preview

Rhetorical Analysis Of Fish Cheeks

Decent Essays

Rhetorical Analysis Essay
Amy Tan in the story, Fish Cheeks, implies that even though America is a country of immigrants, few of their traditions are acceptable in our culture. Tan supports her suggestion by describing christmas of the year she turned 14. The author’s purpose is to point out the irony of a country of immigrants with only one set of traditions in order to make us think about what traditions we suppress. The author writes in an earnest tone for Americans of all descents.
The author supports her argument by sharing extremely personal details about what went on in her head on this christmas night. A quote that really stuck out for me here was about her relatives and how she was embarrassed about them and her culture. “What would he think of our noisy Chinese relatives who lacked proper American manners? What terrible disappointment would he feel upon seeing not a roasted turkey and sweet potatoes but Chinese food,” (Tan 1). I believe this helps her argument of how ‘Americans’ have a certain set of traditions that everyone is magically required to follow when the become citizens, no matter their own traditions and heritage. She uses this to make the audience think more deeply about how they would have reacted in this situation if they were in Robert’s shoes.
Tan develops her relationship with the audience by allowing us inside of her head and her private conversation that she had with her mom after Robert left. This helps to appeal to the emotions of the audience

Get Access