English essay

ENGLISH 105/846, ESSAY PROMPT #1

In his memoir Hunger of Memory, Richard Rodriguez makes a provocative claim that still rubs

contemporary readers the wrong way. He writes, “...because of my schooling, I had grown

culturally separated from my parents...” His claim seems relatively simple on the surface, but

with some critical thought, it fluoresces into a deeply contentious and complex argument: while

education certainly changes the way we think (and as a result, the way we live), according to

Rodriguez, education fundamentally (and necessarily) changes who we are from the ground up.

If, as Rodriguez suggests, schooling leads to an “inevitable miseducation” that necessarily means

alienating yourself from your social class and cultural heritage, he seems to suggest that students

have to “buy” their success by “playing the game,” “selling out” their former selves in order to

assimilate with the status quo. So, in short, sure, it’s possible to gain an education, but what will

you have to sacrifice to achieve your goals?

For your first essay, we’d like you to respond directly to Rodriguez’s provocation from your own

subject position: what are the defining factors the shape who you are, and how can you both

preserve and amplify your identity in order to gain success at the college level? Is your identity at

odds with “institutions of socialization” (those institutions that most shape who we are?), or do

you believe that your unique identity can make you especially successful as you take on this next

challenge in your life? In short, we’d like you to show how it’s possible to retain the most

important elements of your identity in order to claim an education for and as yourself. How

might it be possible to assimilate without “selling out”? What choices can you make in your life

to achieve an education without turning your back on what makes you essentially and uniquely

you?

Please highlight or underline your thesis when you turn in your final draft, double space your lines,

use twelve-point font, title your essay, use page numbers, and set your margins to the default setting

(one inch). Most importantly, please turn in ALL of your prewriting (outline and brainstorm) with

your essay (each piece is part of your grade!).