The Awkward Labyrinth and Meaning of Laura
A name or a word appears to be such a simple thing. However, language is a labyrinth full of words, origins, meanings, contexts, and understandings. The complexity of language allows it to be creative and infinitely varied. The meaning of a word is not a definition, rather it points to something in the world and a meaning is only attached to the word when someone labels an object with the word (Pinker 287). New words and meanings are created every day to try to make sense of the world. Similarly to the interpretation and free creation of language, the words used to identify and describe a person vary from person to person and among different situations. The acquisition and the development of my identity …show more content…
The words hard working, student, and fast learner were present on this list as well as respectful, attentive, and quiet. This dissonance between the two lists shows how context influences words and descriptions. The descriptors authority figures would use to describe me are most likely similar to those other students in our class used as well, thus making it the easiest list of words to create. Students are normally respectful and attentive in class as that is the setting they are in. While thinking about how authority figures would describe me, I really did not think about myself, although that was the goal. I thought of how a teacher or authority figure would describe someone in general. I believe this is because teachers and authority figures only see students in an academic atmosphere, while my peers would describe me in both a classroom setting as well as a social setting, making it more difficult. The context in the description makes all the difference. I would not act the same way with a police officer or teacher as I would with my friends or my sorority. Although aspects of my identity can be seen regardless of the situation, my personality in and out of the classroom is quite
A name or a word appears to be such a simple thing. However, language is a labyrinth full of words, origins, meanings, contexts, and understandings. The complexity of language allows it to be creative and infinitely varied. The meaning of a word is not a definition, rather it points to something in the world and a meaning is only attached to the word when someone labels an object with the word (Pinker 287). New words and meanings are created every day to try to make sense of the world. Similarly to the interpretation and free creation of language, the words used to identify and describe a person vary from person to person and among different situations. The acquisition and the development of my identity …show more content…
The words hard working, student, and fast learner were present on this list as well as respectful, attentive, and quiet. This dissonance between the two lists shows how context influences words and descriptions. The descriptors authority figures would use to describe me are most likely similar to those other students in our class used as well, thus making it the easiest list of words to create. Students are normally respectful and attentive in class as that is the setting they are in. While thinking about how authority figures would describe me, I really did not think about myself, although that was the goal. I thought of how a teacher or authority figure would describe someone in general. I believe this is because teachers and authority figures only see students in an academic atmosphere, while my peers would describe me in both a classroom setting as well as a social setting, making it more difficult. The context in the description makes all the difference. I would not act the same way with a police officer or teacher as I would with my friends or my sorority. Although aspects of my identity can be seen regardless of the situation, my personality in and out of the classroom is quite