Essay

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