Essay Cedric jennings

In this essay I will be talking about how Ron Suskind presents the difficulties of Cedric’s education and how he uses language technique in part one and part two. Cedric goes through many difficulties when he is in ballou high and MIT such as receiving abuse from other students, struggling with the work at MIT and violence. Through out the articles Suskind uses various language devices that suggest that it was difficult for Cedric to get an education.

One language technique that Ron Suskind uses is a metaphor we can see this in the quote,  “The arduous odyssey of Cedric”. In this quote Suskind uses metaphor you can see this when he says ‘odyssey of Cedric’. Here he is talking about how Cedric faces difficulties as an individual in his education and how it would be hard for him and he will go through this journey on his own. The word ‘odyssey’ relates to the myth of Odysseus which suggests that Cedric’s journey will be very hard for him. The meaning of the word arduous is that it is painful and this relates back to the essay question because Cedric has to face it by himself and that his education will not be easy to pass.

Another quote that Ron Suskind uses is “crime infested ward”. In this quote Ron is saying that the school and the area is infected with crimes and that the school is not improving. Unlike the previous quote, this quote talks about what happens around Cedric’s area and how crime affects Cedric’s learning. The area that Cedric lives in is getting a virus of crimes spreading around  and it would be affecting Cedric’s learning because he has to concentrate on not being robbed than to be concentrating on his work and also his school is an unsafe learning environment because of anti-social behavior such as murders, robberies and drug dealers.This links back to the essay question because Cedric needs to concentrate on his school and has to try  and avoid drug dealers, murders and robberies.

Another quote Ron Suskind uses is ‘But where i start from is far behind where some other kids are, I have to run twice the distance to catch up’. In this quote Ron suskind uses metaphor based on a race, in a race you need endurance, stamina and speed. Since Cedric went to M.I.T and left ballou high he has to run twice the distance because of how everybody is smarter than him since he went to M.I.T. In this quote the word ‘distance’ stands out

Another language device Suskind uses is a metaphor. We can see this in the quote, ‘Being a minority and a high achiever means you have carry extra baggage about who you are and where you belong.’ Here Suskind implies that the ‘extra baggage’ Cedric has to carry affects in his life and his education. We understand that ‘extra baggage’ could symbolise that Cedric is a minority in his society and has to work twice as hard as everyone else. Suskind uses the term ‘extra baggage’ here because it shows that cedrics ethnicity weighs him down. Finally the word ‘belong’ suggests that just because cedric is black doesnt mean that he should have to change who he is or where he has to go because of that.