Cultural Conflict : Tan, Ortiz Cofer, And Alexie

In the writing of, America’s Top Parent, Elizabeth Kolbert outlines the parenting strategies of different mothers. Most notably, she talks about the “Chinese Mother,” which does not technically mean this individual must be of Chinese descent. Throughout the essay, Kolbert talks about another essay, Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother. The author of that essay, Amy Chua, believes in a binary world. Meaning that there are two kinds of mothers, “Chinese Mothers”, and “Western” mothers. Chinese mothers believe in extreme parenting, whereas Western mothers “think they are being strict when they insist that their children practice their instruments for half an hour a day” (Kolbert). On the other hand, Chinese mothers have much more specific rules

Four Chinese mothers have migrated to America. Each hope for their daughter’s success and pray that they will not experience the hardships faced in China. One mother, Suyuan, imparts her knowledge on her daughter through stories. The American culture influences her daughter, Jing Mei, to such a degree that it is hard for Jing Mei to understand her mother's culture and life lessons. Yet it is not until Jing Mei realizes that the key to understanding who her

What this novel does not touch on is the harsh levels of discrimination that some Asian-American families faced during the 20th centuries, some people telling at them to go back to Vietnam, Korea, or wherever they came from, some refusing service, perhaps throwing them out for being different, similarly to how African-Americans were treated during that time, and similar to how some Muslims are being treated today. However, more insidious than moments of outright hostility, and maybe more powerful, are the constant weak reminders that you’re different, that you’re not one of them. The “sign at the Peking Express” (Ng 193), the “little boys on the playground, stretching their eyes to slits with their fingers” (Ng 193), you even “saw it when waitresses and policemen and bus drivers spoke slowly to you, in simple words, as if you might not understand” (Ng 193). All these tiny things, these little reminders that you’re not the same as everyone else around you, may have more impact on the people being discriminated against than blatant in-your-face

In discussions about raising children in different cultures between Chinese and Western families, Chinese mothers and Western mothers raise their children differently from each other. Amy Chua, in her essay entitled “How Chinese Mothers Are Superior,” argues that Chinese mothers are extremely more strict and harsh when it comes to parenting their children’s self-esteem while Chinese mothers do not while they assume “strength, not fragility” from their children. She also believes that it is necessary to limit the children in their daily lives in order to achieve greatness and honor to their family. Amy Chua is led to this conclusion due to research and examples of her own life as a Chinese daughter as well. My own view on the issue is that Chinese

1942 In December of 1941, Japan brought the United States into World War II by bombing Pearl Harbor. In response, the American government quickly enacted a number of evacuation orders that sent those of Japanese heritage living in the United States to internment camps. Fear was officially in the states and separating ourselves from the Japanese was our militaries best solution. The precautions brought about by the American government in response to these attacks from Japan can be identified in the short story, “Evacuation Order No. 19”.

Along with strong ethos appeals, Tan also effectively makes use of logos. Tan has mentions her mom “reads the Forbes report, listens to Wall Street Week, converses daily with her stockbroker, reads all of Shirley MacLaine 's books with ease-all kinds of things I can 't begin to understand” (Zapico, 30). It is reasonable to think someone who reads the Forbes report is intelligent or at least knowledgeable. However, the truth is this reader of the Forbes report is a “broken English” speaker. She continues “Yet some of my friends tell me they understand 50 percent of what my mother says. Some say they understand 80 to 90 percent. Some say they understand none of it, as if she were speaking pure Chinese” (Zapico, 30). This use of statistics gives her audiences an inside look into her world and provides evidence that she really knows what she is trying to convince. The mother in the essay represents for the Asian American community as first-generation. Tan evokes an image in the American readers’ mind that first-generation Asian Americans are much more intelligent than what they can convey through words. For this reason, they deserve to be treated the same as others. Although Tan doesn’t focus on using much logos in this essay, all her arguments are logical, and perhaps the audience are able to be

In the short story, "Two Kinds" by Amy Tan, a Chinese mother and daughter are at odds with each other. The mother pushes her daughter to become a prodigy, while the daughter (like most children with immigrant parents) seeks to find herself in a world that demands her Americanization. This is the theme of the story, conflicting values. In a society that values individuality, the daughter sought to be an individual, while her mother demanded she do what was suggested. This is a conflict within itself. The daughter must deal with an internal and external conflict. Internally, she struggles to find herself. Externally, she struggles with the burden of failing to meet her mother’s expectations. Being a first-generation Asian American,

Intra-cultural relations are historically filled with conflict; and to deal with this conflict: Gloria Anzaldua’s concepts of opposing cultures and language barriers, John Locke’s Equality theory, and Kwame Anthony Appiah’s global citizenship theory explores the issue and works towards better relations. According to Anzaldua, people are not of one culture, but in several cases, several clashing, distinct cultures. Anzaldua argues that language is part of our identity, and it is a barrier between cultures, sometimes even our own. While Locke argues, we are all created equal, we may not be treated equal. Once society can deal with these problems, it can move forward towards Kwame Anthony Appiah’s global citizenship theory.

