Blog #14 Hunger of Memory- Chapter 3 Credo

In Chapter 3, Credo, Rodriguez discusses how his religion has shaped him and how it is transformed over time. Throughout the chapter, Richard makes evident distinctions  between the religious practices he participates in at home and those he participates in a school. This parallels his previous analysis of his private and public identity. He refers to his home religion as a mere "night religion" while at school everything revolves on religion including the daily schedule and holidays. Because it is a Roman Catholic school, they incorporate religion into everything while at home it's for his private needs. One of these distinctions is that his home religion is more of a Mexican Catholic while his school religion is White Catholic, as we see this through the two differing depictions of the Virgin Mary. Additionally, his home religion revolves much more around their family needs rather than God as their savior who they worship, likely due to the fact that they view religion through the lens of their low socioeconomic class. Contrastingly, Rodriguez was exposed to the American culture which is why he values books and education in a different way from that of his family. Through the chapter, Rodriguez talks of how his faith has changed from a Catalico to a Christian. His views changed because he sees the church in a different light. Growing up in a Roman Catholic church, Richard felt that he had to be involved in his religion and in church activities as that was how it was. But not, it is merely a habit a ritual of word changes as he feels the churches have modernized and do not center around God anymore. While before the church was a community in which people come could come together and worship, he feels that the White churches he attends now are just for "social reinforcement". Similar to how his parents lost authority over him due to his advancement in language and his assimilation, so did the church. His religion evolved from a communal belief system to a much more individualistic belief system, which is very much like the American way to become an independent, hard worker.

This chapter while it went much more into depth regarding Rodriguez's religion, it did incorporate themes from previous chapters which stood out to me. I had a hard time relating to this chapter as I'm not a very religious person. As a child, I did attend church with my mom most Sundays but during my teenage years my mom stopped going which meant so did I. I think Rodriguez includes this chapter to show how religion has played a significant role in who he is today. Furthermore, I think he wanted readers to see that education and language changed many aspects of his life including his beliefs regarding religion. In my opinion, I believe that Rodriguez is trying to find himself through religion. In previous chapters, he talked about how he had a hard time establishing his own point of view and he described how he often was just an imitation of literature he has read. Even when he begins to feel disconnected from any intimate bonds, he turns to the interpretations of Richard Hoggart and finds himself through Hoggart's definition of the "scholarship boy". I think in this same way he tries to define himself through the elements of religion. This is why I believe he has such a hard time understanding how to label himself because he has always found himself through other means and not wholeheartedly being able to relate to just one religion leaves him struggling to be either a Christian or a Catholic. He continuously tries to label himself but the circumstances of certain religions only constrain him, making it difficult for him to identify with just one religion.

Blog #13 Hunger of Memory- Chapter 2 Achievement of Desire

In Chapter 2, Achievement of Desire, Richard Rodriguez discusses his love for literature as well as what he credits his success to and the idea of the "scholarship boy". Rodriguez claims that while there were other important factors which led him to his academic advancement, the "primary reason for [his] success in the classroom was that [he] couldn't forget that schooling was changing [him] and separating [him] from the life [he] enjoyed before becoming a student,". Rodriguez knew that indulging himself in his studies had cause a negative impact on his family bonds and he wanted to make this loss of intimacy a positive thing by making the most of his education. He began to lose himself in the words and read constantly which only made his parent's lack of education more apparent to him. He was often ashamed of his parents and they lost his authority which led him to find this authority in his teachers. Despite his past, Richard regrets putting everything aside and while he values his education, he longs for a more passionate life with that intimacy he only felt with his family. Nowadays, his colleagues are bright thinkers and while his conversations are advanced, he misses that bond and those intimate conversations which contrast his now professional and lonely lifestyle. In turn this level of education does help him to realize he could never form his own point of view and he became an imitation of others he had read. This academic advancement makes it possible for him to see himself through others and be conscious and critical of himself. This is what makes him a "scholarship boy". Not only is he a middle class child struggling for academic success but his change in authoritative figures, his embarrassment of his parents, his acknowledgment that education "requires self-reformation", and even his nostalgic feelings in which he misses his intimate bonds and personal level conversations all contribute to the persona of the "scholarship boy". His search through other educational writers to find why his education has severely removed him from his personal past further confirms his need to find things out about himself through others.

