The Film A Thousand Years Of Good Prayers

Children are meant to live out their own lives and to prosper throughout society. For example, socialism is one of the most important part of human life and can lead us to finding friends, forming bonds, discoveries and in some cases freedom. These can lead to positive aspects such as building your personality and resources in life through friends. Some Chinese parents “believe they know what’s best for their children,” but in my opinion, they do not if they restrict “daughters [from] [having] boyfriends in high school and “override all of their children’s own desires and

In “Adapted from Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother” author Amy Chua argues that, instead of constantly praising a child for the slightest success, parents should only expect perfection from their children and nothing less. She explains that Western parents are not as strict on their children as Chinese parents are. That Western parents don’t believe in stressing educational success and that education should be something fun. In contrast, Chinese parents believe that academic success is very important and to get good at something it takes practice and hard work which may not seem fun at first but in the long run the activity becomes fun once mastered. Chua also believes that Chinese parents can get away with things that Western parents cannot such as calling their child garbage after being misbehaved. Chua states three main differences between Western parents and Chinese parents.

Raising children is something the vast majority of the human race will challenge themselves with at some point. How to raise children is a common issue but nonetheless a sensitive and a conscious one. Should you strictly and authoritatively lead your children the way because you love them? Or should you – with the same reason in mind – give them space to follow their own passion and make their own individual choices. The Wall Street Journal publishes the article Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior in which Amy Chua composes a persuasive essay where she argues in favour of an authoritative upbringing. Her comment on the issue is characterised by a provocative language and a creates a contrast between the so-called

Another conflict that arises from Confucianism is when Jing-mei was told to go back to China and tell her half-sisters about their mother. She said “‘what will I say? What can I tell them about my mother? I don’t know anything.’” (Tan 31). In Confucianism, very little of tradition is explicitly told from mothers to daughters in the form of text. Ritual actions are supposed to be observed, absorbed and understood in order to be preserved and handed down for posterity. But Jing-mei, who grew up in America, did not have a sense of following the tradition her mother brought to America, or rather considered the Chinese tradition to be eccentric.

Asian immigrants raised their children on the values of filial piety. Filial piety is based on Confucianism ideology which is one showing respect to one’s parent. American-born children are raised with two values which are Confucianism and the American values. The American values allow an individual to make their decisions either in their career, marriage, or lifestyle. Unlike, the American values, Confucianism decisions are decided by the parents, which have created tension in both generations. The immigrant parents stress the importance of a proper education to their children because the parents did not have the opportunity for education. Education was a privilege meaning only the families that had money could send their children to school. The parents began working at a young age to support their family and maintaining the household was more important than education. The immigrant parents are motivated by the “American Dream” instead of a financial benefit, the better the education and the employment, the more opportunities that would be offered. A person without a proper education would not succeed in life compared to the ones that have an education.

Western parents allow their children to to accept that fact that they got a bad grade on some assignment, while Chinese parents make their children correct whatever they did wrong. Chinese parents order their children to get exceptional grades, while Western parents can only ask their children to do well. Chua says, “If a child came home with an A- on test, a Western parent will most likely praise the child, but the Chinese mother will gasp in horror and ask what went wrong”(Chua 307). Chinese parents believe their children are capable of doing anything as long as they work hard at achieving it. Western parents can only help their children do well in school by trying to prepare them, and not pushing too hard. Chinese parents think that their children owe them everything and not the other way around. This is most likely because Chinese parents work very hard at raising capable children, and that they have worked hard to make them productive in life. Therefore, the parents expect much in return. Chua says “my husband Jed actually has

“Ben Hur: A Tale of the Christ” is centered on a man named Judah Ben Hur. Judah was a prince and merchant in Jerusalem and was accused of a crime that he didn’t commit. Hur had to go through trials and tribulations in order to survive and fight for the ones he loved. This film was intense, historically dramatic, and religious. The director of this film is William Wyler. Wyler centered the movie around a Jewish man, but also on a Christians prospective. Dennis Grunes stated in his article that “William Wyler made some excellent films (These Three, Jezebel, The Letter, The Best Years of Our Lives), but, following the estimable achievement of Friendly Persuasion (1956), which took the top prize at Cannes largely on the strength of blacklisted Michael Wilson’s

