Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Loosing My Espanish by H. G. Carrillo-Humanities III
The bicultural and bilingual struggles of living and working in the hyphen world of ‘borderlands’ are viewed in terms of similarities and differences shared with mainstream American life. Discuss the linguistic identity as depicted in Loosing My Espanish. How do issues of education and class relate to issues of language and race? (Post one comment using MLA format- no less than 250 words.)
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Your origin language and race is depicted by your family’s cultural background and depending on your education and which class you’re from is what places you in society. In H.G. Carrelillo’s Loosing My Espanish, Oscar Delossantos, a teacher at a Jesuit high school, gives a great lecture of his family background, which is from Cuba and their struggle during the Cuban Revolution. Oscar is torn between two worlds like an Indian that went through the process of assimilation. Oscar speaking Spanish and English teaches his students more than any textbook could offer about issues such as education given to minorities, such as his family, and the direct struggle of someone belonging to the lower class. Members of his family were considered to have been part of the social class but after traveling to America, they are no greater than when they were back at home. Instead they struggle to learn the customs of America by learning English, to be able to communicate with the nation, and adapting to the working class life in order to have a decent living. Your education and class will depend on your language and race. Oscar, born in America and now working in Chicago as a teacher adapted to the American life but the past of his family is part of him as well. Their culture they brought from Cuba is still carried on in America splitting Oscar’s identity into two. The Production Theory in which your background family starts in a new world, such as migrating north or from the west or east to America, gives many the opportunity to achieve your dream of a better life but if you are a minority, not being an Anglo-Saxon, you are first part of the lower class until generations later, your children’s children grow out of that class. Oscar breaks out of the lower class in which his cultural background of language and race would’ve kept him, but since he is bilingual, he achieved the opportunity of having education and a great job teaching others such as him. Language and race will effect which class you are in certain terms, however, the education you receive will place you in the right class and that is up to you. Practice your family’s background while adapting to another will bring you up to a higher position in society.
Loosing my Espanish reads like you are actually there. The words and subject matter flow from the author in a manner that on the outset seems to defy a clear organization. The downside is that it becomes confusing trying to figure out what is happening at any given moment. A positive aspect is that the book reads in a unique way, in which memories and occurrences of the narrator Oscar are let loose and a lot of information is given to readers quickly.
So much information and experiences are shared with readers and gives them all the more information with which to identify. Whether it be fond memories of Cuba years ago, professional anxiety, or family issues, this book finds a way to touch on so many real life issues. The book is written in English, but freely makes use of the Spanish language as a tool in the book. With the issues of language and race, since he spoke Spanish and looked foreign with his dark skin, he was depicted as less of a person then everyone else. As he is learning English his Spanish is forgotten, and so is his heritage in a sense. Issues with education and class are many. With him not being the highest in class and wealth it is assumed that he had a lower education and was not as qualified as the other teacher were at the school. Issues of class and education, as well as language and race to relate, since people are stubborn and are not willing to accept that a person of a lower class can be as educated as an upper class person, and also as your reading through the book, you notice that it doesn’t matter your race, you can still speak and learn the same language and be able to communicate.
