Antonio Johnson

English 110

Rhetorical Analysis

11/18/22

Sign Language

Sign language is one of the most distinct languages in the world. It is the only language when in use, people primarily use their hands. It’s calculated that only 1% of the entire U.S population uses sign language. The most common users are people that are deaf. This is beneficial for those that are deaf because they can learn what certain hand movements and signals mean and be able to respond.

American sign language

Pidgeon Signed English

Signing Exact English or British Sign Language

Sign language matters to a significant amount of people because they may have other problems than simply being deaf. For instance, people may have trouble speaking because they have problems with their voice. People that know sign language can also be useful for when during speeches, the person translating can perform hand signals as the speaker continues. 

Antonio Johnson 

Freshman Composition

Maxwell Schnuer

It was mainly in school when I first learned how to read and write. It all started when we would read short fiction stories and then finding the main idea, meaning what the story was all about. My handwriting wasn’t the best and at first, I thought it was because I’m left-handed while almost everyone else is right-handed, but it got better overtime. The benefit I gained from finding the main idea was that I managed to read more carefully and end up finding nearly every if not all-important details. The next part of reading and writing I learned was making paragraphs. At first it seemed hard to me because I wasn’t sure how I can have multiple sentences focusing on the same subject. I then got the hang of it due to being able to read carefully and using evidence from the important details I have found. Because of that I was able to write essays, using the same methods I learned in the past.

One form of writing I mostly prefer is texting. In my opinion, any type of writing that is online is faster and less likely to make errors. This is why I send lots of emails and when doing that, they don’t have to be too formal. 

            There was this one instance in particular when the objective I had was to write an essay and make a presentation about it. It could be any subject, so I chose to talk about violent video games and how impactful it was towards the younger people that play it. First, I would make an introduction about why video games have gotten so popular over the years, and then do research about the effects it has on people. Once I’m done researching, I would write about what I found. I made an argument that video games that are more violent and action based are more entertaining for the younger generation and therefore, those types of games are being played most commonly. When doing the presentation I would do the same steps as the essay, from the beginning which is the introduction about video games, to the end which is the citations. I was a little nervous about the presentation because I’m not used to talking so much in front of a bunch of people, particularly when it’s about my work but once I knew what to say I quickly managed to adapt.

One meaningful moment I had in my language experience was taking Spanish class in high school. Going into that class, I was not expecting to do good because all my life I only know English. We started off small learning the small words and phrases like “gusta” which means “like”. Then we started learning how to use sentences such as “Como te llamas”, meaning “what is your name”. I started to understand it more and overall had less doubts about being able to speak Spanish. I wanted to learn different languages so I can understand everyone I socialize with no matter what culture.

Overall, the more I went to school, the better I became when it comes to reading and writing which made me more confident about doing it.

Antonio Johnson

Freshman Composition

Maxwell Schnuer

11/1/22

                                                The Usage of Slang      

Slang is commonly used when people choose to use unique words when socializing. It can be different depending on the state or region people are from. This is partly because not every area, individuals speak the exact same way using the same language. Words like “deadass” haven’t been used consistently until only around the 80’s and 90’s and there are many other words which are also just beginning to be used more. Slang can also occur by the use of words with an entirely different meaning. For example, the word “bread” became referred to as another term for money. Also, it’s similar to how “different languages have different words for the same concept” (Comrie). People prefer to use slang as an easier way of communicating with one another

In the text, “A Cultural Approach to Interpersonal Communication” Jane. E Goodman, talks about how overtime language evolves, especially with younger people. Also, that the way people talk changes depending on the audience to make them feel the same way as the speaker. In the article “Why Is Slang More Revealing than you Realize” Katy Steinmetz talks about what slang is and why it is used so often. The article mentions that slang is basically “unique words and expressions” which the younger people use. Also, the distinct words being used would eventually grow more common throughout various communities. Ultimately, these articles add on from each other because they both explain how the way words and phrases change overtime usually starts with the youth. While they may agree with each other, both articles highlight different ways people change their way of speaking. Goodman says they change for people to understand each other better while Steinmetz believes it mainly has to do with the preferred way of speaking, usually amongst young people. This suggest that slang is typically used by the youth and “reports may reflect stereotypes, attitudes, and ideologies of how slang is used rather than linguistic practice” (Goodman, 281). Teenagers and young adults use slang as part of their youth culture and “cool” way to socialize. This is also why younger people tend to speak more formally towards adults than they do with older people such as their parents, teachers and more. When teenagers with a similar background speak to each other, there are more likely to understand each other than two people with an entirely different age group.

The source “History of American Slang Words” by Matt Salter determines how much slang has grown and changed over the years in America. He mentioned how famous writers such as Shakespeare and William Gibson made certain words used more often such as “bare faced and dawn”. Later, this source discusses the origins of slang. It started off by mentioning that the 1950’s was when slang started to become popular. During the 1960’s many of the slang terms used can be recognizable in today’s era. Some of the words were “bread” which means money, “chill” which means to calm down, “crib” which means home, “vibe” which mean how your feeling, and more. Since then, more unique terms that are known today have grown more common. Finally, the source concludes that slang are words that are changed to the point only a certain population would understand along with the meaning of the words.

