Acknowledgments
As with any work, only the author’s name appears on this one. but along the way there have been contributions by a few people whom I wish to acknowledge.
Initially, this Professional Essay would not have been completed as it is without the constant prodding and questioning of Dr. LaVona Reeves, Assistant Professor of English at Eastern Washington University, as my Committee Chair. She has challenged me not only through the preparation of this document, but in several classes where my whole concept of language learning has been tested and reformed.
Secondly, Dr. Dana Elder, Professor of English at Eastern Washington University, as the director of my program, has challenged and encouraged me in my pursuit of contrastive and comparative rhetoric and, as the second reader for this Essay, has guided me through an academic administrative system which I often found foreign.
Dr. Larry Beason, Assistant Professor of English at Eastern Washington University, also has guided my interest in contrastive and comparative rhetoric, as well as placing high demands on my sometimes untamed writing style.
I am particularly grateful to Dr. Golie Jansen, Assistant Professor of Social Work at Eastern Washington University, who recommended Gloria Anzaldúa’s work, and to Heather Clemens, a fellow graduate student, who directed me toward Richard Rodriguez's Days of Obligation: An Argument with My Mexican Father and the Postrel and Gilesspie interview with Rodriguez.
Lynda Booth, another fellow graduate student, has especially encouraged my pursuit of the topic of this Essay, teases me about my love of research, and is looking forward to reading the final product.
I am additionally indebted to the staff of the Eastern Washington University Writers’ Center, for tolerating my somewhat obsessive use of the computers early in the writing of this document, and to the staff of JFK Memorial Library, who have endured massive book checkouts, unmentionable overdues and the resulting computer hassles, and endless copy requests.
Without any one of these people, this document would be far less than it is.