Aria

"Fortunately, my teachers were unsentimental about their responsibility. What they understood was that i needed to speak a public language. So their voices would search me out, asking me questions. Each time I'd hear them, I'd look up in surprise to see a nun's face frowning at me. I'd mumble, not really knowing the answer. The nun would persist, Richard, stand up. Don't look at the floor. Speak up."

The teacher in this quote seemed to make Richard extremely nervous when it came to answering a question in English. I feel as though he was pressured to learn the "public language" because it's what our society expects. By his teachers calling him out in front of the class it did embarrass him but it also seemed to push him. He mentions that he would have felt less afraid is the teacher addressed him in Spanish but i don't think that he would have learned from that. Being pushed helped him to face his fear and eventually helped him to reach his goal of speaking the English language. I believe that it's a good thing he learned English as a child because when you get older its harder to absorb new things such as a new language.

"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 been days earlier. The belief, the calming assurance that I belong in public. had at last taken hold."

This quote is saying that Richard finally faced his fears. He volunteered to answer a question in English. I believe that this is the first time he feels accepted by society because its hard to live in America and not know how to speak English. I feel as though he was so worried because our society can be very judgmental. He has heard people speak perfect English so he probably without knowing set high expectations for himself. Where as this reminds me of the saying "practice makes perfect." In the end he faced his fears and could finally feel accepted.

"I had used earlier mama and papa- I couldn't use that anymore. They would have been too painful reminders of how much had changed in my life."

I find it different that Richard changed languages completely. He went from speaking Spanish to transitioning entirely to English. If this was me I think I would prefer to be bilingual because it can be an advantage, especially in our society. I have been on several job interviews where they asked if i speak another language, because it's beneficial in today's society. I believe that he said it was painful reminders because he lost communication with his family. Which I still don't understand why he did this because its seems like he traded his family for being accepted to our society.


I liked this article because it is written in the first person. You are emotionally given an idea of how Rodriquez is feeling. You don't really think on a day to day basis how important it is in our society to know the English language, but after reading "Aria" I realized this. We tend to take little things for granted and forget how big of an asset English is to us. I cannot imagine how frightening it would be to live in a foreign country and not know a word of that cultures language. This relates to Delpit because the English language is the power in our culture.

I also was a little confused to why he switched languages completely. Especially since he lost communication with his family. As I mentioned previously in today's society it can be extremely beneficial to be bi-lingual. In general I did admire Richards determination to reach his goals.

Conclusion to Kozol

Here is my conclusion to Kozol, I didn't realize it was required for the first post.

I found Kozol's style of writing to be much easier to follow than Johnson and Delpit's writings. "Amazing Grace" changed my outlook on how I look at life. I was shocked to learned the daily struggles of the people in Mott Haven. It's unfortunate because we tend to dwell on things that are so minor compared to the way these people suffer daily. It made me feel sorry for them, because we take a lot of things for granted.

It shocked me to see Cliffie's point of view. He seemed to be so grown up for his age. It seemed to me like he knew too much for a boy his age. I would never think a child would be so carefree about witnessing a shooting. If a child was to witness something similar to this in my neighborhood i am positive that they would cry and be an emotional wreck.

This town clearly needs help but no one seems to care enough to reach out. As i mentioned in the first post, Mott Haven is only shown the bad. If they had a mixture of social classes they would have more influential figures. Therefore, they would set better goals for themselves and eventually grow as individuals and as a town.

Jonathan Kozol, Talking points

Jonathan Kozol

“Amazing Grace”

“I saw a boy shot in the head right over there.” He says a moment later, in a voice that does not sound particularly sad, then looks up at me and asks politely. “Would you like a cookie?”

I found this quote from Cliffie to be shocking because he says it so carefree. This is said as if it’s normal to witness shooting every day, but in the town of Mott Haven it is. If this was to occur in my neighborhood it would be considered a tragedy because not many people witness murders. These types of incidents occur so often that the people of the town begin to think it is normal, which explains why Cliffie changes topics so easily.

“Why do you want to put so many people with small children in a place with so much sickness? This is the last place in New York that they should put poor children. Clumping so many people, all with the same symptoms and same problems, in one crowded place with nothin’ they can grow on? Our children start to mourn themselves before their time.”

I agree with this, because every town, state or country needs leadership. If this town has so much bad then everyone is going to amount to nothing. If the children don’t see the good they will not have goals in life. They will want to become what they see, which is drug addicts and prostitutes. By the state of New York placing all of these homeless families in Mott Haven they do not have anything to grow from.

“I waited in the emergency room two days to be admitted.” I ask, “Where were you waiting?” “Waiting in the waiting room with everybody else” she says “In the chairs with all the other people who were waiting. Sick children vomiting up their food. Men with gunshot wounds. People with AIDS. Old people coughing up their blood. On the third day I gave up and went back home”

The hospitals are so understaffed in this town that they do not even get the correct treatments. Just because their a lowercases town doesn’t mean they have to wait for days to see a doctor, never mind in a dirty hospital where they are likely to get even sicker. If the hospital isn’t cleaned properly then people are more likely to contract illnesses like AIDS just by sitting in a waiting room. If this was to happen in a town that was considered “wealthy” it would be fixed in no time. It’s like no one cares to help them, they want to see them fail.

About me

Hey everyone! :)
My name is Stephanie Borges, and I'm 19 years old. I'm a Sophomore here at RIC. I'm majoring in Elementary Education focusing on English. So far this semesters going well. I like all my classes and the professors seem cool.

When I'm not in school i like to hang out with my friends. I love the summer and relaxing on the beach, its to bad its over! I work at Henry Barnard during the week with their after school program "Explorations" and I absolutely love working there. I think that's pretty much it.