Letter To Zeitoun

In the airports, Muslim people became “the usual suspects”, were thoroughly searched and often interrogated. In her article, O’Connor claims that the lives of American Muslims changed forever, and the statement is hard to disagree with (“How 9/11 Changed These Muslim Americans’ Lives Forever.”) Those who had nothing to do with the September 11 attacks, their children and grandchildren were sentenced to face racism, hate and violence.

Our teacher, Mrs. Hetrick, provided the answer to our question: “These essays could have easily been generated by a computer program. They tell me nothing about yourselves; why in the world you are telling me all of this? You need to make me care about the message you are conveying, otherwise, your writing is useless.” She then told us that while we were all communicating in the proper format, we had failed to take into consideration whom our audience was. In order to truly persuade and influence our audience, we had to do more than place complicated ideas into a grammatically immaculate sentences; we need to show the audience why they should care about our writing; otherwise, they will just lose interest. I realize now that this experience provided a stable foundation for what I consider to be an example of passionate rhetorical ability, which helps me reflect on what authors Wallace deems as “good” through their rhetorical strategies.

Christina Haas and Linda Flower both make contributions to writing in their studies about the writing process. They have collaborated on one work, Rhetorical Reading Strategies and the Construction of Meaning, to comment on a growing notion in the writing field about the reading process. They discuss findings on how rhetorical reading strategies work and why teachers should begin to influence their students with them. The main audience are other teachers. Haas and Flower’s primarily argue that the process of shaping students into literal and receptive readers should switch to shaping students into rhetorical readers, using strategies like trying to account four author’s purpose and context, for more in depth construction of meaning. Haas and

With over 20,000 Muslim physicians in America, you are more likely to be saved by a Muslim doctor after a terrorist attack, than to be hurt or killed by a Muslim terrorist (Elgamal). Within award winning author, Dave Eggers’, non-fiction account of Zeitoun, he deconstructs one man’s struggle during a horrendous natural disaster that had hit New Orleans, Louisiana in 2005. Eggers highlights the injustices of the legal system during Hurricane Katrina, after the 9/11 atrocities, that imposed bigotry, islamophobia, and discrimination against the Zeitoun family. Through the use of ethos, logos, and pathos, he adopts an optimistic, yet indignant tone to inform the audience of America’s impurities and assist the fight against the

Before going into the details of what I’ve learnt from this assignment, I would like to give a

David Eggers, in Zeitoun, shows a story of a Muslim American family living through many challenges. After 9/11 Muslim families, like the Zeitouns, face many problems living in America. Eggers wants to inform other Americans on the situation of Muslim living in the United States, present day. People who are uneducated about the Muslim religion need to be informed on how similar lives are of other people all around the United States. These people throw out stereotypes and aim judgments wrongly at the Zeitoun family. Unjust treatment of the Zeitoun family is a cause of assuming and stereotypes. In this biography, Eggers helps inform his readers about

After September 11, 2001 I’ve had trouble finding what makes me more angry; the way the authorities handled the hurricane of Katrina or the way the Arabs were treated. I have herd countless stories related to the 9/11 attack and until today I see the way that has affected the lives of many. Through Eggers story, I was able to comprehend more about the tragedy in New Orleans and even though I thought I already knew about the aftermath that Katrina brought, Eggers grabbed my attention by introducing me to the story of a Syrian-American middle aged man named Abdulrahman Zeitoun. He was a father of four, married to an American wife Kathy and owned a

Have you even judged someone on who he or she is or what they looked like? And have you ever had a bad experience or traumatic experience happens and you looked for someone or something to blame, but in reality there was nothing to blame? Well, a natural disaster can be blamed on no one, but in times like that emotions run wild and blame can be put on someone who fits a certain profile. Racism and Hurricane Katrina were two forces that clashed together to create an even bigger problem for the victims. This is caused by an insecurity of the situation at hand. In the book Zeitoun by Dave Eggers, racism and racial profiling is the underlying themes in the story. These themes are also the underlying themes of people who are subjected

Renowned journalist and author, Dave Eggers, in his famed novel, Zeitoun, recounts the mistreatment of the Zeitoun family in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina based on their racial and religious profiles in a post-9/11 America. His purpose is to reveal the unwarranted injustices faced by Muslim-American Hurricane Katrina victims through a description of the Zeitoun family’s experiences, in order to educate his readers of the impact discrimination has on emergency response. Eggers adopts a sympathetic tone towards the protagonists as they fall victim to the government’s unpreparedness, and maintains a critical tone to address the American government’s failure in protecting the rights of the hurricane’s victims.

