Nubia Soleyn  

English 11000 

RAE 

 

Kaisapwolova and Lyiscott use pathos and logos to emphasize that language discrimination exists by sharing experiences that black and brown people can relate to and the history behind them. 

 

In John Kaisapwalova’s “Betel Nut is Bad Magic for Airplanes” a white security guard approaches two young black men that were chewing betelnut and tries to get them to stop. The man is very entitled during their encounter and expects the two boys to listen to him. When he realized that he was not going to get his way, he called the police and claimed that the boys were being hostile towards him. They then had to explain themselves to the police in a manner that would clearly show that they were innocent, and that the claims made by the white man were stereotypical.  

 

This reading shows that people will make assumptions about someone based on their race. Because the two students were black, the security guard thought it was fitting to tell the officer boys spoke to him aggressively. Even though the white man was the one who approached them first and told them to act “civilized.” The author uses logos to show this by explaining that chewing betelnut is a common thing in their culture and is seen everywhere. “We was standing, about 30 of we, waiting to catch out things. We was not spitting or making rubbish. Only feeling very good from the betelnut our people had bringed to Moresby… chewing Buwa is out custom for many, many civilizations.” This proves that they were not doing anything wrong or causing a disturbance. Chewing betelnut is seen as a normal thing and many other people around them chew it as well. Giving us this information shows that the security guards actions were unwarranted.  

 

 

 

“3 ways to speak English” is about Lyiscott sharing the struggles and advantages of speaking diverse types of English. She describes herself as tri-tongued because of how well she code-switches. She emphasizes that she is articulate not because she can speak “proper” English but because she speaks diverse kinds of English. She also says that people will judge you based on how you speak. She uses pathos to express this. “I may not come before you with excellency of speech but do not judge me by my language and assume that I am too ignorant to teach.” Here Lyiscott is saying a person’s value should not be based on their ability to speak certain English. This is an appeal to emotion because being denied for your accent or vernacular is something that happens often in black and brown communities, it is frustrating.  

 

Lyiscott also appeals to both emotion and logic when she said, “I know that I need to borrow your language because mine was stolen, but you can’t expect me to speak your history wholly while mines is broken, these words is spoken by someone who is simply fed up with the Eurocentric ideals of this season and I speak composite versions of your language because mine was raped away along with my history.” She explains that people, black people, speak English differently than the superior white US English because their native language was taken away from them and English was forced onto them. Lyiscott explaining the historical significance behind vernacular is her use of pathos. While saying this, her tone was serious and assertive, using words like “raped” and “broken” when talking about the history of her people can also evoke emotions from the audience. This helps her message relay strongly.  

 

Both Kaisapwolova and Lyiscott describe situations where white people evade black/brown spaces and demand change. This has been happening for decades, and they both express that they feel offended by their entitlement. They both show that language comes into play in these situations. In “Betel Nut is Bad Magic for Airplanes” there is a clear contrast in the way the protagonist narrates the story, and how he speaks to the officer. Similarly, Lyiscott changed her dialect to fit the scenarios she mentioned. Both authors incorporated codeswitching to better explain language discrimination. 

 

In conclusion, by discussing events that black and brown people can connect to and the history behind them, Kaisapwolova and Lyiscott employ pathos and logos to stress the existence of language prejudice. This is important because language discrimination has been present for generations and affects people of color daily.