Talking Points 2 on Rodriguez

Richard Rodriguez "Aria"

Premise: This article is about:

• complications between teachers and bilingual students
• loss of an identity
• adaptation
• personal struggles
• an underlying sense of shame or loss?

Authors Argument:
Rodriguez argues that it is hard for bilingual children to learn without the proper encouragement, but that additional push may also be damaging to families.

Evidence:

1. One can first see this struggle, when Rodriguez states that "Without question, it would have pleased me to hear my teachers address me in Spanish when I entered the classroom. I would have felt much less afraid...Fortunately, my teachers were unsentimental about their responsibility. What they understood was that I needed to speak a public language." (page 34) Rodriguez knew that he needed a little extra nudge to be taught English, and so did his teacher's... they also knew that it would be hard for him, but they wanted him to do it anyway... they probably wanted him to succeed.
2. Rodriguez' family starts to fall apart because of this new "English-at-Home" alteration. "But I had no place to escape to with Spanish. (The spell was broken.) My brother and sisters were speaking English in another part of the house...Neither my older brother nor sister rushed home after school anymore. Nor did I...The old Spanish words (those tender accents of sound) I had used earlier--Mama and papa--I couldn't use anymore. They would have been too painful reminders of how much had changed in my life." (page35-37 various lines) His mother and father want him to succeed so badly, that they also undergo the drastic change, and even though it brings them all further apart, they do it to help their children.
3. The author clearly feels as if he lost a part of himself when his family changed from strictly Spanish-speaking to an English setting. Although it was still a part of him, he had lost something as well. "...like so many of the Spanish voices I'd hear in public, recalled golden age of my youth. Hearing Spanish then, I continued to be a careful, if sad, listener to sounds...I smiled for an instant, before my glance found the Hispanic-looking faces of strangers in the crowd going by. Today I hear bilingual educators say that the children lose a degree of 'individuality' by becoming assimilated into public society." He is aware that he has lost a part of himself, but he tries to keep it all inside.

Comments:
Honestly, reading this article made me rather sad. I am a firm believer that if one moves to a new country, they should attempt to learn the language spoken there, but I also believe that they should keep their own culture as well. That is a part of them that will never change, and I would never want it to change, just like I would never want a part of me to be removed either. It is true that the parents changed their lifestyles for their children's education, but to not encourage them speaking Spanish at all is rather disheartening. Not only did the children lose part of their heritage, but also the parents as the reader can see reflected in the father. It wasn't that the children were not trying to learn, they just had a hard time understanding the concepts, and also according to Rodriguez, gaining the understanding that it was okay for them to speak English. He seemed to make it sound like English is a private language that only the privileged can use, when that is far from the case. No child should ever be made to feel that way... anybody can speak a language... there is no copyright on languages... so this greatly bothered me... working at a department store you hear kids come in all the time, and they'll say to their parents "look Mommy!" and when the parents don't respond they resort to "Mira Mama! Una autra Dora!!" to which they gain a greater response. Clearly they understand the concept of English, but they are also being encouraged to speak their Native tongue... many times customers will come to the registers with questions, but they will not speak a word of English, I have had a 10 year old girl play translator for her Hispanic mother. Hopefully children these days are evidently showing more progress in the learning processes if they can accomplish this much on their own...

Talking Points Number One: Kozol

"Amazing Grace" by Jonathan Kozol

This article is about:

• poverty in New York (particularly the Bronx)
• fear and anxiety of kids and parents in the Bronx
• murders and serious injuries children are subjected to in everyday life
• different horrors that are arriving in the cities
• level of intelligence in children in the Bronx
• support for drug addicts and "sex workers"
• the poor situations in hospitals
• the inability to receive care and medication for the sick

Authors Arguement:
Jonathan Kozol basically argues that the poverty and destruction that children (and adults) are shown in their daily lives in the Bronx could be having adverse effects on their learning processes and also on their views of life. This is beside the fact that the things they are exposed to could also be damaging to their physical and mental health.

Evidence:
1. The things that children see can be damaging to their mental health, especially if it is an everyday thing. You would think that the children "get used to it" or see it as "a thing in life" but how do we know that deep inside, in their sub-conscious that it is not hurting them? To support this, you can read the short quote from a little boy that the author had the pleasure of touring the Bronx with on page 6 of Kozol's article:
"I saw a boy shot in the head right over there," he says a moment later, in a voice that does not sound particularly sad, then looks up at me and asks politely, "Would you like a chocolate chip cookie?"
Clearly although the boy seems disaffected, he dwells on this fact both because it is a jarring situation for someone to be in, and also because he has to see the crime scene all the time, and it will continue to bring back those terrifying memories.

2. We can assume that kids in schools are not recieving the education that "privileged" children are receiving, as they do not know things that most kids do, or even should. This can be seen on pages 8 and 9, again with a conversation with the little boy and the author:
"Have you read about George Washington?"
"I don't even know the man," he says.
How can a child not know the nation's first president? Either there is no emphasis on American History, or there is something preventing the child from retaining things like this, perhaps he has learned it and merely forgotten because there is not much put into remembering the information.

