Why don't we have to use grammar rules when writing short stories

The short story, No Speak English, by Sandra Cisneros is about a hard working man who has just brought his mother “Mamacita” and her baby son to live with him. Instead of fitting in Mamacita stays inside her house all day because she is homesick for her country, language and her old house. It’s not necessarily true that we don’t have to follow grammar rules when writing short stories. However, incorrect grammar can be use as a technique by the author for the development of characters and plot. This essay will explore how the technique is use in creating various aspects in this short story.

Since the story focuses on characters that are immigrants from non-English speaking cultures, the use of incorrect grammar helps build up these characters. It allows us to know more about Mamacita as a character and her Spanish roots.

“No speak English, she says to the child who is singing in the language that sounds like tin. No speak English, no speak English, and bubbles into tears. No, no, no as if she can’t believe her ears”. Her limited knowledge of the English shows her connection with her country and how she refuses to adapt into the new society that she is living in now.

The author also uses the technique of incorrect grammar to develop the narrative through the narrator’s point of view. The choice of words that the author selected suggests that the narrator is probably a kid. “My father says when he came to this country, he ate hamandeggs for three months. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Hamandeggs. That was the only word he knew.” By writing hamandeggs, the author is giving us a child-like sense.

By not sticking to the rules of grammar, the author allows the narrator to construct characteristics of his/her own. This is achieved through methods such as, run-on sentences and different uses of punctuations. “Home. Home. Home is a house in a photograph, a pink house, pink as hollyhocks with lots of startled light.” The repetition of the word “home” and “pink” gives the image of the pink house in the reader’s mind.

A short story is often a form of creative writing, it is a process of creating art through literature. Nowadays, people tend to care less about grammar when they’re writing stories. This is to allow the author’s creative process of thinking to work effectively. As mentioned above, not following grammar rules help emphasize the story’s theme of the resistance that other people can have on English culture.

Chapat Tiwutanond G.10