The text I will be writing about in my analytical research paper is the Disney princess animated movie “Mulan.” The movie has a lot to talk about such as culture filtration and gender roles. Mulan is young sixteen-year-old Chinese girl who is forced into a Chinese culture she does not want to participate in. She was going to be forced into an arranged marriage, but that is not what she wanted or how she wanted to live. She has to stay home during the war but she wants to help out in any way she wants to. Once she heard her ill father might become drafted into the war, she knew she had to do something to save him. She disguised herself as a man and trained with her fellow recruits and learned how ton fight. to fight. Unlike a lot of Disney princess movies, she does not need a man or a prince charming to save the day. She is independent, fierce and a warrior to handle situations on her own. She chooses to fight in what she believes in. She is an example for many girls to be brave, take risks, and never let anyone bring you down. Mulan was such a role model that she got the men in her village to change their perspective towards women. Speaking about this topic is important to me because I believe that all women no matter their race or culture should be the same as men. Men and women should be treated equally and receive the same opportunities and privileges.

In the passage “Outlaw: My Life in America as an Undocumented Immigrant” by Jose Antonio Vargas, it states the power and connotations of the words “undocumented immigrants” and “illegal aliens”. These words are wrong to call an immigrant. It may make the immigrant feel unwelcomed or that they do not belong here. These words are offensive because it can assume that an immigrant does not have the legitimate authentication to be in the country, they want to be in.

In the passage,” Outlaw: My Life in America as an Undocumented Immigrant,” Jose is from the Philippines and migrated to the United States when he was middle school. He shares his story of how he found out he was undocumented until he was in high school. He expresses his life limitations and the missed opportunities he would not achieve because of his illegal documentation. He has to hide this fact from people which caused him to have anxiety and paranoia. He worked hard to earn his citizenship to stay in America to get his better chances.

In Jose’s situation, he should be referred to as an undocumented immigrant. The reason for this is because he is still a person with feelings and rights. Also, because he should not be called anything else that makes him sound like a criminal.

After reading the speeches from each former president, I realized that they resemble from each other. Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy wanted a change in America. They noticed the need of equality. Each of the former presidents also had struggles during their presidency that involved equality for all. Lincoln wanted to free the slaves, but other people did not like that idea. Kennedy wanted people of color to have freedom and to be treated equal, but other people were against that too.

In Lincolns Gettysburg Address, he starts off by honoring all the soldiers that have died in the war. He states, “We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live.” He continues to say that there is still unfinished work, and that lives of all the soldiers will not be taken as granted. He gives his country a remarkable plan that will impact us forever. He states, “a new birth of freedom – and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.” Lincoln talks highly on liberty for all people and that now was the time for a change.

In Kennedys Inaugural Address he starts off by saying today is a celebration of freedom. From this point on, I knew that his speech was going to change the thoughts of many people that day. He expressed his vison of a new beginning of freedom and equality. He wanted everyone to help him get his vison through by saying, “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.” He does state there would be struggles by saying, “we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and success of liberty.” Although it would be hard, we will get through this and be a strong united country.

Although Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy worked hard to have a unified and equal country, we currently still have problems. We still have situations such as racism, discrimination, police brutality and much more. If we do not work together as a whole and as team, the problems will worsen.

Even though Malcolm X was incarcerated, he learned how to read and write fluently. Bimbi’s knowledge gave Malcolm the motivation to learn how to read and write efficiently. Malcolm states, “It had really begun back in the Charlestown Prison when Bambi just made me feel envy of his stock of knowledge. Bimbi had always taken charge, of any conversation he was in, and I tried to emulate him.” With Bambi as his motivation, he studied and copied the whole dictionary while in prison. He did not let the fact that he was imprisoned get in the way of educating himself. The more he studied, the more he understood and he learned of people, places and historical events. Once he knew words and the meaning of them, he understood the books he read. While he was in prison, he read mostly in his bunk or the library. Malcolm states, “never had been so truly free in my life”. While he was in prison, the reading and writing opened his mind to new opportunities. Malcolm states, “Anyone who has read a great deal can imagine the new world that opened.” Although he was imprisoned physically, he was not imprisoned mentally. He felt freer to pick up another book and read. When he read his books, he did not feel like he was in prison. He felt freer than he felt in his entire life.

