Mother Tongue Response Questions

1.       What occasion caused Amy Tan to become “keenly aware of the different Englishes” she used?

She became aware of the different Englishes she used when she was giving a speech and her mom was present in the audience.

2.       The expression used in Amy Tan’s title, “Mother Tongue,” is also used in paragraph seven. What does this expression generally mean?  What does it seem to mean in this essay?

Her “Mother Tongue” is the way her mother communicates to her and how she can understand it so easily.  The word tongue generally means a different language and in the essay it means her mother’s “broken” English which is the way she communicates to her daughter.

3.       Tan uses dialogue throughout the essay…why do you think she does this?  What purpose does it serve?  Which sentences of dialogue do you find particularly effective, and why? 

Most of the dialogue she uses expresses the way her mother talked giving the readers a relatable example.  The purpose it serves is that the reader then understands why Amy would get upset with her mother and sometimes embarrassed when out in public because of the way she talked.  I found all of the dialogue effective because it flows together and shows why her mother was not a valued customer until her daughter translated into what she actually wanted to say.  It gives the reader the ability to compare her English to her mother’s English.

4.       In what ways did outsiders (like bankers and waiters) make judgments of Tan’s mother because of her language?  Do you think the judgments where deliberate or unconscious on their part?  Explain.

They made judgments of her and wouldn’t offer her the customer services as they would for other people.  They could have thought since she didn’t talk perfectly she didn’t deserve such respect.  I think the judgments were deliberate on their part because once Amy was called to clear up the situation it was clear the business started treating her with the respect she deserves.

5.       Growing up, how was Tan’s perception of her mother influenced by the way she spoke?

Amy’s perception of her mother, as she grew older, started to improve.  When she was younger she stated how she was embarrassed to go places with her mother because of her mother’s “broken” English.  As she aged she realized that was childish and started to respect her mother for more of who she was than the way she talked.

Where's The Professor?

                In any school a person attends there will always be groupings of students, but along with those groups there are also groupings of the different types of professors.  These groups are widely different and their popularity is shown by how fast their classes are closed after the first few days of registration.  The professors, both good and bad, are classified just as they would classify their students which attend their classes year after year.

                Starting with the first classification of educators it is called the “Go Forth and Teach” group.  This group of professors are the ones every student strives to get if they are truly looking to get more than just a grade out of their courses.  These professors strive to teach, instead of entertain, their students and prepare them for the wide world to come after they swiftly walk across the stage in their cap and gown to receive their diploma.  They are the encouraging staff which names are known across campuses and ring through the walls of high schools.  These are the professors which truly make a difference.

                The second of the groups of educators are known as “Easy A” professors.  These professors engage themselves in semesters full of happy students waltzing into their classes with big smiles on their faces.  The students are presented with absolutely no sense of challenge to prepare them for the world other than showing up and taking the tests.  These professors usually are very knowledgeable on the subject they teach, but would rather have the students love them than overload them with homework.  They usually don’t take attendance and collect what little homework which is assigned and award them with “completion” points.  They are very well liked among the student body and classes also fill up quickly.

                Group three of the educators includes the “Overthinkers”.  These groups of professors are less popular among the students and their classes usually don’t fill up quickly.  They value education for their students and are highly concerned with their futures after high school and college.  Their expectations for homework assignments are above and beyond expecting nothing less than excellence.  They force students to think in new ways they are not accustomed to thinking.  It offers students the chance to formulate new opinions instead of following deep in the shadows of past published thinkers.  They are great teachers and sometimes like to lead their lectures based on student opinions over assigned readings.  This helps them assess which students have read and which ones are serious about their futures.

                The fourth group of educators includes the “Legends”.  This group includes some of the best teachers employed at high schools and colleges.  The educators teach the subject by the book offering private tutoring sessions within their offices or sometime after school.  They never stop teaching until every student has proved a satisfactory level of knowledge for the subject.  Sometimes they go around the room calling on students to either express their opinions on the subject in discussion or to answer a pending question from their class period before.  These professors’ names also ring through the halls of high schools and colleges.  They have usually been at the same campus for their entire education career (attending and teaching) and are very dedicated in the work they do.  Their classes fill up quickly and with ease and sometimes extensions are allotted for lucky students to enter their classes after closing.  They are teachers every student looks forward to having even though they present a lot of work, they know they will benefit in more ways than education after taking their course.

