Misconceptions In 'Battle Hymn Of The Tiger Mother'

In Brent Staples article “Just Walk on By”, Staples shares his thoughts on the way marginalized groups interact. He uses his own experiences as a young African American man to shed light on how people can have implied biases that affect the way they treat other people. Staples does this to demonstrate how society develops preconceived notions in the minds of individuals about marginalized groups, primarily African American men, which are often a flawed representation of the people within these groups. The rhetoric he uses is key to developing an understanding persona and an emotional appeal that exposes the implied biases of people without alienating or offending the audience, to whom-- among others-- he attributes these biases.

Shame and guilt can go hand in hand, as seen in; Flight, The Glass Castle, and The Joy Luck Club. As the three novels progress, many of the characters suffer with inner shame and guilt. While the characters suffer with these things, it somehow seems to shape and change them. Through the characters hardships and struggles, the theme of shame and guilt emerges.

For first generation Americans, finding belonging in a new country can feel impossible. They are often caught between the traditions and ideals of the two differing countries. Raising a family in the new home with different values can lead to miscommunications or even a significant disconnect between parents and children. This is modeled well in Amy Tan’s The Joy Luck Club, particularly in the relationship between Ying Ying Saint Clair and her daughter Lena. The prejudice Ying Ying Saint Clair feels for American culture causes her to have a difficult time understanding and communicating with her daughter.

The Woman Warrior by Maxine Hong Kingston addresses prevalent topics faced in America today. How should women act? Should women be treated differently from men? In her memoir, Kingston faces many obstacles with her Chinese-American identity such as finding her voice as a young woman. In “White Tigers,” Kingston tells her own version of a popular Chinese ballad, “Fa Mu Lan,” while incorporating her own reality back into the section. In her literary criticism, “Empowerment Through Mythological Imaginings in “Woman Warrior”,” Sue Ann Johnston comments on Kingston’s use of myths in the memoir, and believes that myths are Kingston’s most effective means of conveying messages to readers. Although these myths are effective, Johnston overlooks Kingston’s incorporation of these myths back into her own life. As demonstrated in “White Tigers,” Maxine Hong Kingston reveals that a woman warrior requires strength, dedication, independence, and confidence through her mother’s talk-stories and personal struggles during her life.

Identity and moral responsibility are portrayed in this story, as well as Martin Luther King Jr’s iconic speech. In his speech he talks about who they are and who they should be. It is important to maintain your identity while still fighting for your freedom. “We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline” ( King 2). This quotes explains that, while fighting, we must stay true to ourselves and not get out of control. Our action define who we are, so it is essential that continue to be ourselves and fight for what we believe. Just like the play, Beneatha struggles finding her true background. Along the way she loses focus on what her true dreams are. She believes they may just be meaningless in the vicious circle of discrimination and segregation. Identity is something that everyone, white or black, should always keep intact. I believe both pieces of literature portray this very special detail. Moral responsibility also plays a big role in each piece. In A Raisin in the Sun , Walter believes that it is his responsibility to ensure better opportunities and a better future for his future generations. He wants to own his liquor store so badly, he goes through extreme measures and ultimately ends up losing all the money given to him from his father’s death. Their new home is just the next best thing for him to hold on to. Fortunately, the family is able to move into the new house and area.

Culture plays a large role on how someone views others and the world. Some things that can affect some one’s perspective are their childhood, past experiences, and their ethnic background.

In the essay “Two Ways to Belong in America,” from 50 essays, Bharati Mukherjee contrasts the different views of the United States from two Indian sisters. The author distinguishes her American lifestyle to her sister’s traditional Indian lifestyle. Both sisters grew up in Calcutta, India, moved to America in search of education and work. Bharati adjusts to the American society very quickly, where her sister Mira clings to her Indian traditions more strongly. Despite both sisters living in America, only Bharati is an American citizen, while her sister Mira is not. Bharati argues the two ways to belong in America are to transform yourself as an immigrant, or to be an exile.

