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.