`Our Three Languages` see instructions

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WORDS , WORDS , WORDS

WORDS , WORDS , WORDS : AN ESSAY ON LIFE

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The use of words are means of communication in our everyday lives . The level at which we use words can often times define our cognitive thinking patterns . In Northrop Frye 's essay Our Three Languages , three different levels of word usage are discussed in depth . The levels that have the most impact

on man 's idea of progress in the natural world are levels two and three

According to Frye , level two is the level of social participation . The words (language ) used at this level is that of practical sense . Lawyers are a prime example of people who operate on this level . Their rhetoric is based on the practical sense ' of the laws of our country . Prior to Brown v Board of Education , America lived in separate but equal state of mind . Lawyers used the Constitution and various other laws to prove that separate was not equal and to progress man`s ideas to that of racial equality . This change of mind-set helped strengthen the nation as a whole . The ruling also allowed us to understand the true meaning of the song My Country Tis of Thee

According to Frye , level three is the level of imagination . The words (language ) used at this level are those found in literary works . Prior to author E . Lynn Harris , there was little known about the African-American homosexuality experience . Through the fictional characters in his books (Invisible Life , Just As I Am , And This Too Shall Pass , and Abide With Me to name a few , he was able to expose a taboo subject in that community . Through his literary works , E . Lynn Harris was able to help progress man 's idea of homosexuality from that of fear to that of awareness . This allowed the doors of communication to open between heterosexuals and homosexuals in the African-American WORDS PAGE 3

community and to foster the ideal of acceptance

We can draw a conclusion from Frye by focusing on word usage in the levels of social participation and the level of imagination . Both levels differ in their basis of word (language ) usage practical sense and literary work . Frye 's second level deals mostly with factual information and his third level deals mostly with created information The end result , however , is the same--change...