Blog #10

  In this last chapter of Always Running, the reader sees the transition Luis Rodriguez goes through as he moves away from the gang life to becoming an intellectual. Luis Rodriguez realizes that there's more to learn about the world around him, besides the area and situations he is in. Rodriguez uses informal diction and symbolism to emphasize that the gang life is not as important to him as it was years ago. He strives to learn more about life, and matters that are important. He uses symbolism with, "I now looked on these matters with different eyes," to represent how Rodriguez's attitude and loyalty toward the gang life has dramatically changed. Rodriguez does not have literally, "different eyes", but a different mindset and perspective on the violence taking place toward Las Lomas. Rodriguez reflects on what Chente had told him during their talks which helped him realize that there's more to life besides staying and defending Las Lomas. Rodriguez uses informal diction to emphasize this life-changing moment where he realized that Las Lomas was irrelevant to the real matters happening around the world. He writes, "I turned it slightly to California, then cast down to a dot which claimed "Los Angeles." But there was no Lomas,". This description is important because it helps the reader understand how Rodriguez realized the little importance Lomas had in the world. He then uses diction like, "tiny" and "nameless" to emphasize the how Lomas is not as important as Rodriguez thinks it is. There is more to experience, discover, and learn out in the world, than what is directly in front of him. This moment helped Rodriguez realize that the whole world awaits him, and it helped developed his motivation to leave Lomas to discover new theories of life.

Blog #9

In this excerpt from Always Running  by Luis J. Rodriguez, the reader notices a shift in Luis Rodriguez's life. He begins to turn away from his old gang life into a more productive and better lifestyle. He gains power like he always wanted, but uses that power to lead a group of Chicanos to engage in their society, through ToHMAS. Rodriguez emphasizes his change in lifestyle through the use of concrete and colloquial diction. For example, he writes, "When I entered, Mr.Humes, with graying hair, short-sleeve striped shirt and tie, stood in front of the blackboard, addressing a scattered row of students,". Luis J. Rodriguez uses concrete diction to help the reader visualize the characteristics of Mr.Humes, who called Cha Cha, a "chola whore". Rodriguez uses words like "graying hair" to show how Mr. Humes is perhaps an older man, and he addresses his attire with, "short-sleeve striped shirt and tie". Also, Rodriguez uses concrete detail to explain where Mr.Humes was standing with "in front of the blackboard". Rodriguez uses concrete detail instead of saying something like, Mr.Humes was standing in front of the board because he wants the reader to visualize how Mr.Humes look likes and what was he doing at the time of his encounter with him. Rodriguez uses concrete detail to help the reader picture in their mind what he saw. Lastly, Rodriguez uses colloquial dialogue to reflect how authority figures saw Chicanos during his teen years. He highlights the moment where Mr.Humes calls Cha Cha, a "chola whore", because it shows how teachers felt toward Latinos, in this moment, Latinas. Mr.Humes labeled Cha Cha because he assumed she was late for a whole other reason than dropping off her brothers to the babysitters. Throughout this novel, we see the constant theme of racial stereotypes, and how Latinos were labeled and treated unfairly, due to this negative image society portrayed them as.