New Bathroom Policy At English High School By Martin Espada, Chang-Rae Lee

The famous author Nathanial Hawthorne once said “Words, so innocent and powerless as they are, as standing in a dictionary, how potent for good and evil they become in the hands of someone who knows how to combine them.” (Hawthorne 1804 - 1864).This interpretation of language can be supported through simple concepts or real-life scenarios and situations. Language is effective, this is shown through many parts of literature, specifically the works of Martin Espada, Richard Rodriguez, and Chang-Rae Lee. Martin Espada, a Puerto Rican-American political poet who has written many essays, wrote the short essay The New Bathroom Policy at English High School. He fights for the rights of bilingualism, defending it for the preservation of Latino culture

Her struggle with English made it more difficult, but Lee being bilingual proved a useful tool. Lee would communicate for her and be a translator when needed, striving for a connection between two people speaking different languages. Even with Lee translating for her, his mother still wanted to speak English and be able to communicate by herself. She put effort into learning English, keeping a notebook with illustrations in it to help her study and remember. Struggle was a common occurrence according to Lee, people would often discriminate against her for not knowing English fully. After her passing, Lee wrote about these people, citing ‘I wonder what these same people would have done if they had seen my mother studying her English workbook - or lost in a store. Would they have nodded gently at her? Would they have lent a kind word?” (Lee pg. 32 lines (143-147). Lee showcases that if these people who single out those who don’t speak English saw her effort into learning their language, they might sympathize. They believe that foreigners and immigrants go to America not knowing English out of spite and laziness, but it is the