Tiger Mom vs Joy Luck Club

In The Joy Luck Club, we see many similarities and differences between the relationships of the mothers and daughters (specifically, “The Twenty-Six Malignant Gates” section) of the book and the relationship Amy Chua has with her kids in real life. Amy Chua enforces a strict set of rules she has for her children that she thinks a majority of Asian parents also share. The rules Amy Chua has as expectations for her children include: being the number one student in every subject, get A’s and nothing but A’s, not attend sleep overs or having play dates, and not being able to choose their own extra curricular activities. In some ways, the stories in The Joy Luck Club, we see Amy Tan reincorporating Amy Chua’s guidelines on how to raise Asian children in the mother and daughter relationships of one particular story called “Two Kinds”. Here is a quote from the "Tiger Mom" article by Amy Chau:

"A lot of people wonder how Chinese parents raise such stereotypically successful kids. They wonder what these parents do to produce so many math whizzes and music prodigies, what it's like inside the family, and whether they could do it too. Well, I can tell them, because I've done it."

In the story, “Two Kinds”, Jing-mei’s mother is ashamed of her daughter, Jing-mei. Her mother has always wanted her daughter to be a prodigy. It didn’t matter what kind of prodigy she was to become, as long as she became real good at something, it was okay. Her mother became especially agitated after she had enough of the bragging that Waverly’s mother would do about her daughter being the amazing chess player she is in the whole city. But through out the story, Jing-mei’s mother believed that she would eventually sprout out of her shell and find that hidden talent within her. That’s when her mother saw a show showing an amazing kid piano player and believed Jing-mei can do the same and began to send Jing-mei to piano lessons.

I picked this particular story because one of the guidlines Amy Chau had in her article was to not let her children play any instrument besides the violin and piano. Well, in “Two Kinds”, Jing-mei is eventually forced into playing the piano (just like Amy Chau gives her children the piano and violin as the only options of instruments to play). So yes, I do think that Amy Chau’s article is endorsed by The Joy Luck Club in many ways and I predict that many stories along the way of the book will do the same.

"The Twenty-Six Malignant Gates" Intro

What is Amy Tan's purpose behind this introductory piece? What thematic elements, characterization, or plot foreshadowing connect it to the stories that follow, particularly "Rules of the Game" and "The Voice from the Wall"?
  
In the introductory piece, Amy Tan incorporates a scene in which a seven year old girl is trying to ride her bike beyond the awareness of her Chinese mother by riding the bike around the corner. The mother tells her not to ride the bike around the corner because she will fall and get hurt without her knowing but the daughter doesn't believe anything will go wrong and yells back at her mother and tells her she knows nothing. In a hurry, she jumps on her bike and rides off. Before she can ever get to the corner, she falls down, just as her mother warned would happen.

I think that the thematic elements Amy Tan, the author of The Joy Luck Club, is trying to incorporate here the issues that arise between mother and daughter in America. Once in America, it gets really hard for Chinese parents to teach their Chinese customs in a whole new environment where independence is key. The daughter is symbolizing the independence that arises within her (and rely on her inner strength rather than feed off of others strength such as her mother's). The mother, who has gone through struggles and experience a life long journey of events in her lifetime, symbolizes wisdom. As the daughter goes off on her bike, she falls before ever reaching the corner showing that her mothers wisdom should not be overlooked. 


I think that this introductory piece is going to foreshadow in the following stories the plot of the many different struggles that arise between mother and daughter. As the daughter move towards independence, they rely less on the wisdom of their parents and rely on themselves, even though the mother's wisdom can be helpful. In the next story, "Rules of the Game", Lindo teaches her daughter her wisdom of "invisible strength". Her mother's wisdom influences her daughter, Waverly, to become one of the best chess players in the San Francisco community. Lindo brags about her daughter constantly which angers Waverly and causes problems between the two, which is the message that was brought out by the introduction in the beginning of this section.

Amy Chau's Analysis

Amy Chau, the author of an article describing her ways of parenting her children as a Chinese mother in article called "Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior", describes in the following paragraph what would happen if a typical Chinese child would get a "unfulfillable" grade:

"If a Chinese child gets a B—which would never happen—there would first be a screaming, hair-tearing explosion. The devastated Chinese mother would then get dozens, maybe hundreds of practice tests and work through them with her child for as long as it takes to get the grade up to an A."

 Though I am not Chinese, my parents are also strict on how I perform in my academic work at school. If I bring back a B on a test to my parents I would get praised for the good effort but my dad would still want an expectation of an A from me. I think this has to do a lot with the fact that my parents were born in a third world country and they want me to grow up successful and happy with my life.

