Exploring the text questions-
According to Richard Rodriguez language can define a community positively by allowing intimacy with people with that same language. For example, it allowed Rodriguez to feel in a way that he was safe and that he was comfortable hearing the same language in his household. It can define a community negatively by the community becoming isolated due to the fact that others usually don’ t speak the same language.
Rodriguez means in the statement that one shouldn’t really speak a family language at home because it may disadvantage the children. It may lead to the student not really understanding or being able to communicate with others. As seen in the essay Rodriguez is very familiar with this because he takes it to account that he has experienced this on his own. Since he was only a Spanish speaker and didn’t really know much English he was isolated and he didn’t really understand the concepts of anything which contributes to missing out on education. So within that, he conveys that one shouldn’t be educated in bilingual education.
An aria is a term associated with music. It is usually a long song that is accompanied by one person that fits the song perfectly. I think Rodriguez chose the title “ Aria” because as a child he felt that he was isolated, being the only one in the classroom not knowing English. I believe the title is effective because it relates to the entire concept that he was trying to pursue in writing the essay.
Rodriguez establishes ethos in his first four opening paragraphs by giving credibility about his knowledge of bilingual education on his part. He acknowledges his own personal story which allows us to see that he is credible in the sense that he is able to speak about his own story/ issue that he had grown up in his childhood.
Rodriguez means in the statement given that even though his parents couldn’t speak English that well it mattered to him because he knew that his parents were still going to have to live with the discomfort of not being able to be seen as a regular person in a community. It also meant that they weren’t going to be able to get the same opportunity that he had acquired due to the fact that they didn’t speak English with “ease.”
Rodriguez doesn’t really convince me that change in a family relationship is worthwhile in terms of “dramatic Americanization” because in my opinion family is way more important than becoming more of an American because family is forever unlike “dramatic Americanization.” “Dramatic Americanization” separates family as seen in the essay, so without it, it brings the family closer together.
I believe Rodriguez means within the statement given is that while trying to become a public society it can reveal yourself to finding your own public individuality by finding who you truly are.
The narrative contributes to the effectiveness of Rodriguez’s argument by allowing the audience to see/understand his perspective of how he felt. It also allows the readers to get a good relationship with Rodriguez because they are able to understand his emotions leaving pathos as an appeal.
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The major counter-arguments that Rodriguez addresses are that “ “It 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’” (para. 5). He also addresses that “Supporters of bilingual education today imply that students like me miss a great deal by not being taught in their family’s language.” (p.308) Although there are many more counter-arguments these seem the most important to me.
I believe that Rodriguez is very convincing because sometimes logical statistics don’t help the passage be convincing such as in this case. I believe that formal evidence wouldn’t strengthen his argument because he was trying to explain his story to have an intimate relationship with the readers instead of just stating facts.
The competing communities impact the development of his personal identity by making Rodriguez unsure of who he was. He was confused in a way that he didn’t know what language to choose whether it was English which would affect his lifestyle as well as his parents or Spanish which would affect the perspective that society would view him.
I agree with Rodriguez all the way because as a Mexican I see my values differently than other people, as well as people, view their values differently as well.
Rhetorical precis:
Aria by Richard Rodriguez portrays his childhood journey on how English had changed his whole life more likely his childhood Rodriguez begins by stating that the world before he knew how to speak English was very unknown to him by the reasoning that he didn’t know how to speak the “public” language, which then develops by narrating how he felt safe, comfortable and secure knowing his house was full of “ Spanish” noise and concludes by describing how the “public” language benefited his life with new changes yet he lost things throughout the transition of learning a new language. His purpose is to inform his readers in order to address his transition to learning a new language and how that affected his identity and his family life. Rodriguez constructs an informal yet very descriptive tone about his childhood and appeals to the audience and their sense of understanding of his bilingual situation with education.
Analytical argument:
The general argument made by Richard Rodriguez in his work “Aria,” is that he stands against bilingual education. More specifically, Rodrguez argues that the education system is truly wrong and that the students should primarily be taught in the language that everyone is able to use. He writes “ My awkward childhood does not prove the necessity of bilingual education.” In this passage, Rodriguez is suggesting that we should mainly learn the public language because with public language one can have great outcomes in life unlike with the bilingual language. In conclusion, Rodriguez’s belief is that one should be taught in the public language instead of a bilingual language.
In my view, Rodriguez is wrong because we should all have the choice of whether or not we should be taught in the language that we want. Yes, we should be taught in the public language but we should also be taught in a bilingual language. For example, as seen in the essay Rodriguez seems like as he has lost his cultural identity because he had to learn in the public language. More specifically, I believe that one should not lose their own self-identity because of the way the education system teaches. Therefore, I oppose Richard Rodriguez in the sense that we should be taught in both languages public and private or the language that seems more comfortable to oneself.
Intro and Body Paragraph:
“Aria: a memoir of a bilingual childhood” by Richard Rodriguez portrays the challenging childhood that Rodriguez had to face within learning a public language. Rodriguez's purpose was to inform his readers about the life-changing experience that he had to go through. He conveys this purpose by stating that the world before he knew how to speak English was very unknown to him by the reasoning that he didn’t know how to speak the “public” language, which then develops by narrating how he felt safe, comfortable and secure knowing his house was full of “ Spanish” noise and concludes by describing how the “public” language benefited his life with new changes yet he lost things throughout the transition of learning a new language.
Rodriguez begins his essay by informing his personal childhood before the transition to the new language. His purpose in doing so is to give background information about how life was like without his new identity. For instance, he comments that “ Spanish seemed to be the language of home. (Most days it was only at home that I’d hear it.) It became the language of joyful return” and that he was “ often frightened by the sounds of los gringos, delighted by the sounds of Spanish at home.” He also points out that Spanish was “ Conveyed through those sounds was the pleasing, soothing, consoling reminder of being at home. His expressions both inform about his childhood before learning a new language, allowing him to convey a sense of understanding of life before English and appeals to the audience's emotions and understanding.
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