Compare how Ron Suskind presents the difficulties of Cedric’s education in part one and two of his articles

In this essay I will be expressing how Ron Suskind uses language techniques to present the difficulties of Cedric’s education in part one and two of his articles. Cedric goes through many difficulties when in Ballou. For example, receiving abuse and violence and getting bullied for doing well. Then at MIT he couldn’t keep u with the work at times and was struggling. Throughout the articles Mr. Suskind uses language techniques to suggest that getting a good education was difficult for Cedric.

A language technique used is personification. ‘Failure is persuasive here, even seductive.’ This quote tells us that failing in Ballou High is common. The writer uses ‘persuasive’ and ‘seductive’ to give failure a human ability. The word seductive is an adjective that describes how someone has a magnetic pull towards something or someone, kinetic energy which takes over emotion and distracts thoughts. In this quote ‘seductive’ suggests that failure tempts students, also it is easier to fail than  to do well. The word ‘persuasive’ means good at persuading someone to do or believe something through reasoning and manipulating words. The word suggests that even though people want to prosper and do well failure will persuade them and mentally control them. This illustrates the terrible learning conditions. It shows how poor Ballou High really is, the resourcefulness which leads to failure and starts a cycle of bad behavior and drugs which is already occurring. Ron Suskind completes this in both part one and two, using different language techniques. He also connects them by either making them differ or make them similar. the main connection will be on the difficulty Cedric has to completing his education.

Another language technique used is metaphor. ‘The detonations of self-doubt become audible.’ This quote is from part two of Mr. Suskind’s story. This quote tells us Cedric and other students are not believing in themselves. The writer uses ‘Detonations’ to give ‘self-doubt’ (which is lack of self-confidence,) a purpose of exploding. The word ‘Detonations’ is the actual moment someone presses the button that creates the explosion, and then there’s the explosion itself. The word ‘Detonations’ suggests that the self-doubt has been building up. For instance coming from a poor background like Cedric, also being behind in classwork and knowledge because of the bad education they went through. There are more reasons that are dwelling on the students mind which can hurt them in instant. Thoughts of failure are exploding in their minds. This quote tells us how students are failing and their emotions and thoughts are getting the better of them. This quote is similar to the previous one because they both highlight failure of the students of Ballou High and some of MIT. However, the failure in the schools are different. In Ballou High the school has a reputation of uneducated students which means that most students do not succeed and it is easier to fail than to graduate with good grades. But in MIT most of the students do succeed due to their previous education and the standard of MIT, this shows that self-doubt has brought down students and made them fail.

The next quote is a metaphor ‘The arduous odyssey of Cedric.’  This quote is from part one from Mr. Suskind’s story. It tells that in Ballou High Cedric had to overcome a long journey on his own, to reach his goal, which is to get into MIT. The writer uses the word ‘Arduous.’ This word means difficult to finish, demanding considerable amount of mental effort and skill. This word suggests that Cedric’s journey to his education is very difficult and has a mental strain on him. Cedric has to complete lots of extra work in his own time. On is own. This compares to the journey of Odysseus. Odysseus had to take on a ten-year quest back to his home which was his goal. Cedric’s goal is to get in to MIT with high grades. Like Odysseus Cedric has to work by himself on a journey and be persistent to reach his goal. Cedric has to overcome some difficulties, for example bullying and the failure around him. Odysseus had to take on battles, and Cedric has to fight being black, getting bullied and coming from a poor background.      

The final quote I will use will be another metaphor. ‘But where I started from is far behind where the other kids are, I have to run twice the distance.’ This shows us how Cedric views his own education. It compares Cedric’s education to race. Cedric has to undergo a tiring journey to his education. He has to train hard for this race, at Ballou High he trained hard to qualify. As Cedric has started the race he has had competition, they have had more training and have a mental and physical head start. Even though Cedric had to revise everyday and work through hundreds of work sheets, because Ballou High was so poor and not educational, Cedric is behind in work and knowledge. This makes Cedric a minority. This is because he came from a poor background and he is black. The other students had a head start because of their previous schools and background. This compares to my previous quote because they both talk about how Cedric will have to complete a difficult journey on his own. Both quotes talks about how Cedric has to work hard even twice a hard as everyone else, he needs to work by himself and persist to reach his goal and finish MIT with high grades. The difference between the two quotes is how the writer portrays them. He uses the first one as a journey, but in the second he illiterates it as a race. They are both a distance which Cedric has to cover on his own.  

In conclusion, I believe that the writer has used language techniques to compare the difficulties  in Cedric’s education. But the thing I like and what I find interesting is, that at Ballou High Cedric was the top man the highest achieve, but in MIT he is behind and trailing. This relates to life. Meaning that however hard you work there will always be a challenge in your way. This is one of the things which made me like this story.