aria slides Flashcards
slide 1
All the diction I analyzed from paragraph 36 are related to Ricardo’s experience becoming “americanized” , showing his and his siblings’ distinct feelings of division from the crowds he was in when at school, or in general, outside of his home. Thus, the words he picks are used to characterize his alienation, only to look forward to that familiar comfort when he returned home to speak Spanish with his family, which represented an emotional connection transcending wherever they went outside because they felt alone when not together. Desperate, Urgent, and Intense are used together in the same sentence when Ricardo describes the feelings invoked in him when returning back home. All of them, almost synonymous with each other but not quite, are used pretty importantly. This is because, appealing to his audience, they aren’t too fancy but rather very emotional and invoke pathos in his readers. They each represent a different layer to the experience of returning to intimacy and it demonstrates the sheer contrast to when this closeness is stripped from him, as without these emotions, the relationship with his family can be described as antonyms as these words: not as rushed, urgent, or intense anymore for any of the children.
slide 2
all the analyzed sentences I chose all start with words “no longer”/”gone”/”neither” - they precede the diction I used in the last slide in their own sentences to exemplify how all the unity was stripped from the family when their language was lost to their children. Their common experience of rushing home due to feeling like strangers in america, and feeling recognized as people in the company of each other, their family, is taken away because when they can’t communicate with the same fluidity, they lose their community and rather than feeling like strangers vs america, they become strangers to each other. This also emphasizes the tragedy in his “aria”- when his language is lost, so is his intimacy with his family
slide 3
the words I chose are almost antonyms of each other: Americanized is used to describe how Richard uses himself and his siblings- once they are dependent on english, they cannot rely on the community inside their house anymore. Although being an “American” implies they are assimilated into a community, the land of opportunity, they lose their individuality with the people they are the closest with. Gringo was used quite often, the only spanish word really used, used by his father in reference to the people around them. It is ironic because the word is usually used to call these Americans foreigners when in reality, it is them who are the outsiders. It’s stated in the sentence provided that over time, it lost its meaning/wasn’t said the same way anymore. This change of time is so important because if all Americans were once foreign, upon his children also becoming Americanized, they are also separated from him.
slide 4
The confidence in the parents isn’t true to themselves alone. it only exists because they may live vicariously through their english-speaking children; it is their only gain from the sacrifice of losing their connection with their children. Their success in assimilating into American culture in exchange for the loss of their own was their goal when they began to only speak English is a victory, though ultimately counteractive to their own relationship. Second quote, circle back to how gringo was once used as almost a term to connect everyone: although it was ironic that they were the ones foreign, using a word to distance the others from themselves allowed them to share the unity of being able to speak spanish and be different from everyone else, once the children are americanized, it loses its meaning in the household because they are all strangers to each other now. The third is so important because in the beginning of the excerpt, the mother is described as sending her kids off to do tasks because of the English they knew. Now that they’ve gained confidence that their children may have a place in american society, richard’s mom showed her own personal development in making an effort to learn names of gringos, or americans that they once mocked, as, when losing their relationship with their kids, grow to feel like apart of the american community.
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slide 5
stared, when used in context to their father demonstrates two things: the contrast between what their relationship used to be, specifically over something like dinnertime where specifically the family talks/catches up, it is no longer led by anyone, specifically their father and that is typical a father’s role to promote such discussion. “Quiet” supports the notion that the family is completely isolated without their communication, how sound was so integral, especially when maintaining conversation/even a relationship
slide 6
again play off what I said in slide 5, the father is emasculated and silenced within his home as he no longer has the comfort to be able to lead his family in conversation or his role to his family as being an assertive figure. He is stripped from his power, which is given more to hi3s wife ex. When she learns the names of the neighbors while he is reduced to silence. In giving his children a more americanized, well rounded identity, he loses more and more of his own identity in his family
Richard’s use of third person perspective appeals to other bilingualists and how the irritation of no longer being able to communicate effectively resulted in misunderstanding that too couldn’t be talked and smoothed over, thus creating more distance between the family. Despite him being against bilinguality in schools, he does use emotional language and pathos to demonstrate that either way will have side effects, just that the others’ is more public while this is personal. “New quiet” references how silent he and his siblings were at school or in public areas, only to excitedly rush home to make sound. Over time, this situation is flipped as the isolating, painful quiet he onced faced he must now face with his loved ones whom he once had an unbreakable bond with through language. This also references the note of tragedy within his aria- the tragedy comes not only from the isolation he once faced at school, but now how when his childhood and sadness are associated together, it is due to this silence and lack of sound which fostered these emotions.