                “Avoiders” are the next group of educators.  This group is composed of professors which are legends in the sense every student says to avoid.  They are usually awkward in nature and students often are baffled at the university’s decision to employ them.  When forced to take the class the unlucky students often only do well if the assignments are easy, or the professor awards a significant amount of bonus points.  Little value exceeds from the material and the students are thrilled when the class is over.  They also usually never receive a rewarding evaluation from students at the end of the year.

                The last category includes the “Sport Junkies”.  This category includes teachers which care specifically about the students involved in sporting events.  It is usually more prominent in high school teachers and is involved with the academic programs at the school.  They usually are insensitive to the students which are not involved in sports and are overly compassionate to the students which are involved.  Most of them are very popular with the “jock” student classification and tend to become close.  These teachers make little impact towards the uninvolved students and often make them feel small.  They are teachers to avoid at all costs unless involved in some kind of sport.

                The classifications of professors and high school teachers are not limited to those listed above.  They can come in many different classifications depending on the type of class you take as well as your particular learning style.  I have had my fair share of effective teachers who I have kept in touch with and rewarded with a wonderful evaluation.  It is difficult to understand why a professor who didn’t leave any impact on their students would be considered worthy of holding onto their job.  I can only hope after assessing the evaluations the students display when the class is over serious consideration is applied to each and every individual educator.

Where's The Student Response Questions

1.       This essay appeared in The Chronicle of Higher Education, a weekly publication for college and university professors and administrators. How do you think this audience influenced Baker’s analysis of types of students? What about his tone and language seems appropriate for this type of audience?

Baker has obviously been in college and observed the different types of students which were in his courses.  He probably came to the conclusion of the different types of students by being observant.  His tone and language seemed appropriate for this audience because he is speaking to college level students as well as professors and administrators.  His language is simply using different words to explain the different types of students who attend college.

2.       Baker deliberately creates, rather than avoids, stereotypes to establish exaggerated representatives of types…do you think his classifications are fair?  Do they accurately reflect the whole spectrum of students?  Why or why not?

Some of his classifications are fair but a number of them are mainly negative.  He leaves out the student who ends up with a degree and becomes successful.  They don’t reflect the whole spectrum of students because it is very difficult to find two students exactly alike.  Some of them could be jocks and never achieve a degree, and some of them could be jocks and could go on to become very successful in their lives.

3.       This article was published in 1982: How well have Baker’s classifications held up to present conditions?  Do these groups still exist?  How closely do they mirror the student population at USI or other colleges (or high schools) you’ve attended?  Explain your answer.

Some of the classifications have held to the present conditions and most of the categories still exist.  These classifications, however, leave out the majority of the students who graduate, achieve degrees and go on to fulfill their lives.  There are many different types of students so it is difficult to compare.  There will always be jocks, slackers, good time charlies, and all of the other classifications in every school you could visit.  The trick is that the student categories are not limited to the ones listed and are becoming broader as the time goes by.

4.       Which category (or combination of categories) do you fit?  Explain your answer.

I would like to think I am the determined student.  I am very determined to work as hard as I can, achieve a degree, and start working as soon as possible.

5.       Based on your experience, how would you define the relationship between students and faculty?  What stereotypes does each group (fairly? unfairly?) hold about the other?

The relationship between students and faculty are wide in variety.  There are students who go out of their way to become friends with their professors and then there are other students who go out of their way to suffer in silence and never befriend faculty members.  I would like to think that the faculty has faith in most of their students until given a reason to give up on them.  I think professors sometimes have their minds made up on what kinds of students they are dealing with which isn’t fair because they could be completely wrong.  Also I think some students can decide within the first few weeks of classes whether they will have to try in the class or if they will blow it off based on the energy provided by the professor which also isn’t fair.

Scream Softly

                Imagine that you are sitting with your significant other trying to enjoy a peaceful and romantic dinner after a long week of classes.  The waiter comes by, takes your orders, and refills your glasses as you stare into each other’s eyes completely lost in the extraordinary moment.  As he leans in, just as your lips are about to meet, your romantic moment is interrupted by the bone chilling scream of an unhappy baby sitting at the table across from you.  Opening your eyes you realize the moment has been completely ruined by this unfortunate event.  Immensely disappointed at a perfect moment being ruined, you and your date simply fall gently back into your chairs and start talking about a completely different topic.

