Pieces of Words Rodriguezs Identity as a Writer - Literature Essay Samples

Richard Rodriguez attempts to write about learning to write in no unclear terms in his autobiography Hunger of Memory. Rodriguez constantly fluctuates between two extremes: the fear and dislike of writing due to its incredibly personal nature and the belief that writing is the most public form of expression. As he seeks to deal with his enormous uncertainty regarding his ideals of private and public, he attempts to do this through the lense of a writer. Rodriguez discusses the influence of his intimate Spanish-speaking home life on his literarily development through the process of his education. A constant juxtaposition of literature, home life, and his identity as a writer serve as pieces in a puzzle that Rodriguez tries desperately to put together. Though Rodriguez seeks desperately to discuss his personal and public life through the lense of his education, ultimately his baseline ambiguity regarding his most basic identity as a writer precludes a successfully clear description of any of the pieces of his life. Rodriguez persistently insists that writing is the most isolated career path, as he must eloquently divulge what is most personal to him. Rodrigues asserts that he writes â€Å"of one life only†, his own (6). He views writing as not only a deeply private ritual of looking at the colorful puzzle pieces of his life and choosing which pieces to write down, but also as a deeply individual experience. His recurring use of metawriting delves deeper into the personal aspect of writing as he constantly discovers more layers of himself and his language. Throughout his education, Rodriguez recalls the tendency of â€Å"written words† to make him feel â€Å"all alone†, as though the work of fitting together an array of words was an inescapably involved task (64). Continuing this symbiotic trend of writing and loneliness, Rodriguez begins to find comfort in the â€Å"exclusive society, separated from others† of his fellow writers (75). His identity as a writer provide s a piece of his life that is very different from the rest and that creates a more interesting and unique picture than any other part of his life. Even the literal act of writing he considers a â€Å"lonely journey† (189). The puzzle of his identity must be completed without the aid of others as he pieces together the fragments of his identity- alone. Rodriguez repeatedly insists that writing is a very personal act, yet constantly discusses the inherently public nature of writing. Just as often as he discusses his reclusive habit of writing, he simultaneously dreads the inherently public nature of his work as he faces great ambiguity regarding his own work. A young child that struggles to connect his personal and public life, writing â€Å"[determines] [his] public identity† (6). Writing provides Rodriguez only with extreme feelings of isolation yet it literally defines him in public. His own autobiography, what should be the most deeply personal work of his life, and yet he feels to him like â€Å"the most public thing [he] has ever done† (191). As he writes his story, he discusses the physical and emotional process of writing, continuing his use of metawriting and sometimes metabasis. Ironically in fact, he least concerned with himself. He believes he is writing for the â€Å"public reader† (191). His discussion of the audience seems to use metawriting to both isolate and connect himself to the outside world of his readers. He is focused on his own alienation while writing yet at the same time is even more focused outside of himself, on his audience. Rodriguez seems completely incapable of determining whether the work is for himself or for the reader as he describes the process of writing painfully. There is intense antithesis in the way that the written word is both so terrifyingly desolate, the â€Å"impersonality of the written word†, yet it is still the medium that Rodriguez uses to communicate his most deeply personal feelings (205). Only through writing can Rodriguez communicate his â€Å"vast public identity†. Only through prolonged periods of intense loneliness can Rodriguez begin to feel understood. The irony that exists in Rodriguez’s contradictory feelings toward writing determines the methods he uses to communicate his life- both public and personal. Rodriguez’s very identity as a writer is the definition of ambiguity and as he writes, this ambiguity relating to the act of writing only further spreads throughout all of his discussions. The conflicting feelings of Rodriguez toward what he is most basically -a writer- lead to his overwhelming lack of clear identity, resulting in his writing being made of â€Å"words like jigsaw pieces† (197). Rodriguez’s words, his language, the very things that make him a writer already irrevocably do not fit together. His metawriting further emphasizes his own confusion as he can not escape the circle of his identity. Rodriguez â€Å"writes† and he is â€Å"a writer† (1). Still, he sometimes feels unable to face the â€Å"isolation writing requires† (189). Nevertheless, Rodriguez still finds solace in writing. This piece of him that remains so painful and contradictory still provides a place where he â€Å"no longer needs to feel alone or eccentric† (203). He uses his identity as a writer to attempt to dole the â€Å"sharp distinction between public and private life† (200). Rodriguez attempts to put the puzzle of his identity together in a more coherent way, with fewer jagged jigsaw edges and â€Å"distinctions†, but ultimately by putting together his own puzzle he only further blows the lines. However, this ambiguity in his opinions of his writing bleed through onto all of the other pieces of his identity and only further blur lines and increase overall ambiguity. Words are the glue with which Rodriguez attempts to create a beautiful, unified picture of his identity. However, due to contradictory nature of his sentiments toward writing, by writing about writing (metawriting), he only further jumbles and confounds the puzzle pieces of his already confounding persona. As Rodriguez desperately attempts to form a coherent identity presented through a coherent autobiography, he ultimately only further confuses both and leaves his argument ineffective and ambiguous: writing fails to create a complete puzzle.

