undocumented immigrants
Rhetorical Analysis Paper:
My Life as an Undocumented Immigrant The article “My Life as an Undocumented Immigrant” was written by Jose Antonio Vargas. In it, Vargas tells of the time when his mother brought him to the Phillippines’ Ninoy Aquino International Airport when he was twelve. His mother told him that she wanted to give him a better life so he boarded onto a plane with a man he had never met before and was told that he was his uncle. He arrived in Mountain View, California and moved in with his grandparents Lolo and Lola. Vargas says that he grew to love his new home and when he entered sixth grade that’s when he found his passion for language. He tells of his struggle of making a distinction between “formal English and American slang” (Vargas 1) and says that he won his 8th grade spelling bee by spelling words that he couldn’t even pronounce properly. The first time Vargas realized he wasn’t a true American was when he was denied his driver’s license because of his fake documentation. After this happened he knew he wanted to prove to himself and everyone else that he was a true American. Vargas believed and stated that if he worked hard enough and was successful in what he did, that would prove he was a true American. The article states all of the things that Vargas accomplished: graduating from high school and college, a successful career as a journalist and living the American dream (Vargas 2). Even though Vargas accomplished all of these things he says that he still feels guilty every day for being an illegal immigrant and the things he does that are illegal because of it. Vargas brings up an event that occurred that encouraged him to speak out about immigration which was when the four students walked from Miami to Washington to lobby for the Dream Act… that would provide a path to legal permanent residency for young people who have been educated in this country (2). Vargas goes on to talk about the struggles he had as an immigrant in the United
My Life as an Undocumented Immigrant The article “My Life as an Undocumented Immigrant” was written by Jose Antonio Vargas. In it, Vargas tells of the time when his mother brought him to the Phillippines’ Ninoy Aquino International Airport when he was twelve. His mother told him that she wanted to give him a better life so he boarded onto a plane with a man he had never met before and was told that he was his uncle. He arrived in Mountain View, California and moved in with his grandparents Lolo and Lola. Vargas says that he grew to love his new home and when he entered sixth grade that’s when he found his passion for language. He tells of his struggle of making a distinction between “formal English and American slang” (Vargas 1) and says that he won his 8th grade spelling bee by spelling words that he couldn’t even pronounce properly. The first time Vargas realized he wasn’t a true American was when he was denied his driver’s license because of his fake documentation. After this happened he knew he wanted to prove to himself and everyone else that he was a true American. Vargas believed and stated that if he worked hard enough and was successful in what he did, that would prove he was a true American. The article states all of the things that Vargas accomplished: graduating from high school and college, a successful career as a journalist and living the American dream (Vargas 2). Even though Vargas accomplished all of these things he says that he still feels guilty every day for being an illegal immigrant and the things he does that are illegal because of it. Vargas brings up an event that occurred that encouraged him to speak out about immigration which was when the four students walked from Miami to Washington to lobby for the Dream Act… that would provide a path to legal permanent residency for young people who have been educated in this country (2). Vargas goes on to talk about the struggles he had as an immigrant in the United
Cited: Vargas, Jose A. "My Life as an Undocumented Immigrant." NYTimes.com. New York times, 26 June 2011. Web. 25 Feb. 2013.