Hmongspeak by May Lee
Hmongspeak is a way of describing the cultural aspects of the Hmong language. If a person uses it, that person gets labeled as a Hmong society member, and there’s some people who want to put a stop to these cultural aspects of the Hmong language. Because these people are affected by this language in an unpleasant way. One such author, May Lee wrote, “Hmongspeak” to educate the Hmong society. Lee defines it and says: “Hmongspeak is universal”. It’s a way of implying something as opposed to saying things directly” (Lee, 47). Means that people attempt to talk to you in a very indirect way so they don’t hurt your feelings but in reality they are. Lee’s purpose of writing is to hopefully stop people in talking in indirectly
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Convincing people that Hmongspeak is used by all type of genders, races and nationalities. Adding these personal experiences, it shows that Lee was a victim of Hmongspeak and she sounds like she knows what she’s talking about. These self-experienced or personal stories helps the reader to relate cause there might be a reader who’s going through it at the moment or someone who has been in Lee’s same shoes. In another way, personal stories helps the reader to imagine the author’s atmosphere. Lee starts using ethos by giving an example about herself and describes an incident that happened to her specifically: “If you ever been a daughter-in-law and heard your in-laws saying, Mai [Lee’s sister in-law], clean up the house” or Mai [same sister], do the dishes, you know they’re not really talking to Mai. They’re talking to you. It’s their way of discreetly saying you need to work” says Lee. And then she starts defining what does Hmongspeak really means: “Hmongspeak is universal. It’s a way of implying something as opposed to saying things directly”. After that Lee starts sharing some personal experiences. And shares her thoughts on Hmongspeak by saying; “It’s hilarious, really I don’t know …show more content…
Or she could’ve shared some statistics the shows the number of people who uses Hmongspeak in their lives. Sharing or adding statistics always helps things to get more serious. If Lee could’ve added statistics or other people’s stories, the readers will be like “So, it’s not just me who’s going through this”, or in a different way it will make Lee’s piece more and more relatable. Which will eventually spread more awareness and help to reduce the use of Hmong
The use of ethos throughout Staples essay helps it progress because the examples given in the essay are not of fiction. Brent Staples did grow up in Chester, Pennsylvania and later on in his life peruse higher education. Fabricating his essay about his brother’s death would ruin his credibility as a writer and publisher as well was ruin the emotional effect his writing could evoke on to readers. If the author of the essay would have been an old Caucasian man, the essay would lose all credibility because readers would feel that a person like that does not know what life is like for a young African American male. So, by Staples being a truthful storyteller, he is able to connect to his audience and hopefully make an impact on their
The author used different elements of ethos, logos, pathos, and kairos to effectively communicate with the reader. Eve Tushnet the author of this essay does not have a whole lot of ethos. Eve is lacking credibility and character because she is not an established author. Eve is not a credible author because she is a freelance writer. Eve does not have good credibility because she blogs and contributes to an opinion magazine and website.
Another example of ethos is when she says, “a male friend of mine appeared on the scene fresh from a recent divorce”(229). Including this statement makes the reader believe that she knows how a man thinks and this is important since in most of the essay she is writing from a man’s
When people hear about elderly individuals most will assume that they are wise, filled with endless amounts of wisdom, and have stories to pass down. Well, if an individual is an elderly Hmong male, then this is accurate. It has been said “Within the family, the eldest man would traditionally hold the utmost power and control and would possess final say regarding all family decisions” (Tatman 2004). Also, the elder adults are typically seen as clan leaders. Clan leaders make many decisions and approve of any major decisions (Cobb 2010).
Kathryn Stockett successfully uses rhetorical devices to get the reader to feel and understand the perspectives of the protagonists. Stockett uses pathos, ethos, and logos in her book, since the book about social injustice. The topics in the book range from inequality of the sexes to social classes and racism, Stockett is successful in getting the reader to reflect while reading the book and the themes of the book have a clear presence. We see Stockett use ethos and pathos in the very first chapters when we learn that Hilly doesn't like Minny and Minny doesn't want to say why at first, but the incident with Ms. Holbrook was affecting her chances of getting a job because of the influence Hilly has over this suburban society. In some instances where Stockett uses ethos, pathos is also included in her writing.
