My Three "Englishes"

           Although I do not speak multiple languages, I do speak many forms of English. I am a very involved person who is part of many different communities, and my English changes to fit the occasion and my audience. I am currently in the photography class at school, which teaches you how to take great photos, but also how to edit them to enhance different qualities. My different styles of English are comparable to the filters you can place on photos, each style enhances a different persona of my personality depending on what I want to showcase.

One form of English I use in my everyday life is what I would call “formal” English, which is the style I revert to when I am speaking with adults or writing a paper for school. This English is what some people would consider as a “standard form” of English as it includes more advanced diction choices and more articulated grammar patterns. By using this formal style, I place a filter on myself that enhances my intelligence and hardworking qualities as society has stereotyped this style of English as professional. This filter purifies my English of any slang or incorrect grammar as to abide by the “rules” of the English language, which shows respect and consideration of the presentation of my thoughts to the adult I am conversing with. I place this filter on myself as an attempt to be professional and with hopes of presenting myself as well-educated and respectful.
            However, I use a different form of English when I am talking to my teammates on the cheer team. This form of language, like with any other sport, is based on jargon and is focused on tone and inflection in my voice when I speak to my teammates.  This filter emphasizes the leadership qualities I possess, as I always try to motivate my team through powerful diction choices and a positive tone. This kind of speech is focused on empowering my teammates through conversations like “This is our shot!”.
            The last form of English I am going to analyze is the language with which I talk to my family and close friends. This would be the raw photograph with no filter as this is when my raw humor and personality are showcased. In these cases, I am surrounded by people who love me and who I love to be around, so I use informal diction and conversational grammar patterns. This form of English showcases my persona as the responsible teenager as I speak random words of wisdom to my peers who like to keep track of them such as, “Don’t eat lemons because they are bad for your tooth enamel.”

Although these filters cause me to speak differently, I make sure that they are used only to enhance pieces of me that are true, and they do not give a skewed image of my personality. M goal is to use my language to showcase ideas and personality traits that I am proud to possess.

Comments

  1. tyonFebruary 11, 2018 at 8:18 PM

    The connection with different Englishes and camera filters is interesting and makes a lot of sense. Different situations call for different filters, and they change how we view something. The same can be said of how we speak. All of those filters contribute to our personality, and, as you said, they reveal who we really are.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Elise DalyFebruary 12, 2018 at 12:35 AM

    It was smart to use an overarching theme/ extended metaphor because it proves your acute awareness of the world around you and the things that you are involved in. Everything can have literary merit in 11 AP!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Jaclyn V.February 14, 2018 at 7:46 PM

    I liked how you connected what you did in photography with the different filters to the different types of Englishes you use. Do you think a certain "filter" showcases your personality better than another?

    ReplyDelete

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