Week 3 – Mon. Sept. 13th

Homework Due Monday, Sept. 20th

**No Class Wed. Sept 15th**

  1. ***Draft of Project 1 Due Mon. Sept. 27th*** 
  2. Read Jose Antonio Vargas’ piece “My Life as an Undocumented Immigrant” and respond to the questions below. Please respond to AT LEAST ONE classmate’s post! 
    1. What did you think of this text? Explain! 
    2. What is it mostly about? Write a 2-4 sentence summary. Be specific. Refer to the text itself. Use quotes even! 
    3. What is the genre of the text? What is the tone? 
    4. How do Antonio Vargas’s experiences influence his literacy development (reading, writing, speaking) and the development of his identity? Be specific. For example, how does an experience impact the way he speaks or his experience in school or at work?
    5. Why do you think Antonio Vargas wrote this article? Who do you think is the intended audience?
    6. What challenges did Antonio Vargas face? How did he overcome those challenges?
    7. What experiences and/or people affected Antonio Vargas the most? Explain.

45 Comments

  1. Alan Pun

    1) I think it was interesting that he got a fake items in order to stay.
    2)It is mostly about his life as an undocumented immigrant. It is about how to be an undocumented immigrant.
    3)The genre of the text is a memoir. This is because it is his personal experience.
    4)He keeps it a secret in school and work. He doesn’t want anyone to know.
    5)Antonio Vargas wrote this article to share his experience. The intended audience is for anyone who wants to know more about being an undocumented immigrant.
    6)Some challenges were to be judged by people. He overcame the challenge by ignoring the people.
    7)The experience that affected the most was how he had to stood up for himself and what he had been through.

    • Alisha Grant

      I agree with you when you said that he ignored it. He did what was right for himself

    • Rebekah Coleman

      Dear Alan,

      This is a good start. I would love to see more details added to your response. Can you add quotes and evidence from the text to support your thinking. Be specific! Good start and great job identifying the genre!

      Warmly,

      RC

  2. WaldyG08

    1. I found this text very interesting, I enjoyed reading about Jose Antonio Vargas’s life.
    2. This text is about the hard experience that a illegal immigrant has to go through in America. It described the things he had to do to stay in America and not get deported. It described the fear he had living as a undocumented immigrant.
    3. The genre of this text is a Narrative, because it tells the story of Vargas. The tone the author had was a neutral informative tone.
    4. Antonio Vargas’s experience influenced his literacy development in the way that he had to learn differently how to properly speak English, compared to others who did not have a accent and knew how to properly speak English. In the article he says “I wanted to lose my
    accent. During high school, I spent hours at a time watching television (especially “Frasier,” “Home Improvement” and reruns of “The Golden Girls”) and movies (from “Goodfellas” to “Anne of Green Gables”), pausing the VHS to try to copy how various characters enunciated their words.” explaining how he had to learn how to pronounce certain words and how to speak properly through watching movies and shows.
    5. I think Antonio wrote this article so that people can see the unfair treatment undocumented immigrants get. He wrote it to inspire people to fight for fair laws for undocumented immigrant and undocumented students who want to achieve their goals.
    6. Antonio faced the challenge of not having a real green card to show at the DMV. He needed to get a driver’s license so he study various states in which it would be easier to obtain one until he decided that Oregon was the state that would allow him to get a drivers license. He used a friends address for proof of residency and was able to get a drivers license in Oregon.
    7. The people that affected Antonio Vargas the most were his parents, Pat (his school principle), and Rich (the schools superintendent) who he said were his mentors that helped him with the job interview and getting the drivers license.

    • Jasmin Castro

      I agree I also enjoyed reading about Jose Antonio’s life and found it very interesting!

    • Rebekah Coleman

      Excellent job!

