Sergio's Journey

Growing up, I was constantly surrounded by people of the same ethnic race and culture. I was raised in the small city of Temple City where a lot of older generation Asian immigrants resided, which resulted in my schools being mostly dominated by the first generation Asian American population. Because of this similarity of race and culture with my peers, it was fairly easy for me to bond with other students as well as feel comfortable within the realms of my schools and neighborhood. I had little trouble learning and participating in classrooms and also was able to be very involved in leadership positions in extracurricular programs at my high school which was a good learning experience for me.

If someone grows up in a community influenced by one main race, they will most likely only have friends that share their same characteristics. Therefore, shutting out the other people of different races. Craig Eisele states in his article, Interracial Relationships and Children, if a child has never been exposed to other races or seen two different races married and living together than their first reaction is to think that this is “weird” or “strange”. Also, if one is or a rural area, surrounded by individuals who share his or her same physical features they are less likely to get involve in interracial friendships as adults. Most children or individuals that cross interracial boundaries resign in urban areas rather than rural communities. Eisele stated that this is because exposure to other cultures and races is more likely to occur in areas with large populations. Finally, parents play a big role in how children understand interracial friendships. What parent’s teach as social norms shapes the child’s outlooks on racial diversity. Parents are children’s role models, they shape and form the basic ideals that a child think of as social norms. If one is told by someone they look up too that anyone who does not share his or her own race is inferior, or bad chances are they will carry these believes as

Throughout the autobiographical narrative written by Gary Soto, many different literary elements are used to recreate the experience of his guilty six-year old self. Different elements such as contrast, repetition, pacing, diction, and imagery. Soto narrates this story as a young boy at a time when he seems to be young and foolish, Soto foolmaking mistakes, but at the same time hoping to learn from them. Soto uses each of these devices to convey different occurrences in the narrative.

When Rodriguez is in London, he reads Richard Hoggart’s The Uses of Literacy, and is able to see himself in the essay. We see that he gains a “sociological imagination” and that he realizes that he fits the definition of the “scholarship boy” when he says that he “realized that there were other students” (517) like him. Hoggart says that this type of student must be “more and more alone” (517) in order to succeed, and that this student must “cut himself off mentally, so as to do his homework, as well as he can” (517). Rodriguez shows us that he not only grasps what the “scholarship boy” is, but he also understands what the “scholarship boy” goes through because of personal experience. Although he agrees with Hoggart’s definition, Rodriguez also adds to the meaning of the “scholarship boy” by giving his readers the insight of exactly what they go through, how they think, and why they do what they do. For example, he shows readers that he is forced to be “more and more alone” (517) by writing about how his relationship with his parents is weakened, and how the books he reads makes him feel lonelier. This insight not only asserts Hoggart’s definition of the “scholarship boy,” but also lengthens and specifies it.

The life outcome that Wes Moore, the author, had was different from the other Wes More. He was doing bad in his education as well with his interactions with the family. Every teacher declared that Wes was a poor student and was unmotivated to pay attention in class. The teachers came to conclusion that Wes had a problem socializing, however; Wes “was a victim of a monocultural educational environment that alienates and denigrates him” (Sue, 230). The school staff was unable to see that the problem existed within the institution/ environment and not on Wes, because they were focusing only in one culture which made Wes feel as an outsider. The

Sonia Nazario composes the story of a boy named Enrique. His life changes when his mother leaves him and his sister in Honduras as she travels to America to make a better life for herself and send money back to them. Enrique does not understand why his mother left him; he begins to rebel against his family and use drugs. Soon, his girlfriend is pregnant and Enrique must go to America to get money to support them. He attempts his journey seven times before he is successful. Enrique is robbed, beaten, and sent back to Honduras. On the eighth try he successfully makes it to his mother. He is quickly disappointed in what his mother has accomplished in America and starts drug use again. Soon, Enrique has to get clean to support his child in Honduras and he sends money for his girlfriend to meet him in America. His daughter is left in Honduras, continuing the cycle that many families struggle with. The authors use of logos and pathos enables the reader to take a deeper look of what is immigration.