After reading Chapter 2, I feel much better about getting into the book than the first chapter as this one was much more interesting and relatable for me. Similar to Rodriguez, education is something that sometimes comes between my parents and I. For example, in the book Rodriguez recalls one instance of his childhood where he became frustrated when his father could not help him with his homework. That is definitely an act I can say I'm guilty of as my parents only completed high school and some college and the educational system is much different now than it was then in terms of what we learn, so going to them for homework help has become somewhat of a rare occurrence. I often don't realize it but I can be hard on my parents about things which I feel are common knowledge but might not be for them and this is an example of generational differences. Additionally, I can relate when Richard's mom wants him to stay closer to home and doesn't understand the need for Richard to achieve a better education elsewhere. While my mom fully supports me with everything in her, she often doesn't realize that she is trying to convince me to stay closer to home for college. This chapter was a reality check for me because when I do these things where I easily become frustrated with my parents for something they might not understand I don't think too much about it. But reading Rodriguez do the exact same thing and realizing how insincere he sounds makes me see that I can't look at him as an impolite individual because it would be hypocritical. Looking through the lens of someone else does make me see that I have to be more patient with my parents and remember that they are responsible for who I am today.

Blog #12 Hunger of Memory- Chapter 1 Aria

In Chapter 1 of Hunger of Memory, entitled Aria, Rodriguez talks of his childhood,family, and education as well as his views of language and bilingual education including how they've changed. Through the chapter he incorporates themes of public identity, private identity, assimilation, and education. He talks of his hatred of his teachers at the beginning of his education due to the fact that they forced him to learn English. Looking back on it now, Rodriguez sees how learning in Spanish would not have been beneficial for him as learning English helped him improve socially, causing him to be more outspoken and successful in his communication with others. This is what caused his negative views of bilingual education because he knows without being forced to learn English, although he would've been more comfortable with his teachers speaking to him in Spanish, he would not haven been pushed out of his shell to develop his individual personality, or his "public" self. Despite this idea, Rodriguez acknowledges that his assimilation and his gaining of confidence in his public self did disrupt his family life and cause him to lose his private self. Though he began to embrace his assimilation, he began to lose his confidence in Spanish and was often scorned by his family. Additionally, his assimilation could be viewed negatively as he began to notice more and more of the accent in his parent's public voice. Not only was he embarrassed, but he also felt unprotected and it placed a burden on him because his parents became dependent on him for translations and communication when children should be dependent on their parents. Regardless, there were positive elements to Richard's assimilation. His language improved and he began to fit in as well as grow up. Furthermore in this chapter, we begin to see how Richard often searches for validation elsewhere, as his loss of language causes him to look for public acceptance from his family, his teachers, and even his classmates.

After reading Chapter 1, I have to admit while the autobiography possesses similar themes to The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, Rodriguez does establish a much more serious and literal tone making me miss Sherman Alexie's sarcastic and upbeat one. If I'm being honest Rodriguez's book takes me much more time to sit back and comprehend the ideas and it does somewhat take away from the relatability for me. Regardless there were some parts of this chapter which made me put myself in his shoes and think about his feelings at the time. His account of coming to Sacramento only knowing a few English words does hit home for me, not personally but in terms of my day. My dad immigrated to the US when he was around 17 or 18 from Iran. He knew very few English words and many people to this day still treat him differently when they hear his heavy accent so I can see where Rodriguez is coming from. While I don't have to translate for my dad, he'll often ask me how to spell words or he'll say something with poor grammar i public and I'll cringe a bit and then feel guilty that it even bothers me so much of what people think. In that way, which I look for public acceptance from others I definitely relate to Richard. Growing up with strict parents, I always sought validation from them and pushed myself to please them. Slowly it became more for myself than anything but working hard is an ideal that's ingrained in me due to them.

Blog #11 Writing Workshop

For the revision/extension essay, I chose to expand as well as revise the first essay we did in the class regarding an experience which seemed ordinary at the time of it happening but after looking back on it turns out to be of significance in some way. This essay was the one I received my lowest grade on so I hope by revising and extending this essay to achieve a better score and produce an overall improved work. Originally, I wrote this essay about the incident of me finding out that the tooth fairy was not real and at first being hurt but later understanding my mother's reasoning for keeping up this lie. My main critiques for this essay upon receiving it back were to change some redundant areas of the essay as well as to relate the theme back to some social issue. At first, I was uncertain about how exactly to relate this issue back to some form of a social issue without going off topic or stretching the ideas to the point where they do not fit within the essay, Additionally, I was not sure about how to incorporate texts from the anthology, as none of the essays seemed to  directly relate to my topic, let alone relate in any ways. However, discussing my essay with Ms. Thoeun helped guide me in the right direction regarding how I can extend this essay and connect it back to a global issue to ensure my essay is relatable for readers.

After speaking with Ms. Thoeun, I plan to maintain this same overall theme but extend the essay by linking my theme to contemporary parenting issues involving certain parenting styles in comparison to previous generations as well as pulling from outside sources such as online articles. These contemporary issues such as "tiger moms" or "helicopter parenting" will aid in connecting my essay topic to other individuals as there has been controversy regarding parenting which does not set children up for the actuality of the real world. This directly relates back to my topic as my mother lying to me about imaginative creature such as the "tooth fairy" could have set me up for failure by providing me with a false reality of what the world is truly like. I hope to achieve a well written and relatable essay by following these suggestions and incorporating further sources.