Martin Espada And Richard Rodriguez's Hunger Of Memory

Superior Essays
Suddenly, America has become extremely diverse, and with the array of languages forming from that, it would be unprecedented to think that every person can speak English. Two authors, Martin Espada and Richard Rodriguez discuss the issues and challenges towards bilingualism. “The new bathroom policy at english high school “ by Martin Espada and “Hunger of Memory” by Richard Rodriguez, each have opposing views on the same topics involving languages. Ranging from political issues to social/ family issues, these essays cover them all.
In Martin Espada’s essay, “The new Bathroom Policy at English High School,” focuses on bilingual education and politics. The essay goes through Espada’s own personal experiences with bilingual discrimination, as
…show more content…
Rodriguez defines public language as the way that a person speaks in society and around one's peers. On the contrary, a private language, described as the method of communication within a person’s family, and friend group. These two categories of language define bilingualism as a way to communicate with others. Rodriguez grew up in a Spanish only home, he “considered Spanish to be a private language” but he did not know that he “had the right-the obligation-to speak the public language” of English. (19) Rodriguez went to an all English catholic school and was practically forced to speak English. Because of this experience, Rodriguez became bilingual, and learned to speak English and therefore gained a public identity. Because of this experience, he favors the idea of making kids in schools speak english , because it gave him confidence and …show more content…
I have witnessed discrimination and bullying within my school because of it. I often see students being ridiculed, called out, and reprimanded for speaking a language besides the dominant English. To me bilingualism represents a mixture of both Espada and Rodriguez’s arguments, it not only connects the speakers family and heritage, but also communicating within the society. I don't necessarily see all of the “issues” that Spanish speakers face, but I can recognize that it could be hard for a person to be ridiculed for speaking a language. I agree with Rodriguez on bilingual education, that English should be taught and required in schools. English is a key to success as well as a major component in the “American dream”, something every American citizen strives for. I somewhat agree with Espada about English becoming official language could be a foundation for discrimination against Latinos. I may be insensitive because I have never experienced this issue, but I think that Espada blows the issue out of proportion. I like how Rodriguez addresses the problem, but doesn't dabble in it. He just makes his point which is also opposite of

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Seal Of Literacy Essay

    • 611 Words
    • 3 Pages

    “The Bilingual Education Act was in acted as an amendment to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. The goals of this program was to help educate Spanish speaking children in the late 1960’s. Activist argued for the use of bilingualism in schools pointing out the high dropout rates of Spanish speaking students. Slowly the atmosphere of English only, started to change as prominent politicians such as Lyndon b. Johnson advocated for the use of different languages, (Spanish in his case) in schools. Since then there have been ongoing struggles between the English only campaign and the campaign for bilingual education.…

    • 611 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In Richard Rodriguez’s autobiography Hunger of Memory he reviews his life and events that he believes affected him throughout his lifetime. Rodriguez argues in his text that the reason for his educational success came through severing himself from family and his culture. He also reviews beauty and how society’s standard of beauty affected his outlook on himself and those around him. Although his experiences are true; Rodriguez commits multiple fallacies in his writing including small sample, appeal to authority, suppressed evidence, and appeal to ignorance.…

    • 772 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “Aria” by Richard Rodriguez is an essay that shows the readers a part of life that many have never experienced. Rodriguez uses this essay to show how he fights through his childhood tounderstand English. He faces society while forfeiting his happy home life trying to become a typical English-speaking student. He establishes a connection with the audience through his personal experience as a child. He uses imagery and narration to clarify his opposition to bilingual education .Rodriguez…

    • 758 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The United States has rapidly conformed into a multiracial society. Bilingual individuals come to America in hopes to find equal rights and freedom and face discrimination by Americans. American values are forced upon these people and according to Tan and Anzaldua, a certain way of life is expected of them. The struggle of “fitting in” and accepting the cultural background is a major point in both essays, Mother Tongue by Amy Tan and How to Tame a Wild Tongue by Gloria Anzaldua. Their experiences with the discrimination in the United States have given them they reason to stand against social inequality.…

    • 840 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    During this essay, I will be discussing the differences between Gloria Anzaldua’s, “How to Tame a Wild Tongue” and Richard Rodriguez’s, “ Aria”, as well as the similarities, to determine which one is a personal preference as an acceptable debate. Firstly, let’s go over the key details in each reading, starting with Gloria Arizaldua’s “ How to Tame a Wild Tongue.” This reading sort of threw me off in the beginning, but as you slowly and carefully read through it you gain its sense of purpose.…

