Rose and Lu

Rose and Lu

In “Crossing Boundaries” Rose talks about looking past deficiencies, and working towards helping illiterate adults. Rose struggles with finding a teaching method. He is working with people who are past the age of using education to achieve long term goals and dreams. These adults are going back to school only to attain a high school degree so that they can receive a better wage at work. Rose describes how these adult are smart, they can get by in their everyday lives. They are literate enough to help others in their community. Unfortunately when tested these adults fail because they become intimidated by the unfamiliar words. On the other hand, in Min-Zhan Lu’s “From Silence to Words: Writing as a Struggle” She talks about her conflict between languages and knowing too many words, or too many meanings for words. For Lu, the words and language she used became more of a hassle then it did anything else. She describes the way she moved between languages like putting on and taking off clothes. Both worlds taught Lu that she should only take one side, home life or her country. Both of these literature pieces were very different in their message but they both talked about their struggle with language.


..i hope i got the message from both of these readings right.