Outcome 2

                        I have chosen Short Assignment 1.2 to demonstrate how I met the requirements for Outcome 2. In this assignment, we were required to synthesis two texts that we had studied in class and at home. These assignments were James Baldwin’s “If Black English isn’t a Language, Then Tell Me, What is?”, and the chapter called “How to Tame a Wild Tongue” from Gloria Anzaldua’s book Borderlands/La Frontera. Both of these texts discuss language as a source of commonality and as a way to separate people. In the Short Assignment 1.2 I demonstrated my ability to quote both authors and use their content together in order to support my claim. “ ‘A Frenchman living in Paris speaks a subtly and crucially different language from that of the man living in Marseilles; neither sounds very much like a man living in Quebec; and they would all have great difficulty in apprehending what the man from Guadeloupe, or Martinique is saying.’(Baldwin 350). They are all speaking French but with a dialect true to their own territory.” This example was taken from Short Assignment 1.2, and displays my ability to quote the author and use his information to support my claim. I also quoted the authors sequentially, and used them both as sources within a paragraph, one after the other, in order to emphasize the idea and additionally have them support each other. This creates a dynamic that can be described as the two sources have a “conversation” with each other. Furthermore, I quoted the authors and developed what they had said in their quotes. “Baldwin explains that language ‘is the most vivid and crucial key to identity: It reveals the private identity, and connects one with, or divorces one from, the larger, public, or communal identity’ (Baldwin 350). This statement can be applied to the south of France which takes pride in its rich culture that was highly influenced by Spain, Italy, and Northern Africa.” In this extract, I cited one of the ideas of James Baldwin, but did not stop there as I applied it to my own knowledge and continued to analyze the idea, in order to further support my claim. I was unable to meet the “utilize multiple kinds of evidence gathered from various sources” demand of Outcome 2 with Short Assignment 1.2. As a result, I was required to incorporate Major Paper 1 in addition to Short Assignment 1.2, to fulfill all of the demands of Outcome 2. When writing Major Paper 1, I was able to incorporate multiple sources such as notes from interviews that I previously performed. I had gathered these notes from the three people of different linguistic backgrounds that I had interviewed, and successfully cited them to support my ideas. Furthermore, I was also able to draw upon personal experiences, and use both texts that we had studied in class. Altogether this essay incorporated and synthesized a variety of sources and managed to create a dynamic were the sources cited complemented each other and were able to come together and support my argument. The final demand for Outcome 2 was to have followed the correct guidelines necessary for the MLA format of documenting sources. Short assignment 1.2 has a works cited page at the end that cites both of the texts as well as the people interviewed as sources. All the work cited was used at some point within the content of the assignment, and the way they are cited follows MLA format correctly. The texts are also placed in alphabetical order, which was a comment that my teacher had asked me to fix for the portfolio, on the first draft of this assignment.