Aria- Richard Rodriguez

Aria was about...

• Education
• Americanization
• Power
• Society
• Silence
• Disadvantage children
• Bilingualism
• Spanish as a private language
• English as a public language
• Two worlds
• Improvement
• Family
• Changes
• Individualism

Argument

Rodriguez argues that when bilingual children or families become assimilated into a public society, a degree of private individuality is diminished.

Evidence

1. Richard's family was willing to give up their language in order to fit in within their society.

"In an instant, they agreed to give up their language (the sounds)that had revealed and accentuate our family's closeness"(page 35).

2. The closeness within Richard's family diminished as they became apart of society.

"But the special feeling of closeness at home was diminished by then. Gone was the desperate, urgent, intense feeling of being at home; rare was the experience of feeling myself individualized by family intimates. We remained a loving family, but one greatly changed. No longer so close, no longer bound tight by pleasing and troubling knowledge of our public separateness"(page 36).

3. As Richard's comfort and understanding grew in the English language, he was able to fit in at his school and in public.

"Neither my older brother nor my sister rushed home after school anymore. Nor did I. [...] following the dramatic Americanization of their children, even my parents grew more publicly confident"(page 36)

Points to Share/Comments and Questions:

Aria is a very interesting article that I can relate to tremendously. Just like Richard, I speak more that one language. I am a trilingual speaker since my parents are from Guatemala and besides English, I can speak Spanish and Garifuna. It is difficult to maintain your private individuality when trying to fit in within a society. I was raised speaking Spanish and Garifuna in my home, but when I started to go to school, I began learning English. Learning English has affected me both positively and negatively. It has affected me positively because I am now apart of society and have priveledges within the society. As a fluent English speaker I have the oppotunity to attend college, communicate with others and not feel silenced by my differences. The negative affect of learning English is loosing apart of my private individuality. I am no longer a fluent speaker in Garifuna because it is hardly spoken in my home. My parents are also into the habit of speaking to my sisters and I in English, rather than Spanish and Garifuna. Code switching is often done in my home. We are in the habit of speaking "Spanglish." I also agree with Richard when he stated that English is a public language and Spanish is a private one. I agree with this because I have observed it within my own life. English is used beacuse it is highly excepted with our society. It is the language that is taught to children in America and the language which we use to establish every part of our daily lives. But to bilingual speakers, English is a language that is used in public whereas Spanish or any other languages for that matter is used within the comfort of family and friends.

During my VIPS experience at Pleasant View Elementry School

I am working with Pre-k Bilingual students who are three to five years old.The students are fluent in the English language but are placed in a Bilingual class room. Why is it that fluent students in English are being taught everything...which includes their alphabets and vowels in spanish? Doesn't that cause problems/ confusion for the child as they grow up in a society where the English language is dominate?

Amazing Grace- Johnathan Kozol

Amazing Grace was about...

• Poverty in the South Bronx
• Homelessness
• Racial segregation- Hispanic and black neighborhood
• HIV/ Aids
• Murders/Death/Prostitution
• Hospitals
• Drugs /Violence
• Children/ Families- Cliffie, Alice Washington
• Education-Schools/After school program(St. Ann's Church)
• Welfare
• Power

Johnathan Kozol's Argument/ Evidence

Kozol argues that poverty, racial segregation and danger continues to exist in our nation and affect our children. Kozol further more, shows the reader evidence through the lives of children he met in the South Bronx. He gives a thorough explanation of the living conditions of these children and their families. Kozol tells us of the troubles and problems existing within families living in the South Bronx. In 1991, the household income in the South Bronx was 7,600 according to the New York times. There are about 4,000 heroine injectors and several who are infected with HIV. Living conditions according to Johnathan Kozol, was horrible. Houses were freezing in the winter and they were infested with rats and roaches. About 84 young adults no older than 21, were murdered. Johnathan Kozol spends a lot of time with Cliffie and learns how living in these conditions affects him.

I am from the South Bronx myself, and I've known Johnathan Kozol my entire life. In fact my sister Jacklin is in "Ordinary Resurrections" as Pineapple. I was raised attending St. Ann's Church and my passion for working with children began there as a "teen leader." I worked with children there since I was 14 years of age and only stopped because I moved to Rhode Island for college. I've never read any of Johnathan Kozol's books before and everything I've read up to this point has shocked me. The neighborhood I grew up in, was no where near suburban... and no where near perfect. But I felt that he over exaggerated at some points in his writing. I was raised among drug dealers, but never knew anyone who was HIV positive or any one who has died from it. I never knew a crack addict or a prostitute in my neighborhood either. Living conditions.... I lived with heat and never needed a portable heater. Not every home in the South Bronx was roach and rat infested. I don't remember everything that occured in 1991, because at that time I was only 4 years old. But what I do know about the South Bronx, is that it has come along way. I know that I've come a long way and people out there is fighting the system...trying to get out of their lifestyle if they can... EVERYDAY. Now....since I got that off my chest... Where is Johnathan Kozol right? what do I agree with? Since I've lived in the South Bronx... I know that it isn't the safest neighborhood. violence is everywhere. I've experienced shoot outs and seen lots of fights....live right next door to drug dealer(which is how they make their living.) Overall, it isn't a safe neighborhood to raise children and expect them to "make it."Only the STRONG survive and make it...not only because they worked hard...but because they had the help and privilege that others didn't. But I'm not even sure how poverty affects the South Bronx today, but what I do know is that poverty can be found everywhere...including Rhode Island, which I now reside.

Johnathan Kozol, as far as I can remember, carried a pen, writing pad and tape recorder every time he visited the church. He spent a lot of time with my family and children in the neighborhood. Writing his book has been a stepping stone to where I am today and why I am attending Rhode Island College. I've worked hard to get where I am, and maybe harder because I am a minority who lived in a neighborhood who did not have the opportunities and privileges, a predominately white suburban middle class community would have. But there is always a difference between someone who lives the experience and someone who writes about it. The only difference between the South Bronx and other areas is the LACK of opportunities, privilege, education being received and most importantly....not having a way out of that life style. After reading the first chapter in Amazing Grace I am now interested to read more of Johnathan Kozol's works.He is a wonderful man and I will not say that what he's written about my neighborhood is invalid or not true. Every story needs to be effective to its reader. Would it sell if it wasn't? Would you believe me if I said...there's exaggeration?

Introduction

Hello Bloggers,

My name is Amanda Gotay. My sophmore year at RIC is going pretty well with the exception of my Astronomy. Anyone good in math? lol....seriously. On my free time from classes, I am doing homework, studying, working or spending times with friends and family.