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Richard Rodriguez is known for his notorious figure for his stance against affirmative action and bilingual education because of his book “Hunger of Memory.” Rodriguez became a spokesperson for Americanization, through countless of interviews, for instance Bill Moyers, which has enhanced his credibility. “I became, because of my book, a notorious figure among the Ethnic Left in America” (Rodriguez 242). Added to his credibility he was the editor for the Pacific News Service and contributing editor for Harper’s Magazine. (Shuter 1). Rodriguez gains trust from the audience by exclaiming “Diversity is our strength, we say. There is not an American president who would say anything else: We are a country made stronger by our individuality, by our differences” …show more content…
Richard Rodriguez was just a little boy in Sacramento, California; the son of Mexican immigrant parents. Spanish was his native language that was mostly used, impeding his social growth. His parents and his siblings could not articulate English very well, hardly not knowing any at all, therefore him and his family felt apart from American citizens. As a child in school Richard Rodrigues had uncomfortable experiences as a bilingual child. Many readers regarding this type of situation and with children growing up in a family impacted by two different languages at the same time, children that are in the same circumstances as Rodriguez was, or potential adoptive parents of Spanish speaking child (children) are the types of audiences Rodriguez’s targets; which establishes to his emotional appeal. “I am my culture. My culture is rather something we breathe and sweat and live. My culture is you. You created me. If you don't like it, too bad” (Rodriguez 242). In support of his argument, the author is convincing through strong emotional
The writings of Amy Tan and Richard Rodriguez’s depicts a bilingual story based on two differing culture. On Mother Tongue, “Tan explores the effect of her mother’s “broken” English on her life and writing” (506). On the other hand, Richard Rodriguez “recounts the origin of his complex views of bilingual education through Public and Private Language” (512). From a child’s eyes, Tan and Rodriguez describe each joys and pain growing up in a non-English speaking family. Hence, may be viewed that cultural differences plays a major role on how one handles adversities.
“Se Habla Español,” is written by a Latin author, Tanya Barrientos; and Amy Tan, a Chinese author, wrote “Mother Tongue”. In both literate narratives the authors write about their experiences with language and how it impacted their lives. In This essay we will be discussing the similarities as well as the differences in the stories and the authors of “Se Habla Español” and “Mother Tongue”. We will discuss how both authors use a play on words in their titles, how language has impacted their lives, how struggling with language has made them feel emotionally, and how both authors dealt with these issues.
This book was published in 1981 with an immense elaboration of media hype. This is a story of a young Mexican American who felt disgusted with being pointed out as a minority and was unhappy with affirmative action programs although he had gained advantages from them. He acknowledged the gap that was created between him and his parents as the penalty immigrants ought to pay to develop and grow into American culture. And he confessed that he was bewildered to see other Hispanic teachers and students determined to preserve their ethnicity and traditions by asking for such issues to be dealt with as departments of Chicano studies and minority literature classes. A lot of critics criticized him as a defector of his heritage, but there are a few who believed him to be a sober vote in opposition to the political intemperance of the 1960s and 1970s.
Sotomayor represents the Puerto Rican students that have an awareness of being unqualified in comparison to their white classmates. Her “deficiency of...written English,” a representation for other Puerto Rican students, is because of being raised in a culturally different background than a common upper-class white student’s background (110). The “deficiency” symbolizes the common sense belief that being white, and writing and speaking fluently in English, is a classification of the prevalent culture. Sotomayor, in her dissent in Schuette v. BAMN, explicates that “discrimination against an individual occurs because [of] that individual’s membership in a particular group” revealing that a Puerto Rican’s identity as a Puerto Rican, as an immigrant, as a minority part of the lower class, racializes them, creating drawbacks that are arduous and can be impossible to overcome, as in the case of her cousin Nelson, who being just as smart as Sotomayor, is burdened with an addiction that restricts him from succeeding (Schuette 45; Sottomayor 106). In 1972, Princeton, a prestigious school, was dominantly populated by upper class white males, causing the culture and heritage of many Puerto Ricans and other minority students to clash with dominantly white, upper class
Throughout Richards early childhood development he quickly understood that in order to succeed in America he would have to learn to confidently speak in English. Richard is Hispanic American and although he was born in America, Spanish was the only language that he was exposed to as a young child. He grew up in a home where Spanish flowed freely, but he soon realized outside of his home the language that he primarily knew was foreign. His parents spoke fluent Spanish along with all of his relatives. The brief encounters he experienced of his parents speaking English were only in public places and the proficiency was very poor. Rodriguez’s home was as a safety net for him and his Spanish speaking family with they are his only real connections to the outside world. It wasn’t until Richards encounter with his teachers that he and his family was heavily impressed on the importance of developing a public language. After the encouragement of the visit home from a teacher as a family
Have you ever encountered yourself struggling in speaking two languages? A common theme we see in Rhina Espaillat’s poem “Bilingual/Billingue is how the speaker's father fears of losing the Spanish language. This is clearly shown when the father of the speaker wants the speaker to be able to be fluent in English but also to embrace her culture by speaking Spanish only at home.
