StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...
Free

The Achievement of Desire - Essay Example

Cite this document
Summary
In the article “The Achievement of Desire” the author describes his personal experience and life problems caused by cultural differences and ethnic diversity issues. The author pays special attention to difficulties experienced by Mexican Americans…
Download full paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER92.8% of users find it useful
The Achievement of Desire
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "The Achievement of Desire"

In terms of one-way assimilation, Rodriguez was the only member of the family able to assimilate and accept new cultural values and principles (Hollinger 82). However, it is important not to generative too much from these associations. Individuals and families from most countries have arrived over extended periods of time; the experience of early arrivals is often quite different from that of later arrivals, who come to an established community. "There is no trace of his parents' accent in his speech.

Instead, he approximates the accents of teachers and classmates" (Rodriguez n.d.). In terms of ethnic hierarchy theory, American culture was a dominant one as it reflected the values and traditions of the state. In contrast, Mexican culture was seen as a minor one representing immigrants and asylum seekers. In order to succeed in life, Rodriguez had to choose a dominant culture and the value of its principles by the majority of society. Cultural diversity, including the resurgence of a strong Mexican presence and identity, presents challenging issues for Rodriguez: what it means to be an American; the relationship between national and personal identities; identifying and working in both the cohesive and divisive forces in a multicultural society, and the form and flavor of a future republic (Hollinger 83).

A gap between Rodriguez and his parents was caused by group separatism and the inability of his mother and father to change. It is evident that the theory of cultural pluralism did not work for cultural Rodriguez who tried to overcome racial and ethnic differences and acquire new knowledge and skills at school. Thus, his parents create to maintain their unique ethnic identities but isolated from the mainstream culture. None of these issues is new, yet all are of immediate concern, and the symbolic importance of the approach of the twenty-first century invests them with a particular meaning.

Families and family life are therefore important arenas for the expression of cultural diversity. "My father and mother did not pass their time thinking about the cultural meanings of their experience. It was I who described their daily lives with airy ideas"(Rodriguez n.d.). The purpose of this book is to give a picture of the diversity of families and family values. The overall emphasis is on continuity and change and on present and future (Taylor 83). In sum, the essay Rodriguez shows that inability of a person to assimilate and integrate into a mainstream culture creates great difficulties for him and his relatives.

Cultural identity problems faced by many children and adolescents are exacerbated by language difficulties in their few years of settlement. Many have experienced racial discrimination and in some cases marginalization in schools. Each of the cultural groups has its own considerable cultural diversity as a result of history, regional differences, and internal and external population movements. Thus, the life difficulties and troubles became a driving force for Rodriguez to work hard all his life and integrate into mainstream culture. .Works CitedHollinger, D.A. Postethnic America: Beyond Multiculturalism.

 

Read More
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(The Achievement of Desire Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words, n.d.)
The Achievement of Desire Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words. https://studentshare.org/sociology/1530252-the-achievement-of-desire
(The Achievement of Desire Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 Words)
The Achievement of Desire Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 Words. https://studentshare.org/sociology/1530252-the-achievement-of-desire.
“The Achievement of Desire Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 Words”. https://studentshare.org/sociology/1530252-the-achievement-of-desire.
  • Cited: 0 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF The Achievement of Desire

The Achievement of Desire by Richard Rodriguez

hellip; The Achievement of Desire is a descriptive-narrative essay on how he came to understand the real meaning of success and knowledge, and how he came to appreciate the role of his parents towards the achievement of this success.... The Achievement of Desire 2 Contrary thereto, Richard looked up to his teachers as his idols.... he achievement of desire is a descriptive-narrative essay on how he came to understand the real meaning of success and knowledge, and how he came to appreciate the role of his parents towards the achievement of this success....
3 Pages (750 words) Essay

Importance of Education

Complete Name: Course: [#4] Using Rodriguez's “The Achievement of Desire” and Rose's “I Just Wanna Be Average”, explain how the parental involvement in their education?... hellip; The lives of Richard Rodriguez and Mike Rose who each wrote “The Achievement of Desire” and “I Just Wanna Be Average”, respectively, reflect the remarkable impact of school teachers and suggest that educators could become a highly essential factor in stirring motivation to students who are initially timid and clueless about the means to approach education with a spark of interest....
3 Pages (750 words) Essay

Education and Parental Involvement

The articles by Richard Rodriguez “The Achievement of Desire” and ““I Just Wanna Be Average” by Mike Rose show the role of parents in education in the context of immigrant families.... Name: Professor: Course: Date: Education and Parental involvement Introduction In the current society, education is a principal requirement for children growing up....
3 Pages (750 words) Essay

Richard Rodriguez The Achievement of Desire

The Achievement of Desire by: Richard Rodriguez.... ecause after possessing a slight accomplishment, a person does not desire anything which will create him or her less accurate.... om/2006/10/26/the-achievement-of-desire-by-richard-rodriguez/... I suppose that although you have administered to accomplish so much academic achievement, you must never disregard where you came from also who you were....
2 Pages (500 words) Essay

RICHARD RODRIGUSE-THE ACHIEVMENT OF DESIRE

The use of Hoggart's… For example “Hoggart's description “…………what he grasps very well is that the school boy must move between environments, his home and The Achievement of Desire Rodriguez ‘the desire' largely uses quotes from Hoggart's ‘the use of literacy' to qualify and stress on hisexperience as a student torn between two different and contradicting cutlers; school and a home where culture was on the extreme ends.... The Achievement of Desire....
2 Pages (500 words) Essay

Use the first of the prompt 1

Again, presenting his views in “Achieving of desire,” Rodriguez describes few major difficulties faced by students when balancing life in both academic and working class family stages.... The primary intention of this essay is to provide a contrast of the views presented by Richard Rodriguez and Andrew Delbanco in context of education, emphasizing its true and perceived meaning as well as purpose....
4 Pages (1000 words) Essay

The Banking Concept of Education and The Achievement of Desire

The author of this essay "The Banking Concept of Education and The Achievement of Desire" describes comparison of two distinct aspects of education by citing the concepts of banking and problem posing.... The topic of education has been examined by Paulo Freire in his essay, The Banking Concept of Education and also by Richard Rodriguez in his work titled, The Achievement of Desire....
6 Pages (1500 words) Essay

Importance of Reading and Writing

The essay “The Dark Night of the Soul, The Banking Concept of Education” and “The Achievement of Desire” all demonstrate that the benefit of literary art, the passing on of different experiences, can only be had by readers who are ready to accept it, while the essay “Joyas Voladoras” shows how strong literature can be at giving other experiences....
5 Pages (1250 words) Essay
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us