  3. Jasmin Castro

    1. At first, I found the text boring but the more I read about what he had to do in order to have a better life here in America it made me want to keep reading.
    2. The text is mostly about an undocumented immigrant named Jose Antonio Vargas who was born in the Philippines. Jose Antonio Vargas came to America and left his mother and siblings behind in the Philippines because his mother wanted him to have a better life. He lived with his grandparents which are named Lolo and Lola. Jose’s grandpa Lolo would create fake documents for him which Jose later found out when he went to the DMV to get his driver’s permit and that is when he found out the truth. Later on, in the text it explains how Jose survives being an undocumented immigrant in the U.S and the challenges he had to go through like speaking English fluently, paying for college, finding a job where they won’t question his photocopy of his social. For example, “To do that, I had to work — and for that, I needed a Social Security number. Fortunately, my
    Grandfather had already managed to get one for me. Lolo had always taken care of everyone in the family”. This quote shows how it was difficult for Jose to live in the U.S and to find a job.
    3.The genre is a narrative essay. The tone is optimistic.
    4. Antonio Vargas’s experiences influence his literacy development and the development of his identity because of all the challenges he had to go through during those experiences. For Jose he had to learn to speak English fluently to make sure no one in his school or his job know he was an undocumented immigrant. For example, “It means keeping my family photos in a shoebox rather than displaying them on shelves in my home, so friends don’t ask about them. It means reluctantly, even painfully, doing things I know are wrong and unlawful”. This explains all the things Jose had to do to keep his identity a secret because of his experience in the DMV and his grandpa.
    5.I think Antonio Vargars wrote this article to have people read his story and know how difficult a life as an undocumented immigrant that lives in America is and how they barley have any opportunities. The intended audience I think is anyone who lives in America who is document or undocumented because document U.S citizens that were born here might not know the privileges they have because they were born here. I feel like it can help bring awareness to the problem and maybe people will want to help in any way they can.
    6.Some challenges Antonio faced were speaking English, finding a job, going to college. Antonio overcame his challenge of speaking English by watching English shows on tv and repeating so he can speak it as fluently as the ones at his school can. Antonio never gave up and kept finding ways to keep going.
    7.I feel like his experience at the DMV because that is where it all started and how his journey began. The people who affected his life would be his mom and grandpa because they were the ones who were doing anything they can to keep Antonio going in life.

    • Ahmed shah

      yes i agree, it was boring in the start but it kept on getting interesting at i read it.

    • WaldyG08

      I agree with you, when I started to read the story it didn’t seem like it would be interesting until I got further into it and liked it more.

    • Adrian Bucko

      I agree with you too, the text didn’t seem the most appealing to me however as I read more, the text made me want to keep reading.

    • Jin teng kam

      truly agree that how Antonio find way to have better life in America with all the hard situation keep me wanted to read more to see how he overcome the situation.

    • Rebekah Coleman

      Excellent job!

  4. Justin Irimia

    Jose Antonio Vargas article “My Life as an Undocumented Immigrant” reveals the intricate life of an undocumented immigrant living within the United States. Various
    obstacles like avoiding deportation or learning English are described in great detail. At one point Vargas points out how he would spend afternoons watching television shows,
    which sounds typical for any kid’s childhood. Although he watched the shows for the purpose of education rather than entertainment, pausing the VHS to see how characters
    pronounce words. Reading magazines and books at the library also had aided him in his journey to better understand the English language, an attempt to fit within American society as an immigrant. This hard work would eventually pay off seeing as he wrote this article in The New York Times Magazine, though he had been helped out by various people in his life. Pat and Rich who helped him overcome his undocumented status, even going as far to suggest adopting him to allow him to become a legal citizen of the United States. All and all this memoir is quite wonderful introspective in the challenge of being an immigrant in America.

    • Justin Irimia

      The one above has formatting issues please refer to this comment as the response to the assignment.

      Jose Antonio Vargas article “My Life as an Undocumented Immigrant” reveals the intricate life of an undocumented immigrant living within the United States. Various
      obstacles like avoiding deportation or learning English are described in great detail. At one point Vargas points out how he would spend afternoons watching television shows,
      which sounds typical for any kid’s childhood. Although he watched the shows for the purpose of education rather than entertainment, pausing the VHS to see how characters
      pronounce words. Reading magazines and books at the library also had aided him in his journey to better understand the English language, an attempt to fit within American society as an immigrant. This hard work would eventually pay off seeing as he wrote this article in The New York Times Magazine, though he had been helped out by various people in his life. Pat and Rich who helped him overcome his undocumented status, even going as far to suggest adopting him to allow him to become a legal citizen of the United States. All and all this memoir is quite wonderful introspective in the challenge of being an immigrant in America.

