President Kennedy and Lincoln both had similar want for their nation. They both wanted freedom and equaliy. Both of these presidents went through similar situations with civil rights. Lincoln went through a war and Kennedy went through a movement. Lincoln stated “That this nation shall have a new birth of freedom and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.” True Americans defend the value of Freedom and liberty for all, and Kennedy agreed with Lincoln. Kennedy shares that many still are fighting for what their ancestor fought for which was freedom. This is similar to Lincoln situation because he was in he middle of th civil war and faught for freedom for all. Lincoln abolished slavery while in office. Kennedy support the civil rights movement and passed legistrations. They both had dealt with many deaths and disagreement around them. They both wanted liberty for their nation.

This narrative suggests that the relationship between literature and freedom is that they both have to do with ignorance. Without knowledge of literature many are portrayed as ignorant. Ignorance avoids freedoms. Malcolm X feels as though he was free from ignorance while being in jail due to the amount of free time he had in his hands to learn and study. He had the ability to invest his time into literature. The books he read give him more knowledge and more freedom in a sense. The more he read, the more free he was. “Literacy Behind bars” states “Where else but in a prison could I have attacked my ignorance by being able to study intensely sometimes as much as fifteen hours a day.”  Malcolm X was battling the white man. Malcolm X wanted to just his studies to help the next black man. To pass on the “freedom” that he attacked his ignorance with, which was literature. Malcolm X talks about real world distractions. He explains that we have our freedoms taken away for use because of the many distractions in this world. Bening isolated in his prison cell made him think, read, and study. Reading for about fifteen hours a day, he would only sleep four to six hours each night. Prison changed Malcolms view of everything. Although he was away he was away studying to understand texts that he didnt understand before. He studied words he never said before. Malcolm X influenced the world and he showed many that knowledge is the key to freedom. To know what is on paper is knowing what you are most capable of.

Language played a big part in Amy Tan’s life. Why wouldn’t it?Amy tan is an author, a writer, and a well known speaker. After reading her short story “Mother tongue” Language greatly influenced her life in manys ways. From Home, to school, to work. The way she spoke always mattered. Usually she would have to speak for her mother for appointments and money which she spoke in a different tone of voice and chose different words and grammar.Which was very different from the way she spoke at home with her mother. She spoke in “broken” english. In my opinion there is no such thing as broken english. She spoke with words and descriptions her mother was very familiar with. She never felt as though she changed the way she spoke with her mother, she always found it normal and never realized that when she made speeches and talked about her books and life she spoke differently. Although it was her and her mother’s way of speaking to each other would be considered as “ broken” it was her “ normal” .Statistically Mrs.Tans perception of herself was that she was somewhat limited in her English comprehension abilities and or may have affected her grades due to her being Asian American and having “broken” english at home. The short story states “..Asian students ,as a whole, always do significantly better on math achievement tests than in English. And this makes me think that there are other Asian-American students whose English spoken in the home might also be described as “ broken “ or “limited.” And perhaps they also have teachers who are steering them away from writing and into math and science. Which is what happened to me.” She became more aware of what her own language biases were and those of others by realizing the way others treated her and the way she talked with certain people. Also, this could be a problem in today’s society where students whose first language is not English who are better at science and math than English due to English teachers who give up on those students and try not to understand tham..People who are raised with English as there second are constantly aware of the word choice they use and say. I have many friends whose second language is English and many times they are corrected by people to speak a certain type of way or to use a different word choice or grammar and I tell them that there is no “ right” or “proper” way of speaking English. Even though my first language is English I am still taught to speak “proper” english. I usually speak with slang which is not professional but it is my norm. Oftentimes I am like Mrs.Tan and I don’t realize that I am speaking differently. I am aware of the way I use English because I want to always say the right thing to get my message across and for others to understand what I am saying.

Hello there, I am Eleonore Maldonado. I use the pronouns (She/Her), and my intended major at Lehman is Undecided at the moment.

After reviewing the syllabus, One thing I am surely excited about is writing. I have always had a delight to write. And I am determined to learn new things to improve my writing composition. One thing I am unsure and worried about would be the amount of work. I am concerned that I will not pick up on certain topics and sometimes not understand what I may be reading in this course. According to the syllabus, some methods of good writing could be rhetorical knowledge, the ability to critically think,write,and read, organization, time management and detail. For one to be considered to be a good writer they must have precision, process, good punctuation, grammar, spelling, and needs to know how to analyze, edit, and organize their work. It is important to write well for the future. Writing is a word, a world, and a density. Knowing to write well is to be considered a privilege and a advantage for many people and for many different fields.

The easiest part of writing for me is my explanation and a bit of my analyzing. I feel as though I am a good critic and I can analyze and explain evidence well, which is depending my understanding on the topic. The hardest part of writing for me would be the spelling and grammar part. Sometimes it is a bit hard for me to remember how to spell words and write proper sentences.Which is also the same things I need to work on plus organization. As of right now, I do not know what writing would be intended for my undecided major. However, I have been looking into journalism and music. And I believe creative writing ,poetry, and play writes are in my favor. Which I very much enjoy. Being an effective writer can affect my career opportunities but pushing me forward and giving me confidence in my writing, so I can make good writing pieces.