January 29: George Orwell, "Politics and the English Language"

1. Orwell suggests that English usage of his time is in a bad way and needs to be improved. He offers several "dos" and "don't" to help improve the language. Yet he also seems to suggest that English usage (whether good or bad) is an essentially political act. Those that choose to write "well" by his standards are making a conscious political statement, as are many who chose to write "poorly." How can English usage be construed as political? How and why do people use "bad" English to achieve certain political or social ends? Why is Orwell particularly harsh on the language of governments and political parties? What will happen to our society if we continue to use bad English? Why is the state of English usage connected tot he state of society, for Orwell? Describe the "politicalness" of English usage, as defined and described by Orwell in his essay.

January 31. Amy Tan, "Mother Tongue"

Tan's piece is entitled "Mother Tongue" which can be defined as ones' native tongue, the language of one's childhood, of one's family, of one's homeland.  But it is clear that Tan has more than one meaning for "mother tongue,"  which makes the simple definition of the term impossible.  What is Tan's mother tongue?  Is it English?  Is it the "broken English "of her mother/  Why did Tan feel ashamed of her mother's English?  Why did she feel more comfortable with math and science than English in school?  Why does Tan insist that there are more than one "Englishs"?  Isn't there only one?  Descibe Tan's use of the term "mother tongue" and how it complicates a simple understanding of one's "native tongue."

February 5: Richard Rodriguez, "Speaking a Public Language"; Leslie Marmon Silko, "Language and Literature from a Pueblo Indian Perspective"
1. Rodriguez makes a distinction between "public" and "private" language:  one (English) is the language of school; the other, (Spanish) is the language of home.  How does Rodriguez define the distinction between these?  Why is English public and Spanish private?  What happens when the public language invades his home, when his family begins to speak it?  Why does the achievement of the public seem to require the loss of the private?  If Rodriguez is so critical of advocates of bi-lingual education, why is he so downbeat about his own childhood education (learning English) at the end of his essay?
Discuss the distinction between "public" and "private" language and Rodriguez's own  experience in learning English in "Speaking a Public Language."

February 12. Silko stresses the importance of storytelling in Pueblo Indian culture:  Pueblo literature not only takes the form of storytelling; storytelling is the mode by  which people in the community communicate with each other.  How does storytelling work exactly in this culture?  Any specific examples of how people use storytelling in their everyday communication?   How dos the storytelling form structure Silko's language in the essay you are reading?    Why does he describe his argument as a "spider's web"?  Are there limits to the storytelling approach to language?  What happens when you leave the small community in which you grew up?  How do the stories continue to live when the community is exposed to outside cultural influences?  Discuss the importance of storytelling and the way it structures Pueblo literature and language in Silko's essay.

February 14: Salman Rushdie, "Outside the Whale"
Rushdie in an English-speaking Indian writer discussing a spate of popular films and books about colonial India by white British writers, so his focus is on modern British attitudes about their colonial past.  However, he is also making a general point about the relationship between politics and literature.  Arguing against George Orwell, Rushdie insists on the  need for political fiction and on politicized literary analysis.  Why, according to Rushdie, is a "political" analysis of literature so important?  What are his specific complaints about the examples of colonial films and novels he cites?  How can literature change the way people think about their society and its politics?  Does he cite any examples?  What is the "whale"?  Why does Orwell say a writer must live "inside" the whale?  Why does Rushdie insist we live "outside" it (or alternatively, that there is no whale?)  Discuss Rushdie's call for (writing) political literature and/or  analyzing literature politically.