Denaya-AN

Author's Notes

In my final draft, I took my analysis of bell hooks piece, further. I added a paragraph that speaks of the revolution that the Africans created in regards to language.I analyzed the way Africans embraced the Standard English language and rebelled, using it as a tool to retaliate against this colonization. In conclusion, I added a quote from Nelson Mandela. I feel this quote is fitting to this paper and topic because it defines language in a universal way. In other words, language is our heart. “Language is the essence of understanding.” I conclude the paper with my thoughts of how we, as a society, should define language; and also, how we should hold language to a higher esteem. I speak about how society has let language become something ancient, and with the loss of this connection between language and culture, we have lost much of our native identities. I close with a quote from bell hooks, and leave the reader with the thought of ‘Reclaiming Language,’ and everything it once meant to us as a people; regardless of where we come from. I invented my title to represent the extreme ways language has been, and is used in the world. At the same time that it can unite, it has also been shown to divide an entire people, nation, culture, and even one’s self.