Category: Richard Rodriguez

As a young reader, I always was left empty and dis-satisfied after reading for academic or pleasure purposes. By no means was I ever an “avid” reader. I could never feel the words “come to life” as many of my elementary school english teachers proclaimed. Growing up, I was alone and segregated in my academic progression. I did not receive the proper help I desperately needed. As we read “The Lonely Good Company of Books” by Richard Rodriguez, readers learn that Rodriguez shares mutual feelings. Richard Rodriguez is a self-motivated Mexican American from San Francisco who shares his experience growing up in the public education system. Even though Richard Rodriguez received high remarks, the educational system did not prepare him to be a good reader. The public education system did not provide him with critical analysis skills nor did it give him the tools to overcome educational growing pains he may encounter.

Young readers are fragile, they are easily influenced in early years of their academic journey. Unfortunately, American education systems are flawed, they fail to impact youth as they should. For many students, this causes an educational growing pain, as students grow into young adults, they try to better themselves and are constantly reconstructing their way of thinking. An educational growing pain is when someone’s mind wants to grow, but are held back by outdated educational systems or lazy teachers. Educational growing pains can develop in early childhood and follow them for the rest of their educational career.

Rodriguez explains he never truly liked to read as the words seemed “lifeless and drab”(173). It wasn’t until Rodriguez was placed into a remedial reading class, where he would meet everyday after school in the school library. During this time Rodriguez would meet with a nun who would then read with him and focus on improving his grammar. Richard explains as the nun read to him the words felt as if they were being “brought to life”(173). He goes on to say it felt like the author was speaking directly to him resulting in a relationship of joy and fellowship, this was a feeling richard never thought he would feel. It was through this divine intervention Rodriguez developed a burning passion for reading.

Although Rodriguez was hungry to learn at this point, educational growing pains began to develop. Rodriguez reveals he grew up in a low-income household where “reading was always done out of necessity and as quickly as possible”(172). Rodriguez goes on to explain that his mother was not very supportive in his growing passion for reading. His mother would often scold him for writing in his books because of a decrease in value. Rodriguez also began to go in depth about his mother’s discomfort with his new hobby by stating but at home I would hear my mother wondering, “what do you see in your books?” (was reading a hobby like her knitting? Was so much reading even healthy for a boy? Was it a sign of “brains”? Or was it just a convenient excuse for not helping around the house on saturday mornings) Always, “what do you see?”(174).

Rodriguez’s educational growing pains was not limited only to his home. He criticizes the educational system for offering him very little help in becoming a strong academic reader. As Rodriguez tells his story, he goes on to tell readers about the struggles he faced as a young minority in a public school. He goes into detail explaining he would read college level books and received high remarks from his teachers but he had never understood the content, he often spent his free time reading because it brought him a certain level of peace knowing he was alone with the author of the book. Rodriguez explains he had already read hundreds of books before her had even started highschool, he goes on to say he had received high compliments for this but felt as if he had not achieved much for the fact that although he had read these books he had not understood them the way the author intended. For this reason the reader come to the conclusion that Rodriguez had an educational growing pain in his early childhood, this effected the way he was able to critically analyze the text he was reading. This can be blamed on many moving factors but at the end of the day it all boils down to the public educational system, teachers are underpaid and overworked, parents are not putting in the right amount of effort at home leaving today’s youth empty handed and set at a disadvantage.

When Rodriguez was in highschool he talked about his experience in reading advanced books by saying “books brought me academic success as I hoped that they would. But I was not a good reader”(175). Rodriguez explains that he had a list of books he had wanted to read and while he was making his way down the list he came across “Plato’s Republic”. In this he proves the school system let him down by saying “ i needed to keep looking at the book jacket comments to remind myself of what the text was about”(175). Although Rodriguez read the text in full, he didn’t understand the words he read. Rodriguez reveals this is how he felt for many of the books he had read, he goes on to say he would often have a dictionary nearby to look up words he not comprehend.

Although the public education system did not provide Rodriguez with critical analysis skills to understand the content he was reading, while fighting through his educational growing pains, Rodriguez’s determination yielded himself large amounts of publicity. Rodriguez pursued a successful career in reading and writing that allowed him to achieve his dreams. The reader can relate Rodriguez’s story to today’s world and use his devotion as motivation for today.

