Reader response for my English Composition class

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Tyler Guna
Robert A Berens
College Composition
3 June 2015
Title
As we covered our materials for our first essay one general idea stood out to me, the idea
that language and how and where we use it is important. For example in Bell Hook’s article she
speaks about being stuck in a space where she was too educated to hold a meaningful
conversation with her parents. While in Cofer’s article she speaks about not knowing much
English and how it affected her. In each of the texts we covered the authors had different stories
to tell that always came back to the focal point of either being too familiar with language or on
the other end of the spectrum being extremely uneducated in the matter. In the end it makes you
stop and think how the language we use on a day to day basis shapes our interactions with others
and also shapes our personal development.
I caught myself intrigued by Bell Hook’s piece we examined in class. I like when she
started talking about speaking in an academic world compared to the “real world”. She stated
that outside of the world of academia in our social settings we could adjust our way of speaking
to meet whatever needs the current situation may hold. My favorite part about her article was
when she said “What is true is that we make choices , we choose our audiences, that we choose
voices to hear and voices to silence. If I do not speak in a language that can be understood, then
there is little chance for dialogue. In my opinion in terms of language and how it is used that is
probably one of the greatest quotes I have ever read in my entire life. So when we want to get a
point across to a certain group of people we have to know how to tailor our words to reach these

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people and connect with our audience. Also speaking on “voices to hear and voices to silence” If
we effectively reach the target audience the choose to hear our voice and acknowledge our point
of view, in turn though people who might be outside of our audience or if your audience refuses
to acknowledge you they can choose to silence your voice.
So what would happen if me, being a white male decided to try to speak to the masses
and try to reach an audience of African American males on the subject of police brutality?
Would my ethnicity silence my voice to this group of young men? Would my socioeconomic
status effect this same thing in turn? Either of these things would essentially keep me from
attempting to reach this audience. But in the audience's mind they would hold this sense of my
skin color and my life experiences to theirs and most likely in turn decided that I have not
walked the path they have walked on and I haven’t shared the same life experiences. Also I
haven’t had to deal with the struggles they have to because of the color of their skin.
My real question is regardless of the things I stated above, is there anyway I could
possibly reach these people? If I do even hold a sliver of a chance to reach this audience it would
all be dictated by one thing, did i present and mold my words towards my audience well enough
to give them the sense that I just might be able to relate. Our words can be our friends or our
enemies, they can cast rays of hope over a group of people, or on the other end of the spectrum
they can belittle and hurt others.