Top-Rated Free Essay
Preview

Fallacy in Torgovnick's Essay, On Being White, Female, and Born in Bensonhurst

Satisfactory Essays
677 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Fallacy in Torgovnick's Essay, On Being White, Female, and Born in Bensonhurst
Essay #1: On Being White, Female, and Born in Bensonhurst

A fallacy is an error of reasoning. These are flawed statements that often sound true. Logical fallacies are often used to strengthen an argument, but if the reader detects them the argument can backfire, and damage the writer’s credibility. The word “fallacy” may derive from the Latin word fallere meaning, “to deceive, to trip, to lead into error or to trick.” The word may also derive from the Greek phelos, meaning “deceitful.” The writer Marianna De Marco Torgovnick of On Being White, Female, and Born in Bensonhurst uses several fallacies though out the essay. The first fallacy that the author uses is that of comparing Bensonhurst to Howard Beach when she describes the beating of several black men. She makes this claim without stating the evidence of why she is comparing the two areas. She is making the claim that Blacks were not allowed in Howard Beach as was the case in Bensonhurst. The author also compares the Jewish, Irish and Italians. The author states that “Jewish men make good husbands” but does not give evidence to why she feels they make good husbands. She also states that the Irish are okay but that they make bad husbands because they drink and gamble. Again she states this without evidence to convince me to her argument. The author also states that her parents are wasting their money by allowing her to go to college again she makes a statement but does not have the evidence to support her parent’s point of view. The author continually goes to different situations of when she grew up in Bensonhurst and at times I thought this was confusing. I think that she should have had a strong thesis to support her claim of what it meant to be female, white, and born in Bensonhurst from her point of view rather than the point of view of parents, family members and Bensonhurst neighbors. The author goes into rules that should be obeyed simply because they are the rules of the neighborhood. At the end of the essay when she wants an ice that she had as a child and goes into a neighborhood club which she knows is for certain mafia men they look at her and state that she is some type of witch. The author never really explains what these rules are and how as a child she learned what these rules were and why they were in place. Through out the essay the author constantly is begging the question. In many of the things she writes about the Italians of Bensonhurst she assumes that the assumptions have already been decided. She uses this when she is talking about Bensonhurst and Howard Beach. I also feel that the author uses generalizations when she is taking about the people of the community. I especially liked when the author dated a Jewish man her father asked if “ he was a communist” I have often heard that you can take the girl out of the city, but can never take the city out of the girl. Even though the author uses this quote, she does not give examples of how growing up in Bensonhurst still influences who she is and what she has become. I have used the above expression on several occasions when I speak with my husband because I truly feel that even though I have not lived in New York City for many years, I still react the way in which I would if I still lived there. I think that she could have given more evidence as to why she feels the way in which she does. The essay could have had more meaning to many people of all types if the author would have used more evidence to back up what she was saying. I mean how many of us have had the experience of living in a neighborhood that mean so much to us and has become a part of who and what we are and believe.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Everyone wants to attend college that is affordable, but that does not always happen. The authors do not agree on many things, but the one thing they agree about, is that college is expensive. Having to pay for tuition, room and board, and typical living…

    • 490 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Crow Country Essay Final

    • 598 Words
    • 2 Pages

    During the course of the novel, the protagonists, Clarry and Sadie, mature significantly; developing an awareness from the cemented value of racial prejudice, which ultimately leads to them emerging as admirable role models for integrity. Clarry’s response to finding out that Jimmy Raven’s name is opposed to being put on the memorial shows his maturing values. Despite what anyone else in the town thinks about a white man defending an Aboriginal, Clarry decides to act according to his moral principles, defending one of his good friends, Jimmy. Another protagonist, Sadie, displays great integrity and courage while defending her Aboriginal friend Walter. Sadie was afraid to humiliate herself in front of Lachie, a boy who she is quite fond of. She still reinforces her moral principles by defending Walter when Jules said, “You kids – off” (Pg. 75) even though it is rightfully Walter’s turn to play a game of pool. Sadie’s protestation “This isn’t fair!” (Pg. 76) clearly shows Sadie criticising Lachie, for their unjust behaviour towards Walter. Through these events, the author positions the reader to feel optimistic that white communities can stand up for their own values and not be scrutinized by their choices but…

    • 598 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    “ I struggled with being a broke college graduate, and while all my friends were getting career jobs, I was working horrible part-time jobs. That’s why now even when i get tired, I think, This is what I asked for; by Jermaine Lamarr Cole, who is a famous hip hop artist.With the cost of going to college nowadays, students have no choice, they have to work to be able pay for their college supplies. College student who works have no choice. They are in the middle and they don’t know how to get out from the situation that they are in, because of the prizes that supplies cost..Based on the cost of the college supplies, students have to work and go to colleges but most of them don’t understand that they are doing bad for themselves not to others: physically, mentally and academically.…

    • 292 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The book began in a child’s point of view, perfectly told, of growing up in rural Mississippi in the 1940s. She described the landscape, the people, and her own emotions with perfect clarity. While showing racism from the perspective of a child, she included her parents’ divorce following the constant moving of her family due to the fact that her mother struggled to feed the family on her own.…

    • 2029 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Dick with Ears!

