AMY TAN’S “MOTHER TONGUE”

The argument for Part 2 of this phase is based on the argument Amy Tan raised in her text “Mother Tongue”. This argument is about the fact that even though English is one language, there are many different ways of speaking it. And that this shouldn’t be viewed negatively by others.  Another view I would like to take on this argument is that of the “broken English” speaker. These people are more likely to be afraid to talk in English, as they are scared of being judged or made fun of. My real audience is my classmates and the professor because they are the people most likely of reading or viewing my assignment.

My intended audience is those who oppose my chosen argument. They might not necessarily be from one specific group of people, so I think this is the best way of describing them.

The genre I selected is a meme, as I believe this to be the most easy and relatable way of communicating with others. I used 2 memes to describe my 2 views of the argument.

A rhetorical strategy I saw in the first meme I chose, was providing a greater amount of evidence in support of the claim instead of against it. The memes I’ve chosen always highlight that viewing people who don’t speak “perfect English” is wrong. I’ve also included memes in which it is highlighted that even though people might think that their English might be broken/bad, that this doesn’t have to be the case. So, I can conclude that this is the strategy I used as I haven’t included any memes which oppose the chosen argument.

Another rhetorical strategy I saw was providing imagery that illustrate my chosen argument. This is obviously done with the use of memes, but I have chosen memes in which characters are portrayed looking negatively at people who do not agree with the argument. I chose these memes because I want the people who disagree with the argument to become unsure of their views. This in the hopes that these people can realize their mistakes and I am able to change their views on this subject.

One more rhetorical strategy I saw in this meme was PATHOS. This is used to evoke a feeling in the reader. The feeling evoked in the readers in this case is the feeling of being judged because they are wrong. In this case the character in the meme “stares” at the reader in a judgmental way, such that the reader will start to feel that maybe their opposing view of the argument is indeed wrong.

 When looking at the other part of the argument, I chose memes which are likely to encourage people who think they don’t speak “perfect English”. This in the hopes that I can get them to not be afraid of speaking English, and by getting them to speak more they will most likely improve their speaking skills. It might also be the case that these people who are afraid of speaking English actually are able to speak the language fluently and by showing them these memes, I can get them to be less scared of this.

In this meme I also saw the use of the PATHOS rhetorical strategy. This is used to evoke an emotional response in the reader. In this case the emotion which is evoked is encouragement. In the meme you can see a woman who is providing encouragement to the subject of this meme, which in this case is people who do not speak “perfect English”. The viewers of this meme will now hopefully also provide encouragement who do not of the courage to speak freely because of their “imperfect English”.

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SAFWAT SALEEM’S TEDTALK

My second argument for Part 2 of this phase is derived from Safwat Saleem’s TedTalk in which he challenged the meaning of what is normal. When he explained this, he raised the argument that we don’t know what normal is until we have experienced it.

My intended audience is everyone who doesn’t agree with the fact that not everyone is “normal” according to them, and I want that they are able to view this from another perspective. My real audience in this case is my classmates and the professor, as they are the ones who most likely see my assignment.

The genre I selected is something like a poster or a short speech/quote. I’m not sure how to classify this exactly but I chose this image because it perfectly portrays the argument that is being made in my opinion.

A rhetorical strategy I witnessed in this image was the placement of the argument at the beginning of the text. This means that everyone who reads this immediately knows what this is about and will start to think about the argument.

Another rhetorical strategy I witnessed in this image is LOGOS. When using LOGOS, the author is required to present logical evidence and in this case the author has viewed the argument from 2 different perspectives, from the fly and from the spider. It is written in such a way that readers will be made to think about the argument and will most likely agree with the statement that is made. Putting the argument at the beginning of the text did help bringing context to the given example.

One more rhetorical strategy I witnessed was that the author provided more evidence in support of the argument rather than against it. In this case the author explained the argument using the example of the fly and the spider but did not include any evidence which opposes the argument.