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Personal story as a beginner writer
Personal story as a beginner writer
Personal story as a beginner writer
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More handpicked essays just for you.
Personal story as a beginner writer
Personal story as a beginner writer
Personal story as a beginner writer
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
In Aria: A Memoir of a Bilingual Childhood, Richard Rodriguez makes the claim that “[i]t is not possible for a child—any child—ever to use his family’s language in school. Not to understand this is to misunderstand the public uses of schooling and to trivialize the nature of intimate life – a family’s ‘language.’” Rodriguez enforces this idea through extensive use of vignettes as well as the structure of his essay, recalling his childhood and his reluctance to learn public language. Going into depth, he explains how his fear of the public society—rather his belief that he could not be a part of it—caused the young author to be weary of leaving his intimate family setting.
Growing up Mexican-American in the United States can be a challenge itself. Throw in the task, of learning two languages, it made for a very confused little girl. There was often times growing up when I wondered why no one, but my family spoke Spanish. Why everyone at school and all my friends spoke this different language. Sometimes it even seemed like I was two different people.
Most individuals are apprehensive about changes, but there may be no reason. Changes can bring benefits to those who experience them. In the essay “Aria: A Memoir of a Bilingual Childhood” Richard Rodriguez explores his life as a bilingual child. He discusses the many changes he experiences as he goes from being fluent in Spanish to being fluent in English. Rodriguez dissuades the reader against bilingual education which is the education of nonnative English speakers in their native language.
Being bilingual can be both useful or irritating, having the ability to communicate and understand several languages or being raised to be an interpreter for your parents. As you become more exposed to a variety of languages you can often observe how society treats certain languages. Martin Espada is a lawyer and poet who defends Spanish speakers in America, makes it clear about the role of language in his essay, “The New Bathroom Policy at English High School.” He asserts that the importance of language is created from cultural identity. When Espada shared what he learned about maintaining and defending Spanish he proceeded to say, “Defending the right of all Latinos to use the tongue of their history and identity creates in me passion for Spanish itself.”
Roberts, Edgar V, and Robert Zweig. Literature: An Introduction to Reading and Writing. Pearson Education, 2015. Print. "Sorry, I Don't Speak Spanish: Hispanics Deal with the Loss of Spanish Fluency."
Rodriguez’s English was not the best, and because of that he would either be silent or quietly mumble when asked to participate by one of the nuns (73). Since his lack of participation was noticeable and showed little progress, some of his teachers visited Rodriguez’s home to ask his parents to “encourage your children to practice their English when they are home?” (73). Rodriguez one day walks in on his parents speaking Spanish, but when they see him they switch to English, which offends and over the days that follows angers him enough to decide to seriously learn English. Rodriguez even willingly decides to participate in class (74).
Castro, Ph.D, the author of this article, has effectively used and appeal to the readers emotions, a mass of reasoning and logic using statistics, data, and and personal experiences to get his point across. He conveyed the message that Spanish is threatened in the United States due to many reasons. Even as a non-native Spanish speaker I can see the value of keeping your ancestral language alive. I can’t imagine losing English, my native language in the future or how it would affect my culture and heritage. In the future I can see this author being successful as they know how to write based on their audience.
For bilinguals, education normally starts off as a challenging time when little English is spoken in their home. Rodriguez, a first generation Mexican American, had a limited exposure to English because Spanish was entirely spoken together with his family. Therefore, he considered it to be his private language because he felt most comfortable and confident using it. Due to Richard’s insufficient practice with English, he suffered developing and speaking with others outside of his household. As a result, Rodriguez’s parents took awareness and encouraged him to speak in English at home.
Abakar Baraka Mrs. Tschirhart English III AP- 5 September 22, 2014 Aria: A Memoir Of a Bilingual Childhood Discussion Questions 1) Richard Rodriguez ’s essay can be read as a discussion of two detached educational philosophies— educating in the public language and bilingual education .The first method, educating in the public language is teaching the student in the language of the society instead of the language that they are used to at home. With this method of education, the student creates a clear distinction between the public language and the language spoken at home, which becomes a “private language” to be spoken only at home. The student develops the idea that the “private language” is not socially acceptable or appropriate and
Bilingual speakers need to share their experiences and help prevent these situations from increasing and impacting children as old as our elders. Espada states, "Defending the right of all Latinos to use the tongue of their history and identity creates in me a passion for Spanish itself" (Espada 4). Furthermore, each bilingual speaker has the right to use their voice to defend their native language, and each language in the world has its
As a Cuban-born woman, my expected role in society is clearly defined; my thoughts and personality have a mold into which they must fit. However, a month before my fifth birthday my family made the decision to move to the United States and in doing so liberated me from these expectations and gave me the freedom to explore my own interests and beliefs. Ten years later, they were making preparations for my Quinciañera. Due to my Cuban heritage, my coming of age was set to be commemorated by a very long and very expensive night of food, dance, and family. For the same cost as the down payment on a relatively small house, I would be given the opportunity to put on a show in a dress that restricted my airways and provide food and drink for about
The parent’s perspective towards bilingual education was like the student’s opinions because both individuals felt immersion classrooms benefit the students and the parents. The father of Jason was proud his son was the first in his family to read, write, and speak in English. Jason’s father knew his son would have many career opportunities by learning English at school. Learning the English academic language was not the only proud language Jason’s father encouraged for Jason to learn but also the Spanish language as well. Jason’s father only speaks Spanish so if his son was to lose his home language, a language barrier would form between father and son.
My years in elementary school were the hardest. During this period, I learned the concept of English. I only knew what Spanish literacy was. Before starting my first day in kindergarten, I remember my parents talking to me about how important English is, and how it's required to progress in life. At the time I didn't know what they meant by “it's required to progress in life.”
Taking different English and writing classes has allowed me to write different types of papers. One paper that can be very challenging is the personal narrative. There are certain requirements that you must follow; each paper is different depending on who assigns it. When I am assigned to write this type of paper, usually it is dreadful to start and accomplish. This type of paper should just be removed from college writing courses.
I had a very eventful summer with experiences I have never had before. I traveled all over the state, and to the bordering states all summer long. I spent my summer being involved in sports, spending time with my friends, and having quality family time. This summer I spent the majority of my time traveling to different sporting events.