Rodriguez illustrates his "scholarship boy" life in both
direct and lateral ways. He
used several 3rd person view points to introduce how that "scholarship
boy" grow up in schools and his family. As a scholarship boy, he was
laughed at by his brother or other family numbers. "A family joke",
he said. That influenced his childhood seriously. Actually, he was a prized boy
and felt proud to share his successes with parents. But successes also made him
pride so he intended to hurt his low educated parents by teaching them what
teacher said in class. There is also some inside conflicts Rodriguez mentioned
in this article. I like how he smiled to people who praised him like "Your
parents must be very proud of you." He did shyly smile! But his strong
inside still felt embarrassed by his parents which is pretty interesting. "A primary reason for my success in the classroom was that I
couldn't forget that schooling was changing me and separating me from the life
I enjoyed before becoming a student."
I love this part which cost his twenty years to realize. In the scholarship
boy's story, he could not control the relationship between school and family.
By the way, he felt so tired to act two characters in those two places which is
a highlight in his future life.
This piece was very relatable. This is because at one point in our lives doesn't it seem like our parents are no long able to help us with certain things? We start to look down on them for not being able to help but what we really should be doing is thanking them for the sacrifices they have made to get us this education. I loved the repetition of the "your parents must be proud of you" and his reaction because it stresses his inner conflict. Wonderful piece
ReplyDeleteI can relate to this story a lot. Eventually our parents aren't capable of lending of us help but we shouldn't frown upon that, we should appreciate them for everything they ever did for us. One day when we grow old we won't be able to help our kids out as much as we used to or at all. His use of repetition brings out his inner problems as a "scholarship boy", I feel as though this shows his insecurities as a prized boy in his family.
ReplyDelete" The Achievement of Desire" by Rodriguez is a great piece! I never thought achieving high academic grades would be the barrier between your working class family and yourself. I can see how it became almost a chore for Rodriguez to spend his time at home secretly reading away because his family showed no support to his love for education. He was often teased at home for being a four-eyes and even his mother questioned what he saw in those books. After finishing this piece I realized maybe his father showed no support to his "Higher Education" was because he got the opportunity to become an engineer or skills worker but it never worked out for him. His father critizices higher education as its cheap diplomas and inflated grades. He probably didn't want his son to go down the same path as him.
ReplyDeleteIn Rodriguez's "The Achievement of desire" I could not help but see so much of myself in this piece. Ever since I was about the age of eight I knew I had differing views than those of the majority of my family. Although, my mother a scholar in her own right who’s currently working on her dissertation, I have often been left in the care of my immediate family. Whose views on education are very similar to those expressed in Rodriguez’s piece. I can actually remember back to the sixth grade when I received a national merit award and had been allotted the opportunity to spend a week in Washington D.C. at a conference. One would assume that your family would be proud of your achievement and be more than willing to do anything in their power to ensure that you attend the conference. However, the general conscience from my family was one of negativity because I had to lay out money for my expenses. But more importantly, much of Rodriguez’s piece is a mirror image of the many trials and tribulations that I have encountered. I enjoyed his use of repetition ( “ Your parents must be proud of you”), his use of Hoggart’s The Uses of Literacy and its definition of a scholarship boy, and more importantly I enjoyed his coming of age story through his reflection of his childhood.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed this piece because I can relate to having a mother who wanted to know all about my academic success and a father who rarely commented on it. It felt like I was reading about my childhood. Also, Rodriguez does a great job of illustrating the personal struggle he had between idolizing his teachers instead of his parents.
ReplyDeleteI agree with those who have commented above, and think it's an interesting point, that this story can really be relatable to anyone because we all eventually reach a point in our lives where our parents can no longer help us. It can be with school-related tasks or other everyday things. It can be hard to accept and sometimes it feels like it creates a sort of separation. While his family would makes fun of his dedication to learning and reading, he rose above it with time.
ReplyDeleteI like how Rodriguez didn’t even realize that he was changing as a person throughout his education. As college students we can all relate to him with our new experiences. I believe that everyone goes through something similar to this story at some point. Rodriguez shows that anyone who becomes a parent will at some point no longer be in control of their children and that they must accept this fact because they cannot control it.
ReplyDeleteThis piece is very relatable because everyone goes through a phase like how Rodriguez did. We all start to become more independent, intelligent, and self-reliant. Meanwhile our parents are just there watching us grow up realizing that they can't always protect us or stick up for us.
