Project 1: Making Insightful Connections

Assignment

The authors we have read thus far (and will continue to read for the rest of the quarter) offer interesting views about language. For instance, Anzaldua speaks about the connections between language and identity.  She contests the traditional view of Chicano Spanish as being incorrect as she believes that it is a “living language,” constantly changing/evolving alongside those who speak it. Fish, on the other hand, laments the lost of art of “speaking and writing precisely and with attention to grammatical form.” Unlike Anzaldua, even though Fish thinks language is “not unchanging,” he believes that language has a fixed structure and that (grammatical) correctness is still very important. Both Fish and Anzaldua see the nature of language quite differently from each other.

For this assignment, you are to write an essay that synthesizes the different views on language presented by the authors we’ve read thus far.  What this means is that you are to (1) show the meaningful connections among them, (2) explain why those relationships are important, and  (3) develop your own unique perspective on the existing conversation on/about language.

In drafting your essay, make sure that you:
Provide (textual) evidence to support your claims
Be organized in such a way that the reader can follow along without having to figure out where you are going
Be polished and edited so that your readers understands what you are discussing and is not distracted

Important

You’re more likely to write an effective text if you take time to get feedback from other writers.  Thus, you are required to work with a writing center tutor for this assignment. 

In order to build your vocabulary, you need to incorporate two new words from our list into your essay.

You may “package” your paper in either MLA/APA format. (We will talk about this some more in class.)