Feifei Zhang

English-1050

Essay one

Othering and Rhetorical Analysis

Part One: Othering

"Othering": the way a person or group of people are viewed or treated as

intrinsically different from and alien to oneself. This is something we often encounter in

our lives, some of it make people profound and some are easily overlooked. Such as

described in the textbook: immigration, language barriers, slavery, race, sex, disease,

religious beliefs. Each of these issues have different aspects, angles and problems. These

"Othering" are integration in the United States such a diversified country. Such as me, as

an immigrant, is not only influenced by the culture of the country of birth, but also

learning and adapting to American culture now. Then how to balance of two identities

and cultural ties is a challenge.

First of all what is the balance?

The first article I want to discuss which is from the course is Margret Mead'sWe

Are All Third Generation. "The third generation, " vivid metaphor of immigrants want a

better life, want to be different style from the previous generation. "the overtones of the

family meal on which strange, delicious, rejected European dishes were set, and about

which low words in a foreign tongue wove the atmosphere of home, must all be dropped

out (98). This description shows a attitude desire to mandatory change. As an immigrant
from China, I have a deep understanding of such things. Such as eating habits, living in

China for more than 20 years, I has been accustomed to eating cooked wheaten food. If I

eat hamburgers, salads, steak every day, I will miss the buns, dumplings and bread. Such

"othering" in two different identities and cultural that do not have difference between

right and wrong. So I think there is no need to take a mandatory attitude to change. But it

is not mean to deny the attitude of a mandatory change, because sometimes it is necessary

to use a mandatory attitude to change some bad habits. Such as the voice of talking in

public places, usually Chinese in a loud voice in the restaurant, because the population in

China is large, in the restaurant is crowd , so the low voice not enough to hear. But when

this habit came to the US it become a kind of interference. This will disturb the

atmosphere of other people. I think this bad habit is the need to change by a mandatory

attitude.

Secondly, how to balance of two identities and cultural?

I am very fond of some words that Margret Mead said Father stands for the way

things were done, for a direction which on the whole was a pretty good one, in its day

it is not necessary to fight him, to knock him out of the race. It is much easier and quicker

to pass him. (101) This is my understanding that we do not need to completely deny

the practices or views from previous generation when we are trying to integrate into the

American society. Two different cultures have different and conflict is inevitable, is this

not the performance of cultural diversity? Learning to improve and integrate is a

worthwhile way to balance of two identities and cultural. Take a diet as an example;

Chinese food is very famous, but these are big different than the traditional American

food . In my home, our favorite dish is: Chinese-style hamburgers, with the traditional
American hamburger bread to do the outer layer, inside with Chinese specialties cooked

Pork . It is very delicious. The success of this dish is due to the integration and

supplement of the two dietary cultures.

Thirdly, why it is a challenge?

In the article written by Gloria Anzalua, How to Tame a Wild Tongue. One

harsh recollection she had of her teacher speaking to her was when her teacher stated, If

you want to be an American, speak American. If you dont like it, go back to Mexico

where you belong. (521) Today, racism does not have such a big problem, but has to

admit that many people oppose or dislike immigration. They do not want people from

other countries to change their lives style, because they think immigrants occupy jobs,

and even some people create chaos. I have met a woman, she said that she did not like the

Chinese people, but she used a lot of merchandise which were "Made in China" . I

realized that as a Chinese, in the process of integration into the American society, it is

inevitable that some people do not like, or even disgust or exclusion.

In the essay, on the history of immigration at Ellis Island, by Mary Gordon ,she

states:More than sixteen million immigrants came through that room; approximately

250,000 were rejected. Not really a large proportion, but the implications for the rejected

were dreadful. For some, there was nothing to go back to, or there was certain death; for

others, who left as adventurers, to return would be to adopt in local memory the fools

role, and the failures (433). Today we may not have the segregation of immigrants like

we used to. The United States is a diverse immigrant country, separated by race, religion,
wealth, political opinion or other groups. So each of us inevitably lives in varying degrees

of "Othering".

The United States is a prosperous, free, equal and diversification country. I am as

a tiny, tiny, tiny part of it, what I can do is not change but improve myself.

Part Two: Rhetorical Analysis

When I saw "rhetorical analysis about one of our assigned reading article" the first

name in my mind is Mary Gordon. It means in "More Than Just a Shrine". This is an

article of her reflection on the connection with Ellis Island. She described her visit to

Ellis Island's immigration center in detail, and vividly expressed her feelings. She shared

the difficulties faced by many immigrants in moving to the United States of America,

including her grandparents'. These things in our view now is still so real, just as the

reader can feel her journey, her feelings.

She begins with a personal experience story that she is at a hotel eating breakfast

when a Russian man insisted on talking to her...(397) which providing historical

information which is more natural for readers to understand her ethnic background. In

addition, she used a lot of historical information, which is helpful to increase the

credibility of the article. Such as, "it [Ellis Island] had not functioned for more than thirty

years almost as long as the time it had operated at full capacity as a major immigration

center" (398). she also uses strings of descriptive wording to express her inner feelings.

Another writing technique used by Gordon is the "imagination" that describes the

reaction of her grandparents to Ellis Island. This is the impact of her family history on her,

but also a way to render the article, so that the reader's thoughts are attracted to the article.
 Gordon was smoothly through these elements together, there is a logical and

realistic and emotional characteristics. It was impressive after reading. This article made

me involuntarily read a lot of times, at the started because of this is the immigration

process of my birth's country, and later I was attracted by the feelings of the author. as

she described in her essay "Paying Homage to the Ghosts of Ellis Island while the first

and second-class passengers were whisked off the gangplank with the most

cursory of inspections. (Gordon, p434). Social status is something that is very

important in our day and age. I asked myself: my family here, my work here, my school

here, my friends are here, then I really integrated into the society here? I am very

confused, I always feel that I do not belong here, even looks like I have established a

close relationship with this place. I also felt the confusion in the story Gordon described,

one of the feelings of immigrants from them heart.

Works Cited

Gordon, Mary. More Than Just A Shrine: Paying Homage to the Ghosts of Ellis Island.

Reading Culture: Contexts for Critical Reading and Writing. Diana George and John

Trimbur. New York: Longman

Mead, Margaret. We are all Third Generation. Reading Culture: Contexts for Critical

Reading and Writing. Diana George and John Trimbur. New York: Longman
Gloria Anzaldua How to tame a wild tongue George, Diana and John Trimbur. Reading

Culture 8th Edition. Boston: Pearson

Lu, Min-Zhan. From Silence to Words: Writing as Struggle. George, Diana, and John

Trimbur.Reading Culture. White Plains, NY: Longman