First Draft
PART 1: Observing Rhetorical Strategies in a Peer’s Language and Literacy Narrative
When it comes to my peer’s work, Anthony knows just how to start a story. With some context throughout the story, it shows the kind of person that he is today. In his essay that he wrote “God DID”, the writer (Anthony) Speaks about different types of emotions that he was feeling throughout the story. Growing up was tough for him mostly because of the language barrier that he had between himself and his classmates as well as teachers. He was really only close with his mother and cousins because only they understood each other. They also lived with each other. Anthony mainly uses PATHOS throughout this whole story. From beginning to end you could feel for the reader. From getting kicked out of Pre-K to dealing with Trauma at home.
With this Rhetorical Strategy in the story (PATHOS) you could see the usage of this in the story for a good portion of it. “I definitely remembered my lack of english because I would constantly get bullied. I would never talk to the other students because it would remind me of the trauma I would go through at home.” An example would be something like that which makes the reader feel for him. You start to feel sympathy for the writer. I mean of course nobody would want to go through something like that. It isn’t right and makes you feel down as a person and overall generates these negative thoughts in your head.
Something that I found interesting about the use of PATHOS would have to be the way the writer grabs you in. That’s how the writer Anthony mainly persuades the writer to keep reading. If I had to say, I would say that the author wanted to bring awareness to anyone struggling with something similar. He talks about motivation and never giving up on what he wanted to learn, which was the English language. If you’re feeling unmotivated or wanting to turn your back on getting what you want, then “Keep practicing until you get it.” I felt the purpose of this Rhetorical Strategy was to go with the story. To bring in emotion into the story.
Part 2: Writing a Peer “Profile”
From struggling at such a young age to life turning around for this person, the writer of “God DID” Anthony Araujo aims to inspire his audience by showing them that nothing is impossible. You can always turn your life around. That’s what he seemed to do. From not knowing the English language at a young age which prevented him from conversing with others around him. With the language barrier it would feel like a whole different world for him. Looking around he wouldn’t be able to process what was coming out of the student’s mouths. Not understanding a word that came out of anyone’s mouth but his mother’s and cousins. As I interviewed him I asked him a question related to this and it went something like this.
Me: So how was it like going to school not knowing English while everyone around you spoke it?
Anthony: I was always so confused and I would always be thinking what the kids and the staff people were saying. I also felt a little sad too because I felt left out at times.
This was understandable because that feeling of being left out isn’t really the best feeling at all. You want to be included, you want to connect with others and be able to relate with other people. Having the same interests and goals, it’s a good feeling when we share common interests and maybe work with each other to accomplish goals. One goal that Anthony had was learning English which he did. It took him a while and he also worked along with his mom to learn English but eventually he was able to do this and when he did, he became fluent. This was another question in the interview that I asked, it went something like:
Me: So learning a whole new language, how long did it take you to learn English or to get the hang of it?
Anthony: Well it took me a few years to get a rhythm of English. It took a long time because even though me and my family would be practicing English, we still would speak Spanish as our main language.
This interview told me just how dedicated Anthony was to learning a whole new language. He also told me when I asked him a question like,
Me: “What would you say to your pre-k self if you had seen him the way you are now?”
He would say something like…
A: If I’d seen him I would tell myself to keep going and to push yourself no matter what happens and also.. To try and never slow down on things.
I thought that was really nice. He really improved heavily and his mother did as well with language. They now both speak it fluently. The mom does not have an accent when she’s speaking anymore because of the progress she’s made. You can see it in his writing with the tone he seems happy and grateful for his mother. After all she was the one who gave him motivation which was really nice.
So for the people reading this. This audience is really for people who need some motivation in their lives. This should show you that no matter where you are in life you can always improve and get to a point where you feel complete as a person. There’s always time and room for improvement so build up upon it.
