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A memorable christmas narrative essay
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A christmas story essay
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Rodriguez completes his book with this Christmas narrative to show that trying to move forward without looking back can drive families apart. When Rodriguez was a child, he found intimacy in his family’s language. He segregated the people around him based on what language they were speaking, whether it was el gringo’s English or the intimacy of Spanish. He refused to speak English at first, because he “wrongly imagined that English was intrinsically a public language and Spanish an intrinsically private one,”(19) the reason being that his parents were extremely private people and that he assumed his parents’ language was what made them private. He only learned to speak English because his parents and teachers forced him to.
Once he “grew
As a young child, Rodriguez finds comfort and safety in his noisy home full of Spanish sounds. Spanish, is his family's' intimate language that comforts Rodriguez by surrounding him in a web built by the family love and security which is conveyed using the Spanish language. "I recognize you as someone close, like no one outside. You belong with us, in the family, Ricardo.? When the nuns came to the Rodriquez?s house one Saturday morning, the nuns informed the parents that it would be best if they spoke English. Torn with a new since of confusion, his home is turned upside down. His sacred family language, now banished from the home, transforms his web into isolation from his parents. "There was a new silence in the home.? Rodriguez is resentful that it is quiet at the dinner table, or that he can't communicate with his parents about his day as clearly as before. He is heartbroken when he overhears his mother and father speaking Spanish together but suddenly stop when they see Rodriguez. Thi...
In the essay “Private Language, Public Language” by Richard Rodriguez he made a comparison between public and private language. I believe he made this comparison because of the battle between their family and public languages. Rodriguez grew up in an immigrant family, and depending on the location they were staying in, they had a hard time using the different languages they had to speak at home and in society. In their lives they had two forms a language, the private language only spoken with the family and the public language with people outside the family. Rodriguez struggles to overcome the difference between his home language, Spanish and English. The purpose in this distinction is to illustrate the struggle with the different types of languages that the author had to adapt to in his childhood.
Another struggle for identity with Latinos is their struggle with the Spanish and English languages. While some Latinos may speak Spanish in their homes, the language may not be conversationally used in their schools. Some Lat...
Gloria Anzaldua, wrote the essay “How to Tame a Wild Tongue” communicating and describing her adolescence in a society brimming with sexism, cultural imperialism, racism, low self-esteem, and identity formation. The reason one comes to America is to finer themselves academically, and intellectually. One must learn to speak English to live among the American’s, because that is the language they speak. Though, no one has the right to deprive you of your familiar tongue. At a young age, Anzaldua was scolded, even mistreated for speaking her native “Chicano” tongue. Anzaldúa described this ignorance, cruelty, and discrimination when she states: “I remember being caught speaking Spanish at recess – that was good for three licks on the knuckles with a sharp ruler.” She overcomes this hostility throughout her life.
Hispanic America language has some strengths and weaknesses as observed in the article and this makes it one of the influential groups in the United States. It is also important noting that those who belong to this group originated from various parts of the world. The strengths in the pattern of communication make this language one of the most adorable languages in the world as many people feel respected whenever they talk to someone from this particular group. The weaknesses that can be identified only show how people tend to believe they are shy, but it is as a result of respect for
My parents decided to immigrate to the United States when I was six years of age. As we established ourselves in the United States, my first language was only Spanish. Spanish was the language that I was taught at home, and it was the only language to be spoken at home. Rodriguez describes when he first entered his classroom where he was introduced to a formal English-speaking context, writing that, ?I remember to start with that day in Sacramento-a California now nearly thirty years past-when I first entered a classroom, able to understa...
Rodriguez views the same as a public and private language. He explains that the term “private” relates to Spanish language, while the term “public” is the kind of English language he speaks outside home. As he writes “… I wrongly imagined that English was intrinsically a public language and Spanish an intrinsically private one…” (513). In addition, Rodriguez’s reference to the English language as a gringo sound gives an impression of a child’s resentment towards said language. The term gringo in Spanish means los gringos which is a “derogatory term for English-speaking Americans” (512). When Rodriguez parents stopped communicating at home in Spanish, the laughter at home faded along with his private language. This further supports Rodriguez’s statement that “… as we learned more and more English, we shared fewer and fewer words with our parents” (515). Thus the end of a once full of laughter home, yet the beginning of Rodriguez’s mastery of the English language. Similar to Tan’s experience, the writer’s rebellious nature challenged her critics by proving that Asian’s skills are not limited to Math and Science. Thus, the decision behind to shift from pre-med to English major. As Tan writes, “I happen to be rebellious in nature and enjoy the challenge of disproving assumptions made about me” (510). Hence Tan’s strong conviction to resist the convention of
A large number of people in the Hispanic community whether Hispanics are not able to get the English literacy skills that they need not because they want to keep born in Latin America or the United States, speak Spanish primarily. This is basically because in present day time, Hispanics are more likely to pass Spanish to their kids now than they have done in the past. (Ortiz, P.149) This is seen as a social problem, especially because of the fact that there is an increasing demand that English should only be taught in public school and it should also be spoken within the Spanish community. Even though Hispanics do speak a lot of Spanish most of the time, they still do learn English also, especially the young. But, because of the large flow of immigrants, the use of Spanish is used more often because they are constantly encountering immigrants who speak no English. (Ortiz, P. 150) Before hand there has been said to have been lower achievements when Hispanics make frequent use of the Spanish la...
