Joseph Harnegie

Professor McKeever
English 101
12 July 2015
Evaluating an Argument
Amy Chua lives inside a mock tutor mansion made from the 1920's within the state of
Connecticut. Despite all the negativity on the internet, Amy states, Everything I do as a mother builds
on a foundation of love as compassion. Three ways of raising children are combined in her own
method of raising children. She combines love, compassion, and extraordinary high expectations to be
the ultimate mother. For example, not receiving an A for a class would be equivalent to normal
parents getting mad at seeing a D. The expectations are set high. Amy grew up in this environment.
Living in a Chinese family, expectations were always high and the punishments were just as severe.
Amy once invited her father to an awards ceremony. Expecting first place, Amy's father was livid at his
daughters second place finish. To top it off, Amy and her younger sisters were whacked by chopsticks
if a single English word was muttered. Only their own language was permitted within the house
boundaries. Although all the negativity, Amy Chua feels that raising her children in such a fashion not
only helps her children become smart but opens more possibilities for their own future's.
Many do not appreciate what Amy Chua accomplishes as a parent because most only see a
suffocating mother who will not let her kids have any freedom like the majority of other kids and teens.
It may seem harsh to the naked eye but most of these methods cannot be argued with. Amy is just
preparing her children for the hardships of life. There is a reason why China is the next up and coming
super nation of the world. The U.S. struggles with a lot but one huge problem is the education. Our
education is no longer top in the world or close to it. This is why Amy teaches her children with an iron
fist. They must not only receive A's but undergo hours of spelling, math, violin and piano practices. Ed
Rendell once said, Weve become a nation of wusses. This is true on so many different levels. People
tend not to care much about what use to be important. Amy Chua is not only trying to make her

children smart in the class room but strong mentally as well. Stuff like this goes a long way to making a
successful young adult. If you work hard early on, you can play as much as you would like for the rest
of time.
Amy Chua was not exactly successful with her method of teaching. Her first child, was more
obedient. However, Lulu, Amy's second child, was not similar at all. Ever since she was a fetus, Lulu
kicked and screamed. The two fought all the time. Eventually, Amy agreed that Lulu would not have to
undergo seven hours of violin practice but an hour and a half would suffice. Amy has learned to
compromise with her two daughters. This is has been the key to giving them room to breathe but to
keep them sharp mentally and academically. Amy does not want to force a path upon one of her
daughters. She wants them to find their own path. Both girls turned out to be excellent people. What
might be shocking to some is the fact that both agreed to raise their very own children in a similar
fashion.
Amy Chua uses some forms of propaganda in her essay. She referred to some parenting as
Western parenting. She almost uses it in a negative way. Amy Chua usually makes Western mothers
seem like they do not even do their job whatsoever. She has also used glittering generalities when
comparing Chinese mothers and Western mothers. I am sure Amy even used the bandwagon method
when she fought with her youngest daughter. She most likely claimed the older daughter was going
along with her lessons just fine. This encourages the bandwagon method so that Lulu would just go
along with it since her sister was on board already.
Personally, I agree with Amy Chua on this matter of parenting. The amount of times kids are
praised for doing the simplest of tasks is unreal. Going back to Ed Rendell's, Weve become a nation
of wussies. It all starts with the parenting then reflex down upon the children. Children need to be
consistently pushed in order to achieve greatness. Kids in America even get rewards for finishing in last
place. Early on, I was lazy playing some sports but did not care because of the plastic trophy everybody
got at the end of the season. This is wrong because it does not force kids to excel, to compete, to

improve. The reward ceremony at my high school of St. Ed's would hand out certificates for high
honors grades and or just honors grades. My freshmen and sophomore GPA's were not great at all. I
always wanted one of those certificates. After realizing how to work hard, I received the high honors
and honors certificate my final two years of high school. It felt good knowing it was not necessarily
brains but just hard work in general. Treating your kids like babies their entire lives might possibly be
the worse thing to do because they will be totally unprepared when it comes time to join the real world.
If there is one thing I respect about the Chinese, it is this harsh way of raising children. Some kids need
to be raised differently. For example, Amy's younger daughter, Lulu. Most kids deserve to have a good
amount of free time, especially in their teens. Although this could be considered opinion, bad parenting
could be one of the prime factors why the United States is not the number one country anymore.