Loud noises coming from around the auditorium and there were a lot of people chatting non-stop. As me and my friend walking through the halls to get inside the auditorium, there were posters of The Kong & Shu Project. I was shocked that they were from North Carolina and they got invited to come to Saint Paul, MN to come play for their fans. There were three sections where people can sit which in the left side has barely anyone sitting, in the middle section it was full, and in the right section there are half as many people in the middle section.
This research paper examines the factors first generation Hmong American college students encounter while pursuing completion of higher education. Existing studies shows that many Hmong American college students encounter struggles with families’ language barriers (Lee 4), differences in cultural expectations (Vang 2), and finical issue. The struggles they face shows on the Hmong American college students academics (Vang 2). Introduction Vocabulary Hmong: Hmong are a group from the mountains of China, Laos, and Vietnam.
Elizabeth Wong wrote The Struggle to Be an All-American Girl, explaining her personal conflict growing up in a bicultural atmosphere the essay goes on about Wong’s mother with her personal conflict as well being criticized by her son reason that she had an accent when she would speak English and it would make her sound choppy. Living with a bicultural family can be amazing however, with it, it can be controversial with several individuals, in ways it can affect daily life. Elizabeth Wong had a difficult time trying to adjust to Chinese school, and the Chinese culture similar for her mother also had a difficult task trying to speak proper English with her son having to correct multiple times or mocking her because she had difficulty trying to
It's your culture! Hilda's face showed concern”(Warrior). This quote highlights several problems related to stereotypes and culture appropriation in Indigenous communities. Hilda responds to Lucy in a way that she was bothered by Lucy that she did not attend any sun dances in her life. Hilda first assumes and stereotypes that all Indigenous people have the same traditions and beliefs.
The writers accurately depict ethos because they represent multiple viewpoints and they have connected themselves to the topic. Pathos is used in the document because they expressed their emotions for
Walt Kowalski was a widower living in his home that he has owned for many years in Michigan. Over the years, the demographic has shifted in the neighborhood, from the white, working class to poor immigrant Asian families. Walt did not hide his displeasure for his neighbours, the Vang Lor family. The Vang Lor’s were from the Hmong culture. The Hmong people were people from the mountainous regions of China, Laos, and Thailand.
Amy Tan’s “Mother Tongue,” really moved me emotionally because of the way in which the piece was written, and the relevance of the situations to my own life. The piece is about how Tan had struggled with her linguistic identity, and explores her mothers broken english, and her relationship with her mother. The primary purpose of this piece was to show people that there is no right form of English, and that it comes in many different forms and as a result there should be no prejudice against these variations. Tan discusses how many people have very narrow minds and misconceived views on people of different cultural backgrounds. In the essay she had used the example of how people would not take her mother serious because of her broken English.
Research Questions: How does the Hmong culture affect Hmong people’s social identity in American society? Thesis: The Hmong culture affect social identity with its beliefs, values, and traditions due to the older generations continuing to practice the culture in order to pass it down to the next generation. The Hmong culture continues to express the ideals of its ancestors. However, the Hmong people holds traditions as the most valuable aspect of Hmong culture.
The essay "Mother's Tongue" is written by Amy tan and published in 1990. In her essay she talks about languages and how they all vary especially how the English language varied in her life. She talks about all the "Englishes" she knew and used growing up. She has become a successful author and had attended events were she was invited to talk about her book. In one of those events she took her mother and during her speech she realized the way she was talking to the group of people was different from the way she would talk to her mom.
As we approached the tents and tables set up outside, I noticed that the language spoken was not English. We meandered to the farthest corner of the outdoor market, where we could hear roosters crowing. Suddenly, the source of the squawking became obvious and we watched as vendors removed the fowl from steel cages for customers to inspect. With surprise and curiosity, I watched a customer scoop up a rooster, stuffing it under one arm while she handed cash to the vendor.