Michael Centeno
Professor Schulte
English 11000
Self-Assessment Essay
Self-Assessment Essay

I am very surprised about how much I have learned in English 110 in this Spring 2021 Semester. I believed it was just gonna be another boring English class, filled with reading novels about topics I didn’t care about, to writing long essays about topics I had very little interest in. I was delightfully proved wrong. I have learned so much about techniques in the English language, and I learned more about this beautiful language in general. I learned about the several variations English is spoken, by different intersectional groups, such as English spoken by immigrants of all races, African-American English, and the “traditional” way of speaking English, one could say the academic version. I believe I accomplished the nine objectives this class layed out at the beginning of this class in February, and I believe this essay will prove this.
The first-course object of English 110 is “Recognize the role of language attitudes and standards in empowering, oppressing, and hierarchizing languages and their users, and be open to communicating across different languages and cultures.” I believe I have recognized this objective by learning about the ways English impacts immigrant groups and African-Americans, whether it was by reading and analyzing “Mother Tounge” by Amy Tang, which talked about the experience an immigrant from China and her mother went through when coming to the USA and learning English, to learning and reading and analyzing June Jordan’s “Nobody Mean More to Me Than You… “, which introduced to me the concept of African-American English, and why it is unfortunately looked down upon by some traditional English speakers. The next objective in English 11000 is “Explore and analyze, in writing and reading, a variety of genres and rhetorical situations.” This class had a long list of variables in the types of genres, from website readings to full-on excerpts. Different genres of reading were also offered in this class. “Develop strategies for reading, drafting, collaborating, revising, and editing” is the next objective. I learned all about drafting, collaborating, revising, and editing in deep detail in this class. Revising my papers, drafts, and several other assignments. I collaborated with several of my classmates via Zoom Breakout rooms, and we revised each of our assignments and papers, and then, gave each other tips and tricks on each of our assignments. The next objective of English 110 was “Recognize and practice key rhetorical terms and strategies when engaged in writing situations.” This objective occurred in every assignment for English 110. The next objective of this class, “Engage in the collaborative and social aspects of writing processes.” This class has helped me tremendously with social anxiety, through the collaborative writing process. It improved my writing and was probably one of the most fun aspects of English 11000. Collaboration via Zoom improved my work tenfold. The next class objective is “Understand and use print and digital technologies to address a range of audiences.” This objective is very important in an online-natured semester. Digital technologies were our ONLY way to address a range of audiences, whether it was the professor or our classmates. Print and digital technologies were our only way to communicate with our professor and classmate and get a grade. The next class objective is “Locate research sources (including academic journal articles, magazine and newspaper articles) in the library’s databases or archives and on the Internet and evaluate them for credibility, accuracy, timeliness, and bias.” This objective was used mostly for me during the time where I had to write my research paper, and I had to choose reliable sources for our paper. The next class objective for English 11000 is “Compose texts that integrating your stance with appropriate sources using strategies such as summary, critical analysis, interpretation, synthesis, and argumentation.” This happens with all of the assignments in English 110. The last course objective is “Practice systematic application of citation conventions.” Like the eighth course objective, this objective occurred in lots of assignments that I completed for English 110. Overall, this was an excellent class. It helped me grow more as a person and helped me learn things I didn’t previously know in the English language.

