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Name: Rajan Bansal
Course: ENGL 1100_14
Instructor: YAYING ZHANG
SUMMARY: FROM OUTSIDE, IN (BARBARA MELLIX)
Barbara Mellix in “From Outside, In” explains how she grew up speaking two different
languages: Black-English and Standard-English. Mellix shows that there is a “relationship
between language and power” (114). She claims that it was a lot more comfortable speaking
Black-English as it gives her the freedom and power of expression. However, through the time
she thrived to learn how, where and when to use Standard-English.
Mellix clarifies the significance of speaking the correct language at the appropriate time. The
“Proper English” as she describes “Standard-English” was spoken with the so called ‘whites’ and
the ‘proper blacks’. While growing up in Greeleyville, Mellix’s perspective on the importance of
mastering Standard-English grew; she realized that this form of language would become her key
to the door of limitless possibilities. As a child, she had no confidence in the language and
became extremely nervous while speaking it. She felt certain restrictions while writing StandardEnglish – “The language is not ours. It was something from outside us,” (115). As she moved to
Pittsburgh, she learnt, which Labov W. termed as “code switching” (qtd. in Mellix 119).
Through shuffling between jobs and interaction with people, she gained more knowledge.
Furthermore, Mellix mentions that mastering academic discourse could lead to huge emotional
and intellectual strife. For example, when Mellix wrote a thesis statement on physical violence in
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her research writing course; although it gave her a sense of achievement but she was still
uncertain to trust the language with her intuition. She often referred Standard-English as the
language of ‘others’. As the time passed, she matured and soon became a mother and that’s when
her ambition for becoming a better writer started taking effect.
Mellix concludes that she always felt the need to ‘prove something’. She depicts the racism
between the two languages and acknowledges that their customary language was considered
inferior; as she said “We felt foolish, embarrassed, and somehow diminished because we were
ashamed to be our real selves.” (113). Contrastingly, she believes that with writing, one can
perpetually build personality; creating new identity as well as coping up with struggles.