17th Annual Student Research Conference
Language & Literature
Richard Rodriguez: Literary Genius or Giant Tool?
Hillary R. Klofkorn
Dr. Hena Ahmad, Faculty Mentor
Richard Rodriguez’s essay, “The Achievement of Desire,” is an excerpt from his longer work, Hunger of Memory. “The Achievement of Desire” details the author’s life as the son of first-generation Mexican Immigrants. It focuses on how Rodriguez’s formal education separated him from his family and their traditional culture and brought him into academia and mainstream American life. It examines both the process and goals of education and the internal conflict the author experienced: He strived for a life different from that of his parents but regretted losing the closeness he shared with them as a young child. My own paper, or disjointed rant, as I like to call it, will examine different ways of attacking, er discussing, Rodriguez’s ideas. The essay, which is structured as debate between a person’s split personalities, draws upon Biblical themes, communist ideology, and the modern debate concerning bilingual education and equality in American society.
Keywords: Rodriguez, bilingual education, Biblical, communist, Mexican immigrants, education, Hunger of Memory, academia
Topic(s):English
Presentation Type: Oral Paper
Session: 33-3
Location: VH 1320
Time: 2:45