Therefore, following 9/11 the fight for rights for Muslim women increased greatly. More organizations appeared in the Middle East and more women have published stories of what they lived through in the Middle East (p25/87). Not only has this cause grown since 9/11, it has only taken on more importance for importance for the American population with activists being booked for speaking engagements, earning awards, and some even receiving honorary doctorate degrees (p96). The media has always taken on this view of Middle Eastern society. For example, the cover story for the August 2010 edition of TIME magazine was titled, “What happens if we leave Afghanistan?” inferring that ground troops are protecting the Afghani women (p27). In April of 2011, a German human rights campaign published a poster that shows a road lined with blue and black trash bags with a Muslim dressed in full blue cover sitting among the trash bags (p9). The picture is captioned with the words, “Oppressed Women are easily overlooked. Please support us in the fight for their rights.” (p9). This perspective, that Muslim women, are fragile beings that need Americans to support has plagued much of American society in recent

Dave Eggers wrote a nonfiction book called ‘Zeitoun’ that tells the story of Abdulrahaman Zeitoun, a Syrian-American owner of a painting and contracting company in New Orleans, Louisiana who has a and chose to ride out Hurricane Katrina and stay at his home. After Hurricane Katrina, Zeitoun traveled the flooded city in a canoe rescuing neighbors, caring for abandoned animals, and giving out fresh water, causing the readers of the novel to portray him as a hero, but lately people have been saying otherwise. Zeitoun has abused his wife and has been convicted of felony stalking his wife. People are debating whether or not it’s any of Eggers’ business to create a widespread assertion statement about the legal case. Although others may have different

I am currently a Junior at Mills High School that is enrolled in the AP Language and Composition class. For our summer assignment, we were assigned to read Zeitoun by Dave Eggers, which recounts the true story of a Muslim-American man named Abdulrahman Zeitoun who remained in New Orleans during 2005’s deadly Hurricane Katrina. While trapped in the city, Zeitoun paddles in his canoe in the flooded streets coming to the aid of those who are in danger; however, Zeitoun is arrested under accusations of being affiliated with an Al-Qaeda Terrorist Cell. Throughout the novel, Zeitoun is portrayed as a gentle and compassionate person who puts his own life on the line to save others; defying the harsh stereotypes that surround Muslims following 9/11. While Zeitoun certainly redefines the views of the reader and portrays a real struggle for Muslims in our nation today, would you still appreciate this story’s message and meaning if I informed you that the real Zeitoun was a man known for committing domestic violence to his wife? Mr. Zeitoun does indeed abuse his wife and has been under trial several times and was convicted for domestic violence and later faced allegations of hiring attacks on his wife, Kathy. The controversy divided my class into two distinct advocates, some of my classmates encourage Zeitoun to be remain in the AP Language and Composition curriculum. While others, including myself, agree that by reading, studying, and writing about Zeitoun we glorify a man who abuses

But Kathy is not an anomaly. There are millions and millions of women in the U.S. and around the world who struggle everyday to protect their families and keep their governments honest. And that includes Muslim women.

I am currently a Junior at Mills High School and I’m also enrolled in the AP Language and Composition class. For our summer assignment, we were assigned to read Zeitoun by Dave Eggers, which recounts the story of a Muslim-American man named Abdulrahman Zeitoun who remained in New Orleans during 2005’s deadly Hurricane Katrina. While trapped in the city, Zeitoun paddles in his canoe in the flooded streets aiding those who are in danger; however, Zeitoun is suddenly arrested under accusations of being affiliated with an Al-Qaeda Terrorist Cell. Throughout the novel, Zeitoun is portrayed as a gentle and compassionate man who puts his own life on the line to save others. Through Zeitoun’s actions he defies the harsh stereotypes that surround Muslim-Americans following 9/11. While Zeitoun certainly redefines the views of the reader on Muslim-Americans and portrays a real struggle for Muslims in our America today; would you still appreciate this story’s message and meaning if I informed you that the real Abdulrahman Zeitoun was a man known for committing domestic violence to his wife? Mr. Zeitoun has indeed abused his wife and has been under trial several times and was convicted of domestic violence and later faced allegations of hiring attacks on his wife, Kathy. This controversy divided my class into two distinct advocates: some of my classmates support Zeitoun to be remain in the AP Language and Composition curriculum. While others, including myself, agree that by reading,

September 11th holds many hard and upset feelings around the world today. The harsh actions of Muslim extremists unfortunately completely changed the way Muslims are treated, especially in the United States. These events, exacerbated islamophobia. Unfortunately, “the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, connect Muslims and Islam to terrorism within the geographical borders of the United States.” (Byng) Although it has been over a decade since the attack, many still feel racist and discriminatory attitudes towards Muslims. Muslims are the targeted minority in the United States, “the 9/11 terrorist attacks shifted the social and political context for Muslims in the United States. Terrorism within the geographical borders of the United States carried out by Muslims places an identity at the center of national and global politics.” (Byng) The blame of the horrible terrorist attacks, rather than be placed on terrorists or religious extremist, has been placed on Islam in America. After September 11th, hate crimes towards Muslims skyrocketed, “the most dramatic change noted by the report was a more than 1,600 percent increase in reported hate crimes against Muslims -- a jump from 28 hate incidents in 2000 to 481 last year.”