Michael Centeno
Professor Schulte
English 11000
Phase Three Cover Letter

In Phase Three, I wrote my first, true Research Essay. At first, I was a bit intimidated by the assignment. It had to be around 5-6 pages long, with a lot of citations that had to be used. Also, I knew that the subject that this paper covered had to be complex, so I chose a subject that I was sincerely interested in, the Spanish language and its place in the United States, and why it is looked down upon. This subject hits close to home, because Spanish was my first language, and my family and I have been discriminated against on several occasions due to the language we spoke. These experiences motivated me to write this research essay, and ultimately, made the 5-6 pages of writing go by relatively quickly.
First, I had to choose my eight sources. This was difficult for me because finding reliable sources on the internet isn’t easy. After I found my eight reliable sources, I then had to write about my sources, and compose my introductory paragraph. I wanted to write an introductory paragraph that was impactful and made sure it was something that caught the reader’s attention. I hope I achieved that. Next, I had to skim my light sources, so ultimately I think I chose 4-5 sources to use for my paper. When I finished my introductory paragraph, I then started on my paper, full force. This was actually rather easy. I enjoyed writing my paper, and while I was writing my paper, I learned several things throughout the way, things that I thought I had a firm concept on, but turns out I didn’t. Ultimately, I believe that Phase 3 was my favorite phase of this class. I learned more about my native language through this assignment. Through this assignment, I felt more connected to my native language, and it was ultimately a very beautiful thing. I felt several different emotions while writing my research paper. Emotions such as anger, pride, and intimacy towards both the Spanish and English languages were felt. Overall, I really enjoyed this assignment.

Michael Centeno
Professor Schulte
April 13th, 2021
Rhetorical Precis

Rhetorical Precis Source #1
Jose Fermoso, a freelance writer who covers Hispanic and World Culture at The Guardian, in his opinion article in The Guardian, “Why speaking Spanish is becoming dangerous in America”, published on May 22, 2018, addresses the topic of white supremacy in the United States and how that spurs hatred and racism towards Hispanics and Hispanic-Americans and the Spanish language. He supports this claim by giving an example of a specific woman named Sandy who is an attorney at a California law firm who was then talking to a colleague in Spanish, and “forcibly” asked to stop by a top executive at the firm. Then, Fermoso explains as to why this is on the rise: Conservative rhetoric and the GOP. Lastly, he gives examples: “last January, a woman was kicked out of a Florida UPS for speaking Spanish, the month prior an adult physically attacked legal South American immigrants – including a child – at a Canadian mall, and a few days ago a border agent in Montana arrested two women for the same thing, leaving them shaking with anger and crying at the unfairness of it all. Then there’s the case of the rich Manhattan lawyer who berated young workers at a deli for daring to communicate in the second most spoken language in the world in his presence.” Fermoso’s purpose in writing this text is to shine a light on how white supremacy is suppressing freedom of speech in the United States and how it is affecting Hispanics and the Spanish language in this country. He adopts a serious tone for the audience of The Guardian and those interested in the topic of Hispanophobia in the USA.

Rhetorical Precis Source #2
Mary Sanchez is a Hispanic-American from Kansas City, MO with Mexican ancestry who is a reporter and commentator who covers immigration, politics, and education and pays particular attention to Hispanics and their influence and importance in these particular fields. In her article in The Chicago Tribune, “Are Hispanics inferior? Conservative scholar thinks so”, addresses a particular example of a white supremacist Conservative scholar by the name of Jason Richwine who falsely argues that Hispanic-Americans are genetically less intelligent than others and can never assimilate into American society. Then, Sanchez gives solid, research-backed evidence that denounces Richwine’s claims, she writes, “Richwine is offensive, but he’s also wrong. Hispanics are assimilating at the same rates as previous immigrant groups, in some ways even faster due to technology. (Note: This column is written in English, by the daughter of an immigrant from Mexico.) Immigrants have lower rates of criminal conduct than native-born people. And a new study shows that Hispanic high school graduates have now overtaken white students in rates of enrollment into college.” Lastly, she denounces Richwine’s employer, The Heritage Foundation, as well as gives direct quotes from both Democrat and Republican politicians who denounce that foundation, as well. Sanchez’s purpose in writing this text is to give a direct example of how white supremacy is not only offensive but inherently stupid. Sanchez writes this article in a kind of “Gotcha” tone that proves Richwine to be wrong and makes him look like an idiot at the same time, those who are readers of The Chicago Tribune, and to those who are interested in how white supremacy alters reality in the worse way possible.

