Once upon a time...
My immigration story
Tan Le shares her journey of being an immigrant coming to Australia from China. She shares the little memory she has from the five days when her grandmother, her mother, and her sister were on the boat immigrating to Australia. She remembers the young man who died, she remembers the one apple she ate, she's never tasted an apple that tasted as good as that apple. Tan Le talks about why she had to leave, history crushed her grandfathers dreams. Tan Le talks about the hardships she faced once she arrived to Australia such as refugee camp, not having her mother around who worked a 6 days a week double shift, living a paralleled world a classic Asian student and a life that revolved violence and drugs. She shared one stories that stood out, the kids at school would tell her to go back to where she came from. Tan Le never gave up and took her her struggles as an opportunity in life, she was chosen as the Young Australian of the Year, Tan Le studied law and finished her degree. She also speaks out on youth employment and education. The purpose to Tan Le's TED Talk is to explain that it's okay to be an outsider, because as an outsider she learned that it is okay to fail and get back up and try again.
Tan Le is trying to raise awareness about immigrants to the audience and how immigrants are willing to work twice as hard. She is also trying to show that immigrants are willing to succeed even though they have to work harder, she does this by sharing the hardships she faced and then sharing her accomplishments in life. Tan Le does this through the use of Ethos and Pathos. She uses Ethos through her testimony of her success being a Chinese immigrant. She speaks of her struggles such as was never able to wear new clothes everything was seconded handed. Her mother, her sister, and her all slept on the same bed and Tan Le would stay up at night because her mothers would have nightmares from when they came on the boat. Although she is just one person their are lots of not just from China but immigrants in general from all over who can find a way to connect to Tan Le. She speaks of her success on how she got a degree in law but did not want to settle in law because she felt as if she needed to be a voice for those who can not speak up for themselves. She uses Pathos through her small stories that she shares, Tan Le starts off by speaking from a third person point of view she says, "How can I speak in 10 minutes about the bonds of women over three generations, about how the astonishing strength of those bonds took hold in the life of a four year old girl huddled with her young sister.." She is speaking of herself but she does not reveal it to the audience until she sets the scene, she uses it as a tool for the audience to get a grasp of a horrible story but turns it into a fictional story in order to grab the audience attention that this little four year old was her, Tan Le. She shares stories her grandfather, her grandmother, and her mother, she makes it clear that because of them she is a hard working women, they have influenced her on being a fighter. Her mother worked a lot and still found the time to learn English and later on opened up a computer store. Tan Le later on shares the story of when her grandmother passed away, it was very emotional because tears dropped as she continued to speak of her, her tears did not represent sadness, they were tears of joy. Tan Le was very appreciative of her grandmother for all that she had done for her and she knew that her grandmother would be proud of her. Tan Le was raised by hard working woman and that is why she herself is a hard working lady. Tan Le over came "It can't be done", as others would tell her.
The reason I chose this TED Talk is because I can connect to it in so many ways. Although I am not an immigrant myself my mother and father are. I also have lots of friends who have came to the United States from foreign countries to live a better life and take on great opportunities. From an insight view I personally know that immigrants have to work twice as hard to become successful and they are willing to do that. Tan Le shared that she lives in two worlds and I can related to that. She has a dual identity with her American life and still going living with her Chinese roots. Although I was born in the United States I still have that double perspective of both cultures. I look up to my parents a lot just like Tan Le does because I know it was not easy for them to leave everything behind to come to this country to give me a better future. That is why I always take on every opportunity that is thrown to me because I too have faced struggles from having immigrant parents who weren't as familiar with the American lifestyle. I to have been told to go back to my country, knowing this is home to me just that I have a double culture. Overall I think Tan Le did a great job of sharing her immigrant story, all immigrants can connect to this in one way or another!!
I really like how you chose a TedTalk that related to your life because I think it gives a special kind of connection with it. I liked your analysis of the TedTalk and I think for the most part you really were spot on with it. Although I get that it may be ethos as she tells her story of how she came to Australia, I think there is also a level of pathos in that as well. The audience sympathizes with people who overcome hardship to become successful. While she may not have been entirely trying to evokes that emotion, I think telling any story such as that evokes an element of pathos in the audience.
ReplyDeleteSome good thoughts here that allow for critical analysis; I do wish you had thought a bit more about organization and how to link each technique together to connect back to the purpose. That's what Paper 1 asks you to do.
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