In Sociology, stereotypes are described as "pictures in our heads" that we do not acquire through personal experience. I believe that stereotypes are a mental tool that enforces racial segregation and self-hate. As well justification for dehumanizing minorities. Such as Black women are "Mammy", "Welfare Mothers", "Uneducated", " Inferior", and "Poor". White women are "Pure", "Desirable", "Affluent" and "Superior". These stereotypes are labels that evoke images of oppression, segregation and exploitation of minorities in America. Meanwhile reinforcing the dominance in a social hierarchy.

Racism has been around for a long time and it still exists today. It has been embedded to a degree that it reproduces itself. It is in the culture of the future generation. What is seen and taught to us in our environment is how we learn our behavior and actions towards others. Because of this, whether we realize it or not, racist behavior is taught and passed on. Dismantling this requires dialogue, reflection on ourselves (and others), and relearning our behaviors. In some cases, racism is subtle and in others, it is obvious. Since the Civil Rights Movement, progress has emerged but ignorance and denial of the past and recurrence of history still exist among many. This is covered in the reading, The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the

As for forms of appeal, the author has established a strong ethos. This can be explained due to the author’s education, including her job, but can most importantly be explained due to her experiences. Throughout the article, the author discusses the contrasts between how Chinese and Western parents are educating children, and in this context, she mentions her own experiences, for instance: “[…] I was extremely

“A long time ago, my ancestor Paikea came to this place on the back of a whale. Since then, in every generation of my family, the first born son has carried his name and become the leader of our tribe... until now” (Caro & Sanders, 2003). Whale Rider is the story of a girl, Pai, whose twin brother and mother die in child birth. Koro, Pai’s grandfather and leader of the Maori tribe, is devastated that their future leader has died. Years later Koro is determined to find a leader and begins to teach and train the boys, in which Pai is not allowed to join because she is a girl. In a final test Koro throws a sacred whale tooth in the ocean but the boys cannot retrieve it. Later, Pai dives for the tooth and is successful, proving her right as leader.

Immigration can be a controversial topic that many governments are feuding over today. As politicians argue, the real battle occurs as each individual immigrant determines how they will approach their new country. Immigrants must choose if they will assimilate to the new countries values, languages and traditions or maintain their home country’s customs. In the article, “Two Ways To Belong In America,” the author, Bharati Mukherjee, contrasts her and her sister Mira’s experiences along with millions of other American immigrants as they face betrayal, racism, and hardship.

I found the focus of the book to be perhaps the most fascinating aspect of the reading; Professor Lareau, instead of centering her research on the economic advantages of middle and upper class children, she concentrates on the impacts these class differences had on the overall development of the child as a result of diverging parenting strategies from parents in each socio-economic group. In other words, she notes that the disadvantages lower income children experience were more than just an economic; instead, these socio-economic differences truly manifested themselves in different ways of parenting. It was these differences in parenting, (a result of their socioeconomic class), that impacted the outcome of the children. Middle class parents practiced a method of parenting coined cultured cultivation, while lower income parents practiced a method on the basis of the accomplishment of natural growth. Middle class parents for example, instilled a broader cultural repertoire in their children. Something as simple as taking a child to

The historical lineage between the African and Asian diasporas present a reciprocal relationship of influence and experience. Throughout the passage of time, these bodies of people have been both opposing forces and allies; in response to the racial tensions surrounding their respective groups, in their corresponding environments. Interactions between Africans and Asians created a dynamic that whites often felt threatened by but also used to wield power and institute dissension among the groups. By utilizing facets of colorblindness, multiculturalism, primordialism, polyculturalism, and Afro-orientalism, racial formation will examined as it exists within the Afro-Asian dynamic.

Amy Chua, a professor at Yale Law School, has created an article called Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother that intensively describes differences in the usage of parenting methods in Chinese and Westerners culture. The author has personally raised her children in a highly strict manner so her children succeed in life and academics. Chua often refers to the term “Chinese mother” that describes her parenting style apart from Western parents. The main purpose of this article is to show the two parenting techniques and how they affect the child 's success. Amy Chua’s intense Chinese mother style is extremely hard on children.