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

In this essay I will be explaining how Ron Suskind presents the difficulties of Cedric’s education in part one and two of his articles. Cedric goes through many difficulties when in Ballou High and in MIT, in Ballou High violence and gangs and in MIT, confidence and hard work. Throughout the articles suskind uses various language devices that suggest it was difficult for Cedric to maintain his education.

One of the language devices Ron Suskind uses is metaphor. The quote ‘The arduous odyssey of Cedric’ suggests that Cedric has a long and enduring journey. We can tell because the word ‘arduous’ means struggle and the word ‘odyssey’ suggests that Cedric is on a long, difficult journey just like the character in the Greek myth the odyssey. It also a prolonged journey that he faces by himself as he has no friends and was involved in a school that was the embodiment of poverty.

Suskind also uses the language device hyperbole in the quote  ‘For Cedric, MIT has taken on almost mythical proportions.’. Here the author tries to emphasise that Cedric never thought MIT would be a dream that comes true and now has a mythical quality to it. This compares to the previous quote as both of them quotes are myths, and the first quote seems like a journey that has a end to it and the second one seems endless.

Suskind uses a metaphor in the quote ‘I have to run twice the distance to catch up.’ The quote suggest that Cedric believe he is so behind the students at MIT due to Ballou High not being a suitable learning environment. Everyone else in MIT has been to a school that the teachers can control the class and the students can work independently as well as working as a group to help each other. However for Cedric, Ballou High was the opposite. All the elements of a bad school was in Ballou High such as drugs, guns, gangs, violence. A school which was impossible for Cedric to expand his knowledge. This compare to the previous paragraph. They both have in common that Cedric never had it easy and it’s been a tough journey for him.

Suskind uses the language technique personification in the quote ‘failure here is persuasive even seductive,’ It shows that in this school failure act like a human trying to bring many people down, and it show that very little students succeed in Ballou High. This presents that Cedric education was difficult as the class appetites to learn was not good. This did not help Cedric journey to make it in MIT. The other students never had the desire to learn like Cedric so essentially they were dead weight holding Cedric back. In Ballou High, it was easier to fail than to succeed and the term ‘seductive’ means tempting and enticing and the other students were trying to entice Cedric into being part of the slump.

Ron Suskind uses a metaphor in the quote ‘I tell him those people on the sideline there already out the race.’ The quote means that Cedric is so far ahead in the race that the other students are not a competition, but are students who try to drag you down. In a race, you need to have endurance and Cedric requires that because he faces a long journey and it won’t be quick so that shows he need endurance. Similarly in a race, you always try to win and for Cedric a win is to join MIT, so the people on the sideline are people that do not care about their education. I can compare this to the original question as the students make Cedric education difficult as well as hard for him to progress as a student. Also this compare to the quote ‘failure here is persuasive, even seductive.’ In Ballou High, failure is so common and Cedric is the only student prepared to put the work whilst the other students are bystanders. That compares to the quote ‘I tell him the people on the sideline are out of the race.’

The quote ‘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.’ This quote suggests that being the minority is not being part of society. Also when Cedric was at Ballou High, he was considered white even though he was black. On the other hand, when Cedric was in MIT, he was considered black so we can see the contrast in perception ,so the phrase ‘extra baggage’ suggests that Cedric can never get rid of being the minority and the way he was raised up didn’t help his social skills.

Suskind uses a metaphor in the quote ‘Mr.Washington vents his frustration at how the deck is stacked against underprivileged students like Cedric.’ This quote suggests that he has been underprivileged and black. This is similar to the previous quote becuase Cedric is the minority becuase he the only student that is prepared to learn and he was always considered the opposite to everyone and Mr.Washington feels he is underprivileged. The term ‘deck’ suggests like a packs of cards in a game, the odds are against him so Cedric finds it hard to fit in the society. So Mr.washington feels that Cedric can’t fulfil his full potential in Ballou high.

In conclusion, there were many challenges Cedric faced at Ballou High and MIT. At Ballou High, Cedric was the top dog. Nobody was more gifted than Cedric, bearing in mind the tough circumstances he faced. There were students that were involved in gangs and drugs, also this school was a school that had a majority of black people and Cedric was the only one prepared to work in an out of school. However at MIT, it was the complete end to the spectrum. Cedric wasn’t the most talented student in the university and also had poor social skills due to a poor background so that did not help. He recived criticism and Cedric has never that so he did not deal with the situation as he gave up. This explains how Ron Suskind uses language techniques to make Cedric’s education seem difficult.