Blog #35 - Laiba Ali - Period 9 - 5/14/2020

BLOG #35, Laiba Ali, Period 9, 5/14/20 

5/14/20 

Laiba Ali 

Period 9 

Aim : How does language construct and impact thought? 

Do Now: With your partner, choose a word from each column to form your own Shakespearean Insult. Begin with “Thou,” then hurl the phrase at the unsuspecting bystander. Lastly, once your insults are created, translate them into modern English. 

     To begin class, we had a challenge for a do now. Given three columns of Shakespearean words and adjectives, we were told to pick and choose a word from each column to come up with Shakespearean insults. This part, everyone agreed, was easy. Words like “hideous,” “reeky,” and “whoreson” earned laughs from many students, especially when grouped with words like “onion-eyed,” “fat-kidneyed,” and “hedge-pig.” I came up with “thou a hideous, onion-eyed jack-a-nape” and “thou reeky, heavy-headed remnant,” while others put together insults like “thou a saucy, lily-livered ruffian.” The harder part, however, was when we had to translate them. Many students, like myself, are not very fluent in Shakespearean, so coming up with translations wasn’t exactly the easiest. I sought a little help from Google, but my translations came out as “an ugly, conceited person, who’s looks could send a chill down your spine” and “a smelly, big headed, insignificant person.” Overall, this was a nice, light-hearted way to start class about a pretty heavy book and topic. 

The Lesson: 

     Speaking of, we proceeded to discuss Chapter One of our new reading, 1984 by George Orwell. It was our homework to read the first chapter, so Ms. Peterson began by asking for our opinions on the book, and on the sci-fi genre in general. Most students stated that they didn’t love the book so far and that sci-fi is not their favorite genre for reading. Ms. Peterson concluded this part of the lesson by agreeing that she, too, did not love sci-fi in high school either, but that opinion changed as she grew older. 

     When we began to talk about what’s actually happening in the book, a student told us the setting of the story, Oceania, and another explained the language of the book, Newspeak, adding that Newspeak is a simplified version of English. This cleared a question that I, personally, had. Then, another student made a great connection back to the Do Now. He pointed out that just like how we don’t use higher level adjectives to describe people, rather, sticking to simpler words, Newspeak confines the people of the language to simple words. 

     To continue, we watched a TED Talk by Lera Boroditsky, a cognitive scientist, about the question, “does the language we speak shape the way we think?” She talked about how this is an ancient question, and only recently was there research available to weigh in. She shared “examples of languages, from an Aboriginal community in Australia that uses cardinal directions instead of left and right to the multiple words for blue in Russian.” She used the example of other languages using cardinal directions to point out that because we aren’t taught or told to do certain things, we often assume we can’t, and make some excuse for it. This point especially stuck with me. It made me realize how many things I could probably do, if only I was taught to do them. It also made me think of children of third-world countries where education is not readily available. Who knows what those children could have achieved, given the opportunity. 

     Then, we played a game of Taboo, except Ms. Peterson’s Remote Learning version. The directions read, “normally, you would be given a main card and then five other words, which you cannot say, while trying to explain the main word to other people. In this case, I will give you the main word, as well as the five other words, and you must create 3-5 words, which could be used to describe the main word.” The word we were given was “IPad,” and we were not allowed to use the words “apple, device, electronic, tablet, and toy.” The class had a couple minutes to put together their words, and agreed that the activity wasn’t too hard. While I came up with “Staten Island Technical note-taking,” referring to the fact that 99% of students here have IPads as their school device for taking notes, others said “overpriced useful gadget,” “touchscreen,” “bigger iphone,” and, my personal favorite, “digital notebook.” Then, we played another round of Taboo, only this time, we were given 5 main words from which we were to choose one to describe in 5 words. The main word choices include: belief, equality, freedom, integrity, and pride. I chose belief, and within two minutes, I had these 5 words lined up: values, morals, devotion, religion, and personal thought. When it came time to share, another student listed his 5 words for belief: religion, morals, idea, thought, and believed. Although Ms. Peterson said his last word was invalid for the game we were playing, his list was eerily similar. A different student listed her words for freedom, saying: opposite of trapped, will, and choice. I agree with the choice of these words 100%. I would also add liberty, if there wasn’t a word limit. When asked, the class came to an agreement that this round was a bit harder than the other. 

     The significance of playing these two rounds of Taboo is to prove that trying to describe a physical object is much easier than attempting to describe something you cannot physically see or hold in your hands, especially under limited vocabulary. While the majority, almost all, of the class agreed with this statement, I and another student had another idea. He said he felt that the two rounds were at the same level of difficulty, and I couldn’t help but agree. I felt that even though describing something physical and describing something not physical are very different, I don’t think one is any harder than the other, you just have to think differently. 

