“Ugly, the American” is an article written by James Poniewozik, who claims that America is a melting pot of different cultures, and that the combination of new blood is what makes this country what it is. His main example is based off of the TV series, “Ugly Betty,” a show about the daughter of an illegal immigrant, who, although she wears strange clothing and brings Mexican food to work, becomes accepted by her coworkers at Mode magazine. Poniewozik also shows that most reality television in America is taken from other countries-American Idol is British; Survivor was originated in Sweden-yet another reason that American culture is not, well, all-American.
One of the author’s warrants in this essay is that laws to keep illegal immigrants out of the country are made to protect American culture from being changed by other countries. Another warrant is that because many of the television programs are adapted from other countries, their culture is seeping into the pop-culture of America. The opposing views are successfully refuted because the author conveys to the reader that although borders need to be protected, American mainstream culture is a mixture of customs, and helps America see itself.
Kim McLarin’s essay, “Race Wasn’t an Issue to Him, Which Was an Issue to Me”, claims that she could not be in a relationship with a white man who was willing to grapple with race, unlike her ex-husband, because his ‘grappling’ was just beginning and hers had started at 5. Her reasoning for this is that while Jerry, the white man she was seeing, was not racist, his grappling was less mature than hers.
The author’s warrants in this article are that only black people can grapple with race from childhood, whereas white individuals can not start grappling with race until that have fully matured into adulthood, and that a white person is born with an innocence (although I believe this detail must also include how and where the person was brought up). The opposing views are successfully refuted, because the author reveals that even though people can be open to inter-racial relationships, they can only work if both individuals can grapple on the same level of maturity.
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5 comments:
Molly, you were correct to say the author's was, "America is a melting pot of different cultures, and that the combination of new blood is what makes this country what it is," but failed to stress that "what it is," is GOOD. He believes that immigration is a good, positive thing that makes America beautiful.
* Author's CLAIM was, *
I dont even know what "grapple" meant in this and it was used six times in four sentences. If you could explain I would appreciate that.
Does McLarin specifically describe what a mature way of dealing with inter-racial relationships is or does she claim that it is impossible for anyone who does not belong to a group that has been oppressed?
She says that she knows many interracial couples claim that their relationships work well, but that in her case, she cannot make a relationship works. She does not describe a mature way of dealing with inter-racial relationships.
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