How does Suskind use language to make Cedric’s education seem difficult?

In this essay I will be explaining how Ron Suskind uses language to make Cedric’s education seem difficult. I will be doing so by comparing quotes to one another, explaining the different languages devices/techniques that have been used and by describing the quotes in detail in part one and two of his articles. The writer does in fact use various amounts of language devices that may suggest to you that it was extremely difficult for Cedric to get a good education because of the state that he was in

The first language technique that Suskind uses is a metaphor. This quote was used in article one. This can be seen when one of the teachers in Bellou High describes the school as a bad place to learn. ‘Failure is persuasive, even seductive’. The way how it links to Cedric’s education is because since he is one of most people who care about education in that school as many people have already given up, they are now attempting to bring Cedric down with them which makes it hard for Cedric to learn. This makes it hard for Cedric to get a decent education because of this. Whereas in M.I.T it is quite the opposite as people do in fact want to learn there. The reason I know that this quote is a metaphor is because of how the word failure cannot really be persuasive or seductive, as it isn’t a person. The word ‘persuasive’ in the quote suggests that failing subjects is easy to do, and could try and catch Cedric into failing as well. Also, the word ‘Seductive’ suggests that failing is tempting and attracting which means that people may temptate you to fail in Bellou High.

One of the reasons why M.I.T Is the opposite compared to Bellou High in Cedric’s perspective is because many students who have transferred there has quite a sum of financial support, and since Cedric comes from a poor area in poverty, it is hard for him to get his equipment, and pay for school fees. Also, since he comes from a school which drags him down, that’s also a problem for Cedric. The quote that is used here is, “Being a minority and a high achiever means you have to carry extra baggage about who you are, and where you belong. That puts them at risk.” Here, Ron Suskind uses the language technique of metaphor to suggest that Cedric is going to have to go on a long trip which you need a lot of baggage and equipment for. Here, he indicates that Cedric needs to be prepared for what he is about to get into, and to be prepared on how he is going to do so. This quote also explains that since Cedric is a minority as in Poverty, and also since he is a person who cares about education, he needs to bring more to show people who he is, and that he can do as well as everybody else. The word ‘extra’ in this quote suggests that he needs to bring more than who he is, to show people that he can achieve well, and just because he comes from a bad school doesn’t mean that he cannot do well. As most students there has had help from family, and most likely has been in a better school than Cedric, that makes a problem which now he needs to try extra harder than everybody else in order to gain success. In the paragraph above, which talks about how many students wants to bring Cedric down because he is more intelligent and cares about education more differs to this paragraph because Cedric needs to bring more with him, as many students are above him in this manner.

Another quote that shows that M.I.T is hard for Cedric is the quote “the hours of extra work that he begged for from his teachers, the years focusing so single mindlessly on school that he didn’t even have friends.” This quote explains that Cedric does carry that extra baggage, but because of that he has had to made a sacrifice, which has caused him to loose all of his friends. He has been trying to work so much extra than everybody else that he had forgotten about his social life. The word ‘begged’ in this quote suggests that he needs to get his extra work, as it is shown that he begged and not asked, this indicates that he is really desperate to work, and would even loose all of his friends for it.

One of the first impressions that we get from the story in part one is about how much violence there is. Violence is a very strong reason why it is a bad place for a person like Cedric to be in. the quote that explains this is “Just during the current school year, one boy was hacked by a student with an axe, a girl was badly wounded in a knife fight with another female student, fires were set by arsonists, and an unidentified body was dumped next to the parking lot.” This quote tells us that Bellou High is known for it’s crime and isn’t safe at all. Violence is a very strong reason why it is a bad place for a person like Cedric to be in as he isn’t as bad as everybody else. The way that this quote compares to the last quote is that the school that he was in before M.I.T is a school where the pupils simply don’t care at all for their education, and if Cedric was to beg for work in Bellou high, he would probably get beaten up for it.

To explain why he would get beaten up if he was to do well, is shown in this quote “that doing well here means you better not show your face.” This quote described that even if Cedric does well and ask for more work, people would pick on him, so he wasn’t able to do as well as he could because of this problem in his school. The word ‘not’ in this quote suggests that Cedric cannot do something in that school that may put him into a disadvantage. even though education is important for Cedric, the violence in Bellou High is to a point that it is too risky to do anything that may cause problems. The way that this quote is in comparison to the quote above, is because they both have something to do with violence. Both quotes affects Cedric in a way which means that he could potentially be hurt physically.

The last quote that describes Cedric’s difficulties is the fact about how Cedric’s journey has been like a race “But where I start from is so far behind where some other kids are. I have to run twice the distance to catch up.” Here, Ron Suskind uses the language of metaphor to suggest that Cedric is part of a competitive race which is tiring and challenging for him. And since he is a poor minority kid who lives in poverty and because of the people around him, he now needs to run twice the distance to catch up with the rest. This is explains when he says the words “So far behind where some of the other kids are” and “run twice the distance to catch up” which indicates that the writer is referring Cedric’s educational journey like a hard race.

After reading all the different paragraphs together, it is shown that it is actually hard for Cedric to get a good education. Not only in Bellou High, but also in M.I.T. The reason for this is mainly based on his wealth, and his nationality. The reason why wealth is a big problem for Cedric for both parts of his journey is because, in part one, his family didn’t have enough money to take him to different places so he could study, he maybe didn’t have enough money to buy his own computer so that he could study at home. Also, in part two of the story, it is shown that many people are doing better because of how Bellou High has affected him. The way this has happened is because of two reasons. The first reason is because of his nationality, because he is in a mostly black populated school, and they want Cedric to be like them and to just give up, they have been trying to slow down Cedric and try and make him think that education isn’t important for him. Also, because he wasn’t wealthy enough and wasn’t lucky enough to be in a better school, this has effected his time in M.I.T as he isn’t educated as everybody else.