Rhetorical Analysis 2
In an article titled, “Cultural Identity and Language Barriers: My Story as an Immigrant” by Tu My To, the author writes about how she and her family immigrated from Vietnam to Monterey Park, California for better educational and career opportunities and overall better life. Tu My To writes, “As my mom often told me in the years afterward, my parents made the move because of the opportunities the United States had to offer, educational opportunities that would have been nonexistent had our family decided to stay in Vietnam.” She writes that her family had known only a few words of English, but she didn’t feel alone, as she lived in a majority-immigrant community, with the majority of residents being Chinese, Vietnamese, or Mexican. Tu My To writes, “Most of the classmates I had gone to school with also had parents who immigrated to the US, and many of us grew up in households where English was rarely if ever, spoken at home. Our community molded itself to the ethnic identities of its occupants. School notices were sent home in English, Chinese, Vietnamese, and Spanish.” She writes that during recess, English was rarely spoken. She writes about how things weren’t all that easy, though. As the first English speaker in her family, Tu My To had to be an interpreter for her parents, and she writes that her parents had struggled to learn English and that she took this skill for granted. However, she writes about how society has progressed into being more open about not knowing English in the United States. She writes, “Back then, my parents had few outlets for news or resources in Vietnamese. Today, there are plenty of over-the-air TV channels, several radio stations, a good selection of newspapers, along with numerous websites catered to many languages.”
Example #1
Tu My To writes about how she and her family moved to California from Vietnam in search of better life opportunities, opportunities that Vietnam couldn’t give her and her family. She writes about how her new community was primarily immigrant, and how that shaped her childhood, and how she learned English. She writes, “School notices were sent home in English, Chinese, Vietnamese, and Spanish. Many of my classes had one or two teacher’s aides who spoke a second language. Our elementary school monthly calendars were marked with important dates that included Christmas, Lunar New Year, and Cinco de Mayo. It was the norm, rather than the exception, that the playground during recess and lunch breaks was punctuated by conversations in languages other than English.” This differs from previous stories read in class, as in other stories, society was less welcome of foreign names or foreign languages, while in this article, it seems to be encouraged. To further back this class of how Tu My To uses language to make her argument, she writes, “It was a city where stores had Chinese or Vietnamese words written in the front in addition to English letters and where people would greet you in Chinese because, more often than not, you’d understand what they’re saying.”
Example #2
The second example is how Tu My Toh uses language to express how she takes her knowledge of the English language, while her parents struggled to learn and speak it. She writes, “In particular, as the first English-speaker in the family, we often act as the spokesperson for our parents. Open house at school often meant acting as the translator for my teachers and parents. Mail at home had to be reviewed and translated. Some things I took for granted were often obstacles to my parents. How can you select the option for Chinese or Vietnamese in automated telephone menus if you cannot understand the English instructions for doing so?” Taking a step back and recognizing that speaking English is a skill that is difficult to learn is a noble thing. Native English speakers may not usually acknowledge how difficult learning English may be for immigrants. Tu My Toh is using language to express that she takes English for granted while her parents struggled to complete basic day-to-day tasks because of their lack of knowledge of the language of the land.
In conclusion, Tu My Toh’s story is different than other stories previously read in class, because she and her family’s lack of knowledge of the English language were accepted in her community and society, and it was even actively encouraged by her school and in other aspects of the community. Although like other stories read in class, Tu My Toh’s family struggled with their lack of knowledge of the English language and needed their daughter’s help in performing basic tasks because of that lack of knowledge.

                       Works Cited

Tu My Toh. Cultural Identity and Language Barriers: My Story as an Immigrant. TheBraveStory.org. September 14th, 2015