Another aspect of cultural conflict is that humility and obedient are considered as the traditional virtues of the Chinese culture. Children should unconditionally obey their parents because parents have the ability and willingness to teach and control their children. For example, according to Jing-mei’s mother, Jing-mei has to practice piano assiduously. She would not be punished if she devotes all her effort to playing piano. We can clearly see this point in her mother’s word in the quarrel, “Only two kinds of daughters, those who are obedient and those who follow their own mind! Only one kind of daughter can live in this house. Obedient daughter” (461). But Jing-mei cannot understand this, because she is not familiar to Chinese culture. As a consequence of Jing-mei cannot understand her mother, she does not cooperate and has rebellious attitude against her mother. In the story, Jing-mei decided, “I didn’t have to do what my mother said anymore. I wasn’t her slave. This wasn’t China. I had listened to her before and look what happened. She was the stupid one” (460). As described above, Jing-mei cannot understand the humility and obedient of Chinese culture, even they are recognized as the

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

How bitter the words were! If a child never get mother’s acclaim and encouragement, how sorrowful one’s heart feels! Here comes a contrasting comparison of western and Chinese parenting—western parents encourage and praise their child much more often than Chinese parents do. This encouragement helps them create new ideas, independent opinions, developing unique and sparkling characters. Whereas Chinese parents believe in the old saying, “a strict teacher produces outstanding students”, strictness and criticism are important educating guide lines for Chinese parents, which results in obedience and collectivism, compromise, no psyche and no guts to say no. But on the other hand, Chinese do behave better in harsh and high-pressured condition due to their strict training in childhood.

There are many differences between the book Ben-Hur and the movie Ben-Hur: A Tale of Christ. Some of the differences are barely noticeable, but some change parts of the plot. The story is about a Jew, Judah, who's childhood best friend, Messala, betrays him. Messala's betrayal completely ruins the Ben-Hur family. Both the book and movie, show the trials and tribulations of Judah and his family. It follows him as he tries to find his mother and sister. While watching the movie, it was obvious that there are many more differences. Though the makers of the movie kept the basic plot line, they changed a lot of the little details to make the movie more appealing.

One day, from the back seat of the car, “Luke announced that he didn't want to go to Chinese school anymore.” His parents looked to one another, while Jen said “Oh, really?” and continued driving. Though Luke is only four years old, he voices his opinions - twice eve – yet they are still quickly overtaken by those of his parents. Luke’s parents wanted him to grow up “embracing his whole complex ethnic heritage” and not being “more” Chinese than Irish. It could be that his parents yearned to show Luke what being Chinese really means – its language, its culture, and its people. With this knowledge, he might feel confident to display this part of his identity. It could also be that they have a deep rooted bias for Luke not to ignore his Chinese heritage, thinking they know what is best for him. It is like what Emerson once wrote, “These are the voices which we hear in solitude, but they grow faint and inaudible as we enter into the world.” His parents hold a heavy influence on Luke’s future. The weight of parents’ ideas stretches farther than a stranger’s, for we emulate their words, their ideas, and their values and these soon replace our own. Yet, the more one thinks about this, the more one will find it absurd. It does not mean that his parents are right. Acceptance looks so normal, but his mother’s opinions that replace his own will never be as strong as his own conviction. His

Chinese parents that have immigrated to the United States from China are known to have an Authoritative approach to child-rearing. In a study done by Cindy Lin, parents from China (Taiwan), immigrant Chinese living in America, and American parent’s child-rearing practices were compared. In her study she found that Chinese parents tend to control their children more than American Parents, as well as be less

Attempting to keep a child's self-esteem high also gets in the way raising them to excellence. Western parents are constantly worrying about how their child’s feelings will be affected by whether they fail or succeed, so they are always telling them they did good no matter how well they actually did. Chinese parents are the exact opposite in this situation, how they will treat their child depends on how well they performed. If their child did poorly they will bluntly tell them that they need to improve because they believe they can. Not only do Chinese parents not worry about their child's self-esteem, but they actually believe that insulting their child will not bring them down, but it will only make them more driven to succeed and receive praise. They think that the child should be constantly wanting to achieve

There are those who have a difficult time expressing themselves with words. It is as though there is a communication barrier between people even if they are speaking the same language. The struggle for successful communication can be even harder if different languages are spoken. Even if there are no words spoken, communication between two people still occurs. Yiyun Li’s short story “A Thousand Years of Good Prayer” offers an excellent study in communication. This study includes examples of communication barriers and the successful aspects of communication revealing the ultimate theme: communication does not need to be verbalized to have a relationship