In this passage, the audience truly sees the meaning behind Herbert Kohl's message. His purpose for writing comes back to the fact that people interpret situations differently in every way. Kohl not only wanted to highlight the purpose behind wanting to learn something new but he also wanted readers to be aware that most time it does not come down to the inability of someone who doesn't want to learn but the real reason behind why they don't want to. People have different opinions on topics such as these but Kohl wanted to show that being able to want to stand up for your culture and the meanings behind it are rather important. Behind Kohl's purpose for writing, we see an insight into his past life relating to Wilfredo's. Kohl's reason for …show more content…
believing in his point of view is the fact that people mistakingly take not wanting to learn as something that is just as simple as not wanting to fail. Kohl believes that in the society we live in today it is not easy to be able to adapt to another part of the culture by learning another language. I agree with Kohl that losing a part of your culture by learning another can take a huge toll on your life.
As we get further into the passage Kohl has put forth different ideas that attract the audience. Considering my own experiences and cultural beliefs I find that Kohl's argument really justified the fact that being able to stay morally intact to your culture is an obstacle and just because a specific person does not want to learn or adapt to a new part of society does not mean that it will result in failure. Personally, I agree with Kohl's explanation to the situation behind language. Being able to open up to something new such as a language really takes a lot of skill and drive to do after being so intertwined in your original culture such as Wilfredo was with Spanish. I also agree with Kohl that people mistakenly think others who are not willing to learn something new are just sprung over the fact that they might fail when that is not necessarily the case. I find it useful that Kohl related Wilfredo's choice with not wanting to learn Spanish with personal experience of growing up in a partially bilingual family. I concur that being able to alter your lifestyle in order to learn something else is very challenging with the thought that you may lose a significant part of your
culture. Kohl being a teacher had really used Wilfredo's situation and translated that to his students. Reflecting back on many experiences I can certainly agree that accepting the fact that a student may not want to learn can be an affirmative aspect. I personally wanted to stay true to my culture and at times I have chosen not to learn not to show I wasn't capable of it but to stay genuine to my beliefs which are what Kohl tried to justify in this passage. As Kohl said, " Over the years I've come to side with them in their refusal to be molded by a hostile society and have come to look upon not learning as positive and healthy in many situations." This also relates personally to me because being of Muslim descent I have my own personal morals some of which came from society and my culture and I didn't feel it necessary to have that changed by a teacher. Personally, I would say that Kohl's argument really justified the way society works and I related to the situations in this passage.
In Aria,” from Hunger of Memory: The Education of Richard Rodriguez, Richard Rodriguez shares his autobiography of when he first entered his classroom at catholic school. He writes of his transition through emotions of fear, insecurity, and self-doubt as he transitions from the privacy of his home to the public world. Richard develops an understanding that his that private language that is used in his home is different from the language that is publicly acceptable in school. His school teachers pushed his americanalization which led him to discover his identity, since he indeed was an American but grew up in a Spanish speaking home. Through this journey of journey of assimilation he discovers that learning this new language brought him a sense of comfortability and acceptance. Richard Rodriguez heavily relates to the Crevecoeurian immigrant because he was willing to learn a new language, leave his culture behind, and embrace his American identity.
Have a minute or two? Good, sit down and relax, because while reading this it may take a few minutes to change your opinion about competition. Competition could build character, but on the downside, it could leave someone with low self-esteem. This paper will discuss how competition is not always the best in certain situations. It will provide different types of examples and different types of scenarios where competition is harmful.
One of his main points and I believe to be one of the central reasons behind him writing the book, is to state his harsh yet rightful opinion on bilingualists. Rodriguez states, "The bilingualists insist that a student should be reminded of his difference from others in mass society, his heritage. But they equate mere separateness with individuality" (27). Because he has personally been through that situation, he wants people to understand and support his opinion and possibly persuade them to have a certain opinion on bilingualists.
He also talks about if his teachers did not push him to speak English, he would not have learned the language as easily. He stated, “I would have felt much less afraid. I would have delayed- for long postponed- having to learn the language of public society” (Rodriguez 4). His teachers forced him to learn the public language, but that also encouraged his family to learn too. Now knowing the public language, they speak it more fluently and regularly.
“Do you wish you’d grown up with your mom tracking your every move? If not don’t do it to your own kid.” states Lenore Skenazy in her persuasive article Tracking Kids like Felons. These words draw an immediate comparison to “the golden rule” or “treat others how you want to be treated.” In this article Skenazy evaluates a personal-tracking app called FamilySignal. As the readers we see the author’s take on this specific point in the very first sentence when she uses sarcasm on the word “safe.” Skenazy does not give too many facts but she does base most of her article off of morals, which may even be more persuasive. Even in today’s day and age tracking ones every step is definitely not ok, even with the advanced technology that we have.
