Exploring the Text

  1. According to Richard Rodriguez, how can language define community – both negatively and positively?

    Question

    uZxg83qH9uNZ3NUqyV8wT7hdxc9/5MQeJeZaOsQNhvI0w6Xk3EOeDQ1B873FE1s7
    Chapter 6 - Aria - Exploring the Text: According to Richard Rodriguez, how can language define community – both negatively and positively?
  2. What does Rodriguez mean in the following statement? “It is not possible for a child—any child—ever to use his family’s language in school. Not to understand this is to misunderstand the public uses of schooling and to trivialize the nature of intimate life—a family’s ‘language’” (para. 5). Write an essay defending, challenging, or modifying Rodriguez’s assertion. Support your argument with evidence from your experience, observation, or reading.

    Question

    uZxg83qH9uNZ3NUqyV8wT7hdxc9/5MQeJeZaOsQNhvI0w6Xk3EOeDQ1B873FE1s7
    Chapter 6 - Aria - Exploring the Text: What does Rodriguez mean in the following statement? “It is not possible for a child—any child—ever to use his family’s language in school. Not to understand this is to misunderstand the public uses of schooling and to trivialize the nature of intimate life—a family’s ‘language’” (para. 5). Write an essay defending, challenging, or modifying Rodriguez’s assertion. Support your argument with evidence from your experience, observation, or reading.
  3. What is an aria? Why do you think Rodriguez chose it for his title? Is it an appropriate title? Is it effective?

    Question

    uZxg83qH9uNZ3NUqyV8wT7hdxc9/5MQeJeZaOsQNhvI0w6Xk3EOeDQ1B873FE1s7
    Chapter 6 - Aria - Exploring the Text: What is an aria? Why do you think Rodriguez chose it for his title? Is it an appropriate title? Is it effective?
  4. Explain how Rodriguez establishes his ethos in the opening four paragraphs.

    Question

    uZxg83qH9uNZ3NUqyV8wT7hdxc9/5MQeJeZaOsQNhvI0w6Xk3EOeDQ1B873FE1s7
    Chapter 6 - Aria - Exploring the Text: Explain how Rodriguez establishes his ethos in the opening four paragraphs.
  5. What does Rodriguez mean when he says, “[I]n a way, it didn’t matter very much that my parents could not speak English with ease. . . . And yet, in another way, it mattered very much” (para. 15)?

    Question

    uZxg83qH9uNZ3NUqyV8wT7hdxc9/5MQeJeZaOsQNhvI0w6Xk3EOeDQ1B873FE1s7
    Chapter 6 - Aria - Exploring the Text: What does Rodriguez mean when he says, “[I]n a way, it didn’t matter very much that my parents could not speak English with ease. . . . And yet, in another way, it mattered very much” (para. 15)?
  6. Rodriguez admits, “Matching the silence I started hearing in public was a new quiet at home” (para. 38). Later he says, “The silence at home, however, was finally more than a literal silence” (para. 41). Does he convince you that this change in family relationships is worthwhile in terms of his “dramatic Americanization” (para. 37)?

    Question

    uZxg83qH9uNZ3NUqyV8wT7hdxc9/5MQeJeZaOsQNhvI0w6Xk3EOeDQ1B873FE1s7
    Chapter 6 - Aria - Exploring the Text: Rodriguez admits, “Matching the silence I started hearing in public was a new quiet at home” (para. 38). Later he says, “The silence at home, however, was finally more than a literal silence” (para. 41). Does he convince you that this change in family relationships is worthwhile in terms of his “dramatic Americanization” (para. 37)?
  7. What does Rodriguez mean in the following statement: “[W]hile one suffers a diminished sense of private individuality by becoming assimilated into public society, such assimilation makes possible the achievement of public individuality” (para. 43)?

    Question

    uZxg83qH9uNZ3NUqyV8wT7hdxc9/5MQeJeZaOsQNhvI0w6Xk3EOeDQ1B873FE1s7
    Chapter 6 - Aria - Exploring the Text: What does Rodriguez mean in the following statement: “[W]hile one suffers a diminished sense of private individuality by becoming assimilated into public society, such assimilation makes possible the achievement of public individuality” (para. 43)?
  8. In several sections, Rodriguez makes his point by narrative (such as the moment in school when he first hears his name). How does narrative contribute to the effectiveness of Rodriguez’s argument?

    Question

    uZxg83qH9uNZ3NUqyV8wT7hdxc9/5MQeJeZaOsQNhvI0w6Xk3EOeDQ1B873FE1s7
    Chapter 6 - Aria - Exploring the Text: In several sections, Rodriguez makes his point by narrative (such as the moment in school when he first hears his name). How does narrative contribute to the effectiveness of Rodriguez’s argument?
  9. What major counterarguments does Rodriguez address? (He does not address them all at once; identify specific passages.)

    Question

    uZxg83qH9uNZ3NUqyV8wT7hdxc9/5MQeJeZaOsQNhvI0w6Xk3EOeDQ1B873FE1s7
    Chapter 6 - Aria - Exploring the Text: What major counterarguments does Rodriguez address? (He does not address them all at once; identify specific passages.)
  10. Rodriguez develops his argument largely through his own experience and opinions, but without quantitative data from research or the views of experts. How convincing is he? Do you think more formal evidence would have strengthened his argument? Explain.

    Question

    uZxg83qH9uNZ3NUqyV8wT7hdxc9/5MQeJeZaOsQNhvI0w6Xk3EOeDQ1B873FE1s7
    Chapter 6 - Aria - Exploring the Text: Rodriguez develops his argument largely through his own experience and opinions, but without quantitative data from research or the views of experts. How convincing is he? Do you think more formal evidence would have strengthened his argument? Explain.
  11. In this essay, Richard Rodriguez describes a clash of two communities—his private family community and his public community of both the school and middle-class America as a whole. How do these competing communities impact the development of his personal identity?

    Question

    uZxg83qH9uNZ3NUqyV8wT7hdxc9/5MQeJeZaOsQNhvI0w6Xk3EOeDQ1B873FE1s7
    Chapter 6 - Aria - Exploring the Text: In this essay, Richard Rodriguez describes a clash of two communities—his private family community and his public community of both the school and middle-class America as a whole. How do these competing communities impact the development of his personal identity?
  12. In a 1994 interview, Rodriguez made the following comment about multiculturalism: “Multiculturalism, as it is expressed in the platitudes of the American campus, is not multiculturalism. It is an idea about culture that has a specific genesis, a specific history, and a specific politics. What people mean by multiculturalism is different hues of themselves. They don’t mean Islamic fundamentalists or skinheads. They mean other brown and black students who share opinions like theirs. It isn’t diversity. It’s a pretense to diversity.” Do you agree with Rodriguez?

    Question

    uZxg83qH9uNZ3NUqyV8wT7hdxc9/5MQeJeZaOsQNhvI0w6Xk3EOeDQ1B873FE1s7
    Chapter 6 - Aria - Exploring the Text: In a 1994 interview, Rodriguez made the following comment about multiculturalism: “Multiculturalism, as it is expressed in the platitudes of the American campus, is not multiculturalism. It is an idea about culture that has a specific genesis, a specific history, and a specific politics. What people mean by multiculturalism is different hues of themselves. They don’t mean Islamic fundamentalists or skinheads. They mean other brown and black students who share opinions like theirs. It isn’t diversity. It’s a pretense to diversity.” Do you agree with Rodriguez?