“Bilingual/Bilingue” Explication Essay

Bilingual are those who use two or more languages in life. Some people are able to talk fluently in two different languages like able to speak, read, and understand two languages equally well is called bilingual. Knowledge of a second language given to the a person to talk with a wider range of people. Therefore, speak to languages lead to be more intelligent. There are many positive effects and negative effects from being bilingual.

In the public, Espada has an equal reaction towards bilingualism. He believes that anyone should be able to speak their language anytime. Espada supports his view by describing an encounter with a man who threatened Espada because he was speaking Spanish: “‘That’s what they’re trying to do to all of us,’ . . . . ‘But it won’t work, porque yo hablo español con el corazón’” (Espada 96-99). The Spanish phrase translates to “because I speak Spanish with my heart”, which indicates that Espada will not cease conversing in Spanish even after a man threatened him for doing so.

“Our culture, our traditions, our languages are the foundations upon which we build our identity.” - Unknown. The concept of bilingualism represents several different ideas, two writers share their personal stories about learning being immersed into the English culture and learning the language. They both share their views of what Bilingualism means to them personally and make arguments about the importance of the concept.

After Esperanza reads Aunt Lupe one of her poems, her aunt tells her that she might be able to use her writing to be set free and find her real identity; however, Esperanza didn’t figure out the real meaning of her aunt’s words until her aunt passed away. After her aunt dies, Esperanza is confronted by shame and guilt, which also happen to be the feelings that Aunt Lupe felt in the years that took her to pass away (she was embarrassed to be a burden on her family for so many

A poignant figure in Esperanza’s life is her own grandmother. In fact, Esperanza was given her birth name after her grandmother. A touching gesture that came from good faith. A name may have some value, but for Esperanza there was a high intrinsic quality to such a simple component. Despite, never encountering her own grandmother in person, Esperanza was grateful to have fond memories by carrying her legacy through her name. Life’s motto concerns dealing with adversity and carrying the legacy of one’s family eternally. Being confident and smart was the only way to live by. No man was needed to help raise and nurture herself. Her grandmother instilled in Esperanza a sense of fortitude and independence. It is sad that a regret of Esperanza is linked to her grandmother, further illustrating the physical and mental hardships one can endure in

“Following the Immigration Act of 1965, legislation was passed to contribute the public schools in dealing with the influx of non-English-speaking students. Title VII of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 supported programs for educating these students, including transitional bilingual education programs” (Echevarria and Graves 2011, p.350). This Act did not fully articulate how to go about educating these students, so an unclear message was received or not received in whether there was going to be a process of their first languages or a complete transition to English. “The outcome was that most ELs were consigned in English-only classrooms without suitable

Cisneros uses Spanish terms such as “abuelito” and “esta muerto” (56) in the opening lines of the vignette. When these words are put together, the simplicity of the statement by Esperanza’s father is stating the unfortunate news that her grandfather passed away. As her father is evidently of Mexican descent, giving the news in Spanish may have been easier for him, which is essential in the context that he is grieving the loss of his father. Although, the focus quickly shifts back to Esperanza’s father as she states, “and then as if he just heard the news himself, crumples like a coat and cries, my brave Papa cries” (56). Esperanza’s immediate observation of her father’s pain leaves no room for Esperanza to dwell in her own pain, rather focuses on her caring manners towards her father. The continuous use of the word “Papa” serves as a veiled reminder that Esperanza is also of Mexican descent and is the culture that reaches home for her. Esperanza seems to hold the word “Papa” close to her as her vulnerability is represented in terms of her empathy and love towards her father. Cisneros chooses to intersperse Spanish with English as background to Esperanza’s culture and the role that unfortunate news plays into the customs that she is presented

In the beginning, the writing style Esperanza has is one of a younger aged girl. She writes about simple things or things she just doesn’t realize are wrong. A good example of this is in the chapter “Hairs.” In this chapter she is making connections between her family’s hair, because at a young age you make connections to and write about simple things. “But my mother’s hair, my mother’s hair, like little rosettes, like little candy circles all curly and pretty because she pinned it in pincurls all day...,”(6). This quote shows how her writing is simple and full of imagination. Children often fantasize and this is exactly what Esperanza is doing. Another example is out of the chapter “Louie, His Cousin & His Other Cousin”.

