language and literacy final

8/13/2019 Language and Literacy Final

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Michaela McDonald

Linda Hofman

English 029

23 September 2013

Chicken Wings, Not Buffalo Wings

Naturally we are drawn to people who are similar to us, be that in their language, looks,

or the way that they present themselves. You are able to tell a lot about a person based of the

vocabulary they use, the speed at which they talk, their grammar, and even their body language.

All of these have the ability to validate or contradict previous thoughts on where a person is

from. For instance in my specific case, my schooling, family, and the place where I grew up have

all impacted my language, and my literacy. Having attended an all-girls catholic school which

prided itself in being the number one high school in Western New York definitely affected the

way that I communicate, and present myself while doing so. Then again, my family has done just

the same. My family has molded me into the person that I am today especially regarding

language. Coming down to North Carolina for school has been an incredibly different experience

than what I have ever had. I personally do not think that I have an accent, although it has been

made quite clear by my peers that I do. On the contrary, I think that all of my peers are the ones

with accents. The way that I speak, the phrases that I use, and the way that I generally carry

myself tells a lot about who I am, where I come from, and potentially where I intend to go.

Growing up in a small town outside of the city of Buffalo, New York has given me a

multitude of different cultures. Buffalo is a unique area, different from most other major cities in

The United States. Buffalo has many different aspects of it. There is the city of Buffalo, which


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has a bunch of tall business buildings and a few restaurants. Then there is the more artsy side of

Buffalo which contains more boutiques, parks, and restaurants. These two areas are only about a

10 minute drive down the road from one another, but are completely different areas. One of the

things a lot of other cities do not have though are the eclectic suburbs. A lot of cities, or so I have

found, have the main part of the city, and then just a lot of towns surrounding them with your

general grocery store, gas stations, and Target or Wal-Mart shopping centers. Occasionally you

can find a town that has some uniqueness to it. In Buffalo, the suburbs are sometimes the best

place to go! We have towns surrounding the Buffalo city area such as East Aurora, Lewiston,

Hamburg, Williamsville, and much more which all contain small locally run businesses, and cute

little restaurants. To me, this is one of my favorite parts about Buffalo, which has definitely

opened me up to different situations, which have all affected me. I went to school in Grand

Island, all the way up until 8th

grade. Grand Island is my hometown, where I have lived my entire

life. Actually, it is where my most people have lived their entire lives as well. It is somewhat of

an inside joke that people who live on Grand Island are never going to be able to live anywhere

else, and for some strange reason that does seem to be the case. A good majority of people who

live on Grand Island as a kid will grow up saying they cannot wait to leave this place and get out

of this small town, but they always end up back here at some point or another. There is nothing

really special about Grand Island, except for being an island, but I love Grand Island and

although I am out of there now, I am not ashamed to admit that I hope one day I will be living

back there again. After going through Grand Island School System for 10 years of my life, I then

transferred to a private school in the heart of Buffalo for my four years in high school.

Nevertheless, although my high school was only about 20 minutes away from my hometown,

things were definitely different.


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Growing up, I was surrounded by people who were generally similar to myself,

obviously, with the exception of a few. I was likely to be seen with girls who had similar interest,

goals, and even similar home lives as myself. Being surrounded by people who were comparable

to myself meant that we collectively grew as a group in regards to maturity, academics, and

social aspects. This affected the way that I presented myself, because I was more apt to identify

who I was based off of who my friends were. We all generally talked the same, and carried

ourselves in the same manner. Granted, we were in middle school, a time when your only goal in

life is to fit in. For the most part though, we were not striving to be better than one another, just

happy being on the same page. When I transferred to an all-girls private high school things

changed quite rapidly. This was the kind of school where the cool kids were the kids who aced

every exam they took. Coming into this kind of environment compared to a public school was a

culture shock. I was surrounded by girls who wore designer clothing, went to charity events their

parents had held, and were considered to be the big names in Buffalo. I had to find my own

identity, because I no longer had my friends to identify with. This is when my language and

literacy began to truly change. If I was going to compete with the girls that where in my classes I

needed to be able to present myself in a more competitive way.

It was my freshmen year of high school, sometime during the first week when I realized

that although my parents raised me well, taught me my manners, and always made sure I knew

how to present myself properly, I was not quite on the same playing field as some of the other

girls in my class. It was in my 8thperiod Social Studies class that I had discovered this daunting

fact. I do not remember the topic we were asked to speak about, nor do I even remember who

gave me this realization, all I could remember was the gigantic words used by my fellow

classmate which made it hard for me to even comprehend what was coming out of her mouth.


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These girls had gone to private schools their entire lives, and have been raised in utterly proper

homes. They had worn uniforms, and taking foreign language classes since the ripe age of 5.

Their house guests were people such as the mayors of towns, Buffalo Sabres, and Buffalo Bills

players, and other big name people in Buffalo, so at such a young age they were very used to

being around local celebrities. These girls ride around in limousines because their parents own

the companies, and it was just easier than driving. They had cleaning ladies, and nannies, and

gardeners, and private tutors. Now my family was by no means poor, but the life that these girls

lived was much more extravagant than anything that I could ever afford. It was after that Social

Studies class that I dreadfully proceeded to my English class. We were handed a small read book

with big words printed on the cover saying VOCABULARY. I told myself that I would, from

that day on, learn every vocabulary word inside of that red notebook so that I could sound like I

was just as scholarly as the rest of my classmates. We were tested on it once a week, and by the

end of the school year the majority of the book would be done. I could not wait that long though.