ReplyDeleteThis piece wasnt to relatable to me. My mom has always encouraged me towards an education, but it was ultimately up to me whether I would want to succeed. The only relatable aspect of the story to me was the part of the mother being to attached and not letting her son go. To me it was all to real leaving San Diego and coming to New York to start my new and independent life
ReplyDeleteRodriguez uses a clashing of working cultures in his story " The Achievement of Desire". His educated life collides with his family's non-educated life. This is shown when he describes how he would read books and study while every one else made fun of him. I thought it was interesting how he felt superior to his parents due to his education but says he still feels pulls to his old life. Almost like he doesn't know what he really wants in his life.
ReplyDeleteI can kind of relate to this story because my mom was always very proud and always supported everything I did in school. My dad on the other hand, he never really asked me how school was going or any of that kind of thing. I like he was able to relate back to his childhood like it was just a few years ago. All of his stories that he tells are very vivid and go into a lot of detail.
ReplyDeleteI can kind of relate to this story because my mom was always very proud and always supported everything I did in school. My dad on the other hand, he never really asked me how school was going or any of that kind of thing. I like he was able to relate back to his childhood like it was just a few years ago. All of his stories that he tells are very vivid and go into a lot of detail.
ReplyDeleteIn Rodriguez's "The Achievement of desire" I think that we can all somewhat relate to the story being told. Whether it be about our parents or the new experiences we are facing now in college. Everyone goes through change. I like the fact that Rodriguez really stressed education. He made education way more than just sitting in a desk and reading, or writing. The message Rodriguez is sending is that education should be seen for more than what others typically see it as. We never stop learning, we never stop getting educated. Our lives are filled with both knowledge and growth, and that never changes.
ReplyDeleteRodriguez does a really good job making the text relatable. Not only for older people when it comes to relationships with your child. Also to the younger audience who might be experiencing the same changes throughout their scholastic career. "Scholarship Boy" realized these changes after many years but is trying to reach out to a younger crowd.
ReplyDeleteI can relate to this piece of literature as can most people because I have went through a similar experience as did the scholarship boy. Anyone can relate to this because we all reach a point in our lives where our parents no longer have the ability to help us the way we need them to. Instead of being upset with them we need to realize that they have helped us all they could up until this point and that it is now up to us to help ourselves. These struggles we face can be school related or everyday life. The scholarship boy's parents put him down and made fun of his dedication but he had to rise above that hate and negativity.
ReplyDeleteI believe a lot of people can relate to this, including myself. As a first generation college student, I often hear the same things from other people that Rodriguez hears, being where I come from. His dedication and self-support is something I can admire as a student.
ReplyDeleteRodriguez's life as a young boy is one that any student can relate to. As kids grow older they are heavily influenced from school and sometimes they lose touch with their ethnic side. At his home, he became the family joke and no one took his success seriously. It really speaks to anyone because there is always a point where parents leave you on your own and it is up to the person do take on the responsibility on their own. He did a great job at ignoring the negative aspects of his success among his family and friends and rising ahead in the future.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed this piece. I loved his comparisons to his feelings. His inner monologue was fighting two sides of the same coin. He says " i became careful to separate the two very different worlds of my day" I relate to this story in some ways because my parents never really payed attention my my academics....I didnt have many academic successes however. I guess a part of me holds them responsible for that. My elder siblings were very good in school and that was when my mom stayed at home and constantly watched/celebrated their progress. When it came my time to got to school my mom and dad were working full time jobs.I no longer got the attention i craved when it came to academics. This forced my to be independent at a younger age.
ReplyDeleteI thought this was a really well written piece that portrays not only the coming of age aspect, but it also portrays strongly, an identity crisis from being Spanish that adds an extra element of confusion and difficulty to the coming of age. The story speaks a lot about what it is to grow up and eventually outgrow those closest to you, in this case mother and father and it really is something that many people can relate to due to the environments we grow up in anyway. I feel like I was always taught to come back home being better at something every day and I even remember when I began to correct my mom on things and I still do to this day. I do also like what he has to say about education though as well. When he talks about trying/wanting to be like the nuns, you begin to see more clearly what he's getting at about being "unoriginal." A lot of what "education" is, is taking what you hear and essentially repeating it in a different way, which is one thing that he acknowledges in somewhat of a negative light due to how it contradicted with his life at home. Overall, it was an extremely good read that provided a detailed look into the life of a "Scholarship Boy."
ReplyDeleteRodgriuez established himself through the journey of trying to find the balance between school and family. He took for granted the love and support that his family provided him growing up and overlooked everything that they represented which contributed to him being the way that he was. Although he had supportive parents, he found an issue with their lack of education and minority status which conflicted and differentiated him betweenst his peers. Although he chose education over his family, he eventually realizes that he was missing something, that his most prized possession in life was his family and being close to them made him happy and appreciative of what great parents he had.
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