OPTION#1

Option #1.

Write a brief critical review of your book (for those of you who have not finished reading it, you will have to do it thus far). Structure it in the following way: part one should be a two-hundred word abstract that simply summarizes the book without injecting any of your own ideas or opinions. Part two should answer the following questions: “How does this book connect to your own “language story.” How has it changed, enriched, or informed your initial ideas about language as it relates to you, personally.

“You Just Don’t Understand: Women and Men in Conversation” written by Deborah Tannen is an insightful book describing the way men and women use communication. Tannen is constantly describing the different ways men and women communicate and reasons behind it.  When it comes to communicating men seem to take a different approach aside from women. Men seem to want to be more superior in conversation and want to feel that they obtain some sort of power whereas women aren’t too focused in being superior and often express their emotions more than men. Tannen begins her book with a chapter entitled “Different Words, Different Worlds”  this title explains what most of the book is about how women and men can be in the same conversation but get two completely different things out of it. The mentality of men and women seem to work completely different when it comes to how to speak, when to speak, how language makes you feel, and the choices of words. Tannen also explains how men and women react to gossip, how they communicate when they are in a relationship, how certain people happen to feel better when they speak with different people, and how men and women react differently when interacting with strangers.

                Right away I was able to relate to this book. Though I haven’t finished it I feel like I can see the many differences between males and females from the evidence and stories that Tannen shares. When I first read reviews about this book I found negative reviews saying that she seems to be sexist and I kept these reviews in mind when I started reading and I realized that Tannen isn’t sexist at all she speaks on behalf both males and females based on evidence and stories. Tannen at times says things about women that I feel are harsh but I can relate to them and conclude that they aren’t false statements  and they are more general statements, she doesn’t necessarily suggest that all men and women communicate in certain ways. This book has opened my eyes to actually observe the differences of communication between the sexes and from my part see why I tend to communicate in different ways. It has also allowed me to realize things that I do when I communicate or don’t communicate to others that I haven’t even noticed until I started reading the book.This book has also allowed me to see the many aspectsof language and how men and women use language differently.