Summary Of Richard Rodriguez's Achievement Of Desire

Rodriguez's parents think they are doing the best job possible raising their three children. Being a lower class family, money was not something that was always available. His mother and father can always supply them with love and nurturing. The way they let their children know they are special and close is to talk to them in their private language. His parents could not speak good English; they could not translate their terms of endearment for the children without the saying losing its meaning. "Using Spanish, he (the father) was quickly effusive...his voice would spark, flicker, flare alive with varied sounds." Only speaking English, the father is a completely different person. Speaking Spanish is was a loud vivid man, only using English changed him into a quiet, often thought shy person. In society's eyes, speaking Spanish at home further damages their children's' chance at a bright future. "My mother grew restless, seemed troubled and anxious at the scarceness of words exchanged in the house." His mother carries a burden of frustration for what she thinks is best for her children. It is puzzling why they didn't set aside a special family time for only speaking in Spanish. Were the nuns and society so intimidating to Rodriguez's

Due to his cultural background, his parents were not as advanced in the English language as he would have liked them to be, therefore, leading Rodriguez to feel shame and partially avoid his parents. Rodriguez would often stay in his room for hours on end, reading, rather than communicating with his family. In a statement on page 21, Rodriguez states, “I kept so much, so often, to myself. Sad. Enthusiastic. Troubled by the excitement of coming upon new ideas…I rarely looked away from my books-or back on my memories.” (Rodriguez 15-22) He is now so consumed with his drive to learn, that he has lost all sense of communication with his family, causing him to feel

In the narrative called ‘Scholarship Boy’, by Richard Rodriguez. One can say that the biggest turning point is when Mr. Rodriguez himself realizes, at the age of thirty. The biggest attribute to his success and determination is schooling as a young boy. This is when Mr. Rodriguez had to live two separate lives. One as a young boy eager and willing to learn and develop, and another as a son and sibling to his family. At the age of thirty he finally is able to come to terms with this fact and be able to talk about in public and not have to keep it bottled up any longer. During this time in his life he is writing his dissertation and finds a written piece by Richard Hoggarts called, ‘The Scholarship Boy’. At this point in his life he sees that he is not alone with his life struggles. This was figuratively like lifting weights off of Mr. Rodriguez’s shoulders, you can see how while telling this part of the story stress is taken off of him. It is interesting to see that during the entire narrative Mr. Rodriguez seems unappreciative and ungrateful for the life his parents had given him. He is obviously resentful to the idea that his parents didn’t appreciate or value the idea of education, or at the very least learning the primary language of a country they moved to. Nothing in the story states that they were ignorant parents and didn’t know how to do simple math, the struggle that kept his parents from being able to give Mr. Rodriguez the attention and affection but most of all

The particular focus of Rodriguez’s story is that in order to feel like he belonged to the “public society” he had to restrict his individuality. Throughout his story, Rodriguez discussed such topics as assimilation and heritage. He goes into depth about the pros and the cons of being forced to assimilate to the American culture. Growing up Hispanic in America was a struggle for Rodriguez. This was due to the fact that he was a Spanish-speaking boy living in an English-speaking society, and he felt like he was different than the other children. Rodriguez writes, “I was fated to be the ‘problem student’ in class” (Rodriguez 62). This is referring to Rodriguez’s improper knowledge of English. It made him stand out as the kid that was behind. He wanted to find the balance between the public and private face. He believed both were important to develop. As I read this story it changed the way I looked at people who speak different languages, and how it must be hard to fit in with society if you are not all fluent in English.

Mike Rose in his piece I Just Wanna be Average and Richard Rodriguez in Achievement of Desire approach the subject of education from the view point of the uninspired and highly motivated student respectively. Both authors examine the importance of teacher expectations on achievement, and the role school and home environment plays in academic success.

In his writing The Achievement of Desire, Richard Rodriguez describes his pursuit of academic achievement as a way to distance himself from his family as well as his cultural roots: “… A primary reason for my success in the classroom was that I couldn’t forget that school was changing me and separating me from the life

Maintaining relationships and and focusing on who is important is one way in which I try to combat becoming Hoggart’s definition of a “scholarship boy.” Throughout the excerpt, Rodriguez keeps reiterating the fact that while his schooling grew more intense and successful, he “couldn’t forget that [it] was changing [him] and separating [him] from the life [he] enjoyed before becoming a student” (Rodriguez 534). When I was in high school, I had two major relationships I had to maintain: family and friends. With numerous extra curriculars, rigorous courses, and a part-time job, this was hard at times. According to Haley Bess, these difficulties constitute “the lows” of high school; however, “having to balance a busy schedule...helps you learn time management” (Bess 2,3). On the other hand, Rodriguez would “spend more and more time studying...enclosing himself in the silence permitted and required by intense concentration,” (Rodriguez 536) separating himself from his family. I remember moments in which my Mom or Dad inquired about my day at school, and I had so much on my mind that I threw the questions to the side. Although, in these same moments I knew eventually, I would have to tell them. When the time was right, I updated my parents, and this made our relationship more connected and allow them to feel a part of the education that they are gifting to me. For example, instead of reading a book and keeping my reactions to myself like

