Analysis Of Madeleine Thien 's Do Not Say We Have Nothing

Deborah Tannen’s case study entitled “Can’t We Talk?” is the most relevant reading that I have ever done for any class. It relates to a problem that every person regardless of age, race or sex, will have to face many times in his or her lifetime. The problem is that men and women communicate differently and these differences can often lead to conflict. This case study is very informative because it helps to clarify the thought process of each sex. That said this reading leaves the reader somewhat unfulfilled because Tannen does not offer a solution to the problem.

In Eric Liu's Piece ,“A Chinaman’s Chance: Reflections on the American Dream”, Liu argues that the American Dream does still exist for minorities. He claims that the Dream is not about claiming prosperity, but about seizing opportunity. He develops this claim by first utilizing anecdotes to get an emotional appeal from the audience. Then using diction to establish a logical argument and enrich the piece. And finally, using rhetorical questions to make the audience think deeply about the argument. Liu’s purpose is to convince the audience that the American Dream exists for minorities today. He also establishes a formal yet critical tone by incorporating strategic word choice and diction. This work is significant because it reflects on the important

“The Dream thrives on generalization, on limiting the number of possible questions, on privileging immediate answers. The Dream is the enemy of all art, courageous thinking, and honest writing. And it became clear that this was not just for the dreams concocted by Americans to justify themselves, but also for the dreams that I had conjured to replace them”(Coates 55).

Everyone chases a dream at some point in life. “The Dreamer” by Junot Diaz is a heartfelt story about one exceptional woman chasing her dreams. Diaz uses his mother’s life as an example of how a person can achieve his or her dreams by having courage and self-determination. He chooses to write about her because she is his motivation to succeed. He uses her struggles to provide evidence to support his thesis that anyone can overcome challenges and achieve success. While “The Dreamer” appears geared toward an audience consisting of individuals facing adversity, the piece was first published in a women’s magazine called More in 2011 (Diaz 128).

The late and well established Nora Ephron was known for her work as a filmmaker/writer. Nora Ephron was also a strong advocate for women and was seen as a role model to young ladies as proven when she was chosen to conduct the commencement speech for the Wesley graduate class of 1996. Ephron was not the ideal Wesley student which is shown in her speech with sarcasm and small jokes. However, this helped set the tone and did not diminish the level of effectiveness in the speech. The speaker was able to create a bond with the women in the seats, as she once was in their same position with the same ambition and worries of the life beyond college. Inspiration and motivation is what helps the speech progress and leave an impact on the audience.

In “Giant Dreams, Midget Abilities,” David Sedaris describes the life of a boy who has to pursue a dream that he does not want to pursue. The boy’s father is a prodigious jazz fan, and after going to a Dave Brubeck concert, the boy’s father wanted his house to be filled with music. The father then got the boy and his sisters some instruments and started to teach them lessons. Sedaris uses scenes to describes how the boys life is, and how the boy tries to avoid what his father wants him to become.

Most people from an early age have a dream; yet often people give up on them and most of the time around middle school or late elementary school. It is the prime time where everyone gets discouraged by bullying and the realization that life is tough that dawns in the child’s mind around this time. The discouraging factor could also be due to an unsupportive family, which is shown primarily by the short stories “Everything Will Be Okay” by James Howe and “Stray” by Cynthia Rylant. The main characters in each story have a conflict over a desire. In “Everything Will Be Okay” Our main character loses the argument in the end and the kitten he desperately wanted to keep the cat, but he learns the invaluable lesson not to give up on your dreams.

The world loves dreamers. Every, day people are inspired by other people who strive to achieve their dreams of grandeur. They pick their heroes: charismatic, daring, and habitually dead. The romantic ideals of these individuals present skewed views of reality and often lead to dire situations.

The story of an American Dream is established as an opportunity that includes a picket fence with a home , working hard and the location is at the suburbs. Although Ta Nehisi Coates states, “ The Dream thrives on generalization, on limiting the number of possible questions, on privileging immediate answers. The Dream is the enemy of all art, courageous thinking. and honest writing”[(Coates 50)]. Coates was meaning to say that dreams are questions that we answer to our beliefs to achieve on what we want to achieve. Likewise, Kim and Ma left Hong Kong and had help from Aunt Paula to live in New York to gain an opportunity. For example, “ Aunt Paula wasn 't going to help us. We were alone. Ma bent down and touched her forehead

The setting of the novel, Say What You Will, by Cammie McGovern, is set in Southern California. It starts at the end of 2014 to the end of 2015. Most of the story takes place at Coral Hills High school and sometimes Amy’s home. The mood portrayed in this book is very happy and occasionally sad. The novel overall has a happy mood to it.