Should Recreational Marijuana Be Legalized In Texas - 1650 Words

Should Recreational Marijuana Be Legalized In Texas? (Essay Sample) Content: NameCourseTutorDate Should Recreational Marijuana Be Legalized In Texas?The legislature in Texas improved marijuana laws in its 84th session in response to the movement that was pushing for improved marijuana laws. The legislature prepared five bills aimed at lowering the penalties for marijuana possession, and one of the bills was meant to completely make marijuana legal for adults ((Marijuana Police Project para. 1; Ko para. 5). In addition to the five bills, four more bills were prepared to enable patients to legally access medical marijuana. A bill that allow the use of medical marijuana in Texas on a limited basis has already been signed into law, but the bill is likely to be useless if significant changes are not made (Marijuana Police Project para. 1). This paper is going to explore whether recreational marijuana should be legalized in Texas. Those supporting legalization of recreational marijuana have argued that legalizing marijuana will bring several social benefits to the society. For instance, legalizing marijuana implies that the government will have the ability to regulate the market, collect revenue in forms of tax, and very few people will be caught in the violence that characterize drug wars, and the injustices inherent to the legal system(Graham para. 2-4). If legalizing recreational marijuana would have a slight negative effect on public health, so be it, according to proponents. Legalizing recreational marijuana has become a popular subject in todays debates especially after states such as Washington and Colorado legalized recreational marijuana use (Graham para. 2-4).It is projected that more states are likely to follow the examples of Washington and Colorado. This is evident in the survey done by the Pew Research Center from 2009 to 2013, which found that 40 states had already implemented some kind of mechanism to relax their laws on drugs (Graham para. 2-4). For instance, Washington DC and 23 other states already allow so me kind of recreational marijuana use and for medical reasons, which makes marijuana use in these states partially legal. Studies have shown that apart from the fact that the negative effects of recreational marijuana use are tolerable, more evidence is showing that marijuana use may be good for public health. For example, it is projected recreational marijuana use may replace the use of hard drugs or alcohol (Graham para. 2-4). Some recent studies on recreational marijuana use and public health have found that decriminalizing marijuana lowers traffic accidents, deaths, and even suicide rates. Nevertheless, even with evidence showing that legalizing recreational marijuana use has a positive effect, very few elected states officials have are willing to publicly support legislations on marijuana (McBride para. 5-8). It has been have noted that in secrecy few officials at the state level are willing to publicly support bills on marijuana use. The push to legalize recreational marijuan a use in Texas has also been supported by the fact that revenues from oil are declining dramatically, and the financial difficulties may act as a push for legislators who are reluctant to legalize marijuana (McBride para. 5-8).Johnathan Singer, a state representative from Colorado has argued that marijuana should be legalized and subjected to taxation like alcohol, and Texas should follow the example of Colorado. The state of Colorado collected 66 million from marijuana taxes in 2016, and this means that the state is receiving more tax revenue from marijuana than alcohol (McBride para. 5-8). Those opposing the legalization of marijuana for recreational use have argued that legalizing marijuana will make it accessible to adolescents like tobacco and alcohol, which are two legal drugs for adults, but illegal for those under the ages of 18 and 21 years respectively. Opponents states that legalizing marijuana will make adolescents to perceive it to be safe. However, studies on the same in state that have decriminalized marijuana have found mixed result with some indicating that the use among adolescents went up after decriminalization, while others found no difference (Hendricks, Abassi and Aslinia 2-3).Studies done in the Netherlands in 2004 have