Loosing My Espanish was a great book. Its plot was enthralling and completely original. It was about a teacher named Oscar, he is about to be fired from his job. However, before he can leave, he teaches his students about his families' immigration to America from Cuba. His words and insights in Cuban heritage and culture were amazing. Never once was this book anywhere close to boring, it kept me turning the page. The language in the book was most likely the most ingenious part of this book. In the very beginning he makes grammatical errors that make the book difficult to read, but as you progress through the story, you can sense that he has a better understanding of our language through his own writings. This shows the cliff of American culture that he was falling over from his familiar Cuban culture; he makes its margins more distinct with the Cuban to American Translation. In the book you get a sense that their education was not fully developed; one can say that this direct factor of this is their heritage. Yet, it can be agrued that it may have been their social standings and that someone from their background would get the same education. There is, of course a relation, but this does not mean it was the main cause. was a great book. Its plot was enthralling and completely original. It was about a teacher named Oscar, he is about to be fired from his job. However, before he can leave, he teaches his students about his families' immigration to America from Cuba. His words and insights in Cuban heritage and culture were amazing. Never once was this book anywhere close to boring, it kept me turning the page. The language in the book was most likely the most ingenious part of this book. In the very beginning he makes grammatical errors that make the book difficult to read, but as you progress through the story, you can sense that he has a better understanding of our language through his own writings. This shows the cliff of American culture that he was falling over from his familiar Cuban culture; he makes its margins more distinct with the Cuban to American Translation. In the book you get a sense that their education was not fully developed; one can say that this direct factor of this is their heritage. Yet, it can be agrued that it may have been their social standings and that someone from their background would get the same education. There is, of course a relation, but this does not mean it was the main cause.
Issues of education and class relate to issues of language and race because even though what language you speak or what race you are doesn’t necessarily dictate your level of education and class in society, it does play a part. In Loosing My Espanish, the Cuban- Americans in the Chicago community try to dissolve into American society and try to live out the American dream. Their native language is Spanish and their race is Cuban. The have to, in a way, fuse their native language and the official language of English together or just speak nothing but English, to try in move up in American society, just how the author, H.G. Carrillo, writes in Spanish and English in the book. The Cuban Americans do not have to give up their heritage and traditional customs, but in terms of education and class in America, they had to refine who they were to fit into mainstream America. In their journey, they are hunted by history, mystery, and myths of their own native culture. Oscar Delossantos is fighting his Cuban identity with his American identity. Your language and race are some of the factors that decide who you are and where you come from but it doesn’t dictate your destiny. Let’s say a boy was born in Cuba and he moved to America when he was eight years old. He speaks fluent Spanish, and so does all of his family. As the boy gets older, he starts to pick up English, and while he learns English from hearing it everyday, he forgets his native language. Now he speaks English fluently, and he probably will be better off in society in terms of education and class by learning English, but while keeping his own Cuban heritage at the same time by believing in their beliefs, values, and customs.
The issues of education relate to the issues of language and race because education depicts to the language and race that you are. In Loosing My Espanish by H.G. Carillo, education, language and race are important. In Loosing my Espanish, the Cuban- Americans in the Chicago community try to dissolve into American society and try to live out the American dream. Their native language is Spanish and their race is Cuban. Oscar Delossantos is fighting his Cuban identity with his American identity. Your language and race are some of the factors that decide who you are and where you come from but it doesn’t dictate your destiny. Oscar Delossantos is fighting his Cuban identity with his American identity. Your language and race are some of the factors that decide who you are and where you come from but it doesn’t dictate your destiny.The reason I said education is because without having an education you can not go far in life, but with language and race is a problem to. Language and race is a problem because when coming to America, you have to forget where you came from but instead learn something your not use to. In America race is very important, nowadays your job depends on what you are meaning your race. Language is to because in Loosing My Espanish, it was very hard for him to get around because he did not know the language. I think that everywhere (even out the country) should at least know two languages. By knowing more languages you could have a better opportunity in becoming more successful. Learning two languages I think would be good to know because in America, our language and race depends on our background.
Our education, social class, language and race are all intertwine. The novel Loosing my Espanish” By H.G. Carrillo is a perfect example of that. The novel shows a young boy and how he losses his native culture, Spanish, and slowly adapts to the American culture. Along the way his social class rises with his ability to articulate himself. This is a perfect example because it shows how people looked upon him, when they believed that he was just another Cuban, to how they looked at him later once he understood the English language, as a well respected gentleman who the wanted to befriend. Another example of a situation where a person’s race affected how they were looked upon would have to be during World War 2 with Hitler. Hitler was not a smart and popular person. He was only accepted is because he would preach that Jews were harm to the world and should be annulated form the face of the world. With him not being Jewish and hating them he influenced an army to follow him in one of the worst genocides in the history of the world.
