Parents By Richard Rodriguez Analysis

Richard Rodriguez had written a book that people could relate to especially if their parents weren’t originally from the United States. When I encountered the passage “-it was unsettling to hear my parents struggle with English” (27). It reminded me of how my mother who originally grew up and lived in the Philippines and struggles with English when she speaks fast. Growing up I began to notice that she made grammatical errors that would often confuse me. My dad didn’t stay in the Philippines as long as my mum did but even he has mispronunciations time to time when I talk to him. It used to make me feel inferior to other kids who had parents that spoke English fluidly and without trouble. I felt different when my mum tried to teach me Tagalog at a young age and I realized that I was starting to develop an accent similar to theirs and was immediately discouraged from learning my parents language as I didn’t want to be mocked by other kids who would notice that I spoke English with a certain tone.

So I immediately connected to this selection ”The boy needs to spend more and more time studying, each night enclosing himself in the silence permitted” (87). When I was in 6th grade I used to spend countless time just reading books and textbooks about countless subjects. I spent more time around books instead of around my family and I’m just starting to change that habit to make time for my family members instead of isolating myself and reading books. I spend a bit more time talking to my sister compared to three or four years ago when I barely knew my sister. My kinship with my brother hasn’t changed much since I don’t see him at all at family gatherings but I still can hold a conversation with him about video games and other interests such as