Harlem Renaissance

"I celebrate the day I acquired my new name". Richard Rodriguez discovered who he was after learning the English language. Throughout the process of learning English, he went through a metaphor sis that led him to his new identity. That included getting adjusted to English, Spanish culture, slipping away, and becoming richer.

Richard who's birth name is Ricardo Rodriguez attended a catholic school. Conflicts he dealt with there were not being confident enough to speak English and he was very quiet. His teachers saw this as a problem and suggested to his family that it would be best if he learned English.

As stated in the passage, he found it hard "having to learn the language of public society". He realized that by learning English he would have to adopt a whole new lifestyle. It seemed to Richard as is Spanish was apart of his private life and English was apart of his public life. Though he found difficulty becoming apart of another culture he wasn't familiar with, both his parents took serious action making sure their children practiced their English.

Slowly, household habits began to change. His parents were very cautious and made sure not to speak Spanish when their children were around. It was to the point that where he would begin to hear both English and Spanish at home. In this situation, Richard saw that learning English had begun to break his family apart. His father still struggled to articulate and pronounce his words properly, so the children began to look up to their mother as the power figure because she spoke English very well.

Richard wanted to become perfect at speaking English so bad because he was desperate for the need of individuality. He made it his goal to get rid of Ricardo in order to become Richard. He began becoming very self confident to speak to others and felt like he had become an official American. He states "Once I learned public language, it would never again be easy for me to hear intimate family voices", meaning he saw Spanish as a faded memory that would make it difficult for him to communicate with his family. He also states that his "childhood started to end". He felt the more he learned, the more he was getting older and was able to begin discovering who he was.

Having to get adjusted to English, Spanish culture slipping away, and becoming Richard are one of those examples of what it takes to person to strive for individuality.