Aria by Richard Rodriguez (Reflection)

After reading Aria by Richard Rodriguez I was able to have better understandings of a person who lives in a place where their first language is not the dominant language spoken by everyone else.  Rodriguez writes about his experience with having to learn English when Spanish was his first language. He writes that when his parents agreed that they would have to learn English and have their kids learn English that they “agreed to give up the language (the sounds) that had revealed and accentuated our family’s closeness.” He also wrote that he felt as though his family was not as close as they had been before when they had spoken in Spanish, their almost secret language. I thought this was interesting because I did not really think a language would make people feel closer to one another, after reading this though I understood that.  If a family lives in an area where their first language is not dominant then they would only be able to communicate to one another making them closer with one another. After Rodriguez’s family was more “confident” with English they did more public things such as getting a telephone installed in their home. Rodriguez did not like the fact that his family seemed to be not as close anymore since they were reaching out to other people.

My first language is English so I did not have to go through learning another language. I do think though if you live somewhere that the language spoken is not your first language then you should want to learn it but not have to. I understand that people do not want to lose their culture but I think it would be harder not being able to communicate with people around you. I do think though that the language should not be “given up” like Rodriguez says his family did with Spanish.

I think around here in the States it is very common to find someone whose first language is not English. I think it is easier for people to come here and communicate with other people because of all of the different languages spoken here. Although it is more welcoming that many languages are spoken here, I think it is important to know the dominant language as well. While traveling to places where English was not the first language such as the Dominican Republic and France, I had a hard time communicating with people. Since I was in each place not for long I did not need to learn their languages but if I stayed in each place longer it would have been important for me to know the language being spoken and I feel necessary for me to learn the language rather than other people learning the language I spoke.

This link talks more about Rodriguez’s struggle with learning English.

Amazing Grace by Kozol and White Privilege by McIntosh (Connection)

While reading the texts, Amazing Grace by Jonathan Kozol and White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack by Peggy McIntosh I felt as though I could relate them to the two previous texts we have read, Privilege, Power, and Difference by Allan G. Johnson and The Silenced Dialogue: Power and Pedagogy in Educating Other People’s Children by Lisa Delpit. McIntosh’s writing relates to Johnson’s with the “privilege” concept. These two pieces also relate to Delpit’s and Kozol’s readings because they also have issues dealing with race. 

McIntosh and Johnson’s pieces both talk about privilege and specifically white privilege. Unlike Johnson, McIntosh says exactly some specific “white privileges” that she faces. For example one she wrote was, “I can turn on the television or open to the front page of the paper and see people of my race widely represented.” Johnson’s articles’ speak about white privilege but does not exactly state one such as McIntosh did. They both say though that there should not be such a thing as “white privilege.”

Delpit’s article talks about race within the school and speaks about young children. Kozol’s article talks about the poverty within schools and the gives examples from a specific area. Although Kozol does not say specific races like Delpit’s article, both articles talk about how one life style may be harder than another’s.

Another article that relates to these four articles is, For the white person who wants to know how to be my friend, by Pat Parker. This article talks about the stereotypes of a person who is black.  The last part of the article is what I feel as though is important, it says "In other words- if you really want to be my friend - don't make a labor of it." I think this is important because it ties into the other articles because with how race should not matter and there should not be an effort to make them different or try to make them the same.

When reading Kozol’s piece I felt sad. The whole reading was filled with sadness and had stories in it that you would wish that no one would have to live with. The fact that in a neighborhood so many deaths occurred so close in time to one another was a sad reality that not everyone’s lives are as “easy” as others and some people never have to worry about the issues that other people deal with daily.

Hey, I'm Donna

Hello, my name is Donna Dugan and I am a sophomore. I'm from Newport, RI and have a huge crazy family which I love. I am the youngest in my family and only have one older sister, Ashley. If I'm not at my apartment, or home then I am usually camping because my parents are a little bit to obessed. Of course not roughing it though, in our camper with ac and tv's in Richmond. This semester is going good so far expect for the fact that I have to sing in one of my classes which makes me totally dread having to go to that class. When I'm not in class I am usually with my friends or family either up in Providence or in Newport. I use to play tennis and softball all of the time but now can't really seem to find the time.