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Telling his experiences from prison, Baca illustrates how language changed his life. Before, Baca did not “know how to read” and his “inarticulateness increased [his] sense of jeopardy.” Unable “to express [himself],” Baca was held on suspicion of murder when he denied explaining a deep cut on his forearm. Despite the harsh prison situation, Baca felt “freedom.” Language was the “magic that could liberate” him from himself, “transform [him]” into another person, and “transport [him]” to other places far from reality. Previously unable to express his terrors, Baca was able to “share his grief and joy” with others through language. As a result, Baca gained confidence. He was no longer a “captive of demons” or a “victim of other people’s mockery.” He was now “free” to “respond, escape, and indulge.” Reading and writing enabled the author to tolerate the severe mental and physical abuses in jail. He not only overcame the difficulties but also improved himself. Having the ability to voice his opinions, Baca was no longer “different from others.” Language “made bridges of fire” between him and everything he saw. …show more content…
Baca indicates the “blood and carting plastic bags stuffed with arms, legs, and hands” in order to highlight how he was able to find a constructive factor in such a gruesome environment. The usage of metaphors allows readers to visualize the injustice and leaves an acrimonious taste as if the readers are in Baca’s position. In addition, Baca’s choice of words such as “unspeakable terrors” and “brutalities of my life” creates an overall dark tone. Despite the gloomy atmosphere of the book, Baca utilizes humor. The instance when he had only twenty-six cents from his pickets when the judge hit him with a “million dollar bail” to empty his pocket evokes mild
... or would come in contact with. He’s a proven fact that you can make it, even through the roughness situations, like him being in prison for seven years. He talks and says, “I have often reflected upon the new vistas that reading opened to me;” “I knew right there in prison that reading had changed forever the course of my life;” “As I see it today, the ability to read awoke inside me some long dormant craving to be mentally alive,” (p.217). With that being said I will end this paper with one more quote from this brilliant African American Man, “My homemade education gave me, with every additional book that I read, a little bit more sensitivity to the deafness, dumbness, and blindness that was afflicting the black race in America,” (p.217). His teachings shall be something that every African American carry with them throughout educational and everyday life.
Richard Rodriguez author and journalist wrote a short piece “Scholarship Boy” to explain to his audience of underprivileged children wanting a better future, the scarifies he endured as a young child: the loss of family ties and knowing himself in order to succeed a better self. Another great author who faced huge sacrifices is known as none other than abolitionist leader Fredrick Douglass, “Learning to Read and Write” giving his found audience a look into the various dangerous tasks he took to give himself a better chance of survival. The two pieces show how one boy sacrificed so much in order to free himself and the other coming from less harsh circumstances but understand sacrifices just as well. All to be able to have a better and brighter future.
The book opens with a squad of soldiers running a tactical control point just outside of a village called Yusufiyah. They are approached when a man Abu Muhammad had found his cousins family brutally murdered not too far off. Sgt. Tony Yribe and 3 others went to go investigate it. Although it was a terrible scene Sgt. Yribe had just assumed that it was like most other situations in Iraq in that the family was a victim of Iraqis attacking other Iraqis. The one thing that bothered him was that there was a shotgun shell and Iraqis do not normally use shotguns.
Being a bad influence is a lot like being a daisy in a sunflower field. In order to get what they want, they both spread everywhere. Spreading the bad idea and seed throughout. Throughout time peers and ourselves have influenced us to want money or just to seem cool.
How does language impact each character from our readings, and what is the significance? A common theme within our various texts this semester was that of the importance of language. Not only is language a basis of verbal and written communication, but a deeper symbolic aspect of one’s own true identity. This piece will discuss include the significance of language to each character, what it personally means to them, as well as the conflicts they face with their specific means of communication.
Literature is written in many ways and styles. During his time, Frederick Douglass’s works and speeches attracted many people’s attention. With the amount of works and speeches Douglass has given, it has influenced many others writers to express themselves more freely. Though Douglass lived a rigorous childhood, he still made it the best that he could, with the guidance and teaching of one of his slave owner’s wife he was able to read and write, thus allowing him to share his life stories and experiences. Douglass’s work today still remain of great impact and influence, allowing us to understand the reality of slavery, and thus inspiring many others to come out and share for others to understand.