      • Rebekah Coleman

        Excellent job! This is such a thoughtful response!

    • Justin Irimia

      The one above has formatting issues please refer to this comment as the response to the assignment.

      Jose Antonio Vargas article “My Life as an Undocumented Immigrant” reveals the intricate life of an undocumented immigrant living within the United States. Various
      obstacles like avoiding deportation or learning English are described in great detail. At one point Vargas points out how he would spend afternoons watching television shows,
      which sounds typical for any kid’s childhood. Although he watched the shows for the purpose of education rather than entertainment, pausing the VHS to see how characters
      pronounce words. Reading magazines and books at the library also had aided him in his journey to better understand the English language, an attempt to fit within American society as an immigrant. This hard work would eventually pay off seeing as he wrote this article in The New York Times Magazine, though he had been helped out by various people in his life. Pat and Rich who helped him overcome his undocumented status, even going as far to suggest adopting him to allow him to become a legal citizen of the United States. All and all this memoir is quite wonderful introspective in the challenge of being an immigrant in America.

      • WaldyG08

        The text really helped portray the life of a undocumented immigrant like you stated. I found it interesting that he had to go through all he went through beachside he was undocumented.

  5. Ahmed shah

    A. I think that this text is really important because it tells about how the author had to go through stress just because he was illegal. He was really scared that he was going to be deported because of his illegal status. This is a really big problem nowadays since so many people are being deported. For example, Trump and Obama deported many people from the country – but I believe that these people deserve to live in the US even if they are illegal.
    B. It is mostly about how the author’s parents send him to the US and how he had to face so many problems because of his illegal status.
    C. The genre of the text is autobiography because it is about the author’s personal life and how his undocumented status affected him. The tone is sad – Vargas is sad about him having to face many problems since he came from the Philippines.
    D. Antonio Vargas’s experiences influence his literacy development because of the problems he had to face during those experiences. He was scared of sharing his problem with anyone because he thought that this might cause more problems in his life. He was denied by many internships because he didn’t have a driving licence nor a passport so that affected him to make his dream come true of becoming a reporter. He had to take internships so that he had a higher chance of getting the job of a reporter. He lied to his friends about he couldn’t afford to go on vacation but in reality the problem was that he wasn’t legal so he couldn’t leave the US.
    E. He wrote this article to show people that it isn’t easy to be undocumented in America – undocumented people face many problems. The audience includes people who are not illegal; Vargas is encouraging them to sympathize with undocumented immigrants.
    F. Some challenges he faced were that even though he learned English in the Philippines, he had a bad English accent, he was having problems getting into college, and he was having problems getting a job. He watched alot of television to make his accent better. To improve his english by reading magazines and books. Pat and Rich helped him get a scholarship for high-potential students. The fund was not concerned with his immigration status. He said “If I work hard and contribute, things will work out.” and thats what he did. He completed college and when he applied to jobs after that, they accepted him.
    G. The people that affected him the most are his grandpa, Pat, and Rich. These 3 people really helped him a lot. They all were the reason why the author became successful in his life.

    • Kiana Alcala

      Your view that Vargas is writing for undocumented immigrants and also citizens, is something that I also felt throughout the text. Informative while also being a way for U.S citizens to have a bit of insight and feel empathy.

    • Rebekah Coleman

      Excellent job!

