Richard Rodriguez - Aria

I felt that Rodriguez's article Aria was an easy read and very thought provoking. I come from a family where my generation was the first to have English as a first language and I never really pictured my mother going through what Richard Rodriguez did. It really makes you think about how ostracized children can feel if learning English is not done a certain way. I felt that Rodriguez really gave us a different viewpoint on how to look at ESL learners. Some quotes I felt that helped Rodriguez's article are as follows:

1. "Without question, it would have pleased me to hear my teachers address me in Spanish when I entered the classroom. I would have felt much less afraid. I would have trusted them and responded with ease. But I would have delayed -- for how long postponed? -- having to learn the language of public society. I would have evaded -- and for how long could i have afforded to delay? -- learning the great lesson of school, that I had a public identity." - Page 34, Paragraph 2.

   I felt that this quote really put into perspective Rodriguez's point to the article. He wanted to write about his struggle loosing his language and culture as a child. It also showed that he could acknowledge now that he had grown up he realized that maybe his teachers did this for his benefit because if he had been coddled he would have prolonged learning English and finding his public identity.

2. "Again and again in the days following, increasingly angry, I was obliged to hear my mother and father: 'Speak to us en ingles.' (Speak). Only then did I determine to learn classroom English. Weeks after, it happened: One day in school I raised my hand to volunteer an answer. I spoke out in a loud voice. And I did not think it remarkable when the entire class understood. That day, I moved very far from the disadvantage child I had been only days earlier. The belief, the calming assurance that I belonged in public, had at last taken hold." - Page 36, Paragraph 1.

   I felt this quote helped with the article because it showed that Rodriguez at first strived to learn English because of his anger at his parents. He was angry at them for taking away his Spanish language from him, taking away the safety net of not speaking English in his own home. Then, once he learned the language and excelled at it the language itself was no longer something amazing. The idea of belonging to the country, or the public, was calming to him and in a way reassuring.

3. "We remained a loving family, but on greatly changed. No longer so close; no longer bound tight by the pleasing and troubling knowledge of our public separateness. Neither my older brother nor sister rushed home after school anymore. Nor did I. When I arrived home there would often be neighborhood kids in the house. Or the house would be empty of sounds." - Page 36, Paragraph 4.

   I thought this was a very strong quote. It really brought forth the idea that gaining English made Rodriguez loose his culture. It pushed something between his family members, they no longer would sit around the dinner table talking and having fun. Getting home right away after school was no longer a priority. It really opened my eyes as to what loosing a first language can do to a family.