Compare how Ron Suskind presents the difficulties of Cedric’s education in part 1 and part 2 ?

Ron Suskind uses various language techniques to present difficulties in Cedric’s education in part one and part two of his articles. Cedric undergoes many obstacles and challenges when in Ballou high and MIT such as receiving abuse from other students, struggling with work at MIT and also violence in his area. Throughout the articles Suskind uses various language devices that suggest that it is difficult for Cedric to get an education.

One way in which he has done so is by using the metaphor, ‘The Arduous Odyssey of Cedric’. The word ‘arduous’ suggests Cedric’s journey throughout his school life will be tough and hard to get through. By Ron Suskind relating Cedric’s education to the odyssey he is referring to the Greek myth where a man goes on a long journey all alone. This compares to Cedric’s education and school life at Ballou as he stays in classrooms during break, lunch and also after school striving for all the best, so he can get into MIT. Therefore by Ron Suskind mentioning the ‘Odyssey’ it suggests how Cedric has a long and tough journey to face in order to get to MIT.

Similarly in Part 2 of the article Ron Suskind also uses another metaphor to suggest Cedric’s education is very difficult. We can see this when he says, “I tell him those on the sideline are already out of the race”. In relating Cedric’s education to a race, we are given the impression that in order to succeed you must be willing to give it your all and you must be aware of your surroundings as everyone is trying to be better than you. By comparing Cedric’s education to a race, we are also led to think about the physical aspect of the race. A lot of stamina is needed in order to win; this tells us that Cedric’s education will take a long period of time and he must be patient and cope with it. In part one of the articles Suskind talks about Cedric on an individual level. He relates Cedric’s journey to the Odyssey which is a story about an individual journey which is long and tiring. However, in part 2 of the article, Suskind shows how many people are competing with Cedric as they all have the same goal in life which is to succeed and get into MIT. We are able, therefore, to see that it is not only Cedric struggling on this journey and he is part of a larger community as it is a race and there are many people competing.

Another time where Cedric’s education is seen to be difficult is when his teacher says, ‘Failure here is persuasive, even seductive ‘. This quote uses personification as ‘failure’ is described here as seductive which implies that it acts as a human trying to bring everyone down. The word seductive means to have an attractive quality which tempts you to do something. This suggests that ‘failure’ is attracting pupils and bringing them down often since the school is in a bad area. Furthermore,  Ron Suskind uses the word ‘persuasive’. The word persuasive means that something is tempting to do due to something or someone making someone believe it is the right thing to do. This gives us the impression that in Ballou’s learning environment, failure is a natural thing and it is portrayed as the right thing to do. In doing so, Ron Suskind leads us to believe there are many reasons for Cedric’s education seeming difficult.

Another language technique Suskind uses to present Cedric’s education as difficult is the metaphor, ‘Being a minority and a high achiever means you have to carry extra baggage about who you are’. This quote tells us that because Cedric is a black pupil in a white school it means that it is like carrying extra baggage. The term ‘extra baggage’ suggests that him being black is like taking extra clothing on holiday and therefore weighing him down. The term ‘high achiever’ suggests that Cedric is one of the few black children who have potential and are capable to succeed. It also shows that Cedric will find it harder to do well compared to the white pupils as they were previously at high achieving high schools Whereas Cedric attended a school in a poor neighbourhood which is described as the ‘Centre of a crime infested ward’. This gives us the impression that the pupils are bound to have no hope in an area like this. The word ‘infested’ suggests that Cedric’s school has caught a contagious disease, and it is unable to get rid of it.

The final quote I will be explaining is the metaphor, ‘but where I started from is far behind were some other kids are, I have to run twice the distance to catch up’. This shows us how Cedric views his own education as well as us; and from this quote we are able to see that Cedric has high expectations for himself. Also it tells that the neighborhood of his previous school had an impact as even though he study every hour of everyday he is still some how behind the rest of the kids at MIT. Also by Cedric saying ‘i have to run twice the distance to catch up’ the thought of stamina comes to mind as you need a lot of cardiovascular endurance to catch up which suggests it will be a long way away. The quote in the previous paragraph is similar to this quote as they both represent how Cedric is doing on an individual level. Also we are told that many kids are ahead of him which gives us the impressing that him being black and from a poor neighborhood has a massive impact on his Education. This is the final way Ron suskind presents Cedric’s education as difficult.

In conclusion, Cedric has been through many ups and downs throughout his school life. In Ballou high he was seen to be there ‘Highest’ achiever, which was quite a miracle considering the rough neighbor hood the school was based in as it was described to be a ‘crime infested ward’. However during his time at MIT we saw that he wasn’t ‘the top dog’ anymore and he seemed to be behind on most subjects. In the end Cedric received criticism from a teacher in MIT which came to Cedric as a surprise as he had never experienced this before, this led onto him giving up. The quote that shows Cedric’s education to be difficult the most is ‘The Arduous Odyssey of Cedric’. This quote is very effective as Ron Suskind relates cedrics education to a greek myth, which in order to be understood you must research it. Therefore it gives that extra bit of spice when read again.