What does literacy mean to you? Can you recall that very moment of realizing being literate? Literacy, in general terms means—the ability to read and write. But do we think that often about this term and its importance? Well, the authors of “Scholarship Boy” and “Disliking Books” surely have a lot to say about literacy. In the articles: ‘Scholarship Boy’ by Richard Rodriguez and ‘Disliking Books’ by Gerald Graff, the main topic discussed is education’s impact on the authors’ lives and careers. The authors discuss their early childhood academic phases chronologically and continue to elaborate on their changed approach towards academics. Richard talks about his eagerness towards education, the shift of behavior from school to home, idolizing his teachers and, not being proud of his parents. Gerald describes his aversion and fear of books and how he ironically became a literature teacher. He further mentions his realization about intellectual reading and critics’ responses, which gave him confidence and personal engagement. In both the articles, the authors state a turning point which changed their personal and professional life. They talk about the atmosphere they grew up in and how that affected them. I strongly believe that a student must keep a fine balance between his/her school and family life and, avoiding parents for academic success is not the ideal path. Every student is different and special in their way, some may excel in all subjects and strive for good grades, whereas some may struggle with most of the subjects and take a while to understand what they love and are good at. Such a point of realization is indeed very significant for any individual.

In the article ‘Scholarship Boy,’ from “From Inquiry to Academic: A Practical Guide” (January 23, 2008) pp. 25-30, Richard Rodriguez attempts to answer the most frequently asked questions about his successful career by taking a reference from Richard Hoggart’s The Uses of Literacy and confessing that his academic success distances him from the life he loved. He finds the “Scholarship Boy”—a good student but a troubled son, very relatable. Richard claims that for a working-class student, the first step towards academic success is to be away from family, resulting in idolizing the teachers instead. He recalls how obsessive and eager he was about reading academic books as a child. I agree with the author’s statement—’Advancing in his studies, the boy notices that his mother and father have not changed as much as he. Rather, when he sees them, they often remind him of the person he once was and the life he earlier shared with them’. I liked Richard’s expression of all the gradual changes throughout his academic years. I agree with the implication of a child’s emotional attachment with the family. I further believe that a student must not avoid his/her parents for academic success. One can try balancing school and family duties. Also, one should not forget his/her memory of himself/herself. I now live away from my family but I do not avoid them or forget my roots and true self. I know it’s hard, but I still try my best to balance. I do agree with the fact that few studious students feel offended by their parents.

In his article ‘Disliking Books,’ from “From Inquiry to Academic: A Practical Guide” (January 23, 2008) pp. 31-36, Gerald Graff talks about his struggles academically. He recalls, he never liked any subject in particular as he didn’t find any application to his experience. He states that he chose to major in English because he found it conveniently non-committal. He claims that the reason he would get tongue-tied when called on was that he wasn’t clear about what to say. He mentions a controversy over Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and finding his and the critics’ views to be the same—point of realization. I found it very interesting that Gerald found his confidence and personal engagement when he read a piece of someone else’s viewpoint on a topic (intellectual discussions). I think it’s true that when a student starts to perform in the class as per the expectations he/she may not find it natural and may have different opinions. Gerald felt his intellectual talk to be hollow in his mouth. I believe that students take a certain amount of time to figure out what they want/like. I realized that I truly loved computers only after exploring that field during schooling days. This realization can occur at any point in one’s life and can show the right path to the individual—mostly a career. In the case of Gerald, his career has been shaped very differently when compared to the “standard way”. He sums up his article by finishing with the point he started— the advantage of being a literacy teacher—can understand the difficulties students face. Gerald’s story is very different from people who knew from the beginning what to become when they grew up.

In both the articles, the authors mainly talk about their challenges as a student in their early childhood and reflect on their past. Both the authors mention one instance which changed their perspective towards academics. They both note the point in their lives when they realized they were literate and how that affected them in different ways. Richard talks about his eagerness towards books and how his personal and professional life is affected by it. He notes all behavioral changes with his family due to his excessive indulgence in studying. He theorizes that a student gains academic success only when he/she is away from his/her family. Whereas Gerald speaks about his struggles with academics. He mentions different topics like intellectual reading and how it interested him, the theory behind the ability to speak well on a topic and, the order of events in his life resulting in becoming a literacy teacher. I agree with Richard’s description of ‘Scholarship Boy’ and equating it with himself. I found the chronological explanation of a student’s academic phases very precise. I am skeptical of the theory he mentions for academic success—staying away from family. In the second article, I agree with Gerald’s notion of the ability to speak and the mentioned advantages he has as a teacher. I strongly believe that a factor like the atmosphere where one grows up can influence academics.