     Lastly, we watched a video by Freedom in Thought called Can You Think Complex Thoughts Without Language? The video basically points out that not having the word for something doesn’t prevent someone from understanding the thing. He uses the example of Newspeak, the language in 1984. The Party believed that by limiting the language available to the citizens, they could limit their ability to think. They thought that concepts like political and intellectual freedom would be non-existent. However, this did not turn completely true. Using an example of Dani people, he explained that even though they only have words to describe colors as light or dark, they can still make distinctions between colors the same as everyone else would, only they just didn’t have a term for them. The video proved there is a complex and independent relationship between language, thought, and culture. 

What I learned in my online English lesson:  

     Today, I learned about the connection between humans, thought, culture, and language. I’ve always had questions about language and thought. One, what happens when you don’t have a word for something? This lesson made me realize I know the exact feeling of not knowing the word for something. While the English language is pretty descriptive enough for me to be able to comfortably describe 99% of my feelings and thoughts, I don’t have the same luck in my native language. Since I was born and raised here in New York City, I didn’t pick up my native language of Urdu quite the way I did English. Oftentimes while trying to converse with elders who can barely speak English, I find myself tripping over my words, trying to find the right one. Through this lesson, I realized some words basically don’t have a direct translation in Urdu, and that is why I feel the way I do when trying to speak it. Another wonder I had was, well, what about the poor children with no education? I can’t help but stop and wonder, whenever I see news about a new bombing in a third world country in which small children were killed, what if they were the next top scientist? The next top mechanic, doctor, mathematician? What if they couldn’t express their ideas and thoughts because they didn’t know how to, because they weren’t taught to? I learned that language and thought are such complex things that conversations and questions about them could go on forever. 

What is it like working from home? 

     To be honest, I don’t love it. In fact, I feel as if more negatives came from it than positive. In the beginning, when school was just called off and we began remote learning after our “Spring Break” and I was still sane, working and learning from home was good. I felt that I was being even more productive and that I was getting more sleep than I would normally get during school. I was active, I had time to do things I normally wouldn’t have time to do, my sleep schedule was still normal school-like and I was honestly thriving. I think I was also very optimistic that the pandemic wouldn’t get worse and that school would go back to normal soon enough. Then, teachers’ acceptingness and forgiving-ness rubbed off, and they began piling weeks of work onto us within three days and expecting from us as if it was normal school. Since then, I haven’t had a full night’s sleep and I’ve just been trying to keep myself above water, especially with the upcoming AP World History exam taking up a lot of my time. 

My Personal Feelings and Thoughts About What is Happening Right Now: 

     Truth be told, I’m disappointed. From watching people fight over things as insignificant as toilet paper at the grocery store, to hearing about the shortages of supplies, to seeing people crowd outside and rebel against quranatine, a safety measure designed to protect them, I have never been more disappointed with my own kind. I would have thought that people would be more understanding of and helpful to each other. It bothers me seeing people flaunt their privilege by protesting not being able to get a haircut and the gyms being closed while others are dying in overcrowded hospitals, nurses are working incredibly long and hard shifts, and essential workers are risking their lives. People, especially White, are comparing quarantine to being in cages and jail, while there are Mexican children dying and starving in genuine cages in this very country. The way the world is reacting is genuinely horrifying. 

What did I learn?

    I learned about how language, thought, and culture are connected. Through the videos and examples provided by Ms. Peterson, I was able to understand that even though people may not be able to express how they feel or are thinking, it does not mean that they don’t think it. I also learned about an Aboriginal community in Australia that uses cardinal directions instead of left and right, and how important orientation can be to certain languages. I personally did not know that such a practice existed, especially the part where instead of saying “hello,” they’d ask what direction you were going in. It really made me realize how disorientated I am, since the only language I speak fluently does not require that I know my orientation. As I said in an earlier answer, the lesson also brought me back to a question I’ve had for years, “what about the poor children with no education?” What if, given the resources and the education, this child could have applied their creativity and come up with that cure for disease A or the answer to unsolved math question B? 

Why did I learn it?

     I learned this because not only is it a very valuable lesson, but it also will help us understand the world George Orwell has created in his book 1984. It will help us understand the protagonist, Winston Smith, and the reason why he struggles with himself so much. I also think an underlying message that I, personally, picked up is that not everyone is as uneducated as they may seem. I think there is a privilege that comes with being able to speak English, and I know there are people out there that, when they hear someone speaking a non-English language in public, will assume the person is uneducated. Lera Boroditsky provided a great example of this when she asked the audience members to point to the southeast and the members pointed in all different directions, proving that they did not know. Ask a group of Kuuk Thaayorre people, and they’d know immediately. But aren’t they dumb because they don’t know English? 

How will I use what I learned?

     I will use what I learned in many ways. One, I will dwell on the feeling of not knowing a certain word in Urdu, and recognize that illiterate children have it worse, even if I couldn’t imagine it. I will also use the lesson to appreciate my education more, it is a privilege, even if it can be challenging at times. Lastly, I will use what I learned to not assume someone is not very bright by their abilities to speak English. Although I do not do it often, we have all done it before, accidentally or not. Having this lesson in the back of my head will help me stay respectful towards all people.