Comparison Of Disliking Books And Gerald Graff

Compare and Contrast Essay

Gerald Graff’s article, “Disliking Books” and Richard Rodriguez’s “Scholarship Boy” are similar and yet different in many ways. The two articles describe the journey of two boys from different backgrounds through various stages in their education.

A similarity in the two articles is seen in the desire of the parents to make their children acquire formal education. Rodriguez’s parents took him and his other siblings to parochial schools because the nuns, in their opinion, taught better than other teachers. Although they were uneducated and held low paying jobs, they struggled and paid tuition for their children (Rodriguez 16). Besides, they made their children learn English even though they were Mexican emigrants themselves and knew little English. Graff’s father was interested in his education too. He was very concerned by his son’s hatred of reading and tried his best to make him learn to read, including forcing Graff to read by confining him to his room (Graff 23).

In the articles, the ambitions and challenges of the two boys are well understandable. They both tell the story of their quest for formal education. Being the child of Mexican emigrants, Rodriguez could barely speak English when he started school (Rodriguez 16). His working-class parents could barely pay for his education and that of his other siblings. He had to work extra hard to obtain a scholarship to go to college. Graff had his challenges too. He grew up in a rough multi-ethnic neighborhood in Chicago where he risked being beaten by other boys if he was found reading (Graff 23). Besides, he did not like reading until much later in college. Both writers, however, overcame their challenges and achieved their ambitions in the end.

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...hat of a father. The high level of sophistication and education in his teachers (factors he considers missing in his parents) makes him respect them much. The scholarship boy wishes his parents were exactly like the teachers (Rodriguez 16). Graff, on the other hand, critiques teachers. In his opinion, many literature teachers have lost touch with the passion for literature and are obsessed with professionalism, their journy to advance their careers and their fascination with analysis and theory (Graff 26).

Works Cited

Graff, Gerald. "Disliking Books." From inquiry to Academic Writing: A Text and Reader. Eds. Stuart Greene and April Lidinsky. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2012. 22-26. Print

Rodriguez, Richard "Scholarship Boy." From inquiry to Academic Writing: A Text and Reader. Eds. Stuart Greene and April Lidinsky. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2012. 15-22. Print