Michael Centeno
Professor Schulte
English 10100
Rhetorical Analysis 1
Amy Tan’s Mother Tounge talks about how she grew up as a first-generation American citizen with a Chinese mother, and how that both positively and negatively shaped her English and her experience as a first-generation American. Tan questions why some people, particularly Asian-Americans, are so hesitant to go into fields and majors that pertain to English literature and the English language, and would much rather go into fields that pertain to Math or Science. Interestingly, Tan writes about how she talks about the different types of English she talks with different people. With her mother and her husband, she talks “broken” or casual English. With other people, she talks more formal English. This is a story that represents the unique identity of immigrants, particularly Asian-American immigrants who are finding a place in a new nation.
Example #1
Tan talks about how she has different varieties of English she uses with different people in her life. As previously stated, with close relatives, such as Tan’s husband or her mother, she uses a “broken” form of English. In her essay Mother Tounge, Tan writes, “I was walking down the street with my mother, and I again found myself conscious of the English I was using, the English I do use with her. We were talking about the price of new and used furniture and I heard myself saying this: “Not waste money that way.” My husband was with us as well, and he didn’t notice any switch in my English. And then I realized why. It’s because over the twenty years we’ve been together I’ve often used that same kind of English with him, and sometimes he even uses it with me. It has become our language of intimacy, a different sort of English that relates to family talk, the language I grew up with.” Tan probably does this because this was the English that she had learned and was familiar hearing in a comfortable, home-based setting. She also probably does this because maybe she doesn’t want to confuse her mother with the type of English she isn’t familiar with, the more formal type of English. Tan states in her essay that her mother’s English is “limited.”
Example #2
Tan talks about how she discovered her love for English later in her academic career, while in college. She switched majors from pre-med to English, stating her “rebellious nature.” In Mother Tongue, Tan writes, “Fortunately, I happen to be rebellious and enjoy the challenge of disproving assumptions made about me. I became an English major my first year in college, after being enrolled as pre-med.” She states that she is rebellious for switching majors because Asian-Americans don’t normally go into majors such as English or Creative Writing, but are keener on joining STEM majors such as Engineering or Pre-Med. Tan writes, “Because lately I’ve been asked, as a writer, why there are not more Asian Americans represented in American literature. Why are there few Asian Americans enrolled in creative writing programs? Why do so many Chinese students go into engineering! Well, these are broad sociological questions I can’t begin to answer. But I have noticed in surveys — in fact, just last week — that Asian students, as a whole, always do significantly better on math achievement tests than in English.”
In conclusion, Tan writes about how she is an anomaly in her ethnic group and family by speaking “proper” English instead of her family’s “broken” English. Because Amy and her family are Chinese immigrants, speaking “normal” English in her family will be inevitable as the generations go on.
Works Cited
Tan, Amy. Mother Tongue. 1990.

Cover Letter #2
In Phase 2, I completed my first-ever Rhetorical Analysis Essay. I also learned how to properly analyze text for its rhetorical features. I signed up for CUNY Academic Commons, and took the first step in building my digital portfolio by creating a WordPress website. I wrote a 1-page summary of the text which I had summarized for my first Rhetorical Analysis Essay, Amy Tan’s “Mother Tongue.” Creating a WordPress website was actually rather fun, as I have never created any form of website before. I was happy I didn’t have to code a new website, as I am not a Computer Science Major (that was a joke, I knew I never had to code to create a new website :-D.)
While this Phase was shorter than Phase 1, also a little less memorable, it had memorable moments. My favorite assignment of Phase 2 was definitely the first Rhetorical Analysis Essay. For this assignment, I chose to analyze my favorite story of this class, Amy Tan’s Mother Tongue. I hadn’t deeply analyzed text like that since my senior year AP English Literature class in high school. I also enjoyed creating my first website, which was also a very unique experience. One course learning outcome that I have gained from Phase One was “Recognize the role of language attitudes and standards in empowering, oppressing, and hierarchizing languages and their users, and be open to communicating across different languages and cultures.” I learned in this Phase to not take English for granted, and I also learned why deeply analyzing text is important, and how it can change one’s reading experience. I enjoyed creating my first personal website in this Phase, as well as analyzing text from Phase 1. By analyzing these Phase 1 texts, I had a new perspective on them.

Michael Centeno
Professor Schulte
April 6th, 2021
English 10100
Why Is Spanish Considered “Inferior” to Many?

