Blog 6

 For "Aria" By Richard Rodriguez I am going to find some quotes that show importance and relevance.  

My first quote shows importance because Rodriguez was required to learn english and coming from a home where they speak Spanish was difficult for him. When he spoke english the first time in class and the class understood him was an eye opener for him. "I was obliged to hear my mother and father: 'Speak to us in ingles.' (speak). Only then did I determine to learn classroom English. Weeks after, it happened; One day in school I raised my hand to volunteer an answer. I spoke out in a loud voice. And I did not think it remarkable when the entire class understood. That day, I moved very far from the disadvantaged child I had only been days earlier" (Rodriguez 36).  He says because he was a Spanish speaking he was a child with a disadvantage and when he started speaking English that disadvantage sort of started to go away. 

My second quote is showing that he is "americanizing" "After English became my primary language, I no longer knew what words to use in addressing my parents. The old Spanish words (those tender accents of sound) I had used earlier Mama and Papa- I couldn't use anymore. They would have been too painful reminders of how much my life has changed" (Rodriguez 37). This quote is showing he lost a part of his culture that was painful to him because his life had changed so much by coming to America and having to change his language in order to be a regular student with no disadvantages. 

My last quote that I found importance to is "Though his English improved somewhat, he retried into silence. At dinner he spoke very little. One night his children and even his wife giggled at his garbled English pronunciation of the Catholic Grace before meals" (Rodriguez 37). I found importance in this quote because even after years of him learning English and his wife and children laugh about his speaking and although he tries he will always have that Spanish background even though he was pretty much forced to Americanize himself and basically got rid of all of his cultural background. 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_IiVUh8-zacE9Nh_I4Q9Jmaj8_v9ATtR/view