I wanted to read every page of the book by the third week of school and I devised a plan on how

I would do just that. Now, of course, those were quite high aspirations for a freshman, and

unfortunately, I never did follow through with my plan completely, but I did work extremely

hard to improve. I do truly believe that it is because of the uncomfortable position that I was put

in, that I learned to adapt and better myself. My school took pride in their English department, it

was one of the things that we were known for in Buffalo. This reputation pushed my classmates

and me to be the best that we could be. We had to speak publicly in front of the classroom often,

and wrote numerous papers consistently throughout the year, which although it was dreadful, did

help me become more comfortable and develop my language skills.


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My situation regarding high school is in some ways related to the story we read in class

No Kinda Sense by Delpit. In Myahs case she had switched schools because she was

uncomfortable in her first school, and found her place in her second school. Myah was an

African American girl who could speak proper English just like any Caucasian person could. She

attended a school which was predominantly white, which later became a problem because she

felt like she was very out of place. After 5th

grade Myah transferred to a school which was

predominantly African American, and began to truly grow into herself. In my case, I was more

comfortable with the surroundings in my first school, but it was the kind of comfort that would

not push me to grow. My second school had put me in an uncomfortable position, but not in the

sense that I didnt belong, but merely in the sense that I was slightly behind. Myahs education

flourished when she switched schools, as did mine. When I went to my new school, at first I was

uncomfortable, but that made me strive to be a better student.

On the other hand, in class we had talked about Ebonics and more specifically code

switching. Now, make no mistake, I am a Caucasian girl who grew up in a town that had a

population of about .5% African Americans, so in no way do I speak, nor can I hardly even

understand Ebonics in the slightest. I do though come from an extremely large Irish family. Both

my mother and my father have a 100% Irish background, but bother are Irish American. My

father being one of six and my mother one of seven, I have a very large family. To say the

absolute least, my family is very loud. If I ever have one of my friends come with me to a family

function I like to give them a little pep talk, and prepare them for what they are getting

themselves into. Specifically for dads family, we speak using terms such as AY and OH

and AH, all spoken very loudly accompanied with some kind of gesture, be it a good one, or in

some cases a not so good one. For instance, my immediate family is always late for our


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Christmas Eve party because we go to church right before it. When we walk in the door someone

will typically point at us and say AYY! Tommy is here! (Tommy being my Dad) and then

some others will chime in with the AYY! and then come over and give us all hugs and kisses.

In order to understand any conversations in my family you need to understand the phrases, the

gestures, and the randomly dispersed vowel sounds. I feel like my family uses code switching in

many cases, because although you may think that none of us can form a complete sentence, or

actually carry ourselves in a proper manner, we all most certainly can. The situation is what will

determine the kind of language being used.

The McDonald side is a very strong headed, obnoxiously loud, and uncontrollably loving

family. We will say what is on our minds in the bluntest of fashions, but will mean it in the nicest

of ways. Having grown up in my family, I was raised the same way. I have a very honest

personality, and typically will say what is on my mind. For instance, if someone tells me to be

honest, you better believe I am going to tell you the truth. Some say that honesty is an

attribute of being from the north, but I have yet to determine that.

Being from the North, Buffalo in particular, has definitely caused my language to be very

different from others. There are the typical questions about my alleged accent, but there are also

words that are accustomed to the North that differ from those which are accustomed to the South.

An article which has been passed throughout the internet points out a few specific differences

when saying We eat chicken wings, not Buffalo wings. . . They are sneakers, not tennis shoes.

Its a sucker, not a lollipop. . . We never cuss, but we swear entirely too much. All of these are

things that I did not even notice until I came to North Carolina for college. When I came down

the UNCC, my roommate, who is from the Raleigh area had mentioned that she forgot her tennis

shoes, which to me meant the shoes that she plays tennis in. Foolishly, I told her that I do not


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competitively play tennis so I do not have any, but she could borrow my sneakers if they fit her.

At first she thought that I was making fun of her for calling them tennis shoes, but in reality, I

had genuinely thought that she was talking about shoes that she plays tennis in. It was so odd for

me to actually experience a cultural difference through the aspect of language because I never

really thought that people literally spoke differently. Not only have there been a difference in

words, but the very obvious difference in pronunciation and dialect. Ever since I got down to

North Carolina people have been asking me where I am from, which I expected. Everyone tells

me that I have such an accent, while on the other hand, I think that they are the ones who speak

differently. For example, something that I noticed people pronounced differently is the i_e

kinds of words. When someone from down south is saying fire they pronounce it f-eye-er

while I pronounce it f-igh-er. There are so many little things such as that that differentiate me

from other people from different areas. The odd part is though, people may be from the same

state, and may only live a measly hour away from each other, but they still speak differently.

Being from Buffalo, New York, has given me a distinction like no other. I may be from New

York, but no, I do not say coffee with an accent like a typical person who was raised in New

York City may. I may be from Buffalo, but I am not from a different country (although I am

right across the river from one). I am from Buffalo, New York and that has made one of the

biggest impacts on who I am.

All of these previous discussed aspects have molded my language and literacy to make it

what it is today. Coming from an all-girls Catholic high school improved my language and

helped me carry myself with more respect and confidence. Growing up with a large Irish family

has made me very personable and able to adapt to different situations. Lastly coming from

Buffalo, New York I have a distinguishing accent, dialect, and language which not all others


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have. These things have not only given me a distinguishing factor though, they have given me a

home. When I meet someone from my high school Nardin Academy, we have an immediate

bond because we know that we have been molded by the same thing. When I meet someone from

Buffalo there is a sense of togetherness because we know about things that not everyone else

knows about. Language and literacy are much more than just how you talk and what you sound

like, but they are about where you are from, and what in your life has shaped you to be the

person you are today. As clich as it sounds, I am blessed to be the person that I am today, and I

would not change any of the factors in my life that have made me this way.

language and literacy final

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