Becoming You Anna Quindlen Analysis

Becoming You Who do you think you are? All people are different and they all take different routes to becoming themselves. There are many autobiographies out there and numerous accounts of people’s childhoods. Many factors go into the making of you such as your childhood, your parents and your dedication to your studies. Becoming a creative person can be credited to ample amounts of free time as a child, or becoming a scholar can be credited to an undying dedication to seeking knowledge; everyone is different and therefore everyone takes a different path to becoming you (the individual that you are). Anna Quindlen, a best-selling author and Pulitzer Prize winner, credits becoming who she is today “as a human being and a writer,” to the …show more content…
Graff’s father was so determined to force Graff into liking books and reading and writing that Graff says, “I recall his once confining me to my room until I finished a book on the voyages of Magellan, but try as I might, I could do no better than stare bleakly at the pages” (23). Graff did not begin to find himself liking reading and writing until he discovered critical thinking practices of reading and writing. Despite his father’s efforts, Graff had to find this for himself; he had to make himself. Once Graff discovered what made him happy with reading, and was able to argue with the author, it planted a seed in him that grew into who he is now; an excellent University …show more content…
Richard Rodriguez, a Mexican immigrant, overcame many obstacles throughout his life and childhood as he describes in his piece “Scholarship Boy.” Rodriguez illustrates how he alienated himself from his family to dedicate himself completely to his education. Because of his dedication to his studies, Rodriguez has earned degrees from Stanford, Colombia, and Berkeley Universities to name a few. His understanding of who he wanted to be prompted him to dedicate himself to his