I conform to Rodriguez ideologies that to succeed in a world controlled by those who spoke English, to succeed in the public arena, Rodriguez learned that he had to choose the English language over the Spanish language that was spoken within his home. I am also the son of immigrants, who was alienated from my Mexican heritage. However, I agree that we are all immigrants and that Latin American culture will not disappear as long as Latin American people immigrate to the United States. Similar, to Rodriguez I was also a “sellout,” when embracing my race in the presence of other students, because I spoke in English, rather than, Spanish at school. I was against the bilingual education of my intellectual development to make it to college. For example, I acted as if I did not know the Spanish language so I was not speaking my “mother tongue.” The public language of English over the private language of Spanish was a theory of Rodriguez novel that applied to my life when trying to make it out of high school into a university.
I believed as a college-bound student, I should be judged by the content of my character, not the color of my skin. My Spanish was limited throughout high school, and I was not fluent in its language. The English side
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dominated the action in my preparation to make it to college. Working hard to accomplish my dream of making it to college came with a sacrifice at Millikan High School in speaking the Spanish language. I felt ready to take on any challenge thrown at me. The Peace Academy was a preparatory program that looked out for my best interest. I was always intrigued to make it out of high school into college. The teachers assured me if I wanted to be a strong candidate for admission into a prestigious university of my choice, I would need to make my official transcripts transparent in what they are looking for. I was interested in affecting campus to make it to college. After settling into the pressure and demands of academic requirements, I joined the Avid program my first year of high school to help me pass all of my classes with successful letter grades of "A's" and "B's." Avid is, "a global nonprofit organization with one guiding principle: hold students accountable to the highest standards, give academic and social support, and they will rise to the challenge" (Avid homepage). Avid help me be in good standing for, when I applied to the University, Cal State Long Beach. For example, my Avid teacher made me work hard to understand the knowledge presented in my books by making tutorial groups. Each group comprised of five people, and we discussed problems we could not comprehend in our classes. I was an overachiever in my academics throughout my four years at Avid. I always took part by going up in front of my peers to discuss problems in Math, History, English, and Science. For example, for each tutorial paper turned in for homework, I was always coming up with what we call, “level three” questions or hard questions to answer in the discussion. Many of the tutors were amazed by my diligent work, and ways of being meticulous in writing. The tutors inspired me to be scholarly because, "to speak a true word is to transform the world" (Freire, Page 87). I felt humanized because I practiced my liberation for freedom in a classroom, and I did not fear the consequences of oppression. I work hard to rise against the oppressor. I did not neglect my execution in making it to college. For example, one tutor stated, “I was on par with the paper,” meaning I did a great job. Avid help me reach my potential with confidence. I was interacting with students, who wanted to live a more comfortable lifestyle. Avid reflects how, "true dialogue cannot exist unless the dialogues engage in critical thinking-thinking which discerns an indivisible solidarity between the world and the people and admits of no dichotomy between them thinking which perceives reality as process, as transformation, rather than as a static entity-thinking which does not separate itself from action, but immerse itself in temporality without fear of the risks involved" (Freire, Page. 92). In the struggles for equity and justice, Freire's ideas had a global impact in serving the community. I changed my life because I link education to social change. I never felt better, because I was a young responsible student eager to learn from those with more experience in education. Working hard to prove myself worthy of candidacy for college resulted from me enrolling in the rigorous academic programs that trained my body for improvement. Last, soccer is a competitive sport, where diligent work demands from you. Athleticism is the physical qualities that are characteristics of athletes, such as strength, fitness, and agility. I have played soccer since I was ten years old of age. I improved because being in shape was a top priority of mine. I could not work hard, and make the runs needed if I was not in shape. Growing up, if I could not live out my dream of attending a public university, I wanted to become a professional soccer player for a European team in Spain called Barcelona. Soccer is a great sport that anyone can get involved with and have fun playing. To become an advanced player, however, one needs to start early and work hard. For example, I work hard almost every day by practicing a lot in training. I played as much as possible with friends or local club teams. Every Saturday I had games for my soccer team in different parts of the city. I was a talented player who hated to lose and loved to win. I lost more games than won, but I continued to grow as a soccer player. It helps me become mature and calm on my goals to be achieved. For example, I used to practice improving my weaknesses and turn them into my strengths. Practice is where I got better, not where I kept repeating the skills I have already got down. I made it to college