The Scholarship Boy By Richard Rodriguez - 2048 Words

Through the narrative â€Å"The Scholarship Boy† I find few turning points that I notice a shift in the demeanor of Richard Rodriguez as well as how I perceive the story. First of all, it is made apparent to me that people acknowledge him for his successes by making remarks such as, â€Å"Your parents must be proud† or â€Å"How did you manage it? According to the opening paragraphs Rodriguez is seen as a model student. Although this may be true, the first turning point I find suggests otherwise as Rodriguez conveys, â€Å"For although I was a very good student, I was also a very bad student†¦Always successful, always unconfident. Exhilarated by my process. Sad.† This quote changed my perspective of Rodriguez because of the negative emotion he expresses toward his family. By the same token, I recall my sister being an outstanding achiever throughout school, yet, she was similarly depressed as well as annoyed towards me and the rest of our family. This flas hback assisted me in relating to Rodriguez’s emotions towards his successes. In the same fashion, I am supplied a grasp of his shift in tone and direction in the narrative. The second turning point is like a surge of hope amongst the sadness. We are brought a new perspective of the scholarship boy from his reading of the book â€Å"The Uses of Literacy†. Rodriguez learns he is not alone in his feelings, â€Å"For the first time I realized that there were other students like me, and so I was able to frame the meaning of my academic success, itsShow MoreRelatedAnalysis Of The Narrative Scholarship Boy By Richard Rodriguez932 Words   |  4 PagesIn the narrative called ‘Scholarship Boy’, by Richard Rodriguez. One can say that the biggest turning point is when Mr. Rodriguez himself realizes, at the age of thirty. The biggest attribute to his success and determination is schooling as a young boy. This is when Mr. Rodriguez had to live two separate lives. O ne as a young boy eager and willing to learn and develop, and another as a son and sibling to his family. At the age of thirty he finally is able to come to terms with this fact and be ableRead MoreThe Scholarship Boy And The Troubling Times1216 Words   |  5 Pagesthis paper, I will discover the difference between the two definitions of the scholarship boy and the troubling times Richard Rodriguez faces through his life in trying to balance school and work with his home life. Richard Rodriguez who is the author of the â€Å"Achievement of Desire† told readers both stories and experiences of scholarship boy and himself based off of Richard Hoggart’s the Uses of Literacy. While Rodriguez was writing the â€Å"Achievement of Desire† he went through many different phasesRead MoreEssay on Richard Rodriguez, The Achievement of Desire: Analysis1405 Words   |  6 PagesImagination† In his essay, â€Å"The Achievement of Desire,† Richard Rodriguez informs readers that he was a scholarship boy throughout his educational career. He uses his own personal experiences, as well as Richard Hoggart’s definition of the â€Å"scholarship boy,† to describe himself as someone who constantly struggles with balancing his life between family and education, and ends up on the side of education. In recognizing himself as a â€Å"scholarship boy,† he shows that he has gained what sociologist C. WrightRead MoreScholarship Boy or Not?885 Words   |  4 PagesScholarship Boy or Not? In the essay â€Å"Achievement of Desire†, Richard Rodriguez takes author Richard Hoggart’s, â€Å"Scholarship Boy†, and uses it as a reference point to capture his own life experiences as a scholarship boy. Growing up in a working class house hold, Richard was not the average product of his environment. Much like Hoggarts’ scholarship boy, Rodriguez was a very dedicated student that excelled in most of his studies. Although Rodriguez had the full support of his parents he was stillRead MoreCompare and Contrast Essay Gerald Graff’s article, â€Å"Disliking Books† and Richard Rodriguez’s800 Words   |  4 Pages Compare and Contrast Essay Gerald Graff’s article, â€Å"Disliking Books† and Richard Rodriguez’s â€Å"Scholarship Boy† are similar and yet different in many ways. The two articles describe the journey of two boys from different backgrounds through various stages in their education. A similarity in the two articles is seen in the desire of the parents to make their children acquire formal education. Rodriguez’s parents took him and his other siblings to parochial schools because the nuns, in their opinionRead MoreHunger Of Memory By Richard Rodriquez1268 Words   |  6 Pagesthat newcomers tend to face once on American soil. Anything from racial discrimination or bias at work, in neighborhoods, at school, etc., can all be challenges that people encounter when making a move to the U.S. Such challenges are described by Richard Rodriquez in his autobiography Hunger of Memory. In this passage, he explains how cultural differences between Mexican and American ways of life have shaped him into the person that he is today. He also chooses to highlights the problems that he facesRead MoreRichard Rodriguez : The Son Of Mexican Immigrants977 Words   |  4 PagesFrancisco 1944, Richard Rodriguez is the son of Mexican immigrants and lived two lives incompatible t o each other – his life at home and school. Rodriguez revered his teachers and aspired to be like them, mimicking many of their opinions and physical gestures. At an early age, Rodriguez realized there was a separation between his school life and home life. There were certain things that could only be shared at home or at school. When Rodriguez read The Uses of Literacy by Richard Hoggart, he encounteredRead MoreThe Achievement of Desire, by Richard Rodriguez Essay1228 Words   |  5 Pagesquestioning. In Richard Rodriguez’s The Achievement of Desire we are presented with a young Richard Rodriguez and follow him from the start of his education until he is an adult finally having reached his goals. In reference to the way he reads for the majority of his education, it can be said he reads going with the grain, while he reads a large volume of books, the quality of his reading is lacking. Richard Rodriguez states himself he was an â€Å"imitative and unoriginal pupil† (Rodriguez 516). He takesRead MoreThe Words Of Lev S. Vygotsky, Through Others We Become Ourselves Essay959 Words   |  4 Pagesthe generation we are born into, the family we share, and experiences we have, all shape our views of the world and the role we play within it. Author Joel Stein in the TIME Magazine article entitled â€Å"Millennials: The Me Me Me Generation† and Richard Rodriguez in his â€Å"Achievement of Desire† both use personal and real life reflections to suggest the ongoing search for one’s identity. Both societal and personal growth are made possible by examining the past (previous generations), with hopes to defineRead MoreAnalysis Of The Poem Achievement Of Desire By Richard Rodriguez1330 Words   |  6 PagesMorley Composition 110 September 6, 2014 In the essay, â€Å"Achievement of Desire†, author Richard Rodriguez, recalls the difficulties of balancing life as a thriving student and the life in a working class family. Growing up, Rodriguez was the exception to the stereotypical student coming from an immigrant/working class family. From an early age, he prospered in academics. He made school his top priority. Rodriguez spent time with his books rather than with family or friends. Initially, this approach