  6. Kiana Alcala

    Reading “My Life as an Undocumented Immigrant” by Jose Antonio Vargas, made me think about how different life in America can be for everyone. What we see as basic mundane everyday life things, an undocumented immigrant views it as anxiety inducing. Vargas really puts the differences into perspective for the reader when he states, “And that means living a different kind of reality. It means going about my day in fear of being found out. It means rarely trusting people, even those closest to me, with who I really am. It means keeping my family photos in a shoebox rather than displaying them on shelves in my home, so friends don’t ask about them.”. The life that so many have to live that we, as citizens, rarely even realize or think about in our day to day lives. Choosing to finally write and “come clean” about his daily struggle for the past 18 years being in the U.S, allowed Vargas to begin to get rid of the fearful and depressed feeling he referred to as “always a cloud hanging over it, over me.”. Therefore, this personal essay serves as both insight about immigrant experiences and also as a bit of closure from the experience for the writer himself.
    The effort that many immigrants put into learning a language and facing a language barrier, can have an impact on them negatively at times. They can see speaking and writing standard English as something they must do in order to be seen and respected. Vargas was “[spending] hours at a time watching television (especially “Frasier,” “Home Improvement” and reruns of “The Golden Girls”) and movies (from “Goodfellas” to “Anne of Green Gables”), pausing the VHS to try to copy how various characters enunciated their words. At the local library, I read magazines, books and newspapers — anything to learn how to write better.”, a common form of teaching oneself a language that I’ve heard about countless times. But that can become a way to prove someone “belongs” in the country, which in turn influences the way they’ll act and carry themselves in school and at work. Vargas himself states that he “decided then that I could never give anyone reason to doubt I was an American. I convinced myself that if I worked enough, if I achieved enough, I would be rewarded with citizenship. I felt I could earn it.”, explaining his need to work hard and stand out positively everywhere he could. Although Jose Antonio Vargas shares his difficult experience of being an undocumented immigrant for 18 years, he makes sure to express his gratitude for the people he had in his corner throughout it all. His grandparents and his support system, consisting of his teachers and mentors who became like a surrogate family to him. Despite being an immigrant looking over his shoulder constantly with an almost impending doom feeling, Vargas pursued his dreams as much as he possibly could.

  7. Alisha Grant

    1. I found this text to be really compelling, I did enjoy reading about Jose Antonio’s life

    2. The text is mostly about the hard experience an illegal immigrant had to go through. There were things he had to go in order for him to stay in America, he said that he was in fear of this whole process while being an illegal immigrant.

    3. The genre of this text would be a narrative and a memoir because it tells Vargas story/experience. I think the tone was informative.

    4. Antonio Vargas’s experiences influence his literacy development and his identify by him actually having to learn how to speak proper english and something that he said that hit me was “I wanted to lose my accent, during high school I spent hours at a time watching television “…. This explained that he was so determined into losing his accent and willing to speak properly.

    5. I think Vargas wrote this article to inform people that this is serious and you would have to go through a lot, and also I think he wrote this just to speak about his experience and you should always fight for what you want.

    6. The challenges Vargas faced was being judged by people, and not having a real green card to show to the DMV. He did a really good just with ignoring people and making sure he did what he wanted to do, he stood up for himself when others didn’t.

    • Marzan Alam

      I agree with what you said about the text being informative. I didn’t even notice reading but a lot of the experiences he was talking about I didn’t even know could happen. Specifically, that undocumented immigrants can’t get their drivers license.

    • Rebekah Coleman

      Excellent job!

  8. Alisha Grant

    1. I found this text to be really compelling, I did enjoy reading about Jose Antonio’s life

    2. The text is mostly about the hard experience an illegal immigrant had to go through. There were things he had to go in order for him to stay in America, he said that he was in fear of this whole process while being an illegal immigrant.

    3. The genre of this text would be a narrative and a memoir because it tells Vargas story/experience. I think the tone was informative.

    4. Antonio Vargas’s experiences influence his literacy development and his identify by him actually having to learn how to speak proper english and something that he said that hit me was “I wanted to lose my accent, during high school I spent hours at a time watching television “…. This explained that he was so determined into losing his accent and willing to speak properly.

    5. I think Vargas wrote this article to inform people that this is serious and you would have to go through a lot, and also I think he wrote this just to speak about his experience and you should always fight for what you want.

    6. The challenges Vargas faced was being judged by people, and not having a real green card to show to the DMV. He did a really good just with ignoring people and making sure he did what he wanted to do, he stood up for himself when others didn’t.

    • Jamal Antar

      i agree antonio did a great job shedding light to the situation about immigrants the positive, and the negative as its such a hard thing to overcome.

  9. Alisha Grant

    1. I found this text to be really compelling, I did enjoy reading about Jose Antonio’s life

    2. The text is mostly about the hard experience an illegal immigrant had to go through. There were things he had to go in order for him to stay in America, he said that he was in fear of this whole process while being an illegal immigrant.

    3. The genre of this text would be a narrative and a memoir because it tells Vargas story/experience. I think the tone was informative.