Education, social class, language and race are all similar because the all can be changed and or learned. Education can be gain by working hard and learning. Social class can be even given to u at birth or earn. Language can be learned visually or verbally. And Race is only the color of ones skin and religion. These four things are connected by the world and yet control the world at the same time that with out one the world would fall apart.
The novel Loosing My Espanish by H.G. Carrillo is a great depiction of the advantages of education, importance of language and heritage, and effects of class and race on the quality of life. Oscar Delossantos is a teacher at Jesuit High School in Chicago, who is on the verge of being fired. His students are taught in both English and Spanish, and they learn about the discovery and colonization of America. They learn through the eyes of Oscar as a Cuban-American that is slowly, but surely loosing his heritage. Oscar is of a lower working class of Americans, but like many other emigrants, he struggles to provide for himself and his family. One point made by Oscar to his students was that they came from hard working people, who built this country from the ground up. The experiences he went through as child have aided him in his passion for teaching. In Loosing My Espanish, there is use of English as well as Spanish to tell the story of Oscar. Language is a very important element in a culture’s heritage. When the conquistadors colonized the Caribbean islands, they brought their Spanish and Catholic religion. The history of Cuba can be traced back to the colonization of the Americas, in which the Spanish heritage was imposed on them. Therefore Cubans speak Spanish and in a sense are of that race. Coming to America, Oscar had to abandon his heritage and learn a new way of life. Loosing My Espanish took the reader on a journey through the life of a Cuban-American and how his experiences reflect the lives of many that make up the United States of America.
Loosing my Espanish by H.G. Carrillo is a very interesting book. I found the author’s style of writing a bit difficult to dissect, but eventually I grasped the flavor of his writing. The story line was very baffling to me in the beginning. I had a hard time trying to understand how the events connected, and if the events were reality or imaginative thoughts. His style of writing is very unique because it reflects the theme of the story while transitioning between memories of life in Cuba. His mother, who has alzheimers, a close friend of the family and Oscar, try to recollect the memories that have been lost of their Cuban life due to her condition as well as items lost in the fire. Oscar is a teacher at a school in Chicago. He is finding it difficult to convey the importance of the Cuban culture to his students because they are not very concerned about the history and personal experiences he has to offer. The more he teaches to his English speaking students, his own heritage begins to slip away. Oscar is torn between two worlds culturally. He is bilingual, knowledgeable of the English and Spanish language, but he struggles as an individual in American trying to find his own identity rising from the lower class. His family attempts to hold on to fading memories that seem to hold Oscar closer to his heritage. Oscar has inherited the Cuban history and language, but could not fully connect to the roots; he attempts to preserve a culture he was never truly close too. Oscar’s position in class, his education, ethnicity, American experience and his students helped him to define his own identity between his two worlds.
Your language will depend on your culture and your environment that you are born into. Oscar was born into America so he would generally take on the American culture, but in his story he tries to hold on to his Cuban culture. Your education and class are based on and depend on your language and race. In America you have to assimilate and change your language to english so that you can succeed here, if you are a minority that is. Your class is based on how you speak, education and race in America based on what I have studied in Humanities. All these things are important to each other. In Loosing My Espanish the as the narrator tells the story, he switches up between english and spanish, making it hard to understand what they are saying. This shows that constant struggle minorities have in trying to keep their culture. This book teaches how a monority person can pick up on a language, even though he is lower class and be educated as a higher classed person.
