Hunger of Memory Assessment
1. The author of the novel is Richard Rodriguez. Richard was born to Mexican immigrant parents and grew up in Sacramento, California. He primarily spoke Spanish until the start of his formal education. Once Rodriguez was forced to speak English, his life was irrevocably changed. Unlike most Mexican-Americans during the 1950’s, Rodriguez did not live in a barrio – a Mexican neighborhood – but instead lived in a primarily white area of the city. Rodriguez’s autobiography Hunger of Memory details his education and childhood in relation to the national movements of affirmative action and bilingual education. Rodriguez’s schooling has given him the opportunities to study at respected universities like Stanford, and study abroad in London. Rodriguez’s unusual upbringing has allowed him to form strong, and possibly unpopular, opinions …show more content…
Mr. Rodriguez benefitted from affirmative action in college and used it for career opportunities. Affirmative action is the practice of choosing members of certain groups that are often discriminated against, by race or sex. Mr. Rodriguez was affected by affirmative action when he entered university. He would be pushed into a group of minority students that he felt he had little to no similarities with, as he came from a working class family. Rather than being accepted for their knowledge and abilities, minority students entered colleges with little to no formal education or drive to succeed. When Rodriguez was applying for teaching positions, top universities reached out to him. One fellow faculty member remarked: “Not many schools are going to pass up the chance to get a Chicano with a Ph.D. in Renaissance Literature” (182). Many of Rodriguez’s friends distanced themselves from him, because they were angry that he received offers just because he was a minority. Rodriguez experienced both sides of affirmative action; receiving job offers to teach at universities, but also the hatred because of his
1. The author of the novel is Richard Rodriguez. Richard was born to Mexican immigrant parents and grew up in Sacramento, California. He primarily spoke Spanish until the start of his formal education. Once Rodriguez was forced to speak English, his life was irrevocably changed. Unlike most Mexican-Americans during the 1950’s, Rodriguez did not live in a barrio – a Mexican neighborhood – but instead lived in a primarily white area of the city. Rodriguez’s autobiography Hunger of Memory details his education and childhood in relation to the national movements of affirmative action and bilingual education. Rodriguez’s schooling has given him the opportunities to study at respected universities like Stanford, and study abroad in London. Rodriguez’s unusual upbringing has allowed him to form strong, and possibly unpopular, opinions …show more content…
Mr. Rodriguez benefitted from affirmative action in college and used it for career opportunities. Affirmative action is the practice of choosing members of certain groups that are often discriminated against, by race or sex. Mr. Rodriguez was affected by affirmative action when he entered university. He would be pushed into a group of minority students that he felt he had little to no similarities with, as he came from a working class family. Rather than being accepted for their knowledge and abilities, minority students entered colleges with little to no formal education or drive to succeed. When Rodriguez was applying for teaching positions, top universities reached out to him. One fellow faculty member remarked: “Not many schools are going to pass up the chance to get a Chicano with a Ph.D. in Renaissance Literature” (182). Many of Rodriguez’s friends distanced themselves from him, because they were angry that he received offers just because he was a minority. Rodriguez experienced both sides of affirmative action; receiving job offers to teach at universities, but also the hatred because of his