    • 783 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The next article, “Black Men and Public Space.”, is about a man, Brent Staples, coming home and following behind a white woman. He describes how scared the woman gets when she notices the man behind her and goes into great detail how race, gender, and class play a big role in society and government. Mr. Staples also gives a strong ethical statement. “As a softly who is scarcely able to take a knife to a raw chicken-let alone hold one to a person’s throat-I was surprised, embarrassed, and dismayed all at once.” The quote before states, “… it was in the echo of that terrified woman’s footfalls that I first began to know the unwieldy inheritance I’d come into-the ability to alter public space in ugly ways. It was clear that she thought herself the quarry of a mugger, a rapist, or worse. Suffering a bout of insomnia, however, I was stalking sleep, not defenseless wayfarers.” This quote and Brent Staples as well are trying to say that not all Negroes are rapist, let alone muggers, and that they can actually be treated as actual humans. Brent Staples also has a very strong thesis. This thesis states, “My first victim was a woman-white, well…

    • 783 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    "Race in America" Critique

    • 1031 Words
    • 5 Pages

    In her piece for the Catholic weekly publication America, “Race in America: ‘We Would Like to Believe We Are Over the Problem’,” Maryann Cusimano Love responds to a comment made by Delegate Frank D. Hargrove Sr. and discusses the still prevalent issue of racism in the United States of America. Love provides many facts and figures in obstruction to Delegate Hargrove’s belief that the blacks in America need to move past the grudge of slavery because it is not an issue today. Love obviously disagrees with his statement and spends the majority of the article arguing why he is wrong, as well as providing her solution to the problem. I do not believe that Love was successful in her argument against Delegate Hargrove’s comment. While she gave multiple statistics in defense, they tended to be weak in reliability as well as being emotionally driven. Love relies on manipulative language to carry her article, which makes her writing seem shallow and poorly developed.…

    • 1031 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Logical Fallacies Handout

    • 501 Words
    • 2 Pages

    In an argumentative essay, the writer attempts to persuade the reader through the logic or rationality of her argument. If the writer’s essay is based on emotions or feelings, or if the rational thought is flawed (and therefore not rational), the argument loses its strength. Below is a list of logical errors commonly made by students in argumentative essays:…

    • 501 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    At the start of the book a naïve, young and innocent African American girl lived life almost oblivious to the socially constructed issue of race. She did not see the difference of skin color and believed it was perfectly normal to socialize with whites. As far as she was concerned raced did not exist. This view was quickly altered and changed as the little girl named Essie-Mae Moody grew up fast in a society dominated by racial boundaries involving whites, blacks and a hierarchy of people who had parts of both. Essie’s first encounter with race which initiated her first change, from being oblivious to being confused, occurred early in life. When she was young, she was friends with and often played with white children. This all changed when an unknowing Essie-Mae tried to sit with her white friends in a white’s only section of a movie theatre. After being harshly corrected of her errors by her mother her eyes were opened for the first time to a world with race. “I knew that we were going to separate schools and all, but I never knew why.”1 At this point her innocence was lost and confusion took hold of her. At this point she realized the bigger picture, that she and her friends were different because of their skin color.…

    • 1283 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    According to Dictionary (2013), fallacies means an incorrect or misleading notion or opinion based on inaccurate facts or invalid reasoning. It have the tendency to mislead. A false or mistaken idea based on faulty knowledge or reasoning. For example, you can’t prove that there aren’t Martians living in caves under the surface of Mars, so it is reasonable for me to believe there are. Fallacies is used every day around us, when writing, we tend to write statement or theory that are fallacies because we unable to prove our main idea or…

    • 457 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    ost simply, a fallacy is an error in reasoning. It is different from simply being…

    • 13498 Words
    • 54 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Logical Fallacies

    • 1324 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Fallacies can be viewed as a mistake or error. There are many different fallacies with different meanings for each. The following paper will discuss 9 logical fallacies. The paper will also include definitions for each of the 9 fallacies as well as examples of being applied to real life scenarios.…

    • 1324 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Passing by Nella Larsen

    • 1046 Words
    • 5 Pages

    In Nella Larsen’s “Passing”, she introduces a setting in the early 1920s where racial discrimination is mostly taking place. The main characters, Irene Redfield and Clare Kendry, are interracial (mixed of white and African-American descent) women living in a “passing” society. According to Larsen, “passing” is when African American men or women with a light skin complexion can pass themselves off as a white person in order to enjoy the privileges given to whites during this time. Sometimes allowing yourself to pass can cause a downfall to your happiness in exchange for an idealized lifestyle you once had. Larsen shows us the various similarities between the lifestyles of Clare and Irene based on their marriages and parenting skills.…

    • 1046 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In many works of literature, the writer makes an argument for how people are supposed to behave.…

    • 361 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Dicto Simpliciter Fallacy is and argument based on an unqualified generalization. Contradictory Premises fallacy is when the premises of an argument contradict each other. Ad Misericoriam I thought was a little like Red Herring (aka Straw Man). In the story the author gave an example of how a man went for a job interview, and when asked for his qualifications, he gave him a sympathy speech. It was almost like he avoided the subject at hand. The next fallacy, Hypothesis Contrary to Fact, is when you have an untrue hypothesis and then supportable conclusions are drawn from this false hypothesis. The last fallacy learned in the story was Poisoning the Well. This was like making a generalization before anything has even happened for you to assume that.…

    • 338 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Color of Water

    • 811 Words
    • 3 Pages

    While growing up, James McBride never knew where his mother had come from. When he asked her if she was white, she simply replied that she was “light-skinned”, triggering a long-standing confusion about his own racial identity. As an adult, McBride offers the reader his story by alternating between his mother’s voice and his own. That’s one of the great things about this book. The reader gets the insights on both characters and what exactly makes them who they are.…

    • 811 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays