Ryan Norton Assignment 2A Rhetorical Reflection Section HB- McGough October 4, 2013 Names Leave Your Name at the

Border, by Manuel Muoz, was featured in The New York Times on April 1, 2007. The essay touches on the subject of discrimination based on a name. This topic relates to a purpose, the location of the text has a rather specific audience, and the date helps define a context; changing the context and audience over time has only broadened the reach of this essay's purpose. The context has changed from a slightly more discriminatory culture and mindset to a time of tolerance where discrimination is punishable. When this story was written, there were a few mishaps with illegal immigrants which changed the views of the public in the United States. Many citizens became intolerant of the whole Latino culture and made a point to show it as well. Mexicans and other minorities were either change, some would say fix, their names or refused jobs and respect. Due to that, many Hispanic and Latino names have been normalized to the American standards, but the previous views have begun to pass and the public is becoming more tolerant as the younger generations grow. This is a rather drastic change in context, but discrimination is still a sensitive and relevant topic as it fades away. This essay was intended for all those personally affected by discrimination and any who may be the ones that discriminate, but do not to forget those that do not fall into either category. The audience was first any and every person that read The New York Times, a very large and diverse group of people, yet every single one of them had been affected by discrimination in directly or inadvertently. Now the audience is college students who read the essay from a textbook. Most those students have grown up hearing how wrong discrimination is and will have an emotional connection with this piece. These college students will most likely relate in some way to this essay, believe that it is relevant, and find strong meaning in Manuel's essay. The purpose was, at one point, to reveal the discrimination of names to the public, but now it is more of a reminder, a warning if it is true that the past repeats itself, of how it was and how far society has come since this essay was written. Still relevant in a different manner, the author's point is still found as an underlying message; students will read this essay and understand the sacrifices of the past. Many students will sympathize with the stories told in the essay, but others will have experienced this concept personally. The Latinos and Hispanics changed their names to fit in with the current society. This point can be translated and compared to a child changing how they act or what they wear in order to be considered cool or popular. People want to be accepted, whether it is now or the, but they achieve this in different ways for some follow the crowd and some stand out. This essay should still be relevant in the years to come whether it is read by adults or undergraduate students. The changes to the audience, context, and purpose of this essay have hardly changed its importance. In a textbook, this essay is read in a new context, by its new audience, undergraduate students, that finds a different purpose. In the future, a new audience will still find meaning in this essay.

Works Cited Manuel Muoz. Leave Your Name at the Border. Convergences: Themes, Texts, Images for Composition. Ed. Robert Atwan. Boston: Beford/St. Martin's, 2009. 112-117.