s that books were going to make [him] educated (Rodriguez 578). He never questioned what he was told by his teachers or what he read in any book. He didnt develop ideas of his own or any critical thinking skills. Rodriguez says that he was a great mimic; a collector of thoughts, not a thinker; the very last person in class who ever feels obliged to have an opinion of his own (Rodriguez 581). This type of education helps us to understand the relationships Rodriguez had with his mentor Richard Hoggart, as well as his school teachers and parents.Rodriguez initially uses Hoggarts book to categorize and describe his own experience as a student. Once he reads Hoggarts work he finally feels that he has identified himself. He recognizes the separation of home and school and how it is necessary to have this separation to become the type of student he desires, an elite student. Separation from his family and culture is necessary because Rodriguez sees the two as separate worlds. He must be removed from his original culture and family life to achieve the scholarly elite status. He had to devote himself to his studies, which leaves him no time for a family. After Rodriguez claims himself a to be an elite student, he justifies the steps he took in early education as that of what any elite student would have done. Hoggarts says that the elite student tends to make a father figure of his form mater (Rodriguez, 571). Rodriguez sees this and uses it as an explanation as to why he separated himself from his family as a child.As a professional writer, Rodriguez uses Hoggarts, The Uses of Literacy, to explain himself and his education. He uses Hoggarts words to make readers, who can not relate to his experience, understand more clearly. He uses it to explain his relationships, or lack of, and also his intensity to become educated. Hoggart explains things very directly, so Rodriguez uses Hoggarts writing to clarify his own. According to Frei...