                This is a very typical scene which occurs not only in restaurants but in any situation where it is impossible to block out the annoying sound.  What is it that you are supposed to do in these situations?  You can’t approach the parents and inform them that your night was just rudely interrupted by their annoying screaming child.  You don’t have the option since it’s not the parent’s fault that their baby is screaming for no reason at all.  So what do you do?  You are forced to sit in the awkward situation staring at your date as the child proceeds to scream even louder.  You slowly realize the control of the situation has left your hands and is now up to the parents.

                The parents have almost as little control as you do sitting across from their table.  They do their best to quiet the child which sometimes works, but usually only increases the intensity of the screams.  The baby doesn’t understand it is disrupting a perfectly romantic evening; it is only concerned with the fact that it is unhappy.  Unless you have the power to know exactly what your child wants at that precise instance, solving the situation is very difficult and annoying for people around them.

                Unfortunately this situation has happened to me in many different instances from restaurants, to airplane rides, and even to church.  There is nothing worse than trying to pay attention to a preacher giving his sermon with the constant interruption of babies and older children screaming bloody murder.  The situation could be solved rather easily if the parents had any initiative to act.  The solution I would provide is to pick the baby up and walk either to the bathroom or the nursery until the screaming stops.

                In my opinion the situation, which is commonly the worst, occurs when sitting in either a class or a sermon during church and being interrupted by screaming.  I am usually deeply interested in the subject matter being discussed during the preacher’s sermon and my concentration is extremely interrupted when the screaming starts.  Unfortunately we do not have a nursery to take a child when it is misbehaving to wait out the situation until it stops screaming.  My church, however, does have a foyer which is closed off when church begins.  It is not a complete sound proof room, but it is better to hear a muffled sound of a crying child rather than the direct ear piercing screams.  Sometimes the child screams louder than the preacher can project his voice so he must resort to shouting because the parents don’t have enough respect to remove the child and let him finish his sermon.  It is impossible to pay attention and I usually spend the time looking at my friends and making eye contact with the parents of the child.

                Another instance which only makes matters worse is when a child is screaming because their toy has been taken away from them and the parent doesn’t remove them from the room, but spanks them in front of the whole congregation.  This has happened in my church and it would seem that people would realize that spanking the child will only make the matter worse.  It takes every ounce of energy for me to not approach the family and ask them if they realized their child was screaming at the top of its lungs during half of the sermon.  I refrain because they obviously know and were trying to listen to the sermon as I was.  Sometimes I wonder if people are really trying to do the right thing or if they are that disrespectful among others.

I Want a Wife and Why I Want a Husband Response Questions

1.       Do these essays have a traditional, explicitly stated thesis?  If so, what is it (for each)?  If you believe the thesis or purpose is implied for both essays, paraphrase each in your own words.

I think the thesis for both essays are implied.  For the essay “I Want a Wife” the thesis is based around the importance of a wife and her duties to her family.  For the essay “Why I Want a Husband” the thesis is based around the importance of a husband and his duties to his family.

2.       Throughout the essay, Brady repeats the words “I want a wife” and Fernsler repeats “I want a husband.”  What is the effect of this repetition?

In both essays they are restating the facts that they want either a wife or a husband to remind the reader of the topic.  I think by emphasizing these words it gives the reader an outline of the duties which the authors think the positions hold.

3.       Brady never uses the personal pronouns he or she to refer to the wife she defines.  Why do you think she makes this choice?  What about Fernsler’s pronoun usage?  Is he equally “genderless”?  How does his pronoun usage impact or affect the essay?

I think she uses this genderless approach because anyone could be a wife.  It doesn’t have to be a woman which can fulfill these duties it could also be her husband to help her out as well.  When adding the personal pronouns she limits the duties to just a female figure.  Fernsler’s approach is not genderless.  He uses personal pronouns, which implies he is talking about a male figure only.  He is stating that these particular duties cannot be fulfilled by a female but a male only.

4.       The first and last paragraphs of each essay are quite brief.  Why do you think Brady and Fernsler chose to write such short introductory and concluding paragraphs?  What effect does it have on the reader?

I think they wrote short introductory and concluding paragraphs because it keeps the essay short and sweet.  They do not reiterate the essay but simply bring it to a modest conclusion.  They state precisely what the essay will be about and a simple concluding idea at the end.  It has the effect of a simple read for the reader helping the reader understand exactly what the writer was trying to say.

5.       Do you think both authors really want the kind of wife and husband each describes—does this ideal spouse actually exist?  Explain why you think Brady wrote her essay in the early 1970s—and then what motivated Fernsler to respond in the late 1980s...what does each essay say about the time period in which they were written?

