Language and Culture

Comprehension questions based on the reading, 'Public and Private Language'

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Richard Rodriguez was born July 31, 1944, in San Francisco. He received a bachelor's degree from Stanford University in 1967, and a master's degrees from Columbia University in 1969; he later completed graduate study at the University of California, Berkeley, and Warburg Institute, London. He received a Fulbright fellowship in 1972-73, and a National Endowment for the Humanities fellowship in 1976-77. In addition to free-lance writing and odd jobs, Rodriguez was a Perlman lecturer at the University of Chicago in 1984, and a journalist and essayist for PBS series "MacNeil-Lehrer NewsHour." His works include: Hunger of Memory: The Education of Richard Rodriguez, 1982; Days of Obligation: An Argument with My Mexican Father, 1992; American Soul, 1995; and King's Highway, 1999. His works have been published in American Scholar, Harper's, the Los Angeles Times, the New Republic, the Wall Street Journal, and the Washington Post.

[1] Rodriguez argues bilingual education by distinguishing between what he calls 'private individuality' and the 'public individuality' made possible by assimilation. How heavy a price does Rodriguez think he paid for graining a sense of 'public individuality'? How heavy a price do you think he paid?

[2] Richard Rodriguez takes the position that the acquisition of a public language, English, is more important than using the native language in class to make students feel at ease. Why do you think he feels this way? Do you agree or disagree?

[3] As someone who speaks a second language, describe the privileges or freedom that speaking more than one language creates?

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An Interview with Richard Rodrigues: The Culture of American Identity (Grace Cathedral).

Listen to the interview.




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posted by Aiden @ 7:26 AM