    4. Antonio Vargas’s experiences influence his literacy development and his identify by him actually having to learn how to speak proper english and something that he said that hit me was “I wanted to lose my accent, during high school I spent hours at a time watching television “…. This explained that he was so determined into losing his accent and willing to speak properly.

    5. I think Vargas wrote this article to inform people that this is serious and you would have to go through a lot, and also I think he wrote this just to speak about his experience and you should always fight for what you want.

    6. The challenges Vargas faced was being judged by people, and not having a real green card to show to the DMV. He did a really good just with ignoring people and making sure he did what he wanted to do, he stood up for himself when others didn’t.

  10. Jamal Antar

    My life as a undocumented immigrant is a very emotional and cherishing piece to read. i really liked how Antonio had much a good supporting cast and kept on pushing, coming back stronger along his journey. this passage is mostly about Antonio overcoming his fears as he tries to achieve his american lifestyle dream. throughout the passage he faces self guilt with himself, his mom, his peers, and even his fellow co workers cause he was an immigrant.
    the genre of the text was a narrative because Antonio writes about his past and talks about to the reader. the tone at times is sad, and frustation from his guilt and the secrets he ahs kept throughout his whole life when migrating to america. in the passage it stated that Antonio would watch tv shows and read to learn how the average american speaks. he would also read magazines in the library to learn how to write better.
    The intended audience that Antonio worte this piece for was for his mother, and most importantly others immigrants who possibly might have been in Antonio’s position with keeping such a big secret.
    Antonio faced many obstacles throughout his whole ever since coming to america when his ‘relative” used a fake passport and other documents to come to america, his grandparents lolo and lola making fake ids social security number and more documents so he had a fair shot at a job or driving in this country. whenever he faced an obstacle he figured out a way to overcome it whether it was from his grandparents, his teachers, friends, or even himself.
    The people who affected Antonio the most were his grandparents lolo and lola cause they were at times scared for him like when he was gay, they will try support throughout when it came to his education, needing documents, or even trying to get a license. his super intendent Rich Fisher along with princapal Pat also helped him come a long when he faced a college education obstacle by getting Antonio a lawyer which lead to a scholarship fund.

  11. Adrian Bucko

    1. I discovered this text extremely intriguing, I especially appreciated finding out with regards to Jose Antonio Vargas’ life the more I read
    2. This text is about the hard experience that illegal immigrants and what they need to go through in America. It portrayed the things he needed to do to remain in America and not get expelled. It portrayed the dread he had living as an undocumented migrant. A constant fear within him
    3. The genre of this text is a Narrative since it recounts the account of Vargas. The tone the creator had was a nonpartisan /informative tone.
    4. Antonio Vargas’ encounters impact his proficiency improvement on account of the issues he needed to look at during those encounters. He was terrified of imparting his concern to anybody since he felt that this may cause more issues in his day-to-day existence. He was denied numerous temporary positions since he didn’t have a driving permit nor an identification so that influenced him to make his blessing from heaven of turning into a journalist. He needed to take temporary positions so he had a higher shot at landing the position of a columnist. He deceived his companions about he was unable to stand to take some time off yet as a general rule, the issue was that he wasn’t legitimate so he was unable to leave the US.
    5. I think Antonio composed this article so that individuals can see the unjustifiable treatment undocumented foreigners get. He composed it to rouse individuals to battle for reasonable laws for undocumented outsiders and undocumented understudies who need to accomplish their objectives.
    6. Antonio confronted the test of not having a genuine green card to show at the DMV. He expected to get a driver’s permit so he concentrate on different states in which it is simpler to acquire one until he concluded that Oregon was the express that would permit him to get a driver’s permit. He utilized a companion’s location for confirmation of residency and had the option to get a driver’s permit in Oregon.
    7. Individuals that influenced Antonio Vargas the most were his folks, Pat, and Rich, who he said were his tutors that assisted him with the new employee screening and getting his driver’s permit. and his folks as his mom and grandpa because they were the ones who were doing anything they can to keep Antonio going in life.