But in ways they are also very different from Chinese parents because they want me to make my own choices

Quickwrite - Animal Farm Connections

Currently, the world has gone into a similar situation during the 18^th century, to the time America went into a revolution to form into the country it has become to be today. Soon after that revolution America fought against the British, France went into a revolution and other countries followed thereafter. America played a big part in taking the lead and taking a stand against corrupted power and influenced many countries to do the same. Similarly, now in the 21^st century, an African nation called Tunisia fought a small revolution against its president. He was eventually ousted by the people of the country, satisfying their demands. Soon after, the whole Arab nation are in uproar to overthrow their corrupted government, all influenced by a small African nation.

In Animal Farm, written by George Orwell, the animals are fed up by their corrupt way of life. Their lives are being controlled without their saying of what they desire for. Similarly, the people of Egypt are fed up with their corrupted leader who has led them for 30 years and was taking them towards poverty. In both situations, the people/animals both unite as one voice, making them more effective in their efforts. In Animal Farm, all of the animals of what was called “Manor Farm” unite to hear the words of Old Major. He gives his vision of animals one day overruling the corrupt humans and taking over the farm. He serves as their leader and inspiration to lead the revolution.

In the situation in Egypt, Nobel Peace Prize winner Mohamed ElBaradei takes up the position of Old Major in Animal Farm. ElBaradei has fought long and hard to gain freedom from the corruption of his beloved country Egypt. He is even shown in numerous photos leading the crowd of anti-government protesters towards justice by chanting anti-government messages and leading them throughout Egypt. The fact that he is well known for his fight for peace and has won a Noble Peace Prize has been given faith by the people to lead the through the revolution.

Eventually, these messages and leadership by these inspirational people eventually succeed and win their fight for freedom and an overrule of corruption.

Animal Farm - Chapter XI

The next day, the lower animals of what was now called Manor Farm again, were speechless. Everyone went back to their regular duties except now it was different. Everyone seemed lifeless: they got their work done, ate the small rations of food they were handed, and quietly went to sleep without saying a word to each other. It was a similar scenario to the time before the rebellion where what they did make up their lives and no one complained of anything being wrong or unacceptable. They just went along with their lives, accepting the new order that was now in place by their own “comrades”, the pigs. The lower animals were lost in thought, confused in so many ways. The pigs were once one of them, an equal animal, who once rejected the idea of being like human beings. But now, it was hard telling them apart.

A few more days passed by and the animals were now restlessly eating their small rations of food. The enormous dog that was keeping a look out of the animals was at the moment distracted by a small rubber ball handed to him by Squealer. Squealer, given his enormous size, could no longer follow through with the simple action of watching over the lower animals. His daily messages from the pigs and Napoleon were no longer given, for they felt there was no need for so. Instead, he spent his time sleeping in the human’s bed along with the rest of the pigs.

Finally, clover managed to do something many of the animals weren’t able to do for a while: she spoke. “So this is life…” she began. “This is what our lives have come to? What ever happened to our younger days?” Then, she let out a burst of anger, “This has become beyond anything any one of us imagined would happen! Where is our justice! You call this life? When was the last time I went to sleep on a full stomach? Why I would rather go back to our old days of Mr. Jones being our superior than some traitor we once believed in!” She began to gain the attention of the four-legged companion of Napoleon keeping watch. He jawed off the rubber ball full of saliva and slowly approached with a cautious growl towards the animals. It left Clover quiet but her temper was not yet done with. She chomped heavily on her portion of hay, keeping calm as the dog went back to his rubber fall. Once distracted by his ball once again, she began again with the attention of the others. “Meet an hour after sundown. There we will discuss what goes on from here.” And with that Benjamin, Moses, and Clover went along with their forced duties with no passion at all, while cautious to prevent the new animals of Manor Farm of their secret plan. It was too late to convince them and the sheep to become trustworthy with them so they kept their word to each other not to share a single detail. Throughout their meals, something about the dog keeping watch of them and his ball caught Clover’s attention. She kept glaring at the once vicious dog that was in a playful state, now that a rubber ball was given to him.

           

Later on that day, while the pigs were in their beds and the rest of the animals on Manor Farm were fast asleep, Benjamin, Moses the raven, and Clover all met up in front of the barn yard. There, the plans were to be discussed. They spent all through the night, making sure there was no margin for error in their plan. And right before sun rise, the animals hid back to their places and were able to get an hour’s sleep before getting up again to work.

Then, the time came. Moses scarcely did any work on the farm, given his old age and his ability of flight. So once all the animals were awakened, he flew off to the distance. Time passed by and it was no feeding time. Clover and Benjamin ate their food and off to the distance, they see Moses come flying back in with what they had hoped he would bring. In his beak, he held the handles of a bag that carried an enormous weight of rubber balls. He dropped off the balls in front of Clover and Benjamin, who were approached by a running dog. Clover, acting as planned, held up the rubber ball in mouth and moved it in a swaying motion, back and forth. The dog, to their surprise and amusement, stopped right in front of them with his mouth wide open, following the motion of the ball in her mouth the whole time. Then, she dropped it right steadily in front of her so that the dog can gain distance towards her. It was an extremely risky thing to do but it paid off. The dog, which was earlier ready to viciously tear their necks apart, was now biting playfully in front of the three animals. Moses gave the dog a slight rub on the hand and the dog gave a joyful wagging of his tail.    

