Hunger of Memory by Richard Rodriguez

Web resources:  There is a brief biographical sketch of Richard Rodriguez, along with links to several of his recent essays, on this Public Broadcasting web-site.  To catch a flavor of Rodriguez' personality, read these interviews with him from Reason Magazine online and from Insight and Outlook.

Discussion questions:

What is a “public” language?  Why was it incorrect for Rodriguez to imagine (35-36) that English was intrinsically public, while Spanish was intrinsically private?

What was the incident (36) that eventually lead him to begin to speak in English?  Was this a cruel act?  Why or why not?

Once he started becoming more adept in using English as a public language, what happened to Rodriguez’ “private” (37-38) life?

What do you think of Rodriguez’ points (39) about “bilingual education”?

What relevance, if any, does a reading like this have for our course?  Do you notice any way of connecting this to Bonaventurian themes?  To other readings?