taboo language in telling their stories also performs toughness’. Yet in our interview data we found that, rather than performing toughness, the use of swear words expressed feelings of frustration felt by some men with the limited potential of language to express the strength of their emotions. Swearing can be considered as a style for doing illness that implies a stereotypical and possibly (though not necessarily) hegemonic masculine identity. ‘Bloody’ occurred 53 times, and ‘shit’ occurred 27 times in the male interviews. Other swear words were ‘bugger’ (8); ‘blimey’ (3); ‘bollocks’ (3) and ‘bastard’ (2). There were also particular expressions such as ‘bloody hell’ (10) and ‘fucking awful’ (5). In the female interviews ‘bloody’ occurred only 10 times, ‘shit’ three times and ‘bollocks’ once”(Black and Seale: 97)

          Just as there are more names to call-out a woman than men, there also exists terms to define the intelligence. A woman called “Blonde” may either be to state the fact that her hair color is yellow or to doubt her intelligence. Many “blonde jokes” exist that create the stereotype of stupid woman; just like many others jokes that count on making fun of women for it to have a fun structure to it (like the kitchen jokes about women belonging in the cleaning and cooking rather than to be an equal with men in the house. It tends to give the feeling of servitude for the man’s pleasure and to question the place of women in the standards of men.) But there is no such thing as man jokes. There is no fun in ridiculing men by just being them, unless a certain man has the connotation of female gender role.

         Are there any differences in the male and female brain? Can this be proven? “For the first time -- and in unambiguous findings -- researchers from Northwestern University and the University of Haifa show both that areas of the brain associated with language work harder in girls than in boys during language tasks, and that boys and girls rely on different parts of the brain when performing these tasks.” Says the 2008 news of ScienceDaily stating how through the fMRI testing girls showed more development in the use of language in more difficult tasks of recognition; giving a better understanding to the abstract language from the females. “The researchers found that girls still showed significantly greater activation in language areas of the brain than boys. The information in the tasks got through to girls' language areas of the brain -- areas associated with abstract thinking through language. And their performance accuracy correlated with the degree of activation in some of these language areas…To their astonishment, however, this was not at all the case for boys. In boys, accurate performance depended -- when reading words -- on how hard visual areas of the brain worked. In hearing words, boys' performance depended on how hard auditory areas of the brain worked.” But even with this amazing difference, it is still unknown if the changes in the brain are permanent and keep up with the growing up of these children. This may explain situations like giving directions. Women tend to explain this way: “Turn left on Main Street, go one block past the drug store, and then turn right, where there's a flower shop on one corner and a cafe across the street.” While men, being in the same situation, might just be more precise in the directions instead of relating the surroundings.

          The curiosity of this phenomenon in sociolinguistics is more of an interesting topic for women than what it is to men researchers. And why is that? Maybe it is because of the realization of the female understatement and other experiences push these minds into the knowledge to why and how. In the end, we don’t really have proof of a biological difference between the two sexes when adulthood is reached; but we surely have a difference in what society marks in us since very little and continue to remember just like if we were still ignorant children who need to be reminded of their place. However, this unfortunate event has developed the theories and analysis in what gender linguistics are and how to understand one another better than what we have ever done before. Will this one step closer give a better reasoning in society and promote the justice women and men need? All the answers to this and more, lie in the fabric of our future, but not so distant, time. 

Works cited:

Moore, Andrew. "Language and Gender." Language and Gender. Universal Teacher Website, 2002. Web. 2013.

Charteris, Jonathan, and Black and Clive Seale. "Gender and Language." Men and Emotion Talk: Evidence from the Experience of Illness (n.d.): n. pag. Gender and Language. Equinox Publishing, 2009. Web. 2013.

Language Appear Biological." ScienceDaily, 5 Mar. 2008. Web. 2013.

M. Donaldson. "What Is Hegemonic Masculinity?" Faculty of Arts - Papers (1993).

"Hegemonic Meaning." The Free Dictionary. N.p., n.d. Web.