Richard Rodriguez
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Richard Rodriguez (1944 - ) is a Mexican-American writer who is primarily known for his 1982 book, Hunger of Memory: The Education of Richard Rodriguez (ISBN 0553272934), a narrative about his development as a literate, American student.
Hunger of Memory: The Education of Richard Rodriguez
The Hunger of Memory autobiography highlights the complexities of Richard Rodriguez's life from his youth to adulthood. He speaks of the distance he felt in American society in childhood as a result of not being able to speak the language of the country he inhabited. Socialization was difficult because he could not fully speak the language of his community or his society. Therefore, he remained a quiet and reserved individual for quite some time in his childhood. However, with the help of his Catholic schoolteachers, the cooperation of his siblings and the support of his parents; he began to speak English more fluently. Rodriguez also worked hard to educate himself by reading an incredible amount of books, while also being pushed by his parent's lack of full assimilation to American society. Although the latter may have seemed to be a negative aspect of his will to succeed; Rodriguez's parents wished him to achieve a success better than they did in America. In due time, Rodriguez's ambition finally pushed him as a scholarship student to achieve the success of a controversial author on such provocative topics as Affirmative Action and Bilingual Education.Youth and education
Rodriguez was born in San Francisco. A child of Mexican immigrants, Rodriguez spoke Spanish until he went to a Catholic school at age 6. As a youth in Sacramento, California, he delivered newspapers and worked as a gardener.Rodriguez received a B.A. from Stanford University, an M.A. from Columbia University, and a Ph.D. in English Renaissance literature from the University of California, Berkeley, and attended the Warburg Institute in London on a Fulbright fellowship.
Career
A noted prose stylist, Rodriguez has worked as a teacher, journalist, and educational consultant, in addition to writing, lecturing, and appearing frequently on the PBS program, The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer. Rodriguez’s books include (1982), a collection of autobiographical essays; Mexico’s Children (1990); and Days of Obligation: An Argument With My Mexican Father (1992), which was nominated for a National Book Award. In addition, he has been published in The American Scholar, Change, College English, Harper's Magazine, Mother Jones, Reader's Digest, and Time (magazine).Affirmative Action and Bilingual Education
A controversial writer, Rodriguez is most well-known for being a Chicano who speaks out against affirmative action and bilingual education, two projects often championed by his Chicano contemporaries. In short, his basis for his position on these two issues is that they are anti-assimilationist and alienating, being detrimental to American ethnic groups like Chicanos and African Americans.
On April 14th 2006 Rodriguez helped dedicate the new library at Utah State University.
External links
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