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Writing Prompt:
Revise and resubmit
(here on our blog) your first REVISION of your summary of Taylor Mali's
"Totally Like Whatever, You Know?" NOTE: This will be your third
draft--make it count.
NOTE:
After posting on the blog, open up the CANVAS assignment (by the same name) and
DO copy and paste the URL address into the CANVAS "WEB URL" text box
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Totally Like Whatever, You Know?
ReplyDeleteBy: Peter Cote
Today many people adhere to a specific style of speech in order to ultimately please others and conform to the ways of society. In “Totally Like Whatever, You Know?,” author Taylor Mali examines the motives as to why people alter the way they speak in order to please those around them. Mali observes how peculiar it is that people question the authority by the way that they talk. He then goes on to express his belief that people should be able to talk firmly and truly believe in what they are attempting to declare, instead of questioning themselves by asking tag questions at the end of sentences in order to fill the gap between changes in conversation. Mali continues his claim by making the obvious point that people should, in fact, be declaring what they are saying rather than questioning it, even though it is a habit for most people to question everything they say. He finally goes on to conclude that people have abandoned their roots in which they were once connected to and created new ways in order to fit in. Taylor Mali claims that people have strayed away from speaking bold statements that portray and express their own ideals and beliefs and, instead, speaking with less convicting words such as “like,” “you know?,” “totally,” or “whatever,” to dismiss the potential possibility of disagreement or simply not fitting in.
"Totally Like Whatever" by Taylor Mali Summary
ReplyDeleteBy: Logan Radwanski
Taylor Mali is expressing to the reader the problem of how not sounding intelligent or to actually have a different opinion from what everyone thinks or says is an issue in today’s society. For people just hop on the bandwagon of whatever is cool to say now and what everyone is thinking/opinion. Mali is bringing to light these issues to tell the reader why not challenge what everyone else is saying/doing to ‘regrow the limbs’ we've lost because they were lost due to “…society become so, like, totally . . .I mean absolutely . . . You know? That we’ve just gotten to the point where it’s just, like . . .whatever!” So he implores the reader to break away and speak out for they believe in or what they think even though others may criticize them. Also to speak with conviction and confidence so it really makes a difference for whatever you may be speaking about.
In Taylor Mali’s “Totally like whatever”, the trend of people in today’s society where instead of being certain and confident in what they say, must feel the need to question their ideas, is exposed. People have grown accustomed to a type of slang and tone that makes it seem as if there is no one who speaks truth. Mali begins the poem by focusing and mocking the trend of people speaking as if they are trying to hide the fact that they are unable to speak their minds clearly by adding a type of humorous, yet insecure inflection to their words using phrases such as “you know?” or “you know what I’m saying?”. He questions where the knowledge of people has gone, stating, “Where are the limbs out on which we once walked?” He then begins to acknowledge the trend that has consumed the today world, that people have become so unsure of their stance on topics, ideas, etc. that they try and hide this fact by using the questioning phrases at the end of what they say to distract the listener from their uncertainty. Frustrated from inclination of the people today to speak this way, he poses a challenge. He challenges people to no longer question what they say, but instead speak with such certainty and confidence that it is almost contagious to those who listen.
ReplyDeleteOur generation has molded our speech into the most inarticulate and non-authoritative action. Taylor Mali does anOu excellent job in declaring that our generation is vastly different when it comes to speech. It has come to the point to which we don’t care about the mistakes we are making in our speaking. We are encouraged by the author to not give up and to “speak with conviction”. Speaking is a way of expressing yourself, and our generation tends to do that without knowing the proper way to do it. In order to “Speak With Conviction”, a speaker must have a tone such as Shia LaBeouf in his motivational speech.
ReplyDeleteTaylor Mali is expressing how society has accepted slang language as a normal, cool action that takes place. Today, most people do not state their opinions, but instead ask them in a question form. Sounding unintelligent and having uncertainty in a tone of voice, is approved in this world. Using words such as like, totally, and you know are considered “cool.” He challenges society to “speak with conviction.” I agree with Mali’s point of view. As a high school student, being around that language every day, it is hard not to hop on the bandwagon and be like that too. Putting depth and meaning into your words has such a greater impact, than sounding confused by questioning everything being said.
ReplyDeleteIn Taylor Mali’s Totally Like Whatever piece, the author directly tells his audience that it has become “uncool” to speak in a way that gives the impression that one is sure of what they are trying to relay to another person, which he seems to find extremely disappointing. According to Mali, the generation of people in the current age have reached a point to where question marks are being used with declarative sentences, and the phrase “you know?” is being used when one states something instead of when one questions something, as it should be. The author says that this is tragically cool, which gives an insight into what Mali feels about this “hip” way of speaking. In the duration of the entire speech, it is made quite obvious that the author has a negative outlook on the majority of most modern conversations. Mali challenges the readers to speak with conviction, and “to say what you believe in a manner that bespeaks the determination with which you believe it”. I praise the idea that Mali has given to his audience. I agree that what this generation needs are people who speak firmly on their own beliefs and are confident in them, not people who are afraid of what the outcome may be, and definitely not people who just go along with what is “cool” in terms of speaking.
ReplyDeleteIn Taylor Mali's poem, "Totally Like whatever, you know?", he reads it passionately, encouraging listeners to speak with conviction and communicate with compassion. He says that, "it has somehow become uncool to sound like you know what you're talking about?" He proves with his spoken word what he means by how it's hard to understand what people are saying now because they phrase things as questions. He explains how important it is to have a passion for what you're speaking about. However, even though it makes a stronger arguement to be into what you're saying but also how to communicate with compassion. If you do this, people will listen. The author challenges to say what you believe and sound like you actually, truly believe it.
ReplyDeleteDevante Wrenn
ReplyDeleteIn Taylor Mali’s poem it mainly talks about our society today and what we do now and days. All of the short cut stuff that we do today is taking away what we need to truly know. An example would be like writing a paper but short texting by using ‘brb’ for be right back and ‘ur’ for your. An example of this from the poem is the stuff he says about us trying to be cool and believing strongly in what we say. Mali looks from our point of view. It is sort of like he is trying to say we are all not cool, but we are being smart in a way but it is also all wrong. The poet is trying to make us use words today in a meaningful way, and for the words to have value.
Taylor Mali expresses a well-developed idea that today’s society should start speaking with conviction rather than adhering to everybody else’s ideas or just entirely speaking with great uncertainty. He thinks people have become accustomed to the idea that it is uncool to sound smart. The world has become a sea of people with unclear and unsure conversations. People include invisible question marks at the end of statements, “you know?” Society, in Mali’s eyes, are filled with people who cannot speak with confidence in what they have to say. Society thinks they must follow the crowd and not share their own opinions of situations because of the fear of being rejected or called out for being wrong. Therefore, Mali believes people should show determination in their opinions, rather than uncertainty.
ReplyDeleteThe essential message of Taylor Mali’s poem “Totally Like Whatever, You Know?” is speak with confidence and purpose. The way it is written mimicks the evasive, ambiguous speech pattern of which he accuses today’s population, drawing attention to the fact that it is (and we have become) “aggressively inarticulate”. Mali states that declarative sentences “have been infected by a totally hip and tragically cool interrogative tone” in an effort to avoid certainty or taking responsibility for one’s opinions. He also draws a comparison between a loss of conviction in speech and a loss of “limbs out on which we once walked”, bemoaning it as not only a deterioration of speech, but as an entire loss of stance and ability. The conclusion of the poem makes a sudden change in tone to demonstrate that which he wants our society to have, and begs us to use it.
ReplyDelete