Precis & Critical Response #1: The Scholarship Boy’s Journey

In Richard Rodriguez’s The Achievement of Desire Rodriguez discuss’ the trials and tribulations experienced by one particular “scholarship boy;” himself. As defined by Richard Hoggart in his book, The Uses of Literacy a scholarship boy is a child of exceptional scholastic attention and achievement who must balance a life between two worlds, the world of the classroom and that of his/her home life. Rodriguez expands on this definition by discussing his own experiences as a “scholarship boy” who is constantly struggling internally to find calm between his rich desire for education and a life at home with a working-class, natively Spanish speaking, family.

Rodriquez explains how he initially had to distance himself from his parents to achieve his own educational standards and how he felt “Haunted by the knowledge that one chooses to become a student.” He continues by explaining, “Here is a child who cannot forget that his academic success distances him from a life he loved, even from his own memory of himself” (Rodriguez 3). He goes on to explain that he trained himself to take notes copiously to ace exams, and although he outwardly seemed to be the exceptional student, he was actually a very bad student: “The scholarship boy is a very bad student. He is the great mimic; a collector of thoughts, not a thinker; the very last person in class who ever feels obliged to have an opinion of his own” (Rodriguez 6). In his search for everything educational, Rodriguez finds himself returning to his family while attempting to write his dissertation in graduate school. By coming full circle, from family to education and back, he claims his education is now complete.

It is interesting to note that while many students today may not be able to completely identify with the definition of the “scholarship boy” there are many attributes that any college student can feel familiar with. Some familiar topics that Rodriquez discusses include: transferring the role of authority from the parent to the teacher at a young academic age, the possibility of education becoming a barrier between yourself and your parents, and consuming books and information at an alarming rate to “fill the hollow within (me) and make (me) feel educated” (something which college students may definitely begin to feel towards the end of their chosen course of study) (Rodriguez 5). One point of Rodriguez’s that I believe states a very important issue for future teacher’s is, “But he would not be so bad – nor would he become so successful, a scholarship boy – if he did not accurately perceive that the best synonym for primary ‘education’ is ‘imitation’” (Rodriguez 6). This issue of education simply being the copy of life, or the concept of teaching what is on the test (and what is only on the test) is a major concern for future teachers and should definitely be considered and contemplated as we enter the profession.