The Spanish language is the second most spoken native language on Earth, with around 480 million native speakers, behind only Mandarin Chinese. The vast Spanish-language diaspora in the world is due in part to Spain, the country where the language originated, and its vast empire, at its peak, stretching from the southern tip of Latin America to modern-day Alaska, USA. The empire left an eternal legacy, creating several modern nations who all speak the mother tongue, Spanish. Despite this glorious legacy of the achievements of Spain and its language, it is considered by many to be “inferior”, particularly to some people who belong to the Anglosphere, a group of nations that were also established by imperial conquest, but this time, it was England who established its vast empire. Why is this so?
Where does this language even come from? The Spanish language derived from one empire and went on to serve another. The Roman Empire was a massive landmass that stretched from modern-day Portugal to modern-day Syria and occupied all the lands that surround the Mediterranean Sea. Vulgar Latin was the empire’s primary language, and Spanish, also known as Castilian, along with languages such as French, Portuguese, Italian, Romanian, and even some English, derived from Vulgar Latin. According to Brittanica.com, the Spanish language also derives from Arabic and contains many words that derive from Arabic. The article states that Castilian (or Spanish), “Became the language of the court of the kingdoms of Castile and León in the 12th century, and the dominance of Castile within Spain allowed it to become the official language of the state.” Most interestingly, the article states that Spanish differs throughout Spain. It writes, “In northern Castile, where the language is said to be spoken in its purest form, this is pronounced as an English th; in southern and western Spain it is pronounced as an English s. The prominence of people from these latter regions in the colonization of Latin America led to their pronunciation becoming the standard in American Spanish.”
Although Spain has had several controversies and low points in its long, imperial history, through its imperialism, it has given the world the second-most spoken language. The language is mostly spoken in the Caribbean, Central and South America, and Europe. According to Language Magazine, Spanish is spoken by 580 million people, and of those people, 483 million are native speakers of the language. The language is being actively studied by 22 million people in 110 different countries, according to the magazine’s website. This research was launched by the Instituto Cervantes in Madrid, Spain. The magazine concludes one of its paragraphs by writing, “Spanish is the third most-used language on the internet, where it has great growth potential.” The magazine expresses why learning a second language, whether it be Spanish or another language other than your native one, is so important. They write, “The launch was hosted by Cervantes director Luis García Montero, who said that “teaching a language is much more than teaching a vocabulary; it is sharing values and showing a culture of open identities and democratic values.” For Montero, disseminating Spanish and its culture helps to counteract global problems such as “intolerance, supremacy, or identity chimeras that consider diversity a threat.” By learning Spanish, the ignorance surrounding racial supremacy and anti-diversity can be counteracted. The Magazine quotes Luis García Montero, the director of the Instituto Cervantes. Lastly, the Magazine references Hispanophobia in the United States and also references some politician’s contempt for people who speak Spanish or another language other than English. The Magazine finishes by writing. “The Madrid launch was followed by one in New York and another in Los Angeles, demonstrating the Institute’s focus on the U.S., to which Montero added, “we want to stand by Hispanics in the U.S. against the politics of contempt and ‘English only.’”
With Spanish being such an important language with around seven percent of all humans knowing it, with more speakers of Spanish than English, and with an illustrious history spanning around two millennia, why is Spanish looked down upon in the United States, a country with tens of millions of Spanish speakers? Jose Fermoso, a freelance writer who covers Hispanic and World Culture at The Guardian, believes that White Supremacy among White Americans is the cause of this. in his opinion article in The Guardian, “Why speaking Spanish is becoming dangerous in America”, published on May 22, 2018, addresses the topic of white supremacy in the United States and how that spurs hatred and racism towards Hispanics and Hispanic-Americans and the Spanish language. Fermoso gives an example of a woman named Sandy who is an attorney at a California law firm who was then talking to a colleague in Spanish, and “forcibly” asked to stop by a top executive at the firm. Fermoso explains why this is on the rise: Conservative rhetoric and the GOP. Finally, he gives examples: “last January, a woman was kicked out of a Florida UPS for speaking Spanish, the month prior an adult physically attacked legal South American immigrants – including a child – at a Canadian mall, and a few days ago a border agent in Montana arrested two women for the same thing, leaving them shaking with anger and crying at the unfairness of it all. Then there’s the case of the rich Manhattan lawyer who berated young workers at a deli for daring to communicate in the second most spoken language in the world in his presence.”
