Schimpf- MWA 1 Group Commonalities

Madeline, Bushra, Juliana, and I all talked about something from our hometowns for this assignment. Madeline’s language community is stemmed from the word “Redskins.” This is her high school’s mascot, but because her hometown is pretty small the word is important to everyone in Morris. When their mascot was subject to change due to the negative connotation, the whole town came together to fight to keep it. They associate their mascot with strength, because they all fight for themselves. Bushra’s language community is the Islamic religion. Her word is Muslim, which is important to her and her community because it’s not a word that can simply be defined, it’s a way of life. Bushra grew up going to Islamic private schools her whole life, so she never had to explain her religion to anyone. Islam is the religion of peace. She says to be Muslim means submission to Allah, and obedience to His laws. These concepts can be hard to explain to outsiders, but Bushra says that she enjoys teaching people about her faith because she’s proud of it, and she feels that helping others understand will make them more comfortable with each other. Juliana’s word/symbol was M-22, a route that runs from her hometown of Traverse City, Michigan all the way to Leelanau County. The obvious meanings of M-22 are driving on the route itself, the black and white logo on the street signs, and the M-22 merchandise store. She said everyone in Michigan is familiar with this route, the “real” Northerners have the M-22 logo everywhere, and even people across the country are familiar with it. The logo gives her a sense of pride for where she’s from, and it brings people together from all over. All of these language communities are similar because they focus on an alternate meaning of a simple word that outsiders may not understand.