In this assignment, you are going to learn about how using different accents and languages can highlight people’s identity. First, you will look at a talk in which Daniel García Ordaz explains mimicry: imitating someone or something. Then you will listen to his poem in which he imitates different kinds of people. In the second part of the assignment, you will analyse how these imitations function in the poem and what they mean. Finally, you will reflect on how your own identity is influenced by talking in a certain way.
to analyse how languages and accents influence identity
to reflect on how your own language use influences your behaviour and idenity
For teachers who want to adapt this assignment into the classroom, a small set of instructions can be found here.
Want to do another assignment from Daniel García? Have a look at "Securing The Blessings".
Part 1: First encounter
About the author
Daniel García Ordaz is poet and teacher at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, which is about 10 minutes from the Mexican border. He is the son of Mexican immigrants. Through mimicry, as a spoken word poet, he encourages people to empathize and understand one another.
1. First you are going to listen to García’s Tedx Talk Mimicry As A Form of Empowerment. In the second half of the talk, he performs his poem You Know What I’m Sayin’?
2. Read the poem out loud yourself.
a. García talks about how he wants to empower people to empathize and understand one another. After having read the poem out loud yourself, do you think his ideas about spoken word poetry that you found in the video will help accomplish this? Explain.
b. What do you now think talking like an American is or can be like?
Part 2: Analysis
1. You Know What I’m Sayin’? is all about the spoken word.
a. Identify the parts that make up the spoken word and provide examples from the poem
b. How many different kinds of spoken word make up the American society in the poem?
2. It’s, like, … “The way people talk, and / stuff?”/ Like it’s part of their walk. / It’s who they are. / It’s what makes them tick, /. Relate this part of the poem to what García said in his talk about recognizing different types of Americans by their accents and behavior when he was in the navy. How does he show this in his poem?
3. You belong – and you’re able to share / About the things that you care / About and think. / It’s a chain and you’re a link. How does the spoken word, and the way in which you speak help you in belonging?
4. The “Baby, you lookin’fine. -part of the poem is an example of a certain kind of speech: How men try to impress women. Identify three other examples from the poem and name and explain how each of them is an example of a certain kind of speech.
5. In the section And where were you when you heard the speaker relates to spoken word to several historical events.
a. There are nine historical events that can be found. Identify them by referring to the lines in the poem that correspond to the event. Explain their meanings (the nine events the lines relate to).
b. In what way(s) does history influence the spoken word?
6. The last part of the poem relates to a biblical passage on the revelation at Sinai described in Exodus 19 and 20, where God spoke the ten commandments and after which they were written down. The narrator then concludes with And the Good book says… / Well I don’t want to step on toes,
a. What does stepping on toes refer to in this case?
b. Why would it be a problem if the speaker carried on?
c. What is the difference between the spoken and written word in the poem?
Part 3: Reflection
1. What is the spoken word to you? Describe how the way(s) in which you speak influence your identity. Provide examples from your own life. Include different people or groups you talk to or with or different occasions, and how these shifts in identity are reflected in your language use.
2. As we have seen and heard, English never sounds one certain way. In the United States, over 350 languages are spoken as of 2015 and different kinds and occasions of English are reflected in the poem. The ways in which the spoken word is portrayed in the poem have influenced us in our associations with certain types of people that are mimicked. As an English as a second language learner, reflect on what influenced your decisions on the accent you have chosen and how people might perceive you as a result.
In the Hispanic tradition, the mother’s last name (maiden name / surname) is used to honor them. This is not on a certificate of birth or any legal document. It is only used to honor and acknowledge your mother, as most Latin Americans do. There is no hyphen between a person’s last name and their mother’s last name as that would make it one name. Accents are also important in Hispanic names as they relate to pronunciations.
So for example with the author of the poem you have analysed: Daniel is his first name, García is his last name (his father’s name) and Ordaz is his mother’s name. The name of the mother, if used, is always supposed to be at the end, as in Daniel García Ordaz.