Matthew Raghunauth
Prof. Kirsten Kaschocock
English 101
October 27, 2014
“The Result is
Usually Delightful”: Writing Genuinely
I have reaped the linguistic benefits of
being reared by foreign parents. English is my first language, as it is my
parents’. However, because they were born in Guyana, my parents spoke Pidgeon
English- a broken and slightly incorrect form of the language. Some may find it
humorous that with a Caribbean flair, my family members would say things like ‘bush
along the road’ when driving through the woods,
‘hard ears’ when someone’s stubborn, or ‘big eye’ when someone is
gluttonous. Because of these broken phrases I’ve grown up hearing that I
believe I am able of interpreting English and writing in many ways. Writers
Kurt Vonnegut, and George Orwell note that they write well, and others can too,
by remaining genuine in their writing style.
In his essay, Why I Write, Orwell says that interesting subjects will come easily
to the writer who relates the work to their life:
[
A writers] subject matter will be
determined by the age he lives in — at least this is true tumultuous, revolutionary ages like our own —
but before he ever begins to write he will have acquired an emotional attitude
from which he will never completely escape. It is his job, no doubt, to
discipline his temperament and avoid getting stuck at some immature stage, in
some perverse mood; but if he escapes from his early influences altogether, he
will have killed his impulse to write.
He
goes on to say that the writer must then refine their subject matter to avoid
being myopic. In that refinement process however, Orwell cautions that if one
tunes out too much of their personality, the emotion and passion in the piece
will have escaped. I hated writing in middle school because we were asked to
tune out our emotion and focus rather, on specific writing technicalities. When
asked to write an essay in ‘language arts’, we had to adhere to the strict five-paragraph
format, which gasped for originality and vigor. But of course, such creativity
was not allowed. In middle school, strong emotion wasn’t necessary for our
writing; we tediously had to regurgitate all the terms and techniques learned
in the previous week into one smorgasbord of phonemes.
I developed my true writer’s voice
in junior year. Between the newly found art of persuasion, my inherited fiery
temper, and my new interest in electro-folk-pop, I enjoyed arguing. In
particular, I discovered my now favorite band, Crystal Castles. The
noisy-electronic duo fueled my passion with a fusion of angst and dreamy synth.
I argued in the same style as I’ve heard my parents, enhanced with the rhetoric
learned in class. Orwell continues to say, “I am not able, and do not want,
completely to abandon the world view that I acquired in childhood.” The passion
in my writing that I use to defend my opinion derives from the values and
morals my parents taught me growing up. One of the values my parents taught me
is to defend myself when something I deserve is taken from me, and not to cower
with reluctance.
Drexel
had always been my top school, but my parents firmly believed the financial
burden would outweigh the benefits of pursuing a design, I fervently assured
them otherwise. Persistence runs in the family, and it was most apparent during
college acceptance letter season. I
applied to seven schools but I was only serious and excited about one of them-
Drexel. My parents grew irksome while I only spoke of my potential future plans
at Drexel, disregarding any ideas about other schools. They soon took offence
to my disregard, taking it that I disregarded their opinion and guidance. My
mother and I got into an argument one cold day as I awaited acceptance letters,
she was especially with my impatience and stubbornness. I yelled back to my
mother that she may be the most miserable people I know pursuing a painstaking
nursing career she does not enjoy just for the financial value; to which she
responded ‘I’d rather be miserable than be a starving artist’. This is how my
family argues. We are rough, blunt, and passionate. I am completely grateful
for all that my mother has provided- I actually wrote my entire college essay
about my gratitude to her. We’re personal with our attacks, and often regret the
torments that leave our mouths instantly.
My parents also often use British
phrases and pronunciations- Guyana was once a British Colony- and I often use
some of them in my writing. These phrases are inherent to me, and sometimes often
lack in our vernacular, making them identifiable in my writing. A relatively
British grammar style my parents use involves question asking. Rather than the
American ‘Are you coming?’ my parents would say ‘You are coming?’ I realize
that this small inversion of the subject sounds exotic, and I use similar
phrases as syntactic embellishment. Alternatively, is the Guyanese slang my parents
toss about in conversation. Casually chatting, emphasis is achieved though
repetition, so rather than saying ‘come right
now’, my family would say ‘come now now.’
I try avoid using this style often in my writing however because I know
that it is blatantly wrong wrong.
In
How to Write with Style, by Kurt Vonnegut, eight descriptions on successful
writing are listed. Number five on that
list is ‘sound like yourself’. Vonnegut explains, “If [your first language]
happens not to be Standard English, and if it shows itself when you write Standard
English, the result is usually delightful.” I like to think that my writing
delights the reader, or that it at least does not bore them. Either way, since
the liberty to write genuinely was granted in high school, I will continue to
do so in all of my dialogs, continuously trying to improve.
Works Cited
Orwell,
George. “Why I Write”: The
Collected Essays, Journalism and Letters of George Orwell
(1968)
n. pag. Web. 8 Oct. 2014
Vonnegut,
Kurt. “How to Write with Style”: Transactions
on Professional Communication. 2 pag.
24. Web. 8 Oct. 2014
