A Rhetorical Analysis Of Amy Tan's Fish Cheeks

Elle Woods was the typical sorority girl while at CULA- she loved shopping; her friends; and her boyfriend, Warner. With her father’s money on her side, Elle never prioritized her education or working. She assumed her future held a marriage to Warner and life as a trophy wife; but when Warner declares Elle a hindrance to his goals of graduating from Harvard University, she becomes determined to do the same. Realizing no amount of money could buy admission to Harvard, Elle works valiantly toward her goal and is accepted. As the movie comes to a close, the scene shifts to three years later with Elle addressing her classmates as she graduates alongside Warner. Though she does not speak excessively, Elle speaks of the passion, perseverance, and determination necessary for success. In her short, yet effective speech; Elle uses ethos and pathos to encourage her classmates to go forth in their law careers with courage and faith, and reminds them to never accept people as they appear on the surface.

“Fish Cheeks” by Amy Tan recalls an embarrassing Christmas Eve dinner the author had during her childhood. Attending this dinner was Tans childhood crush and an assortment of Tans relatives and family friends. Tan explains that she was embarrassed by her family’s Chinese traditions, including the mishmash of Chinese foods, noisy relatives, and impolite manners (Tan 74). Tan’s only desire was to be like other American girls, but it wasn’t until much later in life did Tan truly realize what her family’s heritage meant to her. Likewise, “Museum” by Naomi Shihab Nye tells of another past embarrassing experience by the author. Nye informs the reader of an add she saw for a museum called the McNay. Nye and her friend both decide to attend the

The author creates pathos by exposing the reader to whom and how conditions impact families and youth. Duffield writes:

Gish Jen’s “Who’s Irish” tells the story of a sixty-eight-year-old Chinese immigrant and her struggle to accept other cultures different from her own. The protagonist has been living in the United States for a while but she is still critical of other cultures and ethnicities, such as her son-in-law’s Irish family and the American values in which her daughter insists on applying while raising the protagonist’s granddaughter. The main character finds it very hard to accept the American way of disciplining and decides to implement her own measures when babysitting her granddaughter Sophie. When the main character’s daughter finds out that she has been spanking Sophie she asks her mother to move out of the house and breaks any further contact

The author uses rhetorical devices in her essay to develop the main idea throughout the paragraphs. She explains her feelings towards loneliness by using allusions and anecdotes. Fox example, she brings up a memory in her past. The boxcar children would be an example of an allusion.(Par 9) These methods all eventually lead up to the author’s point of view, and the main idea of course.

    The speaker is able to use three rhetorical devices, being ethos, logos, and pathos, when talking to the audience about the time she had spent

In the essay "Fish Cheeks" it says, "For Christmas I prayed for this blond-haired boy, Robert, and a slim new American nose." This statement proposes that Amy thinks if she looks American to the outside world she will become American. Amy Tan is very embarrassed by her family who does not try to change to fit in, but shows their culture proudly. "At the end of the meal my father leaned back and belched loudly, thanking my mother for her fine cooking. "It's a polite Chinese custom to show you are satisfied" explained my father" (Tan 6). She then goes on to wonder what Robert would think of her family's "shabby Chinese Christmas" (Tan 2) because that night for dinner, they would be having her mother's strange Chinese menu instead of the traditional roasted turkey and sweet potatoes. In conclusion Amy Tan is scared that her family and the menu will reveal that she is indeed Chinese so she won't be able to hide it from her crush any

Joey Franklin makes masterful use of rhetoric in his essay “Working at Wendy’s” to construct an entertaining and compelling argument in favor of recognizing that the workers of the service industry are not just undistinguished drones, but rather complicated people, each with their own desires and stories. To this end, the author utilizes the effective rhetorical device of pathos, logos, and ethos. Franklin demonstrates an excellent use of imagery that serves as a conduit for empathy, which is vital for the use of pathos, the emotional appeal. In reference to logos, the appeal to logic, he paints the picture of a hard-working father that needs to provide for his family. This is a clear representation of common logic and ties into ethos, which is the rhetorical appeal to authority and ethics, in the sense that many people can relate to caring about and working to support family. For ethos, he establishes himself as your everyday working man — part of the working class. This shows that he’s clearly apt for speaking of the position he’s in, and allows the audience to relate to him through pathos.

Amy and the main character from “Carapace” both feel burdened to satisfy the expectations of their country by changing their personality and adapting to situations in specific ways. Such behavior is seen when Amy complies to Robert and the American culture by refusing to eat her favorite delicacy, fish cheeks, only because the dish is not the traditional Thanksgiving spread of her society, the United States. Amy is also stressed to conform by committing to the “dress code” of her society as told by her mother, “You want to be same as American girl on the outside.”(Tan 2) and her wish, “I prayed for...a slim new American nose” (Tan 1).

In Literature, rhetorical devices are often used to place emphasis on certain ideas or descriptions, to make an idea clearer, or to provide insight and to smoothly relate topics. Throughout his collection of essays, Scott Russell Sanders utilizes rhetorical devices in order to make his statements and ideas more vivid and clear for the reader. The rhetorical devices offer a more descriptive and insightful look into Sanders’ thoughts on his childhood, personality, and view of the world around him. Throughout the book, Sanders’ uses rhetorical devices ranging from allusions of events and people from the past to employing a varied tone in order give the audience a clear view into his thoughts

To begin with, rhetorical strategies are techniques which writers use in their article to assert and persuade the audience about a specific point. These techniques can include narratives, descriptive, and cause and effect. Using these strategies, a writer is able to introduce the topic and provide examples in order to achieve their purpose, which could be a variety of different things.

    Many people see the world and others differently. Just like the two sisters in “Everyday Use”, the two sisters in “Two Ways to Belong in America”, and the father in the letter/short essay “An Indian Father's Plea”. All these people have different past and things they’re going through. The two sisters in “Two Ways To Belong In America” both have their different stories from their past, one likes America the other does not because they betrayed her. Next, the father from “An Indian Father’s Plea” sees America differently because the school was labeled his kid a “slow learner” which made him upset. In addition, the two sisters from “ Everyday Use” argue about a quilt in which they both view differently

The author uses rhetorical questions to make the reader think about the subject in depth. Rhetorical questions are put into the article to try to make the reader think rhetorically about the topic. Sometimes these questions can be hard to answer but not the questions put in this article. For example, in the begging the author puts “If someone

The short fiction piece Fish Cheeks, written by Amy Tan, is an autobiographical narrative. The story took place when Amy was fourteen years old, living in America. Amy had a huge crush on an American "blond-haired boy", Robert, who had a "slim new American nose". Robert was the minister's son. Amy's parents decided to host a Christmas Eve dinner, inviting the minister's family.

In 7th grade Michael and Victor decide it is a good idea to scowl to make them seem cooler. “I think it works,” Michael said. He scowled and let his upper lip quiver.” Victor goes along and decides to do it too. Victor also pretends to speak French to blow Teresa away. He says “La me vave me con le grandma,” Teresa asks him to tutor him because he is so good at French and now he has to study and learn French immediately in order to stay with the person he is desperately trying to impress. In Fish Cheeks Amy pretends like she isn’t a part of the crazy Chinese Christmas and she is like the other American girls. She cries when she finds out that Robert has been invited over and hope he hopefully likes her back. She was thinking “What would Robert think of our shabby Chinese Christmas?” Her actions were, pretending the food is weird and not eating any of it. She also acts like she is American and not Chinese like the rest of her family.