3. There are various quotes to suggest that children are subjected to drugs and prostitution daily, and perhaps this could be teaching them that this is merely a part of life, and they are accepting that there is nothing better. There are multiple quotes to suggest this:
"The pastor tells me that the place is known as 'Children's Park'. Volunteers arrive here twice a week to give out condoms and clean needles to addicted men and women, some of whom bring their children with them. The children play near the bears or on a jungle gym while thier mothers wait for needles." (p. 12)
"I went to the clinic last week with my mother. Out in front there was a table set up on the street. On the table there were paper bags with condoms and clean needles. I saw the prostitutes lined up waiting for the condoms. I saw drug users lined up waiting for the needles. It was like seeing a line of ghosts. It looked like all the people there were dying." (p. 23)
The children in the Bronx are used to seeing this type of behaviour. They also see that there are people who are willing to help the addicted and the working women and they see that it is ok to do this. So for many, they see this as a way of life.

Comments:
Ok, honestly this article scared the living buh-Jesus out of me. To think that kids see other kids getting shot and killed or over-dosing on drugs, and bodies and pieces of bodies being put in incinerators (which they consequently live near) is completely morbid... not to mention depressing. I would never want my children to grow up in this sort of environment, and I honestly can't believe that the people with power, you know... the big people with power in the big U.S. government, can't see this and want to fix it... No... instead they are worrying about putting our country into debt to fix things overseas. That bothers me a lot... I support our troops, but I do not support the cause of why they're there. There are many problems at home that need to be solved, and this article clearly shows many of them.

Alright Let's Get This Party Started!

Howdy! I'm Jessica, or if you really want you can call me Jess, I answer to pretty much anything. Hmm... I'm supposed to write a little about myself, so let me start by warning you that even though this blog is for school purposes only, I'll probably still be typing as if I was in my regular blog... That's just how I do things.

Um... when I'm not at school (which is pretty much 5 out of 7 days of the week) I'm either working at Kohl's Department Stores in the children's department, or at home with my family and our new puppy, or out and about in the city of Warwick with my friends.

I love working at Kohl's even though I just started there in the middle of August. They put me in the children's department because I had nearly three years of experiance working with kids at two different daycares between the ages of 3 months and 12 years old. I did not leave because of the kids at the daycares, I left because of the people, but I refuse to slam people on my page... If you really want to know which ones they are and get my opinions about them... trust me... just ask. Because of working at the daycare I am CPR certified, I have already been subjected to finger-printing and background checks, and I have been exposed to a very diverse group of children and parents. I have also student taught my Junior year in high school in a third grade setting which was really fun... so I'm very excited about the upcoming chance to tutor kids in the elementary school setting!

Um... (yes I say um a lot in my blogs) my family is pretty much Me, my mom, my dad, my younger brother, our two cats and our puppy. My grandfather also lives with us, but like most independant elderly he's out and about from 8 in the morning until about 11 at night. My family is a very close knit tribe... I am very close with both my maternal and paternal sides and if anybody threatens my family I become very defensive... part of the reason why nobody messed with my nerdy cousins in high school. Pretty much they know that I have thier backs as much as they have mine.

I would also like to point out that I hold the same values with my friends. I am very close to my friends and would do anything for any of them if they asked. My best friend is Meg, and we get lost a lot. If you hear about random escapades... it's most likely because we got lost for hours on the way there. Other then that, many of my friends are not commuters (one thing that we do not have in common) so it's really hard to see them most of the time. Brandon is one of my most trusted guy friends, and he is currently studying history at the Naval Academy. Thus when I get the chance, I spend as much time with my friends as I possibly can. I've met a bunch of new friends at RIC in my freshman year, and I really hope to get to know many of you as this semester progresses. I love meeting new people, but I'm usually very shy about it... trust me... when you get to know me, I am usually the one who does not shut up.

As for my hobbies... I practiced kenpo karate for 9 years, and I received my black belt on December 5, of 2003 (also a reason why nobody messed with me in high school I suppose :) ) I also participated in competitions and traveled over a lot of the United States and also to parts of Canada. I was a member of my high school swim team which was fun... and for some odd reason I really want to try ballroom dancing... anybody wanna be a partner? :) I enjoy reading and writing... I write my own poetry when I feel like it, and Meg and I are currently attempting to write our own Country songs... some of them are posted on my Myspace blog. I find myself to be very creative... I keep my own scrapbook(s) (I currently have 3 for the different stages in my life) and I enjoy cross-stitching... my work in progress is an antique Fire-Engine pattern for my father who (obviously) is a FireFighter. I enjoy doing things for other people... so really if you need help don't be afraid to come to me... I'm always willing to help out...

*Phew!* If you've made it this far without getting completely bored then welcome to the world of Jessica! I congratulate you for reading all the way through the story of my life, and I really do hope to hear from many of you very soon! Later :)