Words

The recognition and usage rate for the f-word is unbelievable. A four-year-old will hear it, use it, be punished, and learn it's a "bad word", a teacher will walk by two students talking about their f-ing great weekend plans and understand their overwhelming excitement, and maybe even you've used it in a moment of distress. But, in all of these situations, the word is never used to describe "plowing, as in a field" (Germanic origins)- just like how the word niger (Latin root) was never meant to evolve into a derogatory term for African Americans.

However, why do some pejoratives deliver a stronger impact than others? In A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansbury, Mrs. Johnson exclaims, "Why if we left it up to these here crackers, the poor niggers wouldn't have nothing- (She clasps her hand over her mouth.)- Oh, I always forgets you (Mama) don't 'low that word in your house." Mama solemnly replies, "No- I don't 'low it." But, crackers... Mrs. Johnson uses the word "crackers" with the word "nigger". Crackers is a negative slang term for white people, though fairly uncommon now, but why isn't it also banned in her home? It originates from a white man cracking a whip on his animals, his slaves; a man who slashed new, disgusting scars on humanity's history; someone who has corrupted the God given order of love among his people. Why is that word allowed?

Because society as a whole gives power to it's language and has deemed that only a certain set of words are "bad". We can connote anything to any word, but it's easier if we just embrace what we've been handed. So, we can fall into three categories: those who use the words freely, those who abstain out of respect to the public, or those who abstain because they believe it is the "right" thing to do. Whatever category you fall into though,  it's possible to collectively negate the unsavory associations of such powerful words: stop using swears as a slam and stop reacting harshly to unpleasant words. As a group, we have a language, but as an individual we can change what it all means.

My City: Troy

James Weldon Johnson captures my beliefs in his sonnet "My City". His use of rhetorical devices creatively conveys his point that the city life is far superior to the beauties of nature. Even though he questions whether he'll miss the "smell of flowers" or "singing birds", he decisively chooses the city's "sights and sounds" when he has to "sleep death's endless night".

Troy has a population of approximately 81, 500 people and it seems rather dismal when compared to Manhattan's staggering population of 1,602,000. Even though the size of a party doesn't determine how fun it will be, a large amount of people in one place ensures that you are never alone, albeit maybe still lonely even surrounded by people like in "The Weary Blues" when the singer croons "ain't got nobody in all this world... but ma self". Also, it promises the atmosphere is always charged with possibilities. For instance, everything in Troy is closed by 8 pm and the suburban houses have been locked, with their porch lights on, by 9 pm. It's boring. But at 10 pm in Manhattan, the night life is just waking up. True, our cute little city does have more nice city-maintained parks and pretty nature trails, but I would gladly give it up for "the thrill that comes from being of her (Manhattan) a part".

Times have changed since Johnson, but city life is just as rambunctious and beautiful!

 <- Manhattan!

<- ... Troy...

Outside/Inside

Instead of calling the 20's a Jazz Age, I think it would be more fitting if we called it the "Extended Gilded Age". On surface level, Jordan is a talented young woman in a male dominated sport, wealthy, young, and pretty, but underneath it all, she has the personality of a stick and the morality of a naughty child.

Her rise to fame in golfing only came about because she deliberately cheated in a match, illegally moving the ball. As she continues her career, her immoral decision doesn't seem to bother her. Fitzgerald also shows us her particular mindset by Nick commenting on her bad driving. Since she believes it takes two to cause an accident, she is fine with being dangerous and unfair. The high social status she carries should show that she is more refined than that, that she is educated enough to make "good" choices for society's benefit. However, like most of the East-Eggers, she takes her money for granted and doesn't care much for  life or others. Her quick engagement at the end of the novel shows her inability to think ahead as she currently coasts from party to party.

Her inner emptiness reminds me of the students whose lives are falling apart internally. Yes, they look great on paper. 4.0 GPA, president of two clubs, varsity sports..., but they have to cope with mental stipulations, too. They might be socially awkward, or completely bipolar, or filled with rage problems.  Their wonderful exterior shell conceals the roughness beneath.

The good-on-outside-bad-on-inside cliche can be found throughout history, from the 20's to now, and probably even before.


By the way...
personality=