  12. Marzan Alam

    -I enjoyed reading this text because even though I couldn’t relate to it first hand like Amy Tang’s autobiography, My people have a long history of immigrating to the United States and struggling with their legal documentation. While reading the text, Jose Vargas’s story, it reminded me of “Bengali Harlem and the Lost Histories of South Asian America” by Vivek Bald. Both explored the story of POC illegal immigrants and their impact on American History through their struggles trying to create a living for themselves in America.
    -The text is a summary of Jose Antonio Vargas’s life as a Queer undocumented immigrant in America. He was spent from the Philippines by his mother who wanted to give him a better chance at life. She was supposed to follow him soon but unfortunately never did. Vargas struggled with his identity and assimilating with his American peers. He was in constant distress and worry over his legal status being exposed. He was trying to build a successful career in a place not built for the ease of undocumented immigrants. This article is a way for him to communicate his story to the people he has touched over the years and a form of gratitude to those that have never given up on him.
    The genre of the text is an autobiography specifically a personal essay. The tone of the text is a mix of nostalgia and gloom. He is looking back at his life but there seems to be an underlying sorrow to his story which is understandable knowing his situation.
    -Antonio Vargas’s experiences definitely influences his literacy development. Throughout his life, he constantly was battling struggles most of his peers weren’t even thinking of. As optimistic he was, there were still times he would struggle keeping his head high. This can be seen when he was trying to apply for college. Without proper documents, he wasn’t being able to apply for financial aid, which was the only way his family could afford college. He also always needed to tiptoe around his peers and coworkers throughout life in fear they would find out about his legal status.
    -I believe Vargas wrote this article to show the world the reality for most illegal immgigrants. His intended audience is both the people he grew up and worked with. To give an insight to the inner demons plaguing his mind while he looked unfazed on the outside. He wanted to persuade people who may have a negative connotation about undocumented immigrants, that they’re just human beings trying to make a living for themselves.
    -Antonio faced numerous problems like when he first tried to get a drivers license. This was when he first found out about his legal status. Again, when there was a school trip his class was going to, He discussed his situation with his teacher and they ended up traveling to Hawaii to accommodate. Like I mentioned before, he faced a major problem trying to apply for financial aid because it was the only way he could afford college. He solved this by applying to internships across the country instead. He was finally able to get his drivers license with the help of his school officials who helped show proof of residency and teach him in a parking lot before hand.
    -The experiences and people that affected him the most was his grandparents who raised him in America. His Lola(Grandfather), managed to pull together 4,500 USD to bring him to the states. His school officials, Pat and Rich, who tried their best to get him accepted into colleges and helped get his drivers license. His mentor, Peter Pearl whom he told his story to and who said to Vargas, “we’ll tell Don and Len together.” His mother whom he resented in his teenage years for putting him in a situation like this but in the end understood she did it for his sake, to give him an education and life far beyond she had.

  13. SaraBeharry

    1. I think the struggles he went through are very sad. But I also admire that he worked hard.
    2. In “My Life an Undocumented Immigrant”, Vargas is living a life in America. He is constantly afraid of being figured out and he barley spends time with his family Philippines. Since he doesn’t have his papers he’s at risk of being found out. Vargas states,
    “But then my lack of proper documents became a problem again.”
    3. This is a narrative and I would say the tone is informative because he’s telling us what happened.
    4. Vargas was constantly fearing and he couldn’t go out of the country. And he would be a success but with depression on top of it.
    6. I think Vargas wrote the articles so other immigrants could relate to something but also to show people who were born in this country how hard it is to be an immigrant.
    7. He faced multiple challenge and the biggest challenge for him in my opinion is not being able to trust people and get close to them. He also faced the challenge of being gay and at the time that wasn’t accepted.
    8. I think his mother and grandparents affected him the most because he explains how he was angry at his mother for being sent there but at the same time he was grateful to be there. His grandparents were there for him in America.

  14. ibrahim

    1.I think the text was good and how he talks about his childhood Journey.
    2.this is mostly about how his life as a Immigrant and about his childhood.talks about what he does too.
    3.this is a self Narrative because he talks about him as a immigrant.
    4. Antonio Vargas’s experiences influence his literacy development because he did not learn the same as everyone else he was taught a different kind of English this is a big part of his identity it shows what he knows about himself and others around him. This allows him to not know much about things in school but in his own way of talking can understand others in his life.
    5.I think Antonio Vargas’s wrote this tho show his life as a immigrant and how life was for him. This is for the readers and for people that have a similar connection to what he went through.
    6.some challenges he had to go through is the people around him what they think about him but he overcomes it by just pushing him self and try to not listen to them.
    7. The people that affected Antonio Vargas the most his parents but another big thing is himself because he did not know many things but stood up and did what he had to do.

