"Aria" by Richard Rodriguez

"Aria" by Richard Rodriguez
CONNECTIONS: to Lisa Delpit's "Other People's Children"

Lisa Delpit discusses the culture of power. This includes 1) Issues of power are enacted in classrooms. 2) There are codes or rules for participating in power; this is, there is a "culture of power" 3) The rules of the cultures of power are a reflection of the rules of the culture of those who have power. 4) If you are not already participant in the culture of power, being told explicitly the rules of that culture makes acquiring power easier. 5) Those with power are frequently least aware of - or at least willing to acknowledge - its existence. Those with less power are often most aware of its existence.

During "Aria", Richard Rodriguez explains that when he was younger he was basically forced to change himself and is family cultures to fit into society. They originally spoke all spanish but when Richard's teachers told his parents that he should be speaking english and transitioning away from spanish, they converted their lifestyle into speaking english as much as possible.

From the culture of power, the code that can coincide the best with "Aria" would be number three. This states: "The rules of the of the culture of power are a reflection of the rules of the culture of those who have power." This goes well with Rodriguez's situation, him and his family are part of the minority so they aren't considered the ones who have the power. in this article english is the primary language and if someone didn't speak english they were looked at differently because its different from what the majority is used to. According to the culture of power, whoever holds the power is who determines the rules of the culture that they reside in.

Even though this code definitely makes sense with this article, the other two that I believe would work nicely would be: four as well as five. I can't seem to decide which I prefer more. They both explain that if your involved in the culture of power, your oblivious to whats in front of you but if your aren't involved, its easier for you to see the fact that you're being discriminated against in one way or another. But it's also harder for you to fit in because you feel as though your an outsider. Ultimately, if your lazy or not, being told what to do and how to act to have a part in the culture of power is easier that getting lost in the crowd and being unsure of how to live your every day to day life. Take Richard as a young boy for example, when his teachers would call on him, he wouldn't know how to respond because he didn't want to make a fool out of himself. Once he was taught how to speak english more fluently, he found it easier to answer questions in class and be involved with his peers. Before, he was starting to give up. Personally, I see the nuns going to talk to Rodriguez's parents as being bittersweet - they were getting reprimanded for not being fluent in english and concluded in Rodriguez's dad being depressed and upset - feeling as though he was losing touch with his roots - but at the same time, it improved Rodriguez's opportunities in school.

Which is easier/harder to learn? English or Spanish? There are different factors that can result in a definite answer but by popular opinion, English rules are being more difficult to learn.