Reading Response 19

Villanueva – “Memoria Is a Friend of Ours: On the Discourses of Color”

Summary

In his article, “Memoria Is a Friend of Ours: On the Discourses of Color,” Villanueva attempts to show that in using memories in your writing, it can help connect you to your past history and culture, and help solidify what your identity as a writer is. He shows this through his inclusion of past works of his own or of close colleagues which apply to his thesis.

Synthesis

This piece helps reinforce the concepts brought in by Wardle and Gee; the importance of identity, because Villanueva is showing that your past experiences will help build on your identity in ways that you never think of, and thus change what kind of Discourse you are a part of.

QD

7. By using Gee’s concept of Discourse, Villanueva’s primary Discourse is the American culture he was assimilated into and his secondary one is his home Discourse of Puerto Rico. He desperately wants to reverse this, but he can barely speak Spanish fluently, and his memories from home are few and far between.

Thoughts

This piece was slightly unorthodox with the random insertions, and with the book that it’s in, it made the text that much smaller and harder to read, but never the less, it was engaging, and it made a lot of sense. It clarified some of Gee’s ideas in a much simpler format for me, and this was very helpful.