  15. Christian Luna

    a) What I thought about this text was it was very interesting because it really brought me through Antonio Vargas’s experiences and what he had to go through as an undocumented immigrant and what he was feeling when he had to try to get hired for internships. I really enjoyed this reading because it was detailed and it really was intriguing due to Antonio Vargas’s way of telling events in a clear chronological order.
    b) What the text was mostly about was what Antonio Vargas had to go through in his life as an undocumented immigrant and what his life was like trying to live a normal life he possibly could. “The more I did it, the more I felt like an impostor, the more guilt I carried
    — and the more I worried that I would get caught. But I kept doing it.”(6th paragraph, page 4). What Antonio Vargas was talking about in this quote was that he felt more and more guilt when he used his fake social security number because he knew what he was doing was illegal but he had to do it in order to pursue his dream.
    c) The genre of the text is an autobiography because Antonio Vargas is talking about his whole life and what he did to get by and what happened through it. Antonio Vargas is also talking about his feelings that he experienced through each scenario that he described.The tone of the text is informative and optimistic because Antonio Vargas talks about what he did to get by as an undocumented immigrant, he informs the reader what he experienced throughout his life by his family and by his peers. The text is also optimistic because Antonio Vargas also believed that if he worked hard enough, then he would be rewarded with citizenship. “I convinced myself that if I worked enough, if I achieved enough, I would be rewarded with citizenship. I felt I could earn it.”(Page 1, 5th paragraph). With this quote, Antonio Vargas seems to be optimistic and throughout the text, he continues to have an optimistic tone.
    d) The way that Antonio Vargas’s experiences influence his literacy development and the development of his identity is by him having to learn proper English from English slang. “discovered a passion for language, though it was hard to learn the difference between formal English and American slang. One of my early memories is of a freckled kid in middle school asking me, “What’s up?” I replied, “The sky,” and he and a couple of other kids laughed.”(Page 1, 2nd paragraph). Antonio Vargas had to learn the difference between proper and slang English and this influenced his literacy development because it changed the way that he talked and wrote.
    e) I think that Antonio Vargas wrote this article because he wanted to show everyone that he knew what was actually going on with his life and wanted to come forward about everything that he felt guilty about, such as using a fake social security number to get a driver’s license and to get jobs at multiple places. I think that his target audience are people that are going through a similar situation that he has gone through because he wants to give people hope and optimism that everything will come out well.
    f) The challenges that Antonio Vargas faced were not being able to get a job because he couldn’t get a driver’s license because he was an undocumented immigrant. The way that he overcame those challenges was trying to find a way around and not giving up even when he felt that there was nothing that could be done. He found a way to get a license and this then helped him get internships and jobs at many places so he could be able to survive.
    g) The people that affected Antonio Vargas the most were his grandparents Lolo and Lola, and Rich Fischer. His grandparents supported him throughout his life growing up and Rich Fischer paid for his tuition so he could go to college and pursue his dream of becoming a writer. Rich also helped him by teaching him how to drive so he could get his license in order to obtain a job. Rich really supported and helped Antonio Vargas become the person that he is and allowed him to pursue his dream of becoming a writer.

  16. Christopher

    I think the text is very inspirational because the author talks about living in America not being accepted because he is a immigrant and he still works hard to achieve his dreams. The text is mostly about Jose Antonio Vegas journey from another country to America being an “undocumented immigrant” explaining his accomplishments and obstacles. In the text it states “I’ve lived an American Dream” after graduating from high school and college, building his career and “interviewing some of the most famous people in the country” but even with all of this, his accomplishments still didn’t change the fact that he is an “undocumented immigrant”. The Genre of the text is a autobiography and the tone is sad. Antonio Vegas first challenge was to learn how to speak English. Antonio spent hours in highschool “watching television” to improve his English “pausing the VHS to try to copy how various characters enunciated their words”. Antonio Vegas also went to the library to “read magazine, book, and news papers” to improve his writing. I think Antonio Vegas wrote this article for other undocumented immigrants and what’s going on in America now. Antonio faced many challenges which one was living in America as a immigrant with limited English and no proof of citizenship. Antonio went out his way to read and watch television to improve his reading and writing. He also used fake information to get his social security card and state ID. Antonio also worked a part time job while in highschool. Since Antonio and his family was immigrants, he could not apply for financial aid relying of and offer for a full time job from the Mountain View Voice.