I think they are trying to say that wives and husbands have duties which are taken for granted.  I don’t think they want a wife or a husband exactly like they describe, but they are trying to say they do a lot of things which go unrecognized.  The times have definitely changed over the ten year period gap between the original writing and the response.  The “duties” of husbands and wives have been altered during that change leading to more responsibilities and stress placed on both parental figures.

Small Violin

                There are many instances which I would like to go back in time and re-enact, but there is one in particular which goes all through me as I reminisce about the situation.  I was a second semester freshman at the University of Southern Indiana about to indulge in a taste of Humanities 211.  I had heard the teacher wasn’t the best to take, but I was taking it with my best friend and figured we could stick together.  The first few weeks of class were not as bad as I had expected and I almost enjoyed attending the class.  I kept up with my readings as well as paid attention, and spoke up during the lectures which were usually run by the students.  The class seemed to be going just fine and I was starting to actually develop an interest in the assigned reading material.

                Everything was great in the course up until the month of September.  My grandpa was very ill throughout August and into the beginning of September.  A few weeks in, he passed away.  I told all my teachers I would be missing a few classes because he lived in Oklahoma and we would be driving down to attend the funeral.  I asked my friend to keep track of the assignments which were due until I returned thinking I would not miss much, and the professor would surely understand if they were not completed to exact perfection.  Unfortunately, the make-up situation did not occur as I had expected.

                As I returned to class the following week, I sat down in my normal seat as always and awaited class to start.  The professor walked to the front of the room, put his books down and proceeded to tell the class we were having a pop quiz over notes taken the days I was absent.  I had asked my friend if we had homework due, but she hadn’t told me about the notes they took while I was gone.  With a puzzled look on my face, he got the message and slowly made his way to my desk as I proceeded to explain my situation.

“I’m sorry I was out of town when you went over the material…is there any way I could take it during the next class period so I have time to prepare?” I said hoping he would consider.

“Oh Chelsea…I do not care that you were not in class.  What would you like me to do pull out my violin and play you a song?” he said.

                As shocked as I was at his response I did the polite thing by breaking eye contact and biting my lip to keep from jumping back at him with a not-so-professional remark.  Until this day I regret letting my eyes do the talking instead of my mouth.  I wish I could go back and re-do the situation with a little more backbone.  In re-enacting this certain situation I would have taken it a little further to explain the rude aspects of his heartless joke and that I was saying goodbye to one of the men I will always cherish, and a veteran at that.  If he had not allowed me to retake the quiz after that I would have proceeded to address someone over him.  I would have then told him how unhappy I was with the treatment of the professor.  I would not only do this to embarrass the professor as he embarrassed me in the classroom, but to also ensure this type of situation would never happen again.  Although his end-of-the-year evaluation which we completed revealed much of what I thought about him as my feelings boiled throughout the entire semester.

                I think taking initiative and “being tough” shows that you have confidence in yourself that you will not let people push you around.  It also shows that you have a planted foot in the situation and nobody has the ability to move your opinion. 

What I've Learned from Men Response Questions

1.       What is the tone (see definition below) of the opening paragraph? What does the tone of Ehrenreich’s first paragraph suggest we can expect in the rest of the essay?

I think the tone of the first paragraph includes a little sarcasm and annoyance from the way men do certain things.  This suggests that we can further expect more details of why she uses sarcasm as well as why she is annoyed with the habits of men.

2.       Ehrenreich contrasts “being tough” and “being ladylike.” What are the attitudes and behaviors that she associates with these opposing ways of being?

When she refers to “being ladylike” she means timid as well as always feeling like we should be nice no matter what the situation.  She refers to “being tough” as acting in such a way as a man would in some situations.  Instead of smiling through and being nice actually put your thoughts on the line and act.

3.       According to Ehrenreich, why are women reluctant to exert power?

It is equivalent to selfishness and destructiveness.

4.       Why do you think Ehrenreich shares the story of her encounter with the “prestigious professor” in paragraph 3?

I think she is trying to show an over exaggerated way to exert power.  She based it off of a movie, but I don’t think situations should be handled in that light no matter how much power you hold.

5.       Why do you think she “reruns” the scene with the professor to conclude her essay?  What does the “do-over” or mulligan allow her to accomplish?

This re-run gives the reader a clearer picture to the events that portrayed and how she exactly showed a sense of power.