Our two authors, Richard Rodriguez and Sherman Alexie, are very well respected for their respective works on minority education. Richard Rodriguez is the author of the novel The Hunger of Memory, his personal autobiography. In this deeply personal and emotional work, Rodriguez explains how his education brought him success, but created a large rift between his Mexican heritage and culture and himself. On the other hand, Sherman Alexie is Native American author who wrote the essay “Superman and Me.” In the essay, Alexie explains how his love of books began his education, the hardships that followed being an intelligent Indian, and how his education has brought meaning to his life. To both of these authors, the most important subject in these literary works is their education as minorities, and the success resulting from this education. In The Hunger of Memory, Rodriguez focuses on themes of how education can be beneficial, but at the same time cause separation from one’s original identity. “Superman and Me” visits themes of caring for others and how success is achievable by anyone. Each author sheds a different light on the education of minorities, but they share similar thoughts in theory. Education can bring an individual great success, but with this enlightenment comes the responsibility of understanding what the world truly contains.

What makes an individual special from anyone else? Is it their physical attributes, their upbringing, perhaps the effect of their environment? All of these things are the just the beginning layers of what encompasses a person’s identity. Identity is the knowledge of who we are and what groups we belong to, and unfortunately, it is not easily determined from person to person. It is a complex, developmental process that begins at birth and continues throughout an individual’s life (Sheets). One’s identity makes every individual unique, and this uniqueness facilitates growth by exchanging philosophies, ideas, and knowledge. Consequently, the most essential environment for these exchanges to occur is within a classroom. In Gregory Michie’s novel, Holler If You Hear Me, he accounts his time spent teaching inner city middle schools in Chicago. During his time in the Chicago Public School System, conflict of identity between teacher and student is present, which ultimately leads him to assess his teaching methods and reevaluate the processes he uses to connect with his students. Because the identities of his students differ from his own, Michie implements cultural relevant and sustaining pedagogy in his classroom in order to combat the students’ apathy, boredom, and lack of interest in school. There is importance in the way in which student and teacher identities intersect, and throughout Michie’s novel he demonstrates that by bringing in material that relates to the students’

With the help of “The Loss of The Creator” by Walker Percy and “Achievement of Desire” by Richard Rodriguez, readers are able easily see what makes Rodriguez a common student. Rodriguez lives the life of a common student, and it is not until later in life realizes how much he needs to change.

Without some type of education we would be helpless. Rodriguez was driven by his education and let his teachers take his families place. Also he would go to his education for answers. Rodriguez filled in the gaps of his home life with his education. Freire would characterize this as “The students, alienated like the slaves in the Hegelian dialectic, accept their ignorance as justifying the teacher’s existence.

In becoming the scholarship boy Rodriguez had lost all connection with his family. He also began to listen to the more worldly advice that his parents had to offer less and less, “Stupidly I took for granted their enormous amount of native intelligence” (551). Parents have experienced way more

In Richard Rodriquez, excerpt “The Achievement of Desire” he expressed how his journey of being educated impacted his life. Rodriquez makes his audience aware of who he was and who he planned to be. In the mist of being educated, he began to lean more on the views of his teachers rather than his parents. Richard Rodriquez becomes consumed with his new way of thinking due to his gained knowledge. As Rodriquez education started to have a bigger impact on his life, he began to feel separated from his Spanish culture.

Any desire worth achieving involves taking risks and dedication. In “Achievement of Desire," Richard Rodriquez had to abandon and detach from his family to achieve academic excellence. Just like Rodriguez, the greatest aspiration for many students who come from low-income families is to excel in academics and get a white-collar job to lead a comfortable life different from that of their parents. In fact, it is this desire that drives many of these students to work hard and achieve good grades in school. The issue of what motivates a learner to remain focused on achieving his or her goals is of great concern not only to me but many people. Personally, my parents have played a big role in persuading me to work hard at my studies to afford a luxurious life in the future. Despite intrinsic and external motivation, a person may find it difficult to remain committed to achieving academic goals due to the risks involved. Therefore, an analysis of the “Achievement of Desire” by Rodriguez is of significance since it will shed more light on the issue of the sacrifices involved to achieve academic excellence and become active in public life.

These stories all have their own distinction of drama. The essay that has the most drama is “The Achievement of Desire.” Rodriguez cannot balance life in the academic world and the life of a working class family. He also witnessed the difficulties of his parents not speaking the language. He was not able to advance and succeed without losing himself. There is plenty of drama in this essay with the author, his family and himself. As Rodriguez states, “One only remembers. I remembered too well that education has changed my family’s life. I would not have become a scholarship boy had I not so often remembered” (5). Conflicted continued throughout the essay with his education and having a natural talent. In White’s essay he has an internal conflict