TALKING POINTS #2 on Rodriguez

1) Context/ Premise

• silence
• public language (English)
• family
• lost of individuality
• fitting in
• bilingual
• school
• public identity
• power

2) Argument

Richard Rodriguez argues that in order to be part of the public society (dominant society), one must accustom to this society. By becoming accustom, one looses its individuality causing a "silence" in the family.

3) Evidence

Importance of Dominant Society:

"What they understood was that I needed to speak a public language" (pg.34).

"In an instant, they agreed to give up the language (the sounds) that had revealed and accentuated our family's closeness" (pg. 35).

"For I was increasingly confident of my own public identity." (pg. 38).

Concentrate on Language and Customs:

"[T]he family gathered to practice 'our' English" (pg.35).

" I was obligated to hear my mother and father: 'speak to us en ingles'..." (pg. 36).

"I was required to attend a daily tutoring session" (pg. 35).

Lost of individuality causing "silence"

"...the special feeling of closeness at home was diminished by then" (pg. 36).

" No longer so close; no longer bound tight by pleasing and troubling knowledge of our public separateness" (pg. 36).

" The family's quite was partly due to the fact that, as we children learned more and more English, we shared fewer and fewer words with our parents" (pg. 37).

" The old Spanish words (those tender accents of sound) I had used earlier- mama and papa- I couldn't use use anymore" (pg. 37).

"...my father...[t]hough his English improved somewhat, he retired into silence" (pg. 37).

"...bilingual educators say that children lose a degree of individuality by becoming assimilated into public society' (pg. 38).

Aria by Richard Rodriguez, focuses on the transformation of a child in school who came from a different country. This story reminds me of my arrival to the United States. Like Richard I did not know any English and every time the teacher would call on me I would murmur because I was afraid of making a mistake. In order for me to fit in the public society, I had to learn English. My parents were aware of this and they were willing to do everything. However, they were not willing to give up their Spanish like Richard's parents did. My mother always said that a bilingual person was worth more and she thought Spanish was basically the last thing we had to remember our country.

I learned English by attending school, watching TV (especially cartoons), listening to my cousins' conversations, and reading. Although my Mother never spoke to me in English, she always checked my book bag for work and visit my teacher with the help of a translator to see where I stood with my grades. I did not have to give up my individuality in order to fit in. Today, I am part of both the public society and the Hispanic society and I am proud to say it.

Talking Point # 1 on Kozol

1) What is the article about?

• poverty
• children with fear, anxiety, and depression
• violence
• poor education
• poor hospitals
• encouragement of sex and drugs
• AIDS
• illnesses
• trapped
• Prejudice
• People with power not using it

2) Argument

Jonathan Kozol argues that in order to solve the problems of poverty, violence, and illnesses in South Bronx, the people with power should change their believes of poor people behaving irrational to, blind poor people trapped in a cage by evil people with power.

3) Evidence. Kozol had many good quotes to prove his argument.

• Poverty

HOMES:

"These houses in which these children live. Two thirds of which are owned by the city of New York, are often as squalid as the houses of the poorest children I have visited in rural Mississippi," (pg. 4).

"Some of these houses are freezing in the winter," (pg. 4).

SCHOOLS:

"...only seven of 800 children do not qualify for free school lunches. Five of those seven... get reduced price lunches, because they are classified as only poor..." (pg. 3).

" Have you read about George Washington? ' I don't even know the man,'" (pg, 9).

HOSPITALS:

" [T]he room is not prepared. The bed is covered with blood... either you wait for hours until someone cleans the room or else you clean the room yourself... why should a patient have to make her bed and wash her room?" (pg. 15).

"I had pneumonia. I waited in the emergency room two days to be admitted," (pg. 16).

• Violence

STREETS:

" I saw a boy shot in the head right over there," (pg. 6).

"... a mother was murdered and her baby wounded by a bullet in the stomach while they were standing on a South Bronx corner," (pg. 5).

HOMES:

"...South Bronx resident was discover in his bathtub with his head cut off," (pg. 5).

" The mother's boyfriend was 42 years old and he had AIDS as well. He raped the little girl right in her bed." (pg. 13).

• ILLNESSES

" Nearly 4,000 heroin injectors, many of whom are HIV-infected, live there," (pg. 4).

"Rates of pediatric AIDS...are high," (pg. 4).

"Asthma is the most common illness among children here," (pg. 4).

• PEOPLE WITH POWER BELIEVING " IRRATIONAL BEHAVIOR"

" If poor people behave rationally..they would seldom be poor for long in the first place. Many social scientists today appear to hold this point of view and argue that the largest portion of the suffering poor people undergo has to be blamed upon their own behaviors, a word they tend to pluralize," (pg. 21).

• TRAPPED IN A CAGE BY EVIL PEOPLE

" I believe that what the rich have done to the poor people in this city is something that a preacher could call evil. Somebody has power. Pretending that they don't so they don't need to use it to help people-that is my idea of evil," (pg. 23).

"The point is that they put a lot of things into our neighborhood that no one wants...[t]he waste incinerator is just one more lovely way of showing their affection," (pg. 10).

ENCOURAGEMENT OF DRUGS AND SEX:

"Volunteers arrive here twice a week to give out condoms and clean needles to addicted men and women," (pg. 12).

4)

I agree 100% with Kozol's argument. The people with power are trapping these poor people by hiding their power. They are encouraging these people to continue having sex and consuming drugs, instead of providing useful information and medicine. What these volunteers are doing is increasing the number of people with AIDS.When I read about the waste incinerators I was disappointed because it's like the people with power continue to infect these people. Another thing that bothered me were the conditions of their homes especially the 2/3's that belonged to the government. This goes out to show how much the government cared. Instead of distributing heaters and blankets they should remodel these homes. I am very disappointed with what the people of power are doing. Instead of helping they are critizing these people without giving them a chance to change.

My full name is Maria Franchesca Moret. I was born on June 3 1988 in Guayama, Puerto Rico. At the age of 7, I came to the United States. It was difficult at first but I managed to overcome it. I graduated from Central Falls High School in 2006. My class rank was 9 and I was part of the RI Honors Society.
This is my second year at Rhode Island College. I've worked 2 straight summers with kids at a summer camp. I enjoyed this experience from beginning to end. Kids are really fun to work with. I am looking foward to tutoring kids this semester.
OH YEAH, if you are wondering what Gemela means....it means TWIN :)