An article published in the Chicago Tribune backs up Fermoso’s claim of how White Supremacy and the ignorance surrounding it can diminish the importance of another culture and language to some. Mary Sanchez is a Hispanic-American from Kansas City, MO with Mexican ancestry who is a reporter and commentator who covers immigration, politics, and education and pays particular attention to Hispanics and their influence and importance in these particular fields. In her article in The Chicago Tribune, “Are Hispanics inferior? Conservative scholar thinks so”, addresses a particular example of a white supremacist Conservative scholar by the name of Jason Richwine who falsely argues that Hispanic-Americans are genetically less intelligent than others and can never assimilate into American society. Sanchez gives evidence of why Richwine is completely wrong and makes him look rather dumb in the process. Sanchez writes, “Richwine is offensive, but he’s also wrong. Hispanics are assimilating at the same rates as previous immigrant groups, in some ways even faster due to technology. Immigrants have lower rates of criminal conduct than native-born people. And a new study shows that Hispanic high school graduates have now overtaken white students in rates of enrollment into college.”
White supremacy in the United States is real and alive, and it is the main reason why people who adhere to this ideology look down upon races that aren’t Anglo-Saxon and languages that aren’t English. However, another major problem that can contribute to this unfortunate, anti-Hispanic pandemic in the United States, Hispanophobia, the fear, hatred, and discrimination against Hispanic people, Hispanic culture, and the Spanish language. Roberto Rey Agudo is Language Program Director in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at Dartmouth College, and he writes for WBUR, a Boston-area radio station owned by Boston University. Agudo writes about the rise of Hispanophobia in the United States and cites several examples of how non-Hispanic Americans are becoming less and less tolerant towards Hispanic-Americans. Agudo writes, “these videos follow a very similar script. Shoppers, workers, or bystanders are called out and threatened for speaking Spanish in public — a variation on the refrain “This is America; speak English” — victims take a video of the exchange, which goes viral on social media and news coverage of the incident results in an outpouring of support for the victims.” Furthermore, Agudo offers several significant statistics in his article. He writes, “Hate crimes are up since 2016. They have increased by over 10 percent in the 10 largest cities. About 40 percent of Latinos have experienced some form of harassment, including verbal aggression for speaking Spanish. Statistically, Latinos are more likely to become victims of a hate crime than non-Hispanic whites or African-Americans.” Agudo gives many real-world examples that support these statistics. One of the more heartbreaking examples Agudo gives is when a deranged Utah man struck a father and son “with a metal pole while shouting “I hate Mexicans” and “I’m here to kill a Mexican.” Most significantly, Agudo closes his impactful article by writing, “Certainly, English is important for anybody who lives in the United States. However, we can all agree that when someone yells “This is America! Speak English” at Spanish speakers, or urges others to go back to their unprintable country, they are not looking forward to starting a thoughtful dialogue on multilingualism. It is, plain and simple, an act of hate.” All of Agudo’s examples of Hispanophobia throughout the United States show that not only is the fear of Hispanics and the Spanish language on the rise, but it is also thriving, and it is very scary for any Hispanic and Spanish-speaker who call the United States home.
To close out this essay, the Spanish language is the second-most spoken language in both the United States and the world. It has had a long history of around two millennia, started on the Iberian Peninsula, and through imperialism, and later on, technology became spoken in several nations with over 500 million active speakers, along with 20+ million different people actively learning the language. It is spoken by over 41 million people in the United States, making it the second-most spoken language in the country, behind English. However, because of White Supremacy and Hispanophobia in the United States, the language is at times ridiculed, mocked, overlooked, and underappreciated by those who don’t appreciate the language or the people who speak it. As seen in this essay, Hispanics can be verbally and/or physically abused for speaking their language, told to “go back” to countries they never even been to, and are told to “speak English only.” Ultimately, until White Supremacists and others can open up and learn the wrongs of their ways, Hispanophobia will thrive – and continue to increase.

