Aria: A Memoir of A Bilingual Childhood | Richard Rodriguez

     Richard Rodriguez was born into a Spanish-speaking family. Though that may have acted as a handicap at the start of his schooling, he graduated from Stanford, Columbia, and UC Berkeley; his writing can now be found in well-respected magazines around the world. This essay is a memoir that focuses on the role of heritage and family language in the development of individuality. The essay is a protest against bilingual education (cited as a way to preserve heritage and identity) - Rodriguez writes, "while one suffers a diminished sense of private individuality by being assimilated into public society, such assimilation makes possible the achievement of public individuality" (par. 38). His basic argument is that simply isolating one's heritage is not enough to create a unique identity, but rather children need to feel comfortable in public society before they can build their own identities.
      Rodriguez also describes how his assimilation into public society naturally led to a separation from his family life. He explains, "As we children learned more and more English, we shared fewer and fewer words with our parents" (par. 32). This use of antithesis highlights the idea that leaving behind one's private identity is necessary to build one's public identity, and therefore grow up. This message is hinted at in the beginning: "I turned to see my mother's face dissolve in a watery blur behind the pebbled-glass door" (par. 3). The use of imagery makes the statement stand out, and foreshadows his separation from his parents.

     Rodriguez successfully argues his position without forcing a straightforward persuasive essay, instead using pathos and narrative to support his argument. I personally connected with the essay because I am bilingual and do have a "home" and "school" language. Although I do not remember quite as much of a struggle between the two, I can empathize with the resulting separation from parents and the preference to keep the two languages separate. I agree with Rodriguez's argument that making the student feel comfortable in society is necessary to build a respectable identity. And one of the best  ways to do this is, of course, to make them learn the public language.

The essay discussed above was taken from Richard Rodriguez's autobiography, "Hunger of Memory." The book reflects upon his simultaneous acceptance into the intellectual community and separation from his family culture. (Source: Amazon)



Bop | Langston Hughes

     Langston Hughes was an American poet, novelist, playwright, and social activist. Of African-American and mixed descent, he strongly encouraged pride in heritage and race. The essay was written from the point of view of a white man having a conversation with a colored man named "Simple." At the start, they were discussing Be-bop music, a style of jazz known for a quick tempo, musical complexity, and impressive improvisation. Beyond that, Simple explained the division between races as a consequence of different histories and experiences. Simple observed that white musicians failed to mimic the soulful rhythms of Be-bop, purportedly because they lacked the same history of struggle and suffering. Simple explained, "That's where Be-bop comes from, beaten right out of some Negro's head into them horns and saxophones and piano keys that plays it" (Hughes par. 24). When the narrator reacted with surprise, Simple added, "That's why real Bop is mad, wild, frantic, crazy - and not to be dug up unless you've seen dark days too" (Hughes par. 30). The first example, which used a polysyndeton, concretized the idea that music is pulled from one's life experiences, in this case the suffering of an entire people group. The second example, which used an asyndeton, explained why Be-bop music was so special - "white folks do not get their heads beat just for being white" (Hughes par. 26).
     Hughes was able to provide insight to "white folks" on the daily struggles that stemmed simply from being born a colored person, and to present a different angle on the issue. The whole essay was written very well, working through subtext and colloquialisms to convey a greater meaning. Hughes concluded the essay with this clever use of parallelism: "’Your explanation depresses me,’ I said. ‘Your nonsense depresses me,’ said Simple" (Hughes par. 31-32). Yet again, the very storyline itself - the narrator's troubled reaction to Simple's ideas - wholly exemplified Simple's argument.

The photo shows Dizzy Gillespie, a famous Be-Bop trumpeter. (Source)

The Bloodiest Battle of All | William Manchester

     William Manchester was an American author and historian. Following in his father's footsteps, he served in the U.S. military as a Marine during the Pacific War. The essay was part-memoir and part-tribute, published in response to a memorial for the soldiers lost in the Battle of Okinawa. He reflected on the difference between how war is viewed by front-line soldiers versus everyone else. He wrote, "I could not reconcile the romanticized view of war that runs like a red streak through our literature... with the wet, green hell from which I had barely escaped" (Manchester par. 5). This initial horror slowly developed into an understanding - he realized he could never feel anything but hate towards war itself, but could still honor the friends he fought with.
     The essay vividly described his experience in the battle of Okinawa. One paragraph of imagery was almost too graphic: "The mud beneath our feet was deeply veined with blood. Blood is very slippery. So you skidded around... fighting and sleeping in one vast cesspool. Mingled with that stench was another - the corrupt and corrupting odor of rotting human flesh" (par. 29-30). This quote barely even discussed the actual fighting, only the surrounding circumstances, yet it was able to hit me right in the gut. It made me feel just a little bit of what he and the other soldiers must have felt. So he did his job of both admonishing and educating the general public that war is far from glorious, as well as providing fellow soldiers with statement to reflect upon.

     Although the essay was a bit confusing at first, with an organization that was almost chronological but not quite, it made an impact. One sentence effectively used an antithesis: "they sacrificed their futures that you might have yours" (par. 38). This quote struck me as the exact reason why we honor veterans and lost soldiers, whether by building a monument or writing an essay.

The "Cornerstone of Peace" is a monument dedicated to the remembrance of the Battle of Okinawa and the soldiers lost in the battle. More than 200,000 names are inscribed on the monument. (Source: Flickr)