Multiculturalism and Assimilation Essay Example

defined by the beliefs, behaviors, objects, and other characteristics of a particular group or society.

If you were an American that was born and raised in France, you would consider yourself to be French, culturally, even though you are of American heritage. Same goes with the case of Richard Rodriguez, he was born into a Mexican family but was born and raised in America. There were many parts that in the article that could be used to back up his claim. This one excerpt is an example of pathos: First its suggestion of pain – and there is pain. The schoolteacher can put a sombrero on my head and tell me to feel proud of my heritage, but I know that I’m becoming a different person than my father.

The pain is in the melting pot. Fall in and you are burned. (Rodriguez 235) In this example the author is appealing to emotion by telling the readers that he is diverging from his Hispanic culture and he knows the reason, the melting pot of cultures that America has created. It can be two things a society that blends cultures into one “American” culture or it can be society conforming to the “American” culture. It is his family’s job to tell him that he is Mexican. It is not the job of the teacher to tell him that he is Mexican but to tell him that he is American.

Another example of pathos is when the teachers would go to Richard’s house and asked his parents to speak English so Richard would be accustomed to it and speak it in school. I felt

pushed away. I remember going over to the sink and turning on the water; standing there dumbly, feeling the water on my hand. I wanted to cry. The water was tepid, then warm, then scalding. I wanted to scream. But I didn’t. I turned off the faucet and walked out of the room. (Rodriguez 234) Richard would not even notice his parents speaking Spanish until his parents noticed him and started using English.

He started to feel alone. He feels as though he’s starting to lose something that he was holding on to. As an introduction to some logos, the author opens with a question, “Why do we even talk about multiculturalism? ” The first reason was because of “…the influence of the great black civil rights movement…” (Rodriguez 235) The movement was a time when the African-American people did not have the same rights as the White-Americans, so they fought for the rights to coexist with society.

Today, we are able to better “…recognize the colors of America…” (Rodriguez 235) and put most of our differences aside. Throughout the article, Richard expresses his thoughts and feelings through his experiences. He wants to tell the audience how he has felt during those times and he executes it pretty well. Though the article was filled with pathos and only a little bit of ethos and logos, the author was able to effectively support his claim.