shown that legalization of recreational marijuana use caused an increase in marijuana use among individuals between the ages of 18 and 20 years. Ironically, the use of recreational marijuana also went up in the U.S in the same period despite the fact that marijuana is illegal (Hendricks, Abassi and Aslinia 2-3). In Norway that prohibit marijuana use like the U.S studies have found that marijuana use either remained steady or decreased during the same period. Some opponents of recreational marijuana use have argued that the public is not fully aware of the health problems marijuana causes (Hendricks, Abassi and Aslinia 3). Some opponents of marijuana have stated that marijuana can cause addiction, lower intelligence; inte rfere with the ability to drive, and trigger mental disorders and anxiety. However, proponents of recreational marijuana use have challenged these claims by stating that legislation against marijuana use and not marijuana itself is the main cause of the problems linked to the recreational use (Hendricks, Abassi and Aslinia 2- 3). For example, before marijuana was decriminalized in the state of Washington, 241,000 people had been incarcerated on charges related to marijuana possession, and this caused the taxpayer 300 million dollars. An economist from Harvard has projected that if the U.S legalized recreational marijuana use, the country would benefit by saving approximately 8 billion dollars it spends on law enforcement, and six billion dollars would be generated in tax revenue (Hendricks, Abassi and Aslinia 3). Proponents of recreational marijuana use also consider its practical benefits to support their position. According to the proponents, recreational marijuana use should be l egalized because it has medical benefits (Drug Policy Alliance para. 4-7). For example, marijuana has been used to treat conditions such as vomiting, nausea and glaucoma. The laws proposed to decriminalize marijuana use in Texas dealt with different aspects of marijuana use, for instance, legalizing it for minimal medical use, allowing possession, and fully decriminalizing the recreational use of marijuana among adults (Drug Policy Alliance para. 4-7).Some veterans have requested the Texas government to consider the possibility of decriminalizing marijuana for use in the treatment of PTSD, which is chronic illness that a significant number of veterans face. However, Republican legislators refused to incorporate an amendment that would authorize studies on the use of marijuana to treat PTSD (McBride para. 13). Legalizing recreational marijuana use will also create jobs in Texas and save money that can be used to ensure public safety. Legalization will also ensure consumer safety beca use testing will be mandatory, meaning that consumers will receive firsthand information on the safety and risks of the marijuana they are using (Drug Policy Alliance para. 4-7). In an article posted in the New Yorker in January, President Obama who has been vocal about his own marijuana use in the past stated that he does not think that the use of marijuana is more harmful than alcohol. The presidents opinion was in line with what most of the people in the U.S think because a survey done by the Pew Research Center found that majority of American believes that alcohol is more harmful than marijuana. In addition, studies have shown that recreational marijuana use is more likely to reduce the abuse of prescription drugs, especially painkillers whose overdose is responsible for many deaths. One study has suggested that allowing recreational use of marijuana lowers the use of heroin (Drug Policy Alliance para. 4-7).The legalization of recreational marijuana use is also supported by stud ies that have found alcohol is four times more addictive than marijuana, and ten time more likely to cause violent behavior compared to marijuana. In addition, some recent studies have found that suicide rates in states that had legalized recreational marijuana use among men between the ages of 20 and 30 something years dropped (Graham para. 10-12).Some proponents of recreational marijuana use have argued that the drug should be legalized because even the DEAs efforts to take the drug off the streets have not materialized because more and more people are using the drug. Legalizing marijuana will enable regulation and taxation, and this will keep ille...