because soccer made me a perfectionist in performing. Failure was not a choice if I wanted to be the best in having a unique set of talent. Any professional soccer player would recommend working hard if I wanted to be good at something. Soccer has helped me make things happen for a good result in my process of making it to college. For one thing, Belief in myself made me want to grasp a college education. Belief is an acceptance that a statement is true or that something exists. I believed in myself to make it to college no matter how bleak the situation might seem. Everything falls into place when I had faith in myself. I pray to make it to college my whole life. All I dream about is making it to college. I knew college was coming; I had faith and all that, but sometimes I second-guess myself. I suppose that is human nature, second-guessing. However, when life seems to take me more down than ups. It seems like it gives me more losses than wins. However, do I stand tall and be bold or do I fold, did I believe in myself to make it to college? For me, I made some amazing progress, far to stop now. Not that I would stop, anyway. I am so close I can feel it. It is difficult to experience life with a college degree, imagine a high school diploma. It is hard that is how the system is set up. It is never too late to carry out what I set out to do, to follow my dreams. Making it to college was a dream of mine to follow. I believe that making it to college is worth living, and that belief helps me create the fact. Belief taught me three valuable lessons in life, which are patient and how to be patient and to stick with it knowing nothing, comes over night. It is all work before earned. I always felt going to college was around the corner. Belief concluded me in my final decision to make it to college because I am learning about myself. I am not afraid to share my learning process with the world. At this stage of my life, I do not feel there is not all that much I cannot do. If I want to do it, I do not surrender. This was years of work and me knowing this was what I am supposed to do. I think when I believe in myself; I know making it to college would happen. Regardless of how difficult making it to college seem to be. If you know, what is coming, and then I do not mind that, because it is a temporary sacrifice for what I want to end up doing. That kept me going I never questioned it. I made it to college because I believed in my capabilities over many years. I am closer today than what I was yesterday, and the mentality helps me experience it. I control my destiny, certain things happen in life I have no control over, but life is about how I react to those things and handle those things. Those are currencies. I believe I chose: where I wanted to go, what I wanted to be, and it was up to me to get to college. My belief in my dream to make it to college and effort has allowed me to make leaps forward in my progress. In Conclusion, as a college-bound student, I graduated honors, with a grade point average of 3.50 from Millikan High School.
The high school diploma a ticket to bring my own agendas and dreams into fruition in the preceding months entering college. This autobiography is a poignant journey of how I made it to college. I set an example for the young people today. If taken can be an inspiration to change many lives. It shows some of my central mysteries of education, diligent work, and belief. I hope I can make going to college important in writing a sideline story of my come up. Nothing is impossible as long as one does not quit visualizing who he or she wants to be. Be bold to write the future and just do it to make it to
college.
To summarize the story, Richard Rodriguez is Mexican-American peer coming from his parents who were immigrants and attends a Catholic school. He realizes that his bilingualism wasn’t acceptable in his community and had to conform to having a different identity throughout the course of his life, which
Richard Rodriguez commences, “ Aria: A Memoir of a Bilingual Childhood” recounting the memory of his first day of school. A memory that will help support against the use of “family language” as the child 's primary language at school. Rodriguez is forced to say no: it 's not possible for children to use the family language at school. To support against the “family language” used at school, Rodriguez uses simple and complex sentences to help achieve the readers to understand that to only accept the family language is to be closed off by society; to not have a “public life” is to not share one 's life experiences with society. Bilingual Educators state that you would “lose a degree of ‘individuality’ if one assimilates. Rodriguez refutes this statement through his expressive use of diction and narration educing emotion from his audience building his pathos. Rodriguez also develops ethos due to the experiences he went
Immigrants have helped shape American identity by their languages they speak from their home country. Richard Rodriguez essay “Blaxicans and Other Reinvented Americans” reveals Rodriguez’s attitudes towards race and ethnicity as they relate to make people know what culture is really identified a person rather than their race. For example, in the essay, it states that Richard Rodriguez “ that he is Chinese, and this is because he lives in a Chinese City and because he wants to be Chinese. But I have lived in a Chinese City for so long that my eye has taken on the palette, has come to prefer lime greens and rose reds and all the inventions of this Chinese Mediterranean. (lines 163-171)”. Although Rodriquez states”he is Chinese”, what he actually
As Rodriguez is looking back at the rise of his “public identity”, he realizes that “the loss implies the gain” (Rodriguez 35). He believes that losing a part of who you (such as your “mother tongue” is permitted since
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.