Works Cited
“Spain.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 18 Apr. 2021, www.britannica.com/place/Spain.
“Spanish in the World.” Language Magazine, 9 Dec. 2019, www.languagemagazine.com/2019/11/18/spanish-in-the-world/.
Fermoso, Jose. “Why Speaking Spanish Is Becoming Dangerous in America.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 22 May 2018, www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/may/22/speaking-spanish-dangerous-america-aaron-schlossberg-ice.
Sanchez, Mary. “Are Hispanics Inferior? Conservative Scholar Thinks So.” Chicagotribune.com, 7 Sept. 2018, www.chicagotribune.com/opinion/ct-xpm-2013-05-10-sns-201305101200-tms-msanchezctnms-a20130510-20130510-story.html.
Agudo, Roberto Rey. “The Danger Of Speaking Spanish In Public.” The Danger Of Speaking Spanish In Public | Cognoscenti, WBUR, 4 Mar. 2019, www.wbur.org/cognoscenti/2019/03/04/spanish-hate-crime-oscars-roberto-rey-agudo.

Michael Centeno

Amy Tan’s Mother Tounge is about how a woman who grew up with an immigrant mother from China who speaks “poor” English debates with herself about what effect that has on her life, and how “proper” English is truly calculated. She talks about the art of the English language, and how complex it is. Tan writes, “I spend a great deal of my time thinking about the power of language-the way it can evoke an emotion, a visual image, a complex idea, or a simple truth. Language is the tool of my trade. And I use them all – all the Englishes I grew up with.” One really interesting thing about this essay is how Tan says she uses complex English when talking to her friends and colleagues, and she uses basic English when talking with her mother. I guess she does this when she talks with her mother so she can understand better. I find this funny because I do the same thing with my grandparents, whose English is also poor. Tan also writes that she uses the same type of poor English when talking with her husband, which is also interesting. One thing I find interesting is how she discusses how her language at home inhibited her ability to score high on English tests, or an IQ test, or even the SAT, and she blames it squarely on her mother, even though the studies show that language is developed more in peer groups than in households, according to Tan. She also gets into the stereotype of Asians being much better at Math than they are in English, and how she scored high on math tests, but low on English tests, and she asks the question: “Why there are not more Asian Americans represented in American literature. Why are there few Asian Americans enrolled in creative writing programs? Why do so many Chinese students go into engineering?” I found that part to be especially interesting. Another part I found interesting was how when Amy was on the phone with her mother’s stockbroker, she was “translating” her mother’s incorrect English to proper English, and stated that she was embarrassed by her mother’s English. That part of the story was interesting to me as well. Lastly, Tan writes about her “rebellious” nature and going against the “status-quo” so-to-speak, when she transfers from pre-med to English in her freshmen year of college. This essay is an overall fascinating love story of a new language that she and her mother are navigating and shows generational progress of the language. 

Works Cited:
Tan, Amy. Mother Tongue. The Threepenny Review, 1990.

Michael Centeno
Professor Schulte
English 11000
March 11th, 2021
Cover Letter Phase 1
Cover Letter

In the First Phase, I explored this class, and the topic it explores, the language of English, and its many variations. While I believed my English was pretty decent, (after all it is my native language and I’ve been studying it for about thirteen years now), I never explored the many variations that English has to offer. My audience in this Cover Letter is basically anyone who wants to read it honestly. Inclusivity rules! I learned about the variation of Black English, which was fascinating to learn about, as I have never heard of it until I took this class, and have learned about how the English language can impact many people of many different backgrounds, and how much the English language can mean to someone, which I never thought about until I took this class. An example of this is Amy Tan’s story, which I found to be very interesting. It was actually very interesting to explore how the English language has had such a big impact on other people in a way it never honestly had on me. I take the language for granted, and I haven’t really thought about it until I took this class.
One of the first assignments we had to complete in this class was to analyze Amy Tan’s “Mother Tongue.” This was probably my favorite assignment of Phase One. We explored Amy Tan’s story of being a first-generation American, whose family was discovering a new language, English, and named the struggles that she and her mother had to go through while moving away from their native language of Mandarin Chinese and moving towards English. She talks about the different varieties of English that she uses. With people like her mother and her husband, she uses informal, broken English. That is the variation of English that she is most comfortable with. With other people, she uses the more formal, academic variation of English. Like most people in Gen Z, I am most comfortable using informal English myself. Amy Tan’s “Mother Tongue” really made me realize that I take my own mother tongue for granted. Another assignment that also had an impact on my literacy was Saleem’s “Why I Keep Speaking Up…” This gave me an entirely new perspective on an immigrants struggle to learn and speak English, and trying to establish one’s self in a predominately white nation with a non-white sounding name. As a person who is half-white with a white-sounding name, I really found Saleem’s perspective to be interesting. I never had his viewpoint before.
One course learning outcome that I have gained from Phase One was “Recognize the role of language attitudes and standards in empowering, oppressing, and hierarchizing languages and their users, and be open to communicating across different languages and cultures.”It is through the viewpoints of people from many backgrounds that I have learned new things, and I am a better man for it. English and language as a whole have a profound way of shaping one’s life, and I had never fully realized that until I took this class.

