Textual Analysis Comparing, Essay Example

The authors, Dillard and Rodriguez both share many similarities when showing the layout of their emotional appeal being transmitted onto paper.  During the introduction of both of the authors stories, it is clear to say that both thesis statements share the same critical emotion that’s describing the atmosphere that’s beginning to evolve in the story,  or more of what the story will be like.  To turn words into a vision within your mind, most readers would prefer the setting to be explained more briefly.  During the introduction of both of the stories, Dillard and Rodriguez mentioned the setting first, to give that reader a vision of what is happening in the story.  Soon enough, the stories then go into depth. (Dillard) (Textbook) (Rodriguez)

Dillard, now a middle-aged woman, recalls her childhood, from the time she was five all the way through high school. Over these years, she provides her own childhood as a model for happiness in adulthood. Adult needs not leave behind the spirit that causes children to stand in perpetual awe of the world; rather, to be truly happy, one must resist the world’s attempt to stamp that spirit out.  Rodriguez on the other hand, represents a similar idea in his writing. Rodriguez ages in physical years but also comes to age emotionally over the course of the story.  As the book opens, he is a nine-year-old boy, facing the move back to Mexico with his mother upon the breakup of his parents. Rodriguez says that he goes wherever he’s told, and that it makes no difference. Over the coming years, he will lament his lack of control over anything, including his own life, as the same goes for Dillard. (Rodriguez) (Dillard)

“The rooms were empty, forbidden places at night” (Rodriguez, Always Running) notice how this text has more of a setting being described after Rodriguez mentioned that the rooms were empty.  “The spirit of American enterprise never faded in mother” (Dillard, An American Child) this text always has a setting being described behind the real subject.  Both of these quotes show how Dillard and Rodriguez share some sort of form of writing.  Sharing the same sort of writing also leads to sharing the themes of the stories. (Textbook)

The main theme of An American child has to do with the consciousness of the narrative; the author is self-aware of the changes, both controlled and wild, in her personality and tastes as she is exposed to new things and ages. This theme could be summarized as, “The world is revealed to us in small steps, through details, and is always changing.” We could also characterize some of her observations about adults based on their response, or lack of it, to the world; “Limiting your exposure to the world probably won’t make you happy”. This is accentuated as the narrator matures in part 3, where she becomes more focused on material things but is nevertheless unhappy for the first time in her life. (Dillard) (Rodriguez)

There are exceptions to this, such as her mother, but in general there is a sense that adulthood typically means unconsciously throwing away one’s happiness amid the pursuit of more socially defined standards of success and belonging. A major theme of Always Running is opportunity. Since Rodriguez was a poor Mexican youth in a time of brutal racial discrimination, the only open doors for him were to be a factory worker, or a gang member. He decided to choose the latter and join the gang Las Lomas. Throughout the years in the gang Luis’s life was a shamble, full of robberies and drugs. Not until the help of a friend named Chente did he start finding opportunity. Through Chente, Rodriguez was able to channel his negative attitudes into a useful purpose, which is advocating the equality of the Mexican race in America. Through Rodriguez’s activism, he has created and is still creating great opportunities for troubled youth to find a cause and rise up. (Camp) (Textbook)

Works Cited

Camp. p 66-98. n.d.

Dillard, Annie. An American Childhood. Englewood Cliffs: Major Modern Essay, 1994.

Rodriguez, Luis J. Always Running. 1994. Textbook. P 52-80; 259-265. 2015.