The reader sympathizes with Enrique as he is making his seventh attempt to reach his mother. It is this small glimmer of hope that propels him through his treacherous journey all though he, yet again, fails. The author uses “pathos,” the emotional appeal, heavily throughout this chapter in order to grab the audience’s attention. She wants the reader to empathize with Enrique, an archetypal martyr with heroic behavior. The narrator describes the cruelty and suffering of the gangsters, bandits, “la migra” and others. “Enrique thinks of his mother…she will never know what happened.”(Nazario) Nazario uses stream-of-consciousness reflections such as this to cause the reader to subsequently reflect on their own families, and how one would react to this circumstance. Although Nazario uses pathetic writing, she does not make a fully-pathos driven argument such as that of Leslie Marmon Silko’s “The Border Patrol State.” In fact, Enrique’s Journey is written in exposition mode with anecdotes within narratives, which purports as journalistic rather than objective, or biased, writing. It is through this writing style that Nazario builds her credibility, or “ethos.” The exposition mode lays out the effects throughout Enrique’s path as well as brings extent of the hazards to fruition for the

Fort Morgan is just like any other small community in the United States. We have little town gatherings like Bobstock, have the whole gym filled with parents and fans for every sport, and country fairs. But, a little bit unlike other small towns, we are extremely diverse and could use something bigger to help, develop, and benefit our community as a whole. Something that could help us succeed like that could be the One City/One Book project which is a project designed for one whole city to read the same summer reading book. There are many ways that this project could ultimately help us out such as the themes that some of the book, like Enrique’s Journey could help our community that's separated by many different types of groups come together

Enrique, a seventeen-year-old boy, was on a nearly infeasible mission. Lourdes, Enrique’s mother, had left eleven years prior for the United States to work. Lourdes, Enrique’s mother, had left eleven years prior for the United States to work. However, she failed to realize that this decision would cause deep distress and resentment in the hearts of her two young children. Month after month, year after year, Enrique heard his mother’s empty promises to return home soon without any fulfillment of these promises. Unfortunately, similar to many young boys who grow up without a present mother, Enrique turned to the

Since freshman year I have lived in Rosemead, Los Angeles. The residences are mostly Mexican, Chinese, Vietnamese but without a caucasian in sight. This is totally different than what I expected of America, and definitely different than the little village of Pawling in upstate New York where I attend a lily white boarding school. However, I started to blend in; I played basketball. I rode bikes, and I hung out with other teens. We all were basically the same but just embraced different cultures. For instance, the Vietnamese insisted on entire families

Attending community college twice a week brings another diverse view of society. Observing students walk by in twos and threes who are in many instances of different ethnicities is a wonderful sight to see. Again, I tend to gravitate to classmates who are ethnically similar to me without a conscious thought. It all goes back to what Brooks was writing about in his article, that “what I have seen all around the country are people making strenuous efforts to group themselves with people who are basically like themselves.” (Brooks 62) I really do think and love the idea of diversity in this nation of different people.

Juan is a four-year-old boy growing up with both parents. Silvia, Juan’s mother, is a stay at home mom giving her the ability to be with her son and develop a close relationship. Jessie, Juan’s father, is an airline worker and a member of the Air National Guard. Jessie also has a close relationship with his son because of the daily interactions they have with each other. However, Juan’s world completely changed when his father was deployed to the Middle East and his mother had to begin work again. Juan’s interactions with his parents are minimal to nonexistent causing a physical and mental consequence on Juan.

Similarities in culture is more so the same then not. Even though our early childhood was around drugs and alcohol our parents made sure we were at church with either grandparent learning the Word of God. When we moved to the south side, I met several friends who went to church and church camps as well. That brought me closer to some families of Caucasian decent. My parents were very athletic in school and that allowed them to teach us sports and sportsmanship. That allowed me to blend in with some of the girls in the neighborhood because they were also athletic. My father took me to a field were girls (Caucasian) were playing softball after talking with the coach my father left me there to practice with the team. I guess being in the neighborhood for a while now I was comfortable with him leaving.

In just about every small town and most medium to large cities, there is a “black” part or section of town. I grew up in a very small town but the part of town I lived in was very big to me. Everyone had the same ideals, beliefs, and expectations. We all knew each other very well. We went to the same church, played in the same park, ate the same type of food, and we listened to the same music. There were no unique individuals, no one really stood out. My town had harmony; a feeling of well being - for lack of a better word. I did not realize that I lived in a culture that had very little diversity. I knew that there were people out side my little world who spoke a different language, dressed different, and ate strange food. But it never occurred to me that I would ever meet anyone very different from me in every way.

Growing up I always had the opportunity to interact with diverse groups. My father is a retired master sergeant of the United States Army. He is African-American and was born and raised Baptist in Kentucky. He married my mother who is South Korean and Buddhist. I spent the first three years of my life living in South Korea where my father was stationed. We