This essay is elegantly written with well-chosen words. Besides that, Richard Rodriguez's adept skills in depicting the author’s complicated yet conflicting mental activities through various literary devices is also the shinning point of this piece of work. In the essay, the author mainly used several techniques such as flashbacks, comparisons and contrasts, definition, quotation, and satire to enhance the readability and entertainment of its content, which cater to most readers’ tastes and could lead them to further and in-depth thinking and reflection.
Before analyzing the Rodriguez's skills to shape and present his idea, a briefing on the essay is necessary. Rodriguez, the author, devoted most of his time to gaining knowledge. He saw schooling as the best way to get rid of his embarrassed status as an immigrant Mexican and to escape from being a poor educated person as his parents. However, after reading hundreds and thousands of classics, he found himself becoming a “scholarship boy”, otherwise pedant or book worm, overweighed with knowledge but do not have his own views on things. In other word, the whole learning process of him is mimicking and memorizing other’s words. He did not realize this until he wrote a dissertation on Renaissance Literature. He became bored of ceaseless learning and grew nostalgic and missed the family intimacy and consolations. But what irony is that in his efforts to return his family life, he found that it was education that enabled him aware of his status quo and gave him another chance to cherish the forthcoming life.
Now, after gaining a rough idea of the essay, we could turn to his first writing technique-flashback. Most stories began with such a written pattern, which could leave the readers in suspense and give them a lingering aftertaste. This is also true of Rodriguez's work. In the opening of the essay, the author appeared as the guest speaker to give a