The author uses excellent description in this passage. I especially liked how the author compared the melting eyes to the snails -- it really creates an image in my mind. I also noticed a drastic change in Esperanza’s emotions here. Before, all Esperanza wanted was to get a new life far away from her house on Mango Street and to live like a cloud, continually drifting on and on. But now, she was thinking of suicide, which is a very dangerous idea to think about. If I could, I would try to comfort Esperanza so that she does not actually do it. (102

Throughout the decade, there has been more of an effort, albeit slow-moving, in trying to help out the bilingual student sector of our education system. The most impactful legislation, I believe, that was a vital toward helping this sector, was Title VII of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, signed into law on January 2, 1968 by President Lyndon Johnson. As a formal teacher, President Johnson was an avid believer in equal opportunities for those children of low-income families, of which many of the EL students were. Title VII I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 “promot[ed] equal access to the curriculum, training a generation of educators, sniff fostering achievement among students…” Because of this tremendous act, it was a huge stepping stone for young children to learn a second language. It would help them master the English language for high school and gave them an opportunity to go to college. Starting them early, children would be prideful of their culture while encouraging them to learn English. For much of the bilingual movement, bilingualism has been seen as a foreigners not wanting to be American because they wanted to keep up their own, different cultural identity. The original Bilingual Education Act tried to promote linguistic, cultural differences and diversity in the United States, which challenged many popular assimilation theories and the "melting pot" concept of the United States. When it was signed in its final form,

Moreover, the author's ability to exhibit a position of her desires as a child and how she could never quite grasp the. The narrator evokes us to, “Still, we take what we can and make the best of it.” (Cisneros 33). In a like manner of the author’s previous notions, the reader’s capacity to understand to an extent of what the storyteller’s going through. Even if they have never encountered a similar circumstances themselves. Consequently, the reader has the means to take pleasure in Esperanza’s maturity as she chooses to gaze at the water in a glass, and instead of choosing whether it is half full or half empty she decides to dwell on the reality that the glass is half way full and empty, which is a similar manner to how she comprehends the world. The narrator, instead of choosing to reside in a plethora of unsatisfactory events that have happened, she decides to go onward on the path in life that leads her to the most happiness by reminiscing about the marvelous things that can

Before outlining the arguments for and against bilingual education, it is first necessary to provide an overview of the controversy over bilingual education, and its emergence as a national debate. This controversy is basically centered on the question: Should the United States government incorporate the teaching of different languages into the public school system or not? Although it is currently permissible to learn secondary languages such as Spanish, French, German and Latin in public middle schools and high schools in the U.S., such classes have traditionally been geared toward broadening the educational experience for native English-speaking students. Therefore, rather than providing assistance to students whose native languages are not English, classes in American public schools are taught in English, despite the fact that increasing numbers of students in some areas of the U.S. do not speak English as their first language. In 1998, for example, (the most recent year for which statistics were available), statistics indicated that there were some

Migrating to a new place that is unknown, everyone is new, and the language is not known is a grueling change and as a young child this must have been very difficult for Esperanza to handle. In Esperanza’s eyes every step she takes just brings her lower and lower into the valley. Nothing seems to be going right, it is almost as if the figurative mountain Esperanza must climb keeps growing taller. In Esperanza’s eyes she was taken from her perfect world and placed into a world where she could no longer feel the heart beat of the earth (Muñoz Ryan 92). This was detrimental to her, for she had no idea what to do next; she had given up.

Cisneros also uses metaphors to clearly describe the feelings of characters who feels repressed and yearns to search for their personal identity. For instance, Esperanza feels restrained from who she really is in the vignette Boys and Girls, as states, “I am a red balloon, a balloon tied to an anchor,” (9). Due to her gender, Esperanza feels neglected and held down; her brothers don’t associate with her outside the house, and how Esperanza has the need to take care of Nenny. Esperanza considers herself as a red balloon, symbolizing happiness, bright, and easily noticed. However Esperanza is feeling constrained as she also adds that she is “a balloon tied to an anchor,” (9) holding her down, and not letting Esperanza have any freedom. Furthermore, Esperanza’s desire to discover self identity emerges as she states her name is “A muddy color… Mexican records… Songs like sobbing,” (10). Esperanza does not like her name and thinks of it as many bad and unattractive things. Since her name will stick with her for the rest of her life, she feels trapped inside the limitations of her name and wishes to change it to something else, showing her desire for identity. Thus, with the help of metaphors, Cisneros is able to effectively bring the character’s emotions to life and use this to point out how

The vignette “My Name” is a very short 15 sentences all devoted to describing Esperanza’s name. Her name is not all the reader sees however, as many uses of sensory details and comparisons create a detailed illustration. In the beginning of the vignette “My Name”, Sandra Cisneros immediately describes what Esperanza means in English and Spanish, jumping right into the theme of contrasting ideas to fulfill a character description. Esperanza says “In English my name means hope. In Spanish it means too many letters. It means sadness, it means waiting.” She has a split personality, in which one side is the hope that she could have in America, and another side being the sadness that she feels inside. As the first paragraph continues, she continues to describe the things that she hates, such as the number nine, and the sad mexican records her father plays when shaving. The author does this to introduce Esperanza’s personality, and how she is very particular of certain things that she finds depressing or sad during her childhood. Continuing on, Esperanza lack of self-confidence, another key part of her personality, is portrayed as a “horse