According to Anzaldua, “ Chicano Spanish is considered by the purist and by most Latinos deficient, a mutilation of Spanish”(Anzaldua 32). The Chicano Spanish versus Spanish conflict that occurs in Latino society is a prime example of people considering themselves to be right in a situation where there is not a right answer. The Latino’s who speak Spanish that they believe to be normal are disturbed by the Spanish language changing. They believe that their own views are being challenged, they believe that they are correct, and they believe that anyone who challenges their views is inferior. The people who view all other views are, in reality, just trying to make themselves look more powerful. Like in Tan’s essay, people demeaned others in order to promote their own views, therefore, gaining power over the others who they demeaned. According to Tan, “ She said they would not give her any more information(...) And when the doctor finally called her daughter, me, who spoke in perfect english-- lo and behold-- we had assurances the CAT scan would be found”(Tan 2). The doctors treated Tan’s mother differently due to her use of what they considered “broken language”, leading to her being treated inadequately. People have an image of what they consider to be the right English, anyone who does not speak the right English is usually considered to be uneducated. In both Tan’s and Anzaldua’s essays, the lack of open-mindedness is one of the reasons that people want to become more powerful than others. People fail to realize that what they believe in is not always the right answer, like with stereotypes, the people are trying to gain power over others in order to make themselves seem more
In the article, “Public and Private Language”, Richard Rodriguez argues that bilingual education delays learning a “public language” and developing a public identity”. I can relate to Richard’s story because my family and me moved to America when I was young and we also had the same struggle learning a new language. I agreed with Rodriguez when he expressed that he didn’t feel like a true American until he mastered the English language because English is the first and main language in America.
Rodrigue’z change from Spanish to English is one of the leading factors to his strong beliefs in assimilation. He feels that assimilation is necessary for immigrants to be part of society and to be successful in the USA. Undoubtedly, this had a negative and a positive effect on him and his family. To begin with, growing up Hispanic in America was a big struggle for Richard Rodriguez. He began his schooling in Sacramento, California knowing less than fifty English words. Rodriguez not only faced the obstacle of mastering the English language, but also that of fitting socially into a classroom of wealthy white children. As a result of being the son of working-class parents, both Mexican immigrants, Rodriguez felt a socially disadvantage...
The book “A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens. This tells how a man who sees Christmas and Christmas spirit as a waste of time comes to love christmas and find joy in life. Over all I think Charles Dickens wants to tell us that it’s never too late to change yourself.
The story “Public and Private Language” was written by Richard Rodriguez. He is an American writer and a journalist with many of his publications widely known to the public. He is known for Hunger of Memory: The Education of Richard Rodriguez, one of the best written creations throughout his career, which resulted him to grow a substantial amount of supporters, even today. In this story, I am well pleased that Rodriguez has written a memento in which many of the Latinx community could well relate to. Overall I concur with this story based on the fact that there may be two different identities a Latinx person could have throughout their life and that having a public identity could mean more achievements made. However I don’t believe that the more Americanization means the decrease of bonding with your family, finding this statement absurd.
Christmas is the most popular holiday in all of the land. Mostly everyone loves Christmas. There are three categories of Christmas people. Number one; the haters. They despise Christmas and think it is the devil and nothing good comes from lying to children and giving gifts for absolutely no reason at all. Number two; the average person. The ones who just buy the gifts, wear the holiday sweaters, and go to the annual Christmas gathering at Grandma’s where gifts and laughs are exchanged. Number three; the die hard Santa’s of the group. The few mothers or fathers who decorate the day after Halloween to get into the Christmas spirit. The tree is up on November first and the Christmas lights are hung all year round. They make sure to go black friday shopping to get everyone a gift, even cousin Nicholas, who is three times removed. Christmas is
First, a native language builds a content home life for foreigners. Joan Youngquist and Bárbara Martínez-Griego, both involved in early childhood education, report in " Learning in English, Learning in Spanish", "approximately 60 percent of enrolled families were Latino, with 40 percent speaking Spanish as their home language." (92). A native language utilized loosely at home offers security. Robert Rodriguez,a Mexican- American author, admits in "Aria: Private and Public", the ease it gave him to hear Spanish at home. Waves of relief washed over him to hear English vanish immediately (215). Also,a native language practiced at home provides confidence, and allows foreigners to take up new experiences. Bárbara Mujica, a Spanish professor, explains in "To Succeed, Learn in English", about an educational program called ESL (English as a second language) taug...