Thursday, October 11, 2012

Widening what counts as the code of intelligence

Another example of codeswitching: this time from Lavar Burton addressing candidate Romney's comments about PBS and poor ole Big Bird. Listen for the phrase and tone behind it of "fix his mouth."

I am also posting this to open up a thread and space for discussion about the candidates' stances on education.
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2 comments:

  1. mrfushimanOctober 17, 2012 at 9:58 AM

    I was wondering if anyone could clarify the significance behind the phrase and tone behind "fix his mouth". I noticed the difference in speech after he said that but I am not sure what "fix his mouth" even means.

    As for both candidate's views on education, it is like choosing the lesser evil. It's either corporate education + no federal control or corporate education. I am a fan of President Obama spending 100 million dollars to hire more science and math teachers but I am not a big fan of his new ESEA blueprint (I can email this to people if they are curious).

    I am actually not really clear on what exactly Romney's plan is. All I know is that he promised not to cut funding to education but still cut 20% in discretionary funds and that he wants more local control.

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  2. DamianOctober 17, 2012 at 12:48 PM

    Hey Jianan,
    Well, to answer your question about what exactly Mr. Burton is saying, you have to look at “fixed his mouth” as a figure of speech. I mean, you can’t actually “fix” your mouth. I think in using this figurative language, he’s emphasizing his belief that it’s unfathomable that Mitt Romney would ever suggest to cut funding from PBS—an accessible source of learning for most children. Mr. Burton is saying that there’s something Mr. Romney had to alter to make a statement that goes against any kind of support he expresses for education. What that something is, I can’t quite tell you, but maybe it’s his ethics Mr. Romney is “fixing”. (There’s my stab at that).

    I do agree with Mr. Burton that PBS is a great source of learning. I have a friend in high school whose second language is English, and she learned it from the big, yellow bird Mr. Romney was hating on. She’s flawlessly speaks English and Spanish because of Sesame Street. If there were any policies that affected PBS’s ability to provide accessible education, it would be an unfortunate decision for future children.

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