Immigration: Quindlen Vs. Kennedy

Globally, the United States has been known as "a nation of immigrants" almost from its inception. Beginning in the 1600s with English Puritans and continuing today, America is a melting pot of culture and ethnicity. In fact, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, immigration was the major source of U.S. population growth. Looking over our 200+ years we find that to clearly be true, with approximately 1 million immigrants coming to America during the 17th and 18th century. Almost 3 million arrived during the 1860s, and another 3 million in the 1870s. In the next four decades, the number of immigrants rose to over 25 million people, most from various European nations, most arriving in New York or one of the Eastern seaports (Damon, 1981). Despite the politicization, as of 2006, the United States actually was the number one country globally to accept legal immigrants into the country, with a current immigrant population of almost 40 million (Terrazas and Batalova, 2009). In fact, the peak of immigration was 1907, when over 1.2 million Europeans entered the country beginning a push towards legislation limiting immigration in the Immigration and Naturalization Act of 1924 and the 1921 Congressional Quota Act. These immigrants came for two sociological reasons: the push factor (wars, famine, persecution and overpopulation) and the pull factors (jobs and the promise of freedom). Most came by ship, and a passage often cost the equivalent of an entire life's savings causing many

The documentary 9500 Liberty by Annabel Park and Eric Byler told of the inequality that immigrants faced in Prince William County, a small community in Virginia. On October 16, 2007, eight members of the Prince William County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously on emergency funding to implement immigration resolution. This new law made it possible for police officers in Prince William County to question anyone they suspected to be in the country illegally based on factors such as their skin color and language. This paper will discuss the different perspectives appearing in the film 9500 Liberty in an effort to evaluate and critic arguments made by both parties in

Simply put, America is the land of opportunity. In the past, immigrants have left most of their family, memories, and familiarities with their homeland in search of a better life in America, where jobs were easy to find and the economy was booming. These immigrants formed almost the entire American population, a demographic anomaly in which people from nationalities separated by land and sea; these people come from countries separated by expansive distances can live within the same neighborhood. Both Anna Quindlen with her essay “A Quilt of a Country” and John F. Kennedy with his essay “The Immigrant Contribution” have documented the story of these immigrants and what they have done to contribute to the great country of the United States of America. Both authors have written in their own unique style which has changed the reader’s perspective of their accomplishments, contributions, and sense of community in their new nation. In the essays “A Quilt of a Country” by Anna Quindlen and “The Immigrant Contribution by John F. Kennedy, they show similar writing styles by both using the formal diction in their writing, and contradict in the way that Quindlen takes a more poetic approach in her writing, while Kennedy, being the President of the United States, uses more sophisticated dictions.

On the other hand, the essays “A Quilt of a Country” by Anna Quindlen and “The Immigrant Contribution” by John F. Kennedy, they differ in the way that Quindlen tends to use the poetic diction in her writing, while Kennedy typically leans towards using the sophisticated diction in his writing. For example, in this passage found in Quindlen’s essay, the dictions of technical, poetic, and sophisticated are used. Quindlen writes: “Once these disparate parts were held together by a common enemy, by the fault lines of world war and the electrified fence of communism.” (Quindlen, 15) The poetic diction used in this section of the essay helps paint the picture that once, the United

By using technical diction, Kennedy is able to attract academic readers. In paragraph six and seven, Kennedy listed out famous industrialists that were immigrants and help build America up, and also scientists that made landmark discoveries or inventions. These list of people can be verified, and the long list helps reinforce Kennedy’s thesis by listing the immigrants and their contributions to the American society. Without these people, America will not be in its current glory, nonetheless being the global economic power and trade. Continuing, Kennedy uses numerical statistics to prove that not only immigrants help build America to its glory, they are an important part of the workforce and help change our culture significantly. By using clear numbers like “23.5 million people who came to America in this period,” and “20 percent of the businessmen, 20 percent of the scholars,…., and 61 percent of actors were of foreign births,” shows us the immense numbers of immigrants and their contributions to the American society. These numbers can be checked, which helps draw in some factual reader. Kennedy also uses abstract diction in his essay. In paragraphs fifteen, Kennedy uses abstract words with positive connotations. These words include “dream”, “confidence”, “possibility”, and “faith”. Words that Kennedy used here allows the reader to think that America is a perfect utopia for people who want to work hard and have a better life because of it. This diction is effective when it comes to empathetic and emotional people, in which Kennedy’s point can across more easily. Kennedy, in short, incorporated an excellent combination of abstract and technical diction to prove his point and also collect the same audiences like

Immigration is an issue that many people see as small and insignificant. Many believe that it doesn’t concern or affect them in any shape or form. Truth is, it doesn’t matter if you're African American, Caucasian, Asian, Mexican, or another race, immigration is an issue that affects everyone. Immigration affects the economy, the workforce, families, and the individual’s themselves whose main goal and dream is the “American Dream” that they come to the US looking for.