As people age they will often still recall a good childhood story. A well told, meaningful story can go a long way when attempting to argue a point or convey information. In the essays, ''The Myth of The Latin Women: I Just Met a Girl Named Maria" by Judith Ortiz Cofer, "Gains and Losses" by Richard Rodriquez, and "Piecing It All Together" by bell hooks, the authors connect to the reader and create a better audience through their writing. Through the portrayal of a story the authors help the reader understand their point of view, they transfer information to the reader with better ease, and keep the reader engaged the authors argue a point or convey information more efficiently.
Secondly, “A Place to Stand On” an essay of assimilation and connection to the past. And finally, “Why I Write” a composition on how writing grows along side the author. Each of these essays relays the proposition of writing being more than an escape, but less than an accustomed piece of work. Barbara Kingsolver, author of “Not So Deadly Sin” allows herself to
Although the greater picture is that reading is fundamental, the two authors have a few different messages that they seek to communicate to their audiences. “The Joy of Reading and Writing” depicts how reading serves as a mechanism to escape the preconceived notions that constrain several groups of people from establishing themselves and achieving success in their lifetimes. “Reading to Write,” on the other hand, offers a valuable advice to aspiring writers. The author suggests that one has to read, read, and read before he or she can become a writer. Moreover, he holds an interesting opinion concerning mediocre writing. He says, “Every book you pick has its own lesson or lessons, and quite often the bad books have more to teach than the good ones” (p.221). Although these two essays differ in their contents and messages, the authors use the same rhetorical mode to write their essays. Both are process analyses, meaning that they develop their main argument and provide justification for it step by step. By employing this technique, the two authors create essays that are thoughtful, well supported, and easy to understand. In addition, Alexie and King both add a little personal touch to their writings as they include personal anecdotes. This has the effect of providing support for their arguments. Although the two essays have fairly different messages, the authors make use of anecdotes and structure their writing in a somewhat similar
I learned many things about Philip Caputo and his tour of duty. He described how he felt in the beginning about the Vietnamese people, which was not as much hate since him and the other soldiers were not as knowledgeable about all the conflict that was taking place in Vietnam. Caputo was very opinionated towards his views of the Vietnamese people. He actually felt sorry for all the villagers who had to see and deal with the negative environment that was brought upon them, and bear the Marines who probed their homes for prohibited Viet Cong relations. Caputo did not find it fair how the American troops mistreated the villagers and protected the concept of apprehending the Viet Cong. However, throughout the end of his tour, he and his men disliked the VC very strongly, learned how to hate and wanted to kill them.
Jimmy Santiago Baca had spent five years in a maximum security prison when he decided to make a choice that many inmates do not have the opportunity to make; he decided to learn to read and write. This choice impacted his entire life and led to him not only becoming a reformed individual while in prison, but also an award winning poet, novelist, and memoirist. In his writing, Coming into Language, Jimmy Santiago Baca described himself before he started writing as feeling lost only to find himself through his writings. He wrote,
Malcolm X’s “Learning to Read,” is a powerful piece about his time in prison when he taught himself how to read. Through his reading, he discovered the awful things that happened in history and became a civil rights activist. Malcolm X changed his feeling and position throughout his piece, “Learning to Read.” His emotions are clear in his writing, but the change in his writing is clear to be caused by a change in his own thoughts because of the things he learned. The essay shows his lack of reading skills when he was young, but also how interested he became in it, and how much he uses it. He says that reading is important to readers' lives just as it was to his, helping one to form their own thoughts and views. Without the ability to read and understand the world, it becomes difficult to build your own ethical views.
Knowing and understanding the author’s purpose, we see where he is coming from and what his “point of view” is. We see that the author is someone that does not agree with the activities that occur in the native prison. It makes the author feel uncomfortable with the establishment and its procedures.
As a relatively young man, Frederick Douglass discovers, in his Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, that learning to read and write can be his path to freedom. Upon discovering that...
The use of Richard Hoggart’s The Uses of Literacy in this story is very thought-provoking. While we are presented with the image of a young Richard Rodriguez and his struggle to deal with his education and family life. We are also presented Hoggart’s image of the “Scholarship boy” the student who has ...