The Achievement of Desire

The Achievement of Desire

Richard Rodriguez

Richard Rodriguez in his essay The Achievement of Desire he describes the constant struggle to find balance between the home and school environments. While at home he longs for a past that is no longer afforded to him. With schooling he begins to yearn for the attention that knowledge brings him. When gaining knowledge he begins to assume a new role and begins to see the separation between himself and his parents. Several reasons can contribute to the problem however, one such reason explained for the case of Rodriguez. "A primary reason for my success in the classroom was that I couldn't forget that schooling was changing me and separating me from the life I enjoyed before becoming a student" (page 432, The Achievement of Desire, Rodriguez).

It shows the constant struggle that many students face, especially those of the minority status. Schooling begins to shape for them ways in which society operates, rules that guide their thought process. By gaining further knowledge one begins to challenge beliefs and attitudes that surround you in infancy. Education, with a special emphasis on knowledge begins to erode the relationship between the family and school environments.

Richard Rodriguez, uses many key terms in the text, but one such term that is important is "scholarship boy" (page 432, The Achievement of Desire, Rodriguez). Rodriguez uses the term in order to describe him as a student in the classroom setting. A "scholarship boy" is someone who balances between the home and school environments. Through the family he is given reassurance, praise, and emotional support. In school however he gains knowledge, which begins to bring into to question that schooling in some form or another is changing him. Schooling, is taking precedent to the family environment, eroding the relationship that once existed.

The essay contrast the constant struggles that individuals face when facing education. Especially, evident is people of different ethnicity were there is a constant cultural difference between that of mainstream society. Education, begins to find a place for individuals in society, but at the same time begins to wear away basic principles which guided them throughout there lifetime.

Schooling indeed begins to transform you. You begin to take on the language, thought process, jargon, in under to gain acceptance among academia. While many of us fail to grasp is how education is changing us. It's not till you sit back, relax, start to think about the past lifetime one had. Until, then one truly never attains the true goal of education--the end.

Inventing the University

Inventing the University

David Bartholomae

Inventing the University was an essay written by David Bartholomae, in which he discusses how students in academia, lack the "essential" tools necessary to write compelling papers in the university setting. Writing, turns into a costume, with the writer "trying on the discourse even though he doesn't have the knowledge that makes the discourse more than a routine, a set of conventional rituals and gestures" (page 512, Inventing the University, Bartholomae). Problems arise when "basic writers" lack the voice of authority, to begin controlling the language as if it were their own. Lacking the power of authority, rooted in years of research and knowledge, it seems "basic writers" fear the unknown, sticking to "proper writing" taught throughout high school.

In order to effectively produce "academic discourse" one must understand "commonplace," controlling ideas that are a central term to the text (page 514, Inventing the University, Bartholomae). "Commonplace," therefore is language that writers have control of, something they can call their own. As an "outsider," part of the audience, one would except to be able to connect with what the "writer" has written.

One of the many failures, I believe, that many students lack is the ability to be engaged in various projects, amongst their colleagues, in their chosen major. Usually, the time to use "academic discourse," in the college setting is when professors dictate to you what is excepted of you. Essentially, as a writer, you are confined to a set of guidelines, never able to completely show your true understanding of the material presented.

Having an issue of set guidelines, somehow can affect the "building of bridges," that writers often have to share with their audience. In effect by controlling what is written assumptions and biases that your audience may have go unnoticed, instead taking the place of gaining acceptance among a community of privilege, individuals with power.

A Kind Word for Bullshit: The Problem of Academic Writing

A Kind Word For Bullshit: The Problem of Academic Writing

Philip Eubanks and John D. Schaeffer

Reading A Kind Word for Bullshit: The Problem of Academic Writing I came across a quote that best describes ways in which individuals who aren't familiar with your area of study can construct their thought process to believe it's bullshit. "Non-academics call academic writing bullshit, they mean that it uses jargon, words whose meanings are so abstract and vague as to seem unrelated to any one's experience" (page 381, A Kind Word For Bullshit, Eubanks and Schaeffer). The reason behind this thought process is because people in their chosen field of study are going to use jargon, words that fit their topic, that nobody thinks or believe can possibly be true. For example, when someone not familiar with medical terminology, picks up a medical journal most people are going to be confused about what is being stated. Half these words I can't pronounce and somebody in that area of study couldn't even pronounce them. Hence, why without the proper knowledge one constructs jargon to be bullshit.

The central term seldom referred by Eubanks and Schaeffer is "academic bullshit" (page 375, A Kind Word For Bullshit, Eubanks and Schaeffer). When thinking about what academic bullshit means you are the author of a particular article inflating the paper with big words, terms, and situations that are relevant to your topic. However, this can led the academic and non-academic community starting to believe that you really don't know what your talking about and have just made yourself look smarter than you actually pass yourself off to be.

An idea that is key to the text is how a cycle of academic bullshit can have a domino effect, starting with the teacher, then students, and finally your audience. In regards to professors producing bullshit, many of them produce scholarly articles to be viewed by academia. Students have the opportunity to read what their professors have written and begin to construct an idea in their minds of what the professor is looking for when it involves your writing.

The domino effect has begun in that after viewing these articles students start to instead become writers who begin writing the way that the professor would want in order to receive a higher grade. Instead of writing for the audience whom it is intended for. Eubanks and Schaeffer state it best when they say "professors think that abstruse academic writing "sounds just right; it sounds professional." The audience starts to be tuned out because instead of writing for an audience you are writing for only one person who might understand, that individual is your professor.