Animal Farm Mini-Essay

The power to lead a civilization can be very tempting not to abuse. Though there are a very few who obtain power and keep it intact, most will abuse it and lead themselves to corruption. In the book, Animal Farm by George Orwell, there are two major characters that stand out: Major and Squealer. How these two characters use their words, tone, and topics to influence the lower animals on Animal Farm to lead them to power are uniquely different.

In the first chapter of Animal Farm, the animals are living their typical lives working for Mr. Jones on Manor Farm when the eldest of the pigs, a boar named Major is introduced. The rest of the animals of the farm (so-called “lower” animals) respect Major and are willing to contribute anything to his ideas. Because he is the eldest of the animals, he has experienced many hardships throughout his life as a boar and due to this fact, his tone of confidence has become to be very reliable by the animals. His topics have also come to be reliable because of his longevity on Manor Farm. In his speech to animals, he states:

 “Why then do we continue in this miserable condition? Because nearly the whole of the produce of our labor is stolen from us by human beings. There, comrades, is the answer to all our problems. It I summed up in a single word---Man. Man is the only real enemy we have. Remove Man from the scene, and the root cause of hunger and overwork is abolished for ever” (28).

Major is the only one at this point in time to be able to put forth these words of wisdom and actually convince the lower animals. His experience and knowledge of Manor Farm has put him forth as a leader they can look up to. With such confidence he says these unheard ideas and topics that the lower animals cease to think it cannot work. When Major speaks, it’s as seems nothing can go wrong.

Squealer on the other hand uses a different approach to influence the lower animals. Squealer represents a  military-like character by always referring to the lower animals as “comrades”. Squeler's ideas sound very communist-like and his ideas makes him and the pigs sound like dictators. He does this by speaking in a confident tone but his topics and words make his confidence unlike Major's. Instead, his words and ideas are meant to bring fear upon the lower animals and encourage them to work more into following the pigs’ ideas.

“Bravery is not enough. Loyalty and obedience are more important. And as to the Battle of Cowshed, I believe the time will come when we shall find that Snowball's part in it was much exaggerated. Discipline, comrades, iron discipline! That is the watchword for today. One false step, and our enemies would be upon us. Surely, comrades, you do not want Jones back?” (79).

Based on this dialogue he gives to the lower animals, Squealer uses a loud and angry tone to bring fear upon the animals and make them do as he pleases based on fearfulness than based on their will, like when Major spoke. This brings communist feeling into Animal Farm, especially how he always brings up the topics of Mr. Jones and his men coming back to take over the farm. He also brings upon them fear when he tells the lower animals that “one false step” and the enemies will be back upon them, bringing him a feeling of more superiority.

While Major depended on the voice of what was right for the animals to influence them (democracy), Squealer used fear to influence them into fighting for his more power to the pigs (communism).

Opening Statement: Wikileaks

Wikileaks has been an extremely debatable topic recently. Currently, the Pentagon is taking action to try to prosecute and take it down due to the release of numerous documents chronicling the wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, and U.S. diplomatic cables. Created by Julian Assange, Wikileaks was created to keep government activities open worldwide. What was unique about the site was that it allowed for anyone an “innovative, secure and anonymous way for independent sources around the world to leak information to [its] journalists”. So, the question arises: is Wikileaks overall more harmful or more beneficial to society?

In my opinion, Wikileaks overall is more beneficial to society because it leaves people with the knowledge of their government’s censored actions, something that should be available to the public without the hassle of Wikileaks. When America was first founded, all decisions were to be made public to the American people. But as time has gotten by, we are moving more towards corruption by making private decisions and committing censored actions. What is the need for these decisions and actions to be censored? If it is because what is being done is wrong, then why are they being done at all?

Jeff Cohen is an associate professor at Ithaca College, TV commentator for CNN and MSNBC, and has numerous columns in daily newspapers such as USA Today, Los Angeles Times, and Boston Globes. He once said:

"Media is the nervous system of a democracy. If it's not functioning well, the democracy can't function."

The point that he is making is that the media is responsible for keeping the people informed of the government. The media inform us on our politics and their actions. The media of today can only go so far in reporting the daily activities of the government. Sometimes, the sources of the media aren't even primary sources but instead released statements from spokespeople or rumors spread from other sources. The point is that the media is no longer functioning well and Wikileaks has become the solution into bringing order back into the media. When Wikileaks started publishing the war diaries of Iraq and Afghanistan, it was a big surprise to a majority of our country. If our media was functioning properly and our democratic system was functioning properly then the stuff that were released out of Wikileaks should have been well known by the people.