Richard Rodriguez offers an alternate yet equally profound truth: While our heritage and culture may remain forever tied to and expressed in our native or "home" language, only through the dominant language of our country (English in most cases) can we achieve a place in society that gives us a feeling that we belong amongst everyone else. The only way we can truly become a part of our community and fit in is to dominate the current spoken language. In the United States, the dominant language is Standard English. In this excerpt from "Aria," a chapter in his autobiography entitled "Hunger of Memory": The Education of Richard Rodriguez, Rodriguez discusses public and private languages, and agrees that his achievements in English separated him from his Spanish family and culture but also brought him "the belief, the calming assurance that [he] belonged in public." We as human beings want to feel we belong. We search for that place in society where we are most comfortable all our lives. One should consider the benefits of mastering the dominant language of the society they live in, but should also take into account the harm of taking your native language for granted. I will attempt to explore both of these considerations and examine Rodriguez place in life now, by stating the facts of who is now by the childhood decisions that were made.
While reading this article one of the most shocking sections were when the students were talking to Monzó and sharing their outlook on their place and their language’s place in society. These students even at this early age are feeling how devalued their first language has been. They feel like they have to speak the right* English, only use English in public places, never their first language, and that they must assimilate to the American culture as much as possible. This reminded me of a chapter in Lippi-Green (2012)’s text. Within this chapter Lippi-Green (2012) discusses how in the United States Spanish speakers are not only expected to learn English but they are expected to learn and utilize the right* English determined by the majority and assimilate entirely to American culture. Throughout Monzó and Rueda (2009)’s text the children in conversations expressed their observation of the social order in relation to language and race. This was surprising to me since they are only in 5th grade. During a conversation with one of the children Monzó and Rueda (2009) recorded an alarming statement, “He said that his mother could not be considered American because she did not...
His home was the place where it was a private world then homes of his English speakers. Since his family only spoke Spanish at home. However, the further the story goes, Rodriguez recognized he has school and family collide. However later on the story, Richard started to refer to speak English then Spanish. I think that there wasn’t any communication between Richard and his family after that so they started to feel this separation between them. In addition, His family started on trying to speak English to help Richard out. “In an instant, they agreed to give up the language (the sounds) that had revealed and accentuated our family’s closeness” (paragraph 7). In my opinion, since his family started to no longer speak Spanish, Richard family lost their
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...
Ruth Benedict’s anthropological book, Patterns of Culture explores the dualism of culture and personality. Benedict studies different cultures such as the Zuni tribe and the Dobu Indians. Each culture she finds is so different and distinctive in relation to the norm of our society. Each difference is what makes it unique. Benedict compares the likenesses of culture and individuality, “A culture, like an individual, is a more or less consistent pattern of thought or action” (46), but note, they are not the same by use of the word, “like.” Benedict is saying that figuratively, cultures are like personalities. Culture and individuality are intertwined and dependent upon each other for survival.
Culture is undoubtedly universal; for, it forms multiple belief systems, frames perceptions, formulates understandings, and guides behaviors. Culture may be in various forms not only in painting, music, theatre, or dance. Culture flows into all activities and expressions that extend below the surface and unite individuals under a communal sense of self. On a constant basis, culture offers meaning and currency to our lives. It is not merely a tool for expansion, nor a means to an end, but a virtue that is learned, adopted, and infinitely evolving. The study of the culture is vital and extremely significant to the people of today as it reflects directly upon the history and way of our life. Studying ones culture and learning about the achievements accomplished by an individual’s ancestors plays a critical role in passing the trends that many inherit and pass to the next generation. Human culture as a whole may be described as the process of man's progressive self-liberation. (Cassirer p. 228) Languages, art, religion, science, are various phases in this process. In all of them man discovers and proves a new power- the power to build up a world of his own, an ideal.
At a young age, Rodriguez found interest in having a strong academic vocabulary and focused on school work, making it a main priority in his life. Before this fascination regarding education occurred, he would speak the way he was taught by his mother and father. Rodriguez’s parents were Mexican immigrants,
“We are surrounded by elements in our own culture which influence who we are and how we relate to the world. Since we have grown up with this culture, we are comfortable in it and sometimes unaware of the characteristics of our culture until confronted with contradicting ideas. Our values and attitudes about who we are and how things should be have been shaped by our experiences in our native culture.” (Dealing With Culture Shock - Study Abroad, University of Illinois. (n.d.)).
In the end, what we learn from this article is very realistic and logical. Furthermore, it is supported with real-life examples. Culture is ordinary, each individual has it, and it is both individual and common. It’s a result of both traditional values and an individual effort. Therefore, trying to fit it into certain sharp-edged models would be wrong.