Jason Lowbridge
Professor Jerome M. McKeever
English 1010
30 October 2012
Word Count 939
Amy Chua is a Yale Law professor, wife, mother and the author of the Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mom. In the Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mom, Amy Chua discusses how she has raised her two daughters the “Chinese way.” Ms. Chua’s goes on to discuss the ways of traditional Chinese parenting children and the superiority of traditional Chinese parenting over the western way of parenting. However, despite being raised by two Chinese parents, having two daughters of her own and authoring this essay, there is nothing that makes Amy Chua an actual authority on parenting. But, in fairness to Amy Chua, “this is a personal memoir, not a parenting manual.” (Paul) She does not claim to be an expert, she merely lays out her case for parenting the way she does.
Amy Chua has two daughters (Sophia and Louisa). By all accounts, they have grown up to be very happy and successful. She does state that no matter what anybody thinks, her actions are based on love of her children and wanting the very best future for them. I do believe that is true. While I do not dispute the success or results of her parenting style, I do disagree with her measure of success.
The reason I disagree with her is that she defines the success of her children by accomplishments. She is of the belief that her children must spend their lives making her proud and obeying her. I define parental success by happiness, not accomplishments. I am not completely comfortable saying that achievements or accomplishments are a true measure of success. If my children end up doing something they truly love and they are happy doing it, I will consider myself successful. I don’t want to force them to do things that they are not passionate about. If they lack the passion and desire, chances are good that they will not be happy or successful. I’m certain that Ms. Chua would argue that I am merely settling for mediocrity, but I respectfully disagree.
The Chinese method of parenting appears to be far tougher on children. Parents are guiding children through life the way they feel is best for the child and their futures. Little input is allowed from the child. However, I do hope that Amy Chua’s essay is slightly embellished. For example, it is great that Amy Chua spends a considerable amount of time teaching her child to play piano. When parents spend time with their children and are involved in their activities, it is almost always a good thing. But, hours upon hours of practice, with no water or bathroom breaks, borders on child abuse. I’m hoping that Ms. Chua exaggerated this claim in an effort to truly make her argument.
One could easily argue that Ms. Chua uses a number of propaganda techniques while stating her case that the Chinese mother method of parenting is superior. To begin with, Amy Chua uses the testimonial technique. In doing so, she uses herself as the respected, experienced person to endorse the Chinese mother style of parenting. She is hoping that other parents will see how successful, by her standards, that she was in raising her children are and may want to follow her methods. While the Chinese mom method is not a huge movement at this time, there is an attempt by Amy Chua to persuade the readers that if they follow her methods, they too will produce superior children. By not following her methods, parents will simply have to settle for mediocre children. This is her use of the bandwagon technique. She uses the name calling technique when she uses the term “western parents.” (Chua) While not coming out and directly calling western parent’s a nasty name, she uses the term with almost a negative tone, like western parents are lesser people and certainly not as qualified as parents. Finally, Ms. Chua uses glittering generalities when she states that Chinese mothers and their parenting methods are superior. This is a very general statement incorporating all Chinese mothers into that comment. The one technique that I don’t believe she uses is the card stacking technique. By Ms. Chua pointing out some of her children’s rebellious ways, she does not attempt to stack the cards against the truth. The author is being extremely truthful in her essay and provides both the good and the bad for the reader to form their own opinion.
In addition to using propaganda techniques, Amy Chua also uses a number of logical fallacies in her essay. Ms. Chua uses the Dito Simpliciter fallacy when she implies that Chinese moms are superior and western parents are soft on their children, thereby producing mediocre children. This is a very general statement and not entirely accurate. She also uses the hasty generalization fallacy in her writing when she writes about western mothers caring too much about their child’s emotions. Sad, but not always the case. Although she provides statistics, it was still too general of a statement that the writer made too hastily. Ms. Chua also uses the Post Hoc fallacy in her writing. She is essentially saying that because she is Chinese, was raised by Chinese parents and is now a Chinese mother, she will have superior children. Being a Chinese mother does not always equate to superior children. Finally, Ms. Chua attempts to poison the well with her negative tones and comments regarding western parenting.
Works Cited
Chua, Amy. Tiger Moms. 2011.Print
Paul, Annie Murphy. Tiger Moms: Is Tough Parenting Really The Answer? 2011.Print.
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