Loosing My Espanish,
In Carrillo’s Loosing My Espanish, there are many ways in which he expresses the issues of education and class and how they relate to language and race. In a society in which there are many immigrants from Latin America, we still see those problems today. It has been a challenge to many immigrants to come to this country and have high expectations without having a higher level of education. Through this novel, we see that education is still a burden in the life of many immigrants. Oscar Delossantos is an example of how education and language are an issue because of the way in which he teaches students who are accommodated with the English language, when he is not quite there yet himself. The language is still a challenge for him through this novel. Class and race is also another issue that we sense in this novel. Immigrants today are faced with the issue of automatically belonging to a lower class because of their lack of education, which leads them to lower paying jobs. This has also been an issue of race given that in America, many immigrants have been treated as though they were of less education and have been segregated from jobs and schools. All of these are related to each other through the life of every immigrant in this country. Carrillo’s Loosing My Espanish, represents the life of a man, Oscar, who had to struggle and become accustomed to the American life through learning the language and dealing with issues of class and race. We see that education is what brings him to be the man he is, a man who is admirable for his courage, patience and thirst for education for himself and for those surrounding him.
Education is the only thing that is needed to place yourself in society regardless of your race, the language you speak, or the class that you are in. In the beginning it is true your race and language may dictate your social class in society, however once you gain an education you have everything you need to further yourself in society, regardless of where you started out. Coming from a bicultural and bilingual background can be most difficult and beneficial. The complication with having a bilingual and bicultural background is that if you are not careful you can begin to find yourself neglecting one of your cultural identities to embrace to other. You will constantly feel as though you have to chose, however this is not the case for everyone. The benefit of having a bilingual and bicultural background is that you can place yourself further up in society, while still being able to hold on to and be proud of your cultural identities. In Loosing My Espanish Oscar was able to further himself up in society with the education he acquired and his ability to speak English, while still rightfully embracing and being proud of his Cuban roots. In addition to placing himself further up in society,Oscar’s bilingual and bicultural background allowed him to see the world with multiple perspectives and better communicate with those around him. Ironically, Vivian states that your language is determined by your family’s cultural background, however, your family could have a Cuban background but you may not know how to speak a word of Spanish. In the context of the story what she said definitely applies, however outside of the story you have many people who do not speak the language, which is common to their cultural background. I do not feel as though anything can hold you from placing yourself where you want to be in society if you have an education.
Losing My Espanish is a great book because you learn about the transition of Oscars Cuban culture to an American culture. In Losing my Espanish the Cuban Americans are evolving and trying to live the American Dream. They are trying to move up in society and by that, they have to learn the official language of the Americans. In the book we start to notice all of the grammatical errors done by Oscar, but as we keep reading we start to notice how his grammar starts changing and getting better. When coming to America Oscar and his family have to work as a working class, something that in Cuba they were considered the social class. Losing my Espanish is a great book to read because we learn about the struggles a Latin American immigrant goes through. We notice how Oscar starts to grow in the book because his English starts getting better. When Oscar comes to America he is torn between two cultures, because he has his adopted American culture while his Cuban culture is still there. As a minority Oscars family has come to America for a better life, which is the reason why many migrate north. As Oscar starts evolving into a Latino American he brings the opportunity rise up to the upper class and has become bilingual. Adopting the American culture but never really forgetting his Cuban culture.
In H.G. Carrillo’s book Loosing My Espanish, Cuban-born Oscar Delossantos is about to lose his job as a history teacher, and he decides to spend his last thirty four days at the school telling the story of his family as they came from Cuba to the United States and struggled to blend in to American society. In the book, he ingeniously tells his story through a blend of Spanish and English in order to further illustrate his beginnings in a foreign culture and his eventual conformity into an “American”. While illustrating his growth and development in the United States, connections are shown between education, race, language and social class. He had humble beginnings with his family. In America, education and class are largely dependant on language and race. Assimilation is key in order to advance in American society, by means of learning the language (English) and becoming a part of the mainstream culture. If this is not accomplished, you are doomed to struggle and remain lower class. This was realized by the Cuban-Americans living in Chicago, who tried to learn English so that they could eventually live the American dream. Oscar accomplished this, and as a bilingual, he had great opportunities to further himself and got a great job as a high school history teacher. But through the gain of one culture, it is difficult to maintain your roots. As Oscar grew and became more American, he and his family struggled to maintain their Cuban heritage, and he was torn between two worlds.
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