The relationship of Andrea Roman and her mother in We’re Not essay, shows a young girl who was uncomfortable with her family culture. Roman wrote about wanting to attend a sleepover, borrowing clothing, and doing homework on sundays which Bolivian culture doesn’t believe in. Roman shows how she was uncomfortable by repeating “We’re not American, Andrea.”(227) Those were the words she would hear if she did or wanted to do something her mother did not approve. Roman comes to appreciate her family culture after some time, “I had become comfortable enough with my identity and culture that showing pride in another country would not take away from my heritage.”(229) In Fish Cheeks essay, Tan wrote how she was uncomfortable when her crush Robert came over for dinner. Tan was worried about the Chinese food her mother prepared, noisy

In the article,” Why Chinese Mothers are Superior," author Amy Chua describes how parenting is approached in Chinese culture as compared to "Western parents." She compares Western and Chinese parents on how they approach their children’s' upbringings. She gives examples from her experiences raising her own daughters. Chua's daughters were not allowed to attend sleepovers and could not score grades any lower than an "A" in school classes. Chua also forced her kids in learning a piece for the piano. In separate story, author Amy Tan discusses the mother-daughter relationship in Chinese-American culture in "Two Kinds." This story is told from the viewpoint of an American-born Chinese girl named Jing-mei. Her immigrant mother, Mrs. Woo, believes that being in America is freedom and wants her daughter to take advantage of that freedom. Her mother has her try several activities in an attempt to

Maxine Kingston's Making of More Americans like Amy Tan's Mother Tongue has been a controversial addition to Asian American literature. The writer has tried to answer the critical question of Chinese American identity and hence been criticized for adopting an orientalist framework to win approval of the west. Similarly Rendezvous by Frank Chin and Mother Tongue by Amy Tan also speak of a culture that neatly fits the description of the "Other" in the orientalist framework. It appears alien, remote and immensely degrading to women who were treated like non-human beings by Chinese chauvinistic society. However things changed for the generation of Chinese that grew up in the US or at least that is what authors wants us to believe.

In the story “Two Kinds”, author Amy Tan, who is a Chinese-American, describes the conflicts in the relationship of a mother and daughter living in California. The protagonist in this story Jing-mei Woo’s mother is born and raised in China, and immigrates to the United States to escape from the Chinese Civil War. For many years she maintained complete Chinese traditional values, and has been abided by it deliberately. This kind of traditional Chinese culture has also affected her daughter profoundly. However, Jing-mei is born and raised in the United States. Despite she has a Chinese mother; she is unfamiliar and uncomfortable with Chinese

Because America is such a diverse country, there are many differences between cultures of various immigrant groups. Members of each culture, have their own beliefs and values regarding what they think is right. The cultural diversity allows for each person to have a different view of things. Amy Chua’s essay “Why Chinese Mothers are Superior,” she describes her way of parenting her two daughters following Chinese values about education. She explains how Western parents are much more lenient than Chinese parents with their children and education. Chua gives examples of how she raised her daughter Lulu and Sophia which lead them to achieve success. She makes comparisons between Western and Chinese parenting styles throughout the essay and concludes that both types of parents want the best for their children, but just approach parenting it in different ways. In the article, “Chinese vs Western Mothers: Q&A with Amy Chua,” Amy Chua is interviewed by Belinda Luscombe where she clarifies how her Chinese method of parenting did not hurt her children the way many readers thought it did. Chua explains that her relationship with her two daughters is very strong and believes there are many effective ways of parenting in addition to the Chinese approach. Chua’s essay shows the Chinese immigrant approach to parenting and gives insight into why so many children of Chinese parents are so successful. Discussing the cultural differences shows the risk of stereotyping groups where feelings

Amy Chua, a professor at Yale Law School, the author of “The World on Fire”, “Day of Empire”, and “Why They Fall”, in a Wall street Journal on January 8th, 2011, believes chinese mothers are the most rigorous on their children. The title of the article “Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior” was not chosen by Amy, but by the Wall Street Journal. Even though Amy did not write the title, there is reasoning that she does believe that chinese parenting is superior. Everyone is wondering how their children excel above everyone else. Thesis…

There were four acculturation strategies that was proposed for minority migrants, depending on their level of cultural awareness: (a) assimilation occurs when individuals abandon their cultural identity in favour of adopting the new culture, (b) marginality occurs when individuals abandon their cultural identity and yet have little interest in adopting the new culture, (c) integration occurs when individuals maintain their cultural identity as well as adopting some characteristics of the new culture, and (d) separation occurs when individuals maintain their original cultural identity and do not adopt the new culture (Heggins & Jackson,