Excersise 3.3 Argumentive Proposal

Leslie Moreno                                                                                                                        Moreno 1

Professor Macklin

English 114A

15, November 2011

Argumentative Proposal

            English is known as the most known language in the United States. It’s said that to live in this country you must be able to write and read in English. In any job someone applies for they have to know how to speak and write English. It is said that in order to move to a higher living people have to know English. In order for someone to achieve greatness, achieve the “American Dream” they must know English. I agree that in order to survive in this country you need to know English, but I disagree that just by knowing English itself that you will achieve your lifelong goal. People are lazy and they think that just an average job is okay and just by knowing the English language everything is alright, when in fact it is not. Literature is a “steppingstone” for those who want to achieve greatness.

            I read an essay from Greg Lewis called “An open letter to Diversity’s Victims” and as I was reading it I thought I disagreed with him. He wrote about how in the old days in schools they would separate the kids into classes by the language they spoke. If you spoke Spanish you were put in classes where the language they talked in was Spanish. He thought it was unfair that different diversities couldn’t learn to speak English. I agree with him only to that point because afterwards he starts talking about how without English they cannot get a higher job position. I believe the problem is people not knowing English but it’s the people themselves who are the problem.  Many children are raised here and go to school, but it is their problem if they don’t want to continue in their education. In 2011 there were less kids attending college than before, it wasn’t because of money, it was because they were lazy to go any further. Children have to learn that in order to be better in this world they have to work hard and most kids don’t like the “work hard” part. He wrote “Don’t let diversity destroy your soul and rob you of the chance to be who you truly are.” He is right, no one should not reach for success just because of their diversity, and everyone is born into this world with a chance, whether they take it or not it is up to them.

            Julia alvarez wrote Dona Aida, With your Permission, and she may have not had problems with English but what she did is a good example of what I mean. She is an American-Dominican writer and she was a keynote speaker at an annual meeting along with another woman named Aida. Aida spoke in Spanish and she spoke in English. When they were done Aida told her, “It doesn’t seem possible that a Dominican should write in English. Come back to your country, to your language. You are a Dominican.” She replied by telling her that she cannot be a Dominican writer because she was not born there, she is not a true Dominican. I feel that she should have been proud that she is successful and she used her studies to her advantage but I don’t think she should have responded that way. She should have said how proud she was to be a successful English writer proving a Dominican can be successful in English, and that she would be willing to learn more about Dominican so she can be better than how she is. I admire her for her hard work but I wish she could have reached a little further to become greater than she already is.

            Literacy is a big part of the United States and I feel sad many kids do not take the opportunity to continue and become the best that they can be. I hate seeing people on the street and it’s hard to have a good life, but no one said that life was easy. People say this line all the time but what they do not know is that if you try hard life will become easier, maybe not all the time but at least you will not suffer as other people do. Life is tiny seed that with time and good care it will grow to become a beautiful and strong tree. It is hard and a lot of kids don’t like school, I’m not a big fan either but I will push myself to become the best I can be. Life is a huge ocean and in order to cross it to my dream I begin with stepping stones, and one of the first stepping stones are English itself.