Prison had changed the man Malcolm X had become. His experience in prison made him more educated than he was before. He became a role model or inspiration to so many people and that is how we remember him. He is proof that with patience and determination, you are able to achieve anything you put your mind to.

After reading “Mother Tongue,” by Amy Tan language played an important role in her life. Amy had to learn when to speak English and “broken English.” Language is an important role in her life because of her mother and how she was brought up. Tan spoke about being embarrassed by her mother’s English and stated, “I know this for fact, because when I was growing up, my mother’s “limited” English limited my perception of her, I was ashamed of her English.” Tan looked down on her mother and was humiliated by her lack of “standard English,” enough so that Amy was eager to learn and perfect her English so that she wouldn’t sound like her mother. She even blamed her mother’s lack of English as a result of her standardized test scores not being straight A’s when it came to English specifically. Tan stated, “And I believe that it affected my results on achievement tests, I.Q tests, and the SAT.” The perception she had at a young age of her mother wasn’t super positive but overtime Tan began to realize that her mother’s language was and is unique to her, it also helped shape Tan into the woman that she wanted to be and is today. She has embraced their native dialect and loves how it shows her natural language. Tan not only became aware of her bias towards her mother, but she also realized the bias her mother faced from society, the same society she has been trying so hard to fit into to with “standard English.” This realization allowed Tan to learn to accept her mother’s dialect and begin to embrace it because there isn’t one right way to speak English and that is the beauty of language. Tan spoke about seeing how there are very few Asian Americans writers which she believes is the result of the same fears she faced growing up with being ashamed of the dialect barrier. That many Asian Americans grew up in a “limited” English household. Tan states, “And this makes me think that there are other Asian American students whose English spoken in the home might also be described as “broken” or “limited.” Perhaps they also have teachers who are steering them away from writing and pushing them into math and science. I can relate because I am also someone who has been pushed into sciences rather than English for the same reasons. Tan broke that chain and became a successful writer. She spoke about the challenges she faced and how she was able to overcome them. She is passionate and confident in her writing.

I do believe that people that learn English as a second language are constantly aware of the way language is used around them. I come from a family where English is our second language so growing up in a world where English is foreign and then having to learn was hard. My dad taught me and my brothers that we were not to speak in the same language as our friends when talking to him or to other people. He says this because we have to be polite and show respect to others and importantly ourselves. 

Hello, my name is Leanna Waldropt (she/her) and I am intended to major in general education.

After reviewing the syllabus I am interested in learning the new technological ways to post my work so my peers can read and I can read my peers as well. I am excited to learn new ways to make my essays and writing skills better. On the downside, I am nervous in writing long page essays because I am not that experienced in doing that. I am happy that all the assignments for the semester is posted and I can work hard to do my essays.

A quality of good writing is to have good gramatical correctness. This is important because you want to make sure all of your sentences and thoughts are gathered together. It is also good to have structure to make all your thoughts organized so the reader can understand it. In order to become a good writer you must review all of your drafts and check for grammatical errors. It is important to make sure your point is made in essays. It is also good to cite evidence and give credit to your cite. It is important to write well because writing is important skill to have on a daily basis. Writing gives us the ability to express ourselves to other people.

The easiest part of writing for me is being able to express myself on a topic that I am really interested in. Also, to find evidence to support my opinion. I mostly do well in writing my outlines to gather all of my thoughts. The hardest part of writing for me is writing many pages of essays. In my experience I have only done that once and it was difficult for me. The part I have to work on is writing multiple pages of essays. Since all the work is posted I believe that if i take my time with each assignment i can work harder to improve that hard skill.

I am currently unsure what I am expected to write for my profession for being a teacher. I believe I might have to write many essays for classes. Being an effective writer will affect my career opportunities by enhancing my communication skills and being able to express myself clearer.