The “no” author presents her case more effectively. Nancy acknowledges the other side, but clearly maintains her stance. For example, she says, “I’m hugely in favor of students reading over the summer, but asking them to plow through a long required-reading list turns an activity that should be fun into a dreaded chore,” which proves that she’s in favor of students continuing to progress their knowledge, but wants them to enjoy their summer. She also recognizes that there are important things other than academics. As shown in paragraph 4, she says, “But there are a few things summer homework does accomplish effectively: It steals time away from other important aspects of learning, such as play, which helps young people master social skills and teamwork. In addition, writing book reports means fewer hours being physically active, which is essential for good health and weight control, not to mention proper brain development.” This shows that being physically active and learning social skills/teamwork can play a part in proper brain development. This made her argument stronger because it demonstrates logos, which added to the logical appeal.

“If we believe in active student learning, we must consider the variety of ways in which students are encouraged to participate,” Barrie Bennet and Peter Smilanich. Students are the products of their education and many people have different views on the difficulties arising in colleges today. Mona Charen in “Snowflakes or Fascists?” , Lisa Black in “Rude Behavior in College Classrooms is a Matter of Course,” and David Gooblar in “Modeling the Behavior We Expect In Class” all discuss the different reasons for recent problems in universities through well developed writing and the use of different devices to make well rounded ideas.

Having a dream plays an important role in one’s life and varies from person to person. It makes a person’s life purposeful. Some dreams are achievable and some aren’t, but hard work is essential for both of them. More, there are also some dreams that demand long time along with full dedication and devotion, such as dreams of getting freedom, dignity, status etc. In A Raisin in the Sun, Lorraine Hansberry describes throughout the story that how the dreams of the Younger family become “dreams deferred”. The younger family actually represents to all African- Americans families, who after a very long time, hard struggle, and sacrifices are able to achieve equal rights in the society along with whites.

The American Dream is seen as failure as it fails to alleviate the widespread poverty, which is seen in the Valley of Ashes. Also the superficial nature of the American Dream is seen through the vain prosperity experienced by Gatsby. Finally the Americna Dream is a mirage which promises happiness yet is unable to fulfil its promise. Furthermore the film Moulin Rouge addresses the naive promise of love that these characters dream to obtain and the consistent obstacles that prevent the characters from acquiring their ambitions. One can notice how Satine’s illness dictates the greater part of her decisions and limits both her and Christian from acquiring their shared dream of love. Further the obstacle of Satine’s ambition to become a “star” directs majority of her actions and thereby hinders her and Christian from acquiring their dream of love. Likewise, Satine holds a loyalty to the Moulin Rouge, which also acts as a hindrance to her and Christian’s love affair. This essay further looks at the similarities and the differences between these two films. This essay will thus focus of the presence of dreams and how these dreams are merely unrealistic

Dreaming is essential for the human spirit, the reason homo sapiens sapiens wiped out the neanderthals was because we could believe in something bigger than ourselves. Even when our dreams are far from fruition, we as humans still believe in them as it is in our nature. S.E. Hinton’s novel The Outsiders and in John Steinbeck’s book Of Mice and Men have certain characters that possess dreams that they believe in and work towards, whether they’re achievable or not. Many unique personalities such as Crooks the stable buck, Dallas Winston, Curley’s Wife, Darry, and other characters in both books are disenfranchised from a notion henceforth referred to as “The American Dream”. “The American Dream” is a very vague phrase. However, it can be amounted to being a lower-class citizen (frequently an immigrant) and then moving to America. Then (in America) they get a stable job with good income, buy a house, have a family, and live happily ever after. The frequency and large application for the term “The American Dream” is what initially drew a large amount of immigrants in the late 1800’s/early 1900’s because it was viewed as the land of freedom and most importantly, opportunity. “The American Dream” can be, and is a widely used phrase but in this essay shall be used to refer to many characters’ own hopes and dreams for their future. Characters in Of Mice and Men and in The Outsiders are frequently disenfranchised and held back from ‘The American Dream’ by an aspect out of their