DW2.b

DO they represent AAVE similarly or differently in these spaces? In what ways?

For my first blog, I used the blogs that I found in the news section of bet.com. The examples that I found of AAVE being used are similar what the article written by Knadler explains. The people that I used and their quotes are located in a comfortable environment where they are not judged by what they look like or anything like that. Clearly they can be themselves and bring out their cultural differences against the "norm" without the fear of being ridiculed such as if they would bring it out in an office or school. Knadler says that in his writing, he will:

"examine—through a close analysis of student Web-based portfolios—how African-American women, who often must mask their “Blackness” within white workplace or school settings, hold onto sets of experience, memories, and cultural signs when they present themselves online, appropriating e-space as a site of resistant memory."

This quote is significant because it quickly summarizes the reasons for the difference of speech and writing that we find in professional "white" settings compared to the cultural AAVE settings. People are expected to hold in their own experiences and culture just so that others won't judge them as inferior because of the way they really are. A quote from one of Knadler's students simply puts the opinion of most when they are writing in an internet setting. "I want the reader to feel my writing. I don’t want to sound like the Wall Street Journal. That’s not me." (LaChia 236). The quote is significant because users of sites like these that appropriate AAVE don't just want to connect with the readers' minds, they want to "feel" each other in their writings. They purposely type in a style of talking like they would with a good friend of family member, as to make their race and culture evident through their writing. Technology enables this easily because nobody has to apologize for being themselves and acting a certain way against the set norm. People can understand others, and sometimes themselves, easily because they are more comfortable to be real.

The examples found on bet.com are the opinions of people being real about the happenings of celebrities in popular culture. There is no teacher, coworker, or boss watching them and making judgements about their speech. They are basically free to do whatever they want. People can even be someone else, like someone they want to be. They can be different then how they really are in the same situations in real life. Knadler also points out that writing on the internet with AAVE gives students "an increased sense of student responsibility and empowerment". (Knadler 237) The study that he did showed that many of the students really got a lot out of writing how they felt, without the worry of a grader or following any grammatical rules.