Michael Centeno
Professor Schulte
English 11000
WLLN Final
Understanding the importance of language can have a real effect on the way people learn and appreciate the study of English and any other language. As a sixth-grader, I never fully understood why the language was so important, I took it for granted. Until a little later in life, I realized how important it is. Whether language is written, spoken, or sign, the main way humans communicate is oddly unique, no other animal communicates the way we do. Humans display their superior intelligence through language and literature. Most importantly, however, language and literature are how we as humans communicate our ideas, our emotions, and our feelings towards each other. An example of how revolutionary language is can be exemplified by the printing press created in the 16th century. This revolutionary invention sparked the Era of Englightenment in the Western World, where the great concepts of mathematics, science, religion, and entertainment all spread to the common folk by mass printouts, ultimately language and literature. This sparked significant change and radical ideas, like the ideas of Locke and democracy which inspired the founding of the United States. Anyways, my point being the importance of language is overlooked, and at the time I experienced the story that I am about to tell in this essay, I didn’t appreciate the beauty of language until a later date.
Bragging is something I take no pride in doing and honestly, I find people who brag a lot somewhat intolerable but for this assignment, I think I’ll make a slight exception to my own rules and moral codes. I have always been kind of good at studying the English language and literature. I won two school speech competitions, made it to the city-wide competition, have won poetry competitions in high school, and some spelling bees. Although I cringe when writing this, I do take pride in these various accomplishments, and will always remember them. Even though English isn’t my favorite academic subject (I am a mechanical engineering major after all), for some reason most of my academic achievements surround it, so it does hold a special place in my heart so-to-speak. While I am proud of all of my academic accomplishments in the academic subject of English and English Literature, the most important accomplishment for me is when I made it to the City-wide level of the Speech Bee, and yes, it was called a Speech Bee.
It was in the 6th grade, and I was twelve years old. We had to write s speech about a famous American landmark, then recite it. I made my speech about the US Capitol Building. My teacher would call us in alphabetical order. Because of the alphabetical nature of my last name, which begins with a “C”, I would be among the first 11 or so people to go up in a class of around 25. Out of those 11 people, only a few made it through their speech. This certainly made the rest of us nervous. Then, my time to go up to the front of the class eventually came. I took a deep breath, then recited. It took about 2 minutes, but once it was over, I felt adrenaline and excitement build up in me. It was a great feeling, a form of victory. A week later, the school-wide competition came about, and then, the City-Wide competition. I didn’t make the last round, which was in Washington DC, but it was the highlight of my academic career, despite it being relatively early in my academic career. It was certainly something I won’t forget.
Even though I didn’t make it past the city level, and even though I was only 11 and in the 6th grade, I learned a lot from this experience. This was truly my first experience of both true victory and true loss in my life, and it was both a rewarding and tough experience. When you’re young, it’s actually rather important to go through both highs and lows in life, because those experiences shape you as a person, especially at age 11. And even though it’s very difficult to not succeed at that young age, I eventually reaped the rewards of losing later in life, throughout high school, and now starting in college. So ultimately, while I and my younger self wish we could’ve made it to the national level, I’m glad it didn’t happen. And I’m also glad I’m finished writing this because writing a whole essay about myself was rather difficult and cringeworthy.