Lecky 1

Whitney Lecky ENGL 1001 Professor Hinnant 9/16/2013 How Being Northern Has Affected My Literacy All my life I have lived in Pensnylvania. Growing up, I lived near a big city called Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. To get a sense of what Philadelphia is like, people tend to have a fast-paced way of living and like to get things done as quickly as possible. They also will do whatever they need to in order to get it done. They can be friendly to an extent, but also can be stern when they need to be. Having their way is important and they also stick up for what they believe in. When they feel as if something needs to be said, they definitely are not afraid to say it. Although I lived near Philadelphia for a huge chunk in my life, later on, I moved near another big city called Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In Pittsburgh, people tend to not care about much and like to go with the flow. They are friendly and try to make people feel welcome. It is similar to Philadelphia in the sense of they like to get things done, but they do it in a more relaxed way. People in Pittsburgh are also friendlier and are always making people try to feel welcome. They are also expressive and are open to saying and doing things if they are passionate about it. Although I lived in two different areas, they were both relatively the same because they both were located in up North. Now that I go to a school down South, I can clearly see how different I am to people who live down here. I have noticed how I have read and read different material, how my writing is not quite the same and how I speak differently.
Comment [B6]: Im not exactly sure what this means. Make sure to speak in specifics rather than generalizations. Comment [WL7]: Again, more needs to be added to this paragraph Comment [WL8]: Try not to say also a lot Comment [B9]: This confuses me. Your last two paragraphs made them sound pretty different! If you want to focus on their similarities (the fact that theyre both located in the North) you may want to work on using language that doesnt make them sound like (almost) opposites. Comment [WL5]: Need more in this paragraph to explain more about the city there Comment [B4]: What do you mean by stern? Comment [B1]: I think you can come up with something more creative than this! Comment [WL2]: Make sure to change the spelling of this Comment [B3]: I dont know that you need to repeat this since you just mentioned that you lived in PA.

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Up North, there seemed to be no limits on what we could read about. We could openly read about gruesome topics like rape and discrimination and it would not be frowned up. Down South however, I have noticed that it is not okay to even open up a book about this because they are strong unacceptable topics. People down South seem to take these topics to heart and try to avoid reading about them. When I was in High School up north, we actually often read about and freely discussed these topics. In order for people to not be offended, they did give us a warning about a book if it was going to be on a topic one might not like, but even if a few did not like the topic, we still read about them. I remember how in class we even read some books that were banned due to harsh racism and language. Down south, I feel as if they take racism very seriously because people take huge pride in their race and only read about the positives of their race. Just like certain topics were okay to read about, they also made my writing different than down here too. Just like reading, when I had to write a paper there was almost no limits. We often had our choice of topics and we could write about them as long as we had enough examples and enough length in our paper. In the south, it seems as if people try to avoid writing about topics that would be viewed as being bad, an example being about child abuse. In my senior year of high school, we all had to write about any topic we wanted and how we felt about it and I knew plenty of people who wrote about child abuse and the teacher approved of it. Down here that would be frowned upon. The way that I write has also been affected and that is evident in my free writing. When I write down in a journal how I am feeling, I am very expressive and have no barrier or limit in what I write down. Almost all Northerners are very expressive just like I am. The voice that I write with is close to the voice that I speak with as well.
Comment [B17]: Are you sure about this? If so, can you explain to me WHY you think itd be frowned upon? Comment [B10]: Do you remember some of the texts you read that actually dealt with these subjects? What did these classroom conversations sound like? Comment [B11]: This feels like an overgeneralization. Is this the case everywhere in the South, even in college? Comment [B12]: What does this mean? Comment [B13]: You may want to consider adding in a more extensive list of topics. This makes it sound like you talked about only rape and discrimination. Comment [WL14]: Be less general and more specific Comment [B15]: Like what? How do you feel about these texts? How did your peers feel about them? Comment [B16]: Im not sure that this is the reason that race is a trickier topic in the South.

Comment [B18]: This seems vague to me. Comment [WL19]: Make this paragraph less stereotypical and more experiences

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The way I speak definitely is different from how people speak in other areas. Where I go to school, walking by groups of people I always hear different slang terms and words that I have never heard of or used before. There are so many people who say yall which no one ever dared using up north. Instead of saying yall I always say you guys or all of you. Southern people tend to speak with more etiquette and have an expansive vocabulary. When I speak, I always tend to cut words short and say sentences in the shortest ways that I can. Saying words differently and having different word choices are also definite factors in how I sound different than someone who would live down south. For example, if someone were to offer me a can of Sprite I would call it pop instead of soda like they do here. Also, I call the device one uses to clean carpets a vacuum, whereas a southerner calls it a sweeper. I find myself many times having to clarify fully what I am talking about since there are so many different ways to say different things and there is often confusion. Coming from the north, I also tend to speak my mind a lot. Northerners are never afraid to say what they are thinking and will always stand up for what they believe in which definitely is true in my case. I also speak loudly at times so I can make sure everyone knows I am confident in what I am talking about and am trying to get my point across. Being straight to the point is also something I do. Being Northern has affected me in all ways of literacy and has definitely influenced my reading, writing, and how I speak.
Comment [WL22]: Make this sentence less repetitive Comment [B23]: I like that you tried to close your paper without a conclusion paragraph, but Im not sure that adding in a sentence that repeats your intro is effective. Comment [B21]: Im from the South and Ive never heard anyone call a vacuum this before. Haha Comment [B20]: What does this mean? Can you give me an example?