Language and Identity

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Language and Identity
Language plays an essential role in enhancing how people express one another. People can change their perspectives in society through language. Written language is one of the ways authors communicate to their audience or create a different perspective about a group of people in society. Every author should ensure that they use language in the right manner while representing their thoughts about a particular topic. Various texts have been written to elaborate on this concept. Among them is James Baldwin’s “If Black English Isn't a Language, Then Tell Me, What Is," published in 1997. The text gives a detailed outline of the meaning of language and what it represents. Another text is Anzaldúa’s “Speaking in Tongues: A Letter to 3rd World Women Writers, " published in 1981. This essay, which was written in a letter, encourages women of color to express their experiences through writing. This paper will discuss the connection between the two texts and how language helps in enhancing communication between groups of individuals.
The two texts focus on the role played by language in expressing people’s thoughts. People from different parts of the word's importance to a particular text might vary from one person to another. Therefore, every author has to ensure that the language used to express their thoughts or experiences is meaningful enough to capture the reader's attention. According to Baldwin, Black English is a language developed to enable people to express their emotions and thoughts. He points out that people evolve languages to help describe and control different circumstances in their lives (Baldwin 5). The language also prevents people from being submerged by certain realities that they cannot communicate fluently. This connects to Anzaldúa’s letter where she urges female writers from third-world countries to reclaim themselves through the content they write to change mainstream society's notions about them. This means that the female writers will use language to express themselves to change the perception that people have about them. The author points out that writing enables her to reclaim what the world has taken away from her (Anzaldúa 165). Such enables people to connect with the text netter because they can understand the power being depicted through the language. When the author is familiar with a particular language, they will find it easy to express themselves better than in a situation where they did not know much about the language. Therefore, both texts depict the meaning of language in today’s world and the impact it can have on the reader.
The two texts also focus on the reader as the main determinant of the meaning of language. When an author writes a text, the interpretation of that texts varies from one person to another. This will also depend on how they use language. Baldwin points out that language is power and that it can be a dangerous tool. Therefore, if used well, it can effectively represent the author’s emotions and thoughts in a way that society will understand (Baldwin 5). This concept connects to Anzaldúa&rsq...