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English 121

10, 13, 2012

Achievement of Desire, a Response Summary


Achievement of Desire, Richard Rodriguez, Excerpt from Hunger of Memory, Anyone

The purpose of this piece is to describe his experience balancing education and family. I
suppose that the work is effective. I am able to (for lack of better words) put myself in his shoes
and relate to the difficulties.

This excerpt from Hunger of Memory details Rodriguezs experiences of receiving an
education. He elaborates on the difficulty of balancing the two completely different worlds of his
home and education environments. What he grasps very well is that the scholarship boy must
move between environments, his home and the classroom, which are at cultural extremes,
opposed (Rodriguez 3). Richard gives many examples of how his home and academic
experiences differ: at home his family says whatever comes to mind but, at school one must
organize their thoughts before speaking. He also expands and clarifies the term [] scholarship
boy [] (Rodriguez 3) and defines this as himself. Richard Rodriguez also explains the distance
the two worlds created between himself and his family and the difficulties finding a quiet place
to do his studies.