In 1952, the McCarran-Walter Immigration Act was passed. The law was meant to branch off of the Immigration Act of 1924 and became a continuation of the controversial system of immigration in the United States. The act received different opinions and now, more than ever, is exceedingly influential. With the recent election of President Donald Trump and his muslim ban, the act has been revived and is being questioned by many. The constant questioning sixty five years later makes the need for a change very apparent. In 1952, when the act became law, the United States were deep in the Cold War and much of the country feared communism and its power. The McCarran-Walter Immigration Act of 1952 is immensely outdated and it continues to put the

The immigration is an important phenomenon that exists throughout human history and the United States of America is not an exception of this “rule”. People leave their motherland to travel to different continent, country, island or state for many different reasons. Among these reasons (business, education, asylum and so on) it is very important to highlight one of the most sensitive: the economic reason or the desire to find a better job/life in order to help their families. The USA is usually considered a country the tradition of immigrants. Due to the fact that The United States of America rank the top five most rich and developed countries in the world, the flow of immigrants has been growing considerably. However, beside the millions of legal immigrants there are millions of illegal immigrants target as a struggle of the economy and a ruin of the middle class.

Thesis: Illegal immigration is a controversial topic that many people do not understand. Illegal immigration has a lot history and has evolved into two different sides: for and against.

FFF is an organization that fights for more comprehensive immigration laws in the U.S. According to the FFF’s website, FFF started in the aftermath of 9/11 when Arab and Muslim men were forced to report to the government on the sole basis of their nationality (“History of FFF”). So ten years ago, three families came together to confront their order of deportation. Together they broke the silence and created an informal network focused on providing mutual support and education. Now, this organization has evolved into a network of families fighting on the frontlines of the United States’ immigration debate (“History of FFF”). FFF advocates for the creation of new laws that will grant families with mixed legal statuses the right to stay together

We are now in the 21st century and like the beginning of the 20th century the United States finds itself in the throes of a period of mass immigration. More then one million immigrants enter the Unites States, both legally and illegally every single year. Many argue that this new wave of mass immigration may help sustain the success that our nation is having in regard to the way of living that many American have come accustomed to and yet others believe that although our nation was created by immigrants it is time to "shut down" our borders. The truth of the matter is that there will always be issues in regard to immigration and the policies that the government sets forth in order control who comes into this country. Also now

In the article “The Next Immigration Challenge”, Dowell Myers tells us that the illegal immigration crisis is becoming less of problem in the present and that we need to focus on the next challenge concerning immigration. Myers believes that there needs to be a shift in this policy by giving the migrants a chance to meld with society. Myers has spent majority of his life studying and researching which guided him to a PhD in urban planning and a Master of Planning from the University of California (Myers 188). In “The Next Immigration Challenge” Myers begins his article with facts on immigration levels and states that we need to shift from an immigration policy to an immigrant policy, and instead of saying “Show me your papers” it should be replaced with “Welcome to English class” (Myers 188).  Myers article towards the end remains solid and his arguments remain effective shaping our minds for new reform to the challenge.

Emma Lazarus and Anna Quindlen have very different view points on the same thing, immigration to the United States. Both authors think immigration is positive. For example, Lazarus wrote “Glows world wide welcome.” Emma Lazarus is talking about the Statue Of Liberty. One of the first things people see when they immigrate is that huge symbol welcoming them, and it shows everyone that they are welcomed and accepted in this free country. Next Quindlen wrote, “The greengrocer stocks yellow peppers and fresh rosemary for the gourmands, plum tomatoes and broad-leaf parsley for the older Italians, mangoes for the Indians. He does not carry Plantains he says, because you can buy them in the bodega”. You can infer from this, that there are any different

These two stories, “ A Quilt of A Country” and “ The immigrant contribution” , are really good on describing why immigrants were important. Kennedy and Quindlen’s stories both use good examples of tone and diction. A few examples of diction they use are formal, informal, abstract, concrete, and many more. Kennedy and Quinlden don't use the same exact tone and diction as each other throughout their whole stories. There are a lot of similarities and differences between their writings.

In the halls of Congress there has been continuous debate over one issue, immigration, which has dated as far back as the Reagan administration. Immigration laws have been a hot topic for a long time now, and there have been many reforms and referendums to try and change and make certain laws more clear. And, in the recent years of the Obama administration, this subject has taken the stage again. Should we, or should we not, reform the current immigration laws?