Poch[@]teca: Rhetorical Strategies of a Chican@ Academic Identity

Abstract

This dissertation addresses the rhetoric of deficiency that frames Latina/o students as lacking with regard to education. This dissertation begins by examining the cultural deficit model entrenched in colonial narratives of history that justify unequal access to resources in the US. I argue that the reimagining of the pejorative trope of 'pocho' by reconnecting it with its etymological root pochteca provides a trope of resistance to deficiency rhetoric, and a trope that embodies rhetorical strategies for Latina/o students navigating academic institutions. Additionally, this dissertation furthers the advocacy of culturally relevant reading and writing assignments and practices, while at the same time arguing that the discursive productions responding to culturally relevant writing demonstrate rhetorical strategies. The analysis of a student publication that responds to and integrates dichos provides a site of analysis where students identify rhetorical strategies that help them navigate obstacles related to education. The use of Twitter by a predominantly Latina/o summer bridge program provides an additional site of analysis where the writing of students in digital spaces allows them to perform latinidad, and create support networks that help them succeed in school. The pedagogical chapter of this dissertation analyzes the Arizona House Bill 2281 and the rhetoric that frames the Tucson Unified School District's Mexican American Studies program as racist and anti-American; following this analysis come suggestions for incorporating culturally relevant aspects of the TUSD MAS curriculum into rhetoric and composition curriculum.