The cracken
Celeste Luna
Amie Sheffer
English 1301-54123
October 18, 2013
Rhetorical Analysis Draft 1.2
Poranee Natadecha-Sponsel, a Thai professor at the University of Hawaii in Manoa, gives her outsider’s perspective of the American culture in an offensive manor towards her American readers. Natadecha-Sponsel pushes her theory that individualism is an American cultural value while implying that Americans are vain in the process. It is understood that Individualism is the habit of being self- reliant which could lead to being self-centered because of failure to rely on anyone else other than one-self, but it is hard to call this a cultural value since Americans have so many freedoms to free-will; there is too much of a variety of people to make an accurate conclusion without it being a stereotype. Every culture has their own good and bad aspects when it comes to what is valued in their culture. Natadecha-Sponsel very discreetly attacks her audience by not considering that Americans are of a diverse culture, full of people who rarely ever agree and to classify them as anything is far fetching. In Natadecha-Sponsel’s article, “The Young, the Rich, and the Famous: Individualism as an American Cultural value” Natadecha-Sponsel comes off too strong and unsuccessfully persuades Americans that individualism is an American cultural value by contrasting Thai and American culture, stereotyping her audience, and using bias remarks against her audience as well.
Firstly, Natadecha-Sponsel contrasts the American and Thai family ties to persuade readers that individualism is an American cultural value. She contrasts the family of an American grandmother with Alzheimer’s disease who is only cared for by hired help. Natadecha-Sponsel describes the family’s support of the grandmother by stating that “[the grandmothers] daughter visits and relieves the helper occasionally [but the] mature granddaughter […] rarely visits” (82). Natadecha-Sponsel then makes the connection between the
Amie Sheffer
English 1301-54123
October 18, 2013
Rhetorical Analysis Draft 1.2
Poranee Natadecha-Sponsel, a Thai professor at the University of Hawaii in Manoa, gives her outsider’s perspective of the American culture in an offensive manor towards her American readers. Natadecha-Sponsel pushes her theory that individualism is an American cultural value while implying that Americans are vain in the process. It is understood that Individualism is the habit of being self- reliant which could lead to being self-centered because of failure to rely on anyone else other than one-self, but it is hard to call this a cultural value since Americans have so many freedoms to free-will; there is too much of a variety of people to make an accurate conclusion without it being a stereotype. Every culture has their own good and bad aspects when it comes to what is valued in their culture. Natadecha-Sponsel very discreetly attacks her audience by not considering that Americans are of a diverse culture, full of people who rarely ever agree and to classify them as anything is far fetching. In Natadecha-Sponsel’s article, “The Young, the Rich, and the Famous: Individualism as an American Cultural value” Natadecha-Sponsel comes off too strong and unsuccessfully persuades Americans that individualism is an American cultural value by contrasting Thai and American culture, stereotyping her audience, and using bias remarks against her audience as well.
Firstly, Natadecha-Sponsel contrasts the American and Thai family ties to persuade readers that individualism is an American cultural value. She contrasts the family of an American grandmother with Alzheimer’s disease who is only cared for by hired help. Natadecha-Sponsel describes the family’s support of the grandmother by stating that “[the grandmothers] daughter visits and relieves the helper occasionally [but the] mature granddaughter […] rarely visits” (82). Natadecha-Sponsel then makes the connection between the
Cited: Natadecha-Sponsel, Poranee. “The Young, the Rich, and the Famous: Individualism as an American Cultural Value.” Distant Mirrors, ed. Philip De Vita. 1998. 79-84. Print.