The author began the story by using a metaphor, she compares the process of acculturation to a painful dentist visit where the dentist is trying to control and hold down her tongue, which is a representation of her language (Anzaldua 8). She appeals to the readers by using a clever metaphor comparing her tongue to freedom of speech or language, and the dentist to the oppressors of her culture and language the people who are apart of the dominant culture. Anzaldua also discusses how different cultures and influences determine which language people use to speak to one another. Anzaldua herself writes, “ Often with Mexicanas and Latinas we’ll speak English as a neutral language” (Anzaldua 8). Anzaldua’s point is that it is difficult to know which language to speak when feeling afraid or ashamed of what others may think. Moreover, Anzaldua discusses problems such as not being allowed to speak her native language. She writes about remembering as a child how during school speaking Spanish was forbidden and being caught speaking it would mean you would be reprimanded. Anzaldua writes “ I remember being caught speaking Spanish at recess--that was good for three licks on the knuckles with a sharp ruler” (Anzaldua 5). In making this comment she is showing us that throughout the school day you’re
Jake Olson is a blind long snapper for the University of Southern California Trojans. Jake was given a rare form of retinal cancer that took his sight as a child. Jake lost his left eye when he was 10 months old. The cancer forced doctors to remove his right eye when he was 12 years old. Playing for USC has been a lifelong dream for Jake and he never gave up that dream even after he became blind.
In the beginning of the article, Richard started out by mentioning how his public language which is Spanish will not get him nowhere in life, however by learning a public language which is English will help more in life and make stuff way easier for him. He mentioned being scared and hard for him to learn a public society language. When I came to America 11 years ago, it was hard for me to learn a second language and I doubted myself all the time, however I had family members, teachers and friends pushing me to learn and telling me to not give up even
The Turn of the Screw by Henry James has been the cause of many debates about whether or not the ghosts are real, or if this is a case of a woman with psychological disturbances causing her to fabricate the ghosts. The story is told in the first person narrative by the governess and is told only through her thoughts and perceptions, which makes it difficult to be certain that anything she says or sees is reliable. It starts out to be a simple ghost story, but as the story unfolds it becomes obvious that the governess has jumps to conclusions and makes wild assumptions without proof and that the supposed ghosts are products of her mental instability which was brought on by her love of her employer
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
Video games have become a hot topic recently. There have been a lot of controversy over whether to play or not to play. The controversy is due to them being arguably more captivating than all other forms of entertainment. Video games narrate an epic tale like no other form of entertainment can. You can become immersed in video games, because of this they are both a highly entertaining escape from the real world and a complete waste of time.
The los gringos, school and the English language are associated with the pubic society. Several other kinds of separation emerge from this separation of public and private society. There are separations of sound and word, female and male, and reason and affection. Richard believes it is natural to move from one separation into another. He needs to do this in order to move from the private to the public society. This movement is voluntary by Richard and forced by his parents. It is done to help Richard’s education. It will give him better opportunities in the United States. Speaking only English at home initiates the movement, instead of speaking Spanish. Ultimately, Richard can have a sense of belonging to the pu...
An argumentative essay persuades the audience or a reader to state an issue that gives some several valid and true reasons, where it can be supported by the evidence and make the audience to adopt a new belief or behavior. The argumentative essay can be also written in a MLA (Modern Language Association) or APA (American Psychological Association) format. It depends on what format you prefer. A good argumentative essay starts with a good topic where it can claim what the argumentative essay is about. It is important that topic need to have something that interests you as a writer and reader as an audience. Before writing an argumentative essay, you need to know that what kind of audience are you writing for. For example, if you are writing for a younger audience, you need to be careful about the language and sentences structure, which should be simple and short to understand. Likely, if you are writing for a highly educated audience, you need to provide
“I always feel like somebody's watching me and I have no privacy.” These are the famous lyrics from one of Michael Jackson's hit songs Somebody’s Watching Me. Now, back when this song was created, there was not as much worry about people constantly being watched by cameras, but it seems to fit in the problem that my generation is facing. In the book 1984, written by George Orwell, the society is always being watched through a device called a telescreen. The main character, Winston, has trouble adjusting to the life of always being monitored, and the fact that if you made one mistake you could be tortured or killed. This book was made in the late 1940’s and was written to show what the predicted future would be like. Many people who have read
In our educational system we have students that come from all around the world, but according to figure 3.1 on page 89 throughout years the Hispanic population has increased. Because of the increase of non-english speakers in our educational system, I believe that future teachers must prepare with ideas and ways to teach these students English and make them feel welcomed. I, being bilingual could not personally explain how it was like to be ignorant of the English language because i started school at the age of four and my parents said i learned the language in three months. I believe that being bilingual is very prestigious because it is an opportunity for better understanding of the non-English speaking community and better pay. Throughout the years i have heard that knowing a second language and speaking it is considered unpatriotic. I completely disagree with this assumption because students who come from other countries will grow up like i did loving this country more than their native country because that is what the educational system teaches you. In Addition, the philosophies mentioned in the book really impacted me. I was amazed on the variety of philosophies a teacher has the ability to choose from to instruct their course. Using a variety of philosophies in a class is a great way to teach every student because it is evident that each person learns in different