"from Outside, In"

I read Barbara Mellix's text titled "From Outside, In". The text was pretty interesting because Mellix's described her feelings widely about her journey to get better in "standard english". It influenced my motivation about studying English because I just got in United States and I have never learned proper English. So now I got motivated because I know it is possible to improve in a pretty short time if you just work hard.


Question 1.

"From Outside, In" tells a story about a black girl who is speaking "black English" and trying to develop her "proper English". In her journey she goes through many processes while getting better in standard English. So the title means that in her home, people are speaking in a different way and she tries to improve herself so she could also use proper English. In few situations she had to think carefully what she was saying to white people because she only knew "black english".


Question 2.

Mellix was using her Black English when she was talking to her family and friends. For the white people in her community who were "proper people" she was trying to use Standard English". She was supposed to use Standar English as well when her family's relatives came for a visit. When Mellix had to use Standard English, she felt that she had to think a moment before answering to anyone. That is because she didn't want to use Black English around her relatives. At the end of text when she learned more about "Standard English", she felt she was betraying her culture and blackness.