American essayist and journalist Richard Rodriguez, whose autobiographical essays are frequently assigned in college writing courses, is best known to readers as a memoirist and cultural critic who writes about issues of race, language, and identity. His three autobiographical books—Hunger of Memory, Days of Obligation, and Brown—have gained Rodriguez a reputation as both a prose stylist and a provocative essayist who is not afraid to take a controversial stance when writing about both the personal and public dimensions of politically-charged issues such as assimilation, affirmative action, and bilingual education.
Though he might object to being classified as an “ethnic” writer …
Please log in to consult the article in its entirety. If you are not a subscriber, please click here to read about membership. All our articles have been written recently by experts in their field, more than 95% of them university professors.