Dilone 1

Frances Dilone
Professor Lago
College Writing
Tigers
1/27/13
Rough Draft: Essay ssign!ent
"n the article #Why Chinese $others re %u&erior' the author( !y Chua co!ing fro! a
tra)itional Chinese ho!e herself( e*&lains an) +ustifies the incre)i,ly strict( o-er,earing( an)
aca)e!ically )ri-en &arenting of the stereoty&ical #Chinese !other.' /y Chinese !other Chua is
not only referring to !others of the Chinese 0eritage( nor to all( ,ut to the &arents 1ho enforce(
)ictate( an) still follo1 a tra)itional fully aca)e!ically )ri-en style of &arenting. Chua !a2es a
clear )istinction ,et1een Chinese an) Western !others arguing that the Chinese style of
&arenting is !ore effecti-e an) ,eneficial to the chil) in co!&arison to the Westerners 1ho are
too concerne) 1ith ,eing fragile rather than the o-erall success of their chil)ren.
Chua sees !any )ifferences 1ithin the t1o styles of &arenting ,ut ,elie-es that there are
three !ain )ifferences ,et1een the Chinese an) Western &arental !in)sets. 0er first argu!ent is
that( as !entione) ,efore( Western &arents are e*tre!ely an*ious 1hen it co!es to their
chil)ren3s self4estee! an) !ore concerne) 1ith their chil)3s &syche 1hile the Chinese aren5t. %he
stresses that Westerners encourage their chil)ren to )o the ,est they in)i-i)ually can )o 1hile the
Chinese encourage their chil)ren to ,e the a,solute ,est an) acce&t nothing less. 0er secon)
Dilone 2
argu!ent is that Chinese &arents ,elie-e that their chil)ren are fore-er in )e,t 1ith the! 1ith
the! an) therefore o1e the! e-erything for all the sacrifices they ha-e !a)e. Lastly( Chua
argues that Chinese &arents ,elie-e they 2no1 1hat is ,est for their chil)ren 1hich is 1hy they
their chil)ren5s o1n )esires an) &references are neglecte) an) !ust not only follo1 the aca)e!ic
)e!an)s of their &arents ,ut are confine) to a social stan)ar) as 1ell.
Fro! &ersonal e*&erience( " feel as if " learne) the !ost a,out !yself an) )e-elo&e)
-alua,le character traits 1hen !y &arents ga-e !e the o&&ortunity to +ust ,e an) that ina,ility of
allo1ing a chil) to +ust ,e is the ,iggest issue " ha-e 1ith Chua3s article. The )a!age that can ,e
cause) ,y the constant &ressure an) stress &ut on these chil)ren coul) ,e trau!atic ,ut e-en
!ore sa))ening is the thought that the chil)ren gro1ing u& in this ty&e of en-iron!ent 1ill gro1
u& not 2no1ing 1ho they truly intrinsically are. " ,elie-e that a &arents +o, is to lo-e an) nurture
their chil)ren all 1hile at the sa!e ti!e gui)ing the! to an) through an) a successful life. "t is a
&arents +o, to &rotect their chil)ren( &ass )o1n 2no1le)ge through life e*&eriences( an) !ol)
their chil)ren to ,e the ,est &eo&le they can ,e.