Parenting is always a debatable topic, especially here in America. Every person has their own opinion on how a child should be disciplined and raised. In Amy Chua’s “Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior”, Chua explains different aspects of Chinese parenting and how it has been effective in her life. She claims that by breaking a child down and pushing them to their full potential, the child will become more confident and very successful. Through the use of several different rhetorical devices, Chua supports and weakens her claim and expresses a controversial way of parenting.
Ethos is a very large part of Chua’s argument. She is clearly intelligent, considering she is a Yale University professor. Her writing style adds a certain character to the
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She states, “ Chinese parents believe that their kids owe them everything. The reason for this is a little unclear…” Her credibility begins to disappear once she uses the word “unclear”. This small line suggests that she does not even know why she parents the way she does. It also presents the perfect opportunity for an opposing argument against Chua’s choice of parenting.
Another place where Chua’s credibility becomes debatable is when she writes of picking at her husband when he came between a conflict between her and their daughter. This shows that she is not willing to listen to the other side of an argument. One would assume that an effective author would be more open to looking at someone else’s viewpoint, but for Chua this is not the case.
Chua’s use of pathos is especially inconsiderate. She uses it to take a stab at Western parenting rather than make an actual point. At many different times Chua makes hypothetical scenarios and determines what Western parents would do and then what Chinese parents would
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“All decent parents want to do what’s best for their children.” This confuses everything because this statement gives credentials for her claim. First, she discredits Western parenting. She then comes back to say that Western and Chinese parents are all one in the same because they both care for their children.
Contrary to Chua’s strong opinions, she uses logos or statistics and facts in her argument. The statistics at the beginning of the writing describe percentages of Western and Chinese mothers who agree that “‘stressing academic success is not good for children’ or that ‘parents need to foster the idea that learning is fun.’” The outcome showed that 0% of Chinese mothers agreed and they, instead, valued the idea of successful children resulting from successful parenting. These types of statistics definitely support Chua’s “Chinese mother” persona.
The statistics also supported her claim of how much time Chinese parents put into helping their children make academic achievements. It is difficult to argue with facts and data, however, Chua does not cite the sources of this data. For all the reader knows, she could have made it up. It may be a more functional logical appeal if the studies she quotes were from a well-known and respected
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
In Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior, the author Amy Chua uses ethos, logos and pathos to persuade her readers that the Chinese style of parenting is superior to the Western method; however, I do not believe that her argument is effective.
Amy Chua stirs up a controversial topic of the differences between Chinese and Western parenting styles in the article “Adapted from Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother”. One may believe that the Chinese way is too harsh as others may believe Western parents are too lenient. Any parent can relate to one or both parenting styles that Chua is discussing. This article is reaching out to parents who are unaware of the Chinese and Western parenting styles. To give the readers a better understanding of how each parenting style works. This article was based on Chua’s personal experiences as a Chinese parent.
It is true that the ways the parents raise their children will decide how well the children grow, especially the mothers who impact their children the most. There is no right or wrong in how a mother takes care of her children. All of them want the best for their children. The only difference is the level of intensity in how to raise a child. In Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior, Amy Chua, a professor at Yale Law School believes that the ways Chinese mothers raise their children are the most effective ways. Her main purpose of this article is to state the differences between Western mothers and Chinese mothers which
As America being such a diverse country, we come across the differences between cultures of immigrant families. Each culture having their own beliefs and values to what they think is right. Cultural diversity is seen everyday where there are different expressions or views from any person. Everyday cultural differences show society how each person has their own way of doing things. Amy Chua writes an excerpt called “Why Chinese Mothers are Superior,” on her way parenting her two daughters following the chinese culture. 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 leading them to success. She makes comparisons between western and chinese parents throughout the essay and concludes that both type of parents want the best for their children just do it in different ways (Chua 52). In the article, named “Chinese vs Western Mothers: Q&A with Amy Chua,” is an interview with the author Amy Chua where she clarifies her chinese way of parenting did not hurt her children the way the audience thought it did. Chua explains that her relationship with her two daughters is very strong and believes there are many good ways of parenting not just the chinese way (Luscombe, par.17). Reading Amy Chua’s essay has shown the chinese immigrant way of parenting where people gain knowledge on how they do things and answer their questions on how chinese people are so
The stories "Why Chinese Mothers are Superior" by Amy Chua and "Two Kinds" by Amy Tan portray how children are raised in Chinese-American culture and what beliefs predominate in Chinese-American communities. In Chinese-American culture, mothers approach raising their children differently from many other American parents. While there are many similarities among these Chinese parents, variation can still be seen in the level of persistence and determination each individual parent pours into their parenting. These differences in persistence can be what make the difference in the results.
“In one study of 50 Western American mothers and 48 Chinese immigrant mothers, almost 70% of the Western mothers said either that ‘stressing academic success is not good for children’ or that ‘parents need to foster the idea that learning is fun.’ By contrast, roughly 0% of the Chinese mothers felt the same way. Instead, the vast majority of the Chinese mothers said that they believe their children can be ‘the best’ students, that ‘academic achievement reflects successful parenting,’ and that if children did not excel at school then there was ‘a problem’ and parents ‘were not doing their job.’ … Chinese parents spend approximately ten times as long every day drilling academic activities with their children. By contrast, Western kids are
Amy Chua, a professor at Yale Law School who wrote a memoir named Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, believes that parenting style should be strict parenting is the key to successful child-rearing. In addition, she believes that hardened child-rearing approach with the methods of close monitoring and behavioral restrictions. Also, Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior, Chua wrote that parents should override their children preferences such things as hobbies and academic performance. Moreover, she thinks the vast majority of the Chinese mothers said that they believe their children can be the best students and that academic achievement reflects successful parenting, and that if children did not excel at school then there was a problem and parents were not doing their job. According to Chua, through close monitoring and disciplines, children will be able to
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…
Questions have been raised on whether Chinese parenting raises more flourishing children than Western parenting. Despite what people think, in Amy Chua's essay “The Roar of the Tiger Mom”, she portrays the differences between the beliefs of Chinese parenting and Western parenting. Chua introduces the views of a Chinese parent compared to the views of a Western parent. The methods used by Chinese mothers in raising their children are drastically different from Western mothers. Each defends their methods and believes the other group is doing their job poorly. In the end, both types of parents just want one thing-- successful children.
In “Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior”, the author Amy Chua stated that every parent, whatever race they are, has their own way of raising their children. Chua brought up some examples in her essay, and she believes that Chinese parents want better for their children, and Western parents are the same way. First the children are involved in different activities. Chua included a study in the essay, which said, “Western children participate in sports, while Chinese parents make their kids practice academic activities” (142-143). Secondly, Chinese parents
It is very biased statement. There is no way to interpret how her daughter was really acting. Already having examples of Chua’s ethos from this piece, it is practical to assume she is exaggerating. Chua’s diction is also troubling, especially when she writes, “All decent parents want to do what’s best for their children.” What are “decent parents” and what is “best” for any child? She does not elaborate on these key terms. It is the beginning of an argument on definition. Like in the case of Chua’s exaggeration, there is no way to determine what qualities a good parent has. There is no way for every parent to agree on a list of things that are best for children.
In particular, Chua also intended to encourage parents to be tough on their children on a daily basis, so to ensure an impeccable performance both in school and at home. In order to achieve her goal, she portrayed the huge differences in Western and Chinese parenting style which depicted the positive outcomes of the Chinese parenting style. For example, it is mentioned in the book that compared to Western parents, “Chinese parents spend approximately ten times as long every day
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.