It can also be argued that slang varies across many different states, particularly in the U.S. The source “56 Things New Yorkers say and what they mean: NY slang from a local”, targets how New Yorkers speak and what specific words they use. They would use words or phrases like “OD”, meaning something that is over the top. Another word a lot of new Yorkers use is “dead-ass” or “dead-serious” which basically means that the person is not joking and mean what he or she say. This reveals how slang is different depending on the location and nearly every state in the U.S have their own popular terms that are unique. For instance, one preferred slang word in Arizona is “snowbirds” which is “apparently people who travel to the Phoenix area for warmth during the winter months”. Another one in the state, Indiana would be the word “sweeper” which is apparently what people call vacuum cleaners. (Rackham, 2018). It is normal for individuals to speak the same language but in a different way depending on the state they are from. Certain words can even be established by smaller groups of people. For instance, “Punk applied to a person, began as a slang term for a catamite, or boy kept by a pederast, and later extended to cover young hoodlums” (Garber, 2014). This reveals that as slang words evolve, the words will become more commonly used and tend to stay that way. 

Overall, Slang can be used in multiple ways and occurs most commonly around the younger generation. Slang can either be used with words having a different meaning or a completely new word would be made. When teenagers speak to each other, they are more likely to use slang than adults and this goes for many different areas especially in America despite how different they can be. 

Work cited

Goodman, Jane et al “A Cultural Approach to Interpersonal Communication”. social science, February 13, 2012

Opp, Sam “56 things New Yorkers say and what they mean: NY slang. From a local”. Find love and Travel, April 22, 2022

Steinmetz, Katy “Why Slang Is More Revealing Than You May Realize”. Time, December 12, 2018

Rackham, Casey “Here Are the Best Slang Words from Each U.S State”. BuzzFeed, February 16, 2018

Garber, Megan et all “The Evolution of Slang”. The Atlantic, August 5^th, 2014

Cover Letter

Going into my phase 3 assignment I was wondering to myself what would be the best subject to research about. I decided to talk about slang because I felt that it would be useful when talking about reading and writing. The easy part for me was finding the sources because I can use any as long as it is relevant to the topic and that I can use it to prove my overall argument. The part I found difficult was finding more ideas and not being so repetitive. Yet overall, the experience was interesting because I don’t usually find my own topic to write about so it was a little new to me. However, I do like having the freedom to find something to write about on my own.

Antonio Johnson

English Composition

Maxwell Schnuer

11/22/22

Up to now I would say that my relationship with reading and writing has its ups and downs. The things I enjoy about writing is creativity. There are so many different ways people can write such as making poems, lists, stories, and more. Also, with these versions of writing you can use almost any subject to talk about which makes writing so versatile in general. However, writing can come with many obstacles which many people often face. Some challenges I typically go through is knowing where or how to start, whether it is an essay or other forms of writing like doing google slides for a presentation. Another challenge I went through was wondering what to do with the ideas I gained. I would think about how to structure my writing and making sure my ideas are in the right order. As I continue to go through those challenges, I believe that they will help me become a better writer.

When preparing for the phase 1 assignment I at first wasn’t sure about how I can write an essay or make a presentation that highly refers to reading and writing but with the help of the examples we were given, I had a much better Idea of what to do. We were assigned to read and annotate three texts for practice. The three texts were “Nobody Mean More to Me Than You and the Future Life of Willie Jordan” by June Jordan, “Theme for English B” by Langston Hughes, and “Mother Tongue” by Amy Tan. These texts were helpful for me because they each use different strategies for reading and writing. Hughes wrote a poem about himself, while Tan wrote a story reflecting on her literature experience and how her family relates to that and Jordan wrote about language relating to ethnicity. As a result, I decided to write and present about my writing experience and how I grew overtime throughout my school career. I wasn’t exactly sure of how I was going to write about that because I didn’t want to simply write about how I was doing my reading and writing assignments from before. So what I did was include how reading and writing changed me as a student. 

My phase 2 assignments have really helped me become better at doing rhetorical analysis. Using thew same three texts from phase 1, I would analyze them by figuring out what the speaker is trying to do for the audience, whether it’s using ethos logos or pathos. When the speaker uses ethos, they refer to experience, when using logos, they’re using facts and logic, and finally when using pathos more emotion is being revealed. When making my own analysis I preferred to use logos because I can use facts by doing research and using the sources, I find useful. I researched about sign language and wrote about what it is and how it benefits people, particularly those that are deaf. I also used images to provide visuals for the audience to understand more easily of the point I’m trying to make. In my opinion, this assignment was the easiest because we can use any type of writing templet to do our rhetorical analysis

Going into phase 3 we were preparing to do a research paper which is somewhat similar to what I did for the assignment before so I already had an idea of what I had to do. The subject I chose to write about was slang and basically describe what it is, its origins, and basically how it is used. The simple part for me was finding the sources that can be reliable and the part I found most difficult was putting the paragraphs for the essay in an order that would make the most sense. However, I managed to do it by looking for scholarly articles through JSTOR where I can use key words that are important for my research, then I would search for articles that use the same key words. This was helpful for me because that way I don’t have to keep searching and scrolling only to find articles that are barley relevant. 

Overall, I would claim that these assignments I have done, help gain my skills in writing. With rhetorical analysis, I got better at explaining what the author is trying to do with his or her audience along with the impact on the audience. I became more confident when doing research essays, knowing I just have to come up with any ideas that can go well with my argument and look for sources that support the points I’m trying to make. 

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