  17. Christopher

    I think the text is very inspirational because the author talks about living in America not being accepted because he is a immigrant and he still works hard to achieve his dreams. The text is mostly about Jose Antonio Vegas journey from another country to America being an “undocumented immigrant” explaining his accomplishments and obstacles. In the text it states “I’ve lived an American Dream” after graduating from high school and college, building his career and “interviewing some of the most famous people in the country” but even with all of this, his accomplishments still didn’t change the fact that he is an “undocumented immigrant”. The Genre of the text is a autobiography and the tone is sad. Antonio Vegas first challenge was to learn how to speak English. Antonio spent hours in highschool “watching television” to improve his English “pausing the VHS to try to copy how various characters enunciated their words”. Antonio Vegas also went to the library to “read magazine, book, and news papers” to improve his writing. I think Antonio Vegas wrote this article for other undocumented immigrants and what’s going on in America now. Antonio faced many challenges which one was living in America as a immigrant with limited English and no proof of citizenship. Antonio went out his way to read and watch television to improve his reading and writing. He also used fake information to get his social security card and state ID. Antonio also worked a part time job while in highschool. Since Antonio and his family was immigrants, he could not apply for financial aid relying of and offer for a full time job from the Mountain View Voice.

  18. Christopher

    I think the text is very inspirational because the author talks about living in America not being accepted because he is a immigrant and he still works hard to achieve his dreams. The text is mostly about Jose Antonio Vegas journey from another country to America being an “undocumented immigrant” explaining his accomplishments and obstacles. In the text it states “I’ve lived an American Dream” after graduating from high school and college, building his career and “interviewing some of the most famous people in the country” but even with all of this, his accomplishments still didn’t change the fact that he is an “undocumented immigrant”. The Genre of the text is a autobiography and the tone is sad. Antonio Vegas first challenge was to learn how to speak English. Antonio spent hours in highschool “watching television” to improve his English “pausing the VHS to try to copy how various characters enunciated their words”. Antonio Vegas also went to the library to “read magazine, book, and news papers” to improve his writing. I think Antonio Vegas wrote this article for other undocumented immigrants and what’s going on in America now. Antonio faced many challenges which one was living in America as a immigrant with limited English and no proof of citizenship. Antonio went out his way to read and watch television to improve his reading and writing. He also used fake information to get his social security card and state ID. Antonio also worked a part time job while in highschool. Since Antonio and his family was immigrants, he could not apply for financial aid relying of and offer for a full time job from the Mountain View Voice.

  19. Jin teng kam

    1) i found this text very interesting because how he have all the fake document like fake green card, fake passport, and a fake driving license to remain in the United States. There is many undocumented immigrant in the United states trying to have opportunity and living in anxiety.
    2) it is about how Jose get into US and how he live his life with anxiety because he was undocumented. when he was 16 he when to DMV trying to get his driving license and he got caught using a fake document “this is fake,” “don’t come back here again” said by the employee and after that Jose live his whole life with anxiety of getting caught as a undocumented.
    3) the genre would be narrative because he is talking about his experience and the tone is very informative
    4)Antonio Vargas have to change how he talk and learn how to speak American slang because what he learn in his country does not help him much in the US. one on his classmate ask him “what’s up” and he reply “the sky” this show that he have to learn what they called “American slang” to understand and not get make fun of.
    5) Antonio Vargas write this article to show his experience and to show support to other undocumented in the US how to find opportunity to live in the US
    6)Antonio face many challenges like having fake document, fake green card, fake passport, fake driving license and this make his afraid when people ask for his document. this making him not able to get a driving license because of not able to have a proof of address and he uses his friend address in Oregon so he was able to get a driving license.
    7) Antonio grandparent affect him the most because his grandparent financially supporting him and his parent since he was 13 and his grandparent help him a lot by keeping him in the US and having him all the document needed even its not real.

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