Aria
Rodriguez, Richard. "Aria: A Memoir of a Bilingual Childhood," an excerpt from. Hunger of Memory: The Education of Richard Rodriguez: an Autobiography. Boston, Mass: D.R. Godine, 1982. Print.
Bilingual education is one of the issues that have been hotly debated in the last few decades. Though proposed by Hispanic-Americans in the 1970s and '80s, many second- and third-generation immigrants from the south of the United States now have mixed feelings about bilingualism. Some support it as a policy that would help Spanish-speaking and other ethnic American children maintain their cultural heritage and individualism, while others criticize it as something that may block their assimilation and integration into the American mainstream. Richard Rodriguez, the son of Mexican immigrants to the United States, is among the latter group, arguing that children of Spanish-speaking and ethnic immigrants must opt for education in English only; for that is the best way of becoming a full-fledged citizen and a member of the mainstream American public. In his autobiography, Rodriguez proposes interesting and valid arguments to support his position, but his points remain unconvincing because of his tendency to base all his arguments on his personal experiences as well as his clearly expressed biases that render the objectivity of his analysis questionable.
There is no doubt that...
Apparently, the language is the one to blame for the communication breeches inside the family. On the other hand, the author uses another personal experience, his relationship with his grandmother, who died when he was nine years old, in order to show how they remained close even after he was no longer comfortable with using his native language, but perfectly able to understand it . Besides public and private sphere,
pain when it comes to being different. In both Zora Neale Hurston's essay "How It Feels to Be Colored Me" and Richard Rodriguez's " Aria: Memoir of a Bilingual Childhood" the two writers discuss the differences they come upon that molded their principles and sentiments as they grew older. For Hurston hers was about being of a dissimilar race than her environment. For Rodriguez, his was about being different
Clash of Identities Is a private identity a curse or a blessing? Is it necessary or valid to hide who you really are? According to "Aria: Memoir of a bilingual childhood" by Richard Rodriguez and "How it feels to be colored me" by Zora Hurston, creating a private identity and leaving your public identity behind, may be necessary, especially living, growing or entering an environment where it is not that accepting
Assimilation Help My Success? The answer to this paper's overarching question, "Does assimilation help my success?," depends in large part on how success is defined. To the extent that success is defined as the fulfilment of personal and professional goals, then, yes, assimilation can help individuals succeed in a new country. From this perspective, assimilation has to do with a lot more than just ethnicity, language, or culture, though, because
Racial Identity: Blessing or Curse? Today, in the United States, cultural and ethnic and racial sensitivity are all approached from the perspective of inclusiveness and equality. In that sort of social climate, the notion of racial identity has more positive connotations than negative ones, as everyone is encouraged to celebrate his or her heritage and to respect and value those of others. In that respect, racial identity is a positive thing
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