from “Aria: Memoir of a Bilingual Childhood” by Richard Rodriguez
Directions:Read the first section titled, “Aria” then answer the following questions.
- What is an aria? (Check all definitions – not just the first one – use the one that applies to this essay.)
- Why do you think Rodriguez chose it for his title?
- Is it an appropriate title?
- Is it effective?
- Explain how Rodriguez establishes his ethos in the opening four paragraphs.
- One way to read Richard Rodriguez’s essay is as a discussion of two discrete education philosophies. What are they?
b.
- According to Rodriguez, how can language define community – both negatively and positively?
- 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.” (paragraph 15)
- What does Rodriguez mean by calling Spanish a “private language” (paragraph 17)?
- Even if you do not speak more than one language, does your family have what you would characterize as a “private language”? Explain
- Rodriguez admits, “Matching the silence I started hearing in public what was a new quiet at home (paragraph 38). Later he says, “The silence at home, however, was finally more than a literal silence” (paragraph 41). Does he convince you that this change in family relationships is worthwhile in terms of his “dramatic Americanization” (paragraph 37)? Why or why not
- 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 individually” (paragraph 43)?
- 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 argument?
- Write one major counterarguments Rodriguez addresses. (He does not address them all at once; identify a specific passage).
- 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.
- Rodriguez draws the following analogy in paragraph 58: “Just as Spanish would have been a dangerous language for me to have used at the start of my education, so black English would be a dangerous language to use in the schooling of teenagers for whom it reinforces feelings of public separateness.”
- Define analogy
- Do you find this analogy convincing? Why or why not?
- What is Rodriguez’s argument for bilingual education? Is he for or against it? Explain.