Texas A & M University History of America Discussion
I’m working on a writing question and need an explanation and answer to help me learn.
Refer to the “English-Only” reading here: writing with sources.pdf
1.
Jamieson claims that “there are so many sets of variables that it would be hard to defend the argument that there is only one culture in the United States” (paragraph 3). Do you agree with him, or do you see a dominant American culture with many regional variations? Answer with a strong paragraph of at least 4 sentences that uses a clear topic sentence followed by reasoning, examples, or even use of a found source.
2.
Refer to the same reading and consult the instructions on paraphrasing. (245-46 and 256)
Pick one of the following paragraphs to paraphrase:
Those who argue that the melting pot analogy is valid believe that 2 immigrants who come to America do so willingly and should be expected to become a part of its culture instead of hanging on to their past. For them, the expectation that immigrants will celebrate this country’s holidays, dress as Americans dress, embrace American values, and most importantly speak English is not unreasonable. They believe that assimilation offers the only way for everyone in this country to live together in harmony and the only way to dissipate the tensions that inevitably arise when cultures clash. A major problem with this argument, however, is that there is no agreement on what exactly constitutes the “American way” of doing things.
For example, when a judge in Texas ruled that a mother was abus- 6 ing her five-year-old girl by speaking to her only in Spanish, an uproar ensued. This ruling was accompanied by the statement that by talkingto her daughter in a language other than English, the mother was “abusing that child and . . . relegating her to the position of house maid.” The National Association for Bilingual Education (NABE) condemned this statement for “labeling the Spanish language as abuse.” The judge, Samuel C. Kiser, subsequently apologized to the housekeepers of the country, adding that he held them “in the highest esteem,” but stood firm on his ruling (qtd. in Donegan 51). One might notice that he went out of his way to apologize to the housekeepers he might have offended but saw no need to apologize to the millions of Spanish speakers whose language had just been belittled in a nationally publicized case.