	"It mattered that education was changing me. It never ceased to matter. My brother and sisters would giggle at our mother’s mispronounced words. They’d correct her gently. My mother laughed girlishly one night, trying not to pronounce sheep as ship. From a distance I listened sullenly. From that distance, pretending not to notice on another occasion, I saw my father looking at the title pages of my library books. That was the scene on my mind when I walked home with a fourth-grade companion and heard him say that his parents read to him every night. (A strange sounding book-Winnie the Pooh.) Immediately, I wanted to know, what is it like?" My companion, however, thought I wanted to know about the plot of the book. Another day, my mother surprised me by asking for a "nice" book to read. "Something not too hard you think I might like." Carefully I chose one, Willa Cather’s My ‘Antonia. But when, several weeks later, I happened to see it next to her bed unread except for the first few pages, I was furious and suddenly wanted to cry. I grabbed up the book and took it back to my room and placed it in its place, alphabetically on my shelf." (p.626-627)
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...
...roughout his autobiography, Rodriguez illustrates the problematic conditions revolving around bilingual education programs and affirmative action, pointing out that both policies tend to negate their intentions. Rodriguez scathingly criticizes both programs correctly identifying the first as an obstacle to what he sees as the keys to success in America--a solid education and learning to speak and write English well--and the second as promoting socially crippling labels--"disadvantaged minority." Through countless arguments that a bilingual program hinders English and non-English students' education and that affirmative action accommodates only "privileged" minority students rather than the students most in need, Rodriguez's life story, Hunger of Memory, serves as a political publication meant to raise concern for the function of government in the education system.
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.
Richard Hoggart significantly aided Richard Rodriguez in seeing exactly how he experienced growing up in all its forms, and Rodriguez interpreted these discoveries as being universal for many. A specific excerpt in which Rodriguez tries to show the reader how he or she can relate is when he explains how “to his teachers, he offers great satisfaction; his success is their proudest achievement...From all sides, there is lavish praise and encouragement” (Rodriguez 545). It is not fully universal, but most students want to do well, and a smaller, but present, amount of students want to exceed the expectations of their teachers. Rodriguez uses his study habits and end result to relate to past and present students whose lives most likely revolve
“Just as Spanish would have been a danger language for me to have used at the start of my education, so black English would be a dangerous language to use in the schooling of teenagers for whom it reinforces feelings of public separateness.” When Rodriguez says this, it appeals to the reader’s emotions as well as logic. Rodriguez effectively uses logos and pathos to convey his message that speaking a different language than what’s around you increases separateness in the public. “Just as Spanish would have been a danger language for me to have used at the start of my education…” This part of the quote appealing to logos and saying that if Rodriguez would have used Spanish when he went to school then he would not have made the friends he had,
With disconnected allusions, metaphors, and unrealism Rodriguez not only conveys his ideas throughout his essays but also is able to show us part of himself as a writer. He respects people’s role in society. He treasures how assimilation can change a culture. He has a passion for brown for converting color and race. He loves language for it’s continuous changes that it has been through over time. He values transformation, whether it is of color, culture, language, or a nation.
Schooling is a very important aspect in our lives and one must go through many steps to gain a higher education. Two of these steps are high school and college. Although high school and college students aim for the same goal, which is acquiring an education and graduating, the demands, expectations, and social atmosphere extremely contrast.
School plays an important role in our lives. Many people will spend more than fifteen years at school in order to get the qualifications that are required to work in a specific field. Those years are broken down into several levels, some of them being more enjoyable than others. Two very important levels that people go through are high school and college. Even though some think that these levels are almost the same, there are significant differences between them. The cost of high school is not the same as the cost of college. Also, some differences apply from an academic point of view. Typically, the social environment also differs from high school to college, which can be related to the question of freedom versus responsibility.