    • 1176 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The primary argument that Richard Rodriguez addresses in Aria: A Memoir of a Bilingual Childhood is the issue of bilingual education in America. He claims that he can’t be fully merged in American Society due to his “private” life, in other words his second language. Rodriguez also claims that because his original language is not the same as the “public” language, he is unable to create intimacy with someone who speaks a different language other than the public one. Lastly, he claims the use of a native language is impossible to have coexist with the “public” language. “It is not possible for a child, any child, ever to use his family’s language in school” (Rodriguez 448).…

    • 1405 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Richard Rodriguez Aria

    • 1343 Words
    • 6 Pages

    He said that he had classified English and Spanish into two categories, English was the public language and Spanish was the private language. He stated “Spanish seemed to me the language of home, it became the language of joyful return” (Page 325). To Rodriguez Spanish was his comfort zone, it acted as a connection between him and his family, hearing it brought back good memories of security, it was a blissful language and every time he heard that language it made him happy. Spanish was what made him feel safe and joy, whereas English made him feel isolated from society. Eventually, though, through his parents’ encouragement he finally determined to learn English, the process to learning English was tough…

    • 1343 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    While Rodriguez speaks from his personal experience about bilingual education, his experience can not be extrapolated to all bilingual people. Espada’s arguments focus more on fairness and justice for bilingual people as a…

    • 890 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Richard Rodriguez in his is personal narrative “Aria” gives the reader his perspective of learning English while being a native Spanish speaker. As a child he attended a monolingual school. He was told that by not speaking Spanish at home he would be able to quickly develop his English. Rodriguez attributes much of his success in life to this event of learning English, which is why he is against bilingual education. “The Pros of Bilingual Education” by Stephen Krashen challenges Rodriguez’s stance by stating the positive impact that bilingual education has on students, and how bilingual education gives students an educational advantage compared to those without it.…

    • 1240 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Rodriguez has an alternative approach to the controversial topic of bilingualism. His opinion reflects a more practical, logical approach to bilingualism. When explaining his past experiences of English teachers in American classrooms, Rodriguez states “What they understood was that I needed to speak a public language” (20). He expresses gratitude towards his previous instructors because he believes that “Fortunately, my teachers were unsentimental about their responsibility” (20). Their responsibility being to teach Rodriguez the public language of…

    • 755 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Rodriguez supports his argument against bilingual education by using mainly the contrast technique in order for the readers to become more sensitive to his topic and argument Richard’s entire essay is based on the contrast between “the loss” in private and “the gain” in public. By presenting those two opposed extremes, readers become more sensitive to his argument as his essay becomes more realistic. In the part of the private loss, Ricardo faces problems at home, since he came to believe…

    • 1299 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    When he accepted English, he became bilingual and he could use English and Spanish interchangeably. After learning English, he could communicate in public, with, in his case, English.…

    • 1134 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Richard Rodriguez believes that the Americanization of a bilingual child will result in their public gain. “Aria” by Richard Rodriguez is a heart-wrenching piece of writing about the full Americanization of Rodriguez resulting in his native language of Spanish being forgotten and the full submersion into the English language. Many of the events Rodriguez faced in his life are present to many other bilingual students’ today. These events that bilingual students’ are facing will strongly influence their decision on struggling to learn two languages at a young age, stalling the development of one of their languages, or being forced to choose one language or the other in a full assimilation. Rodriguez’s viewpoint is that if you want to make a full…

    • 1373 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Rhetorical Analysis: Positivity of Bilingual Education Bilingual education has positively affected foreign children with their overall lives. Kenneth Jost’s, Harvard College and Georgetown University Law Center alumni, article, “Bilingual Education vs. English Immersion” is about the positive significance of bilingual education in public schools. Jeff Bale’s, a language education professor at Michigan State University, article, “Bilingual Education is the Best Approach for English Language Learners” also explains why this type of education is effective for foreign students. Together, both of these authors provide an effective argument with the use of reasoning, credibility, and emotion, but also include logical fallacies. Jost’s and Bale’s…

    • 827 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Statistics show that the Mexican-American race has the highest number of people that populate the United States, and this demographic continues to grow even more. A Mexican-American is an American of full or partial Mexican decent. My parents, both born in Mexico, migrated to the United States in search of a better future for themselves and children. Because of my Hispanic roots, and my birth in the U.S., I am considered a Mexican-American. As a result of my equivalent exposure to two different cultures, I grew up being bilingual.…

    • 1014 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays