Research Process

So far it has been difficult to find good research to put into my rebuttal of Chua's Why Chinese Mothers are Superior. Since this article is fairly recent not much has been written about it. Most of the readily available information online are people's opinions; many of which are ignorant or not well thought out. In my second draft I want to focus more on finding applicable sources that strengthen my argument, instead of comparing my own thoughts to people's opinions and news articles about Chua.

academic writing first draft rebuttal

Rebuttul to Battle Cry of the Tiger Mother

Avery Ekman

Academic Writing 1

Amy Chua, an American woman of Chinese descent and a professor at Yale University described herself as a “Chinese Mother” in her now infamous memoir Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior. In this excerpt, Chua argues that Chinese parents are superior when it comes to raising successful children. Her descriptions of strict, sometimes demeaning parenting tactics lead me to wonder why she placed more importance on achievement than she did her children’s happiness.

American culture is fairly unique since it is so individualistic. Most western parents focus on their children’s social progression and happiness more than they do achievements and status among peers. “In one study of 50 Western American mothers and 48 Chinese immigrant mothers, almost 70% of the Western mothers said either that “stressing academic success is not good for children” or that parents need to foster the idea that learning is fun. By contrast, roughly 0% of the Chinese mothers felt the same way (Chua).”

Though Chinese-American children seem to be ahead of the curve in academics, many tend to struggle socially because their parents don’t allow them to have an adequate social life. As a westerner it is hard for me to make assumptions about Asian culture, but Chua’s article doesent shy away from making generalities in her article, some of which are compelling. A good example from the text, “Chinese parents can order their kids to get straight As. Western parents can only ask their kids to try their best. Chinese parents can say, "You're lazy. All your classmates are getting ahead of you." By contrast, Western parents have to struggle with their own conflicted feelings about achievement, and try to persuade themselves that they're not disappointed about how their kids turned out (Chua).

China has a collectivist culture, meaning that they place a higher value on personal modesty and group participation.  Children are raised to respect authority and their place in society, characteristics that make a productive adult later in life. “Formal, hierarchical. People most comfortable in the presence of a hierarchy in which they know their position and the customs/rules for behavior in the situation.” Notions of achievement and success are both very subjective terms relative to culture, family and the individual. Chua thinks that by working her children hard at a young age they will develop high standards for themselves later in life. From a young age Chinese mothers teach that happiness is second to work and how can anyone be expected to achieve true happiness without addressing our own needs and interests.

Chinese parents have control over their children’s social lives and their lives at home, meaning that they have a huge amount of influence during the adolescent years. Chua believes in making every decision for her children, which leaves little room for them to find a distinct personality

documentation quiz

1. MLA format

2. Works cited page

3. Author, name of article, name of website, where that website receives information from, the date the article was written and the date that you accessed the article. Then provide the URL.