Abstract: In this essay, I had to read Audre Lorde’s “The Transformation of Silence into Language and Action”. The reading itself was fantastic. Based on this article, I summarized it using rhetorical terms and shared my own summary of the article. The best part about this essay was doing the creative project which is about writing our own stories. One thing that I love to write about is myself and this is why I loved working on this project very much. I got to share my past experiences in a way that only I could tell. For the final step, I had to summarize my own story using rhetorical terms.
In the text, the author “Audre Lorde” a lesbian African-American woman who expresses
herself to her audience on the importance of speaking up by sharing her personal experiences and
life story. Audre Lorde gives vivid reasons why it is important to speak up especially as women
and specifically black women. Lorde speaks on behalf of the past and describes America as the
mouth of a dragon that will try to eat you because women were not meant to survive. The dragon
will try to eat you whether you speak or not, women can sit in quiet and watch others being
destroyed, they can watch their children being poisoned but it will not make them less scared.
The point Lorde makes here is very relevant to her message which is speaking up can make a
change no matter your race. Lorde used a tone of passion and dedication to express herself to her
audience. In the transformation of silence into language and action, people should take the
responsibility into their own hands and inspire others to do the same which is to make their
silence into language and action. Lorde complicates matters when she writes “The fact that we
are here today and I speak these words is an attempt to break that silence and bridge that
differences between us, for it is not the difference that immobilizes us, but silence. And there are
so many silences to be broken”. This quote is very insightful and agreeable because Lorde states
how she is trying to help women break their silences and she also mentioned how differences
between people are not the thing that destroyed them, it is being silent that destroys them. By
writing this speech which is delivered by speaking, Lorde wants her audience to absorb the importance of turning silence into language and action. Something that needs to be changed
immediately is women being silent because it is killing them little by little without them even
realizing. The only solution is to stand together and unite against silence. By writing this speech,
Audre is bringing awareness to how women have been kept quiet and that it is finally time that
women are being heard. In the text, Audre writes “Tell them about how you’re never really a
whole person if you stay silent because there’s always that one little piece inside you that wants
to be spoken out and if you keep ignoring it, it gets madder and madder and hotter and hotter, if
you don’t speak it out then one day it will just up and punch you in the stomach from the inside”.
This quote is very important and touching for me because while I was reading this quote, it
reminded me of times when I wanted to speak out so bad but I was afraid of speaking. When I
was in middle school, sometimes I knew the answers to certain questions, and when the teachers
asked, I’d always stay quiet because I was afraid of people making fun of my English but inside
of me I could feel the energy that wanted to come out but I just held back until one day I just
could not hold back anymore and it all just came out to be fine. Audre uses a very passionate and
aggressive tone to reveal her message to her audience. This can be seen when Audre states “we
must each recognize our responsibility to seek those words out, to read them and examine them
and share them in their pertinence to our lives”. Audre believes and tries to convince her
audience that it is on them to take responsibility for their actions and to share them. The audience
may not have understood what Lorde was talking about because she explained what she was
trying to get across. As Audre mentioned that “I am standing here as a Black lesbian poet, and
the meaning of all that awaits upon on the fact that I am still alive, and might not have been”,
many of Audre’s audience may not support her claim due to her gender and ethnicity. People may think that she is a lesbian and she should not be equal to others. Finally, I chose to do my
creative project using a story format because it is a past experience of my life that I want to write
about. The struggles and the challenges that I faced as an English language learner. I believe that
writing it as a story will be the most effective way to deliver my writing.
Creative Project
A strong Self-Confidence
It is clear to me what a little self-confidence can bring to one’s life. As a young immigrant
with little to no knowledge of English, yes it was very difficult to make my way to where I am
today. As a freshman at CUNY City College of New York, I am writing this piece to whoever
is in the shoe that I was in once in my life. I was told by my classmates that I could never be
like them, I was told that I am not smart enough and these words really got the best out of me.
Some days, I even felt like cutting classes and not attending school, it really made me feel like I
was not good enough for my goals. I had very little to no self-confidence, that was the thing that I
was very eager to find because I know without a little motivation and self-confidence, it is almost
impossible to keep yourself on the right track. I remember when I was in 7th grade, I had a very
bad accent and there were thousands of words that I could not pronounce the right way and this
stopped me from participating in class and asking questions for clarification which led me to
confusion and confusion led me to failure. Later, I realized a fact and that is If I do not ask
questions, If I do not participate, it will just impact me negatively. At the beginning of 8th grade,
I told myself that I need to be better, I need to focus on myself, I have to be confident and I
believe these phrases really helped me. I always participated in class no matter what others said,
I always asked questions for clarification no matter how my English sounded and these really
paid off because I saw that I have been doing a lot better in exams and I started learning more.
Yes, you will get made fun of, you will get bullied, you will get thrown to the ground but remember that a strong self-confidence can help you face these difficulties. Once you find a little
motivation and self-confidence, you will be better and you will find the right track to be on.
Analysis
The author “Argho Paul” himself is writing this story to inspire and help people to get
through difficult times of their life. His specific audience is students who are new to this country
and developing their English language skills. This can be seen when he writes “I remember when
I was in 7th grade, I had a very bad accent and there were thousands of words that I could not
pronounce the right way and this stopped me from participating in class and asking questions for
clarification which led me to confusion and confusion led me to failure. Later, I realized a fact
and that is “If I do not ask questions, If I do not participate, it will just impact me negatively”.
This quote shows the struggle Argho faced as a student and the realization he had afterwards.
The purpose of this story is to help newcomers find motivation and inspiration for his audience
to know the difficulties they may face as an English language learner and how they can
overcome those obstacles. Argho uses an inspiring and emotional tone to convey his message
which is to have strong self-confidence. He states “I was told by my classmates that I could
never be like them, I was told that I am not smart enough and these words really got the best out
of me. Some days, I even felt like cutting classes and not attending school, it really made me feel
like I was not good enough for my goals”. This quote shows that the struggles and negativity
Argho faced has made him very emotional. This story was written and delivered as a story to the
author’s audience. The stance is very motivational and direct and language: some of Argho’s
audience may not be an English language learner. Therefore, they may not understand the
struggles. Something that needs to be changed as a student and English language learner, Argho is bringing awareness to his audience about having a strong self-confidence. Some of Argho’s
audience may not comprehend what he was trying to say because of their background, some of
the audience may already know English so they would not go through the struggles.
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