To Be or Not to Be A Greenhorn †History Essay

To Be or Not to Be A Greenhorn – History Essay Free Online Research Papers To Be or Not to Be A Greenhorn History Essay Throughout history, the concept of Americanization has been studied in order to better understand the effects of a mass culture on immigrants. On one side stands the view of an immigrant engulfed in American ideology who leaves behind his past. He conforms to this new individualism and now is able to move upward on the economic ladder. On the opposite end of defining Americanization is the unscathed immigrant who maintains his old word traditions and institutions to emerge victoriously despite unfavorable conditions. His ethnicity solidifies his success by creating affinity bonds and social patterns to aid in the struggle for a decent life. Though both these views are extreme, they both contain significant aspects which form a more accurate perspective of how immigrants assimilated into the â€Å"emerging industrial and consumer society† (Ewen, 15). These immigrants did not give up their nationality completely, even as they adopted American ideals in order to survive within the new but unfamiliar consumer culture. This cultural coalescence brought about major changes, which women had most of the burden of assimilating during the 19th century. The unrelenting and brave women described by Ewen i n â€Å"Immigrant Women in the Land of Dollars† demonstrated an amazing ability to retain many of their traditions while still accommodating American ideals and culture in their social events, employment, and home life. For many immigrant families, social events were the only way to escape the humdrum of daily living, even though to the American many of these activities would seem restrictive or a barrier to the betterment of immigrant life. The struggle and isolation were forgotten for a moment as â€Å"new immigrants found ways to maintain culture and create community† (Ewen, 226). As many Americans looked on with disapproval, there still arose a clash between parents who wanted to preserve the traditions of the old country while the younger generation wanted desperately to assimilate. This division appeared in issues such as love and marriage, dress, and social behavior. Even as different views developed between the older and younger generation, many social events remained traditional with the ideals that were common in the Old Country. There were many kinds of recreation, however, that involved the whole family and were enjoyed by both Italian and Jewish families (Ewen, 214). For example, immigrant weddings were an important part of social life unlike the trend of elopement in American marriages (Ewen 235). According to Ewen, â€Å"weddings were large, festive affairs in which the ties between the couple, the two families and the larger community were sanctified† (235). Since weddings in America were much more expensive, many Italian and Jewish daughters and mothers went without paying for food, rent, or other pleasures in order to fund a wedding. Many went into debt as well, but they found it â€Å"worth the sacrifice† (Ewen, 237). This attitude permeated other social events such as christenings, bar mitzvahs, holidays, and funerals. Due to industrialization, factory work was a major component that divided an immigrant mother’s homebound life from a daughter’s new social and economic ideals of the outside world. Though many American social workers believed that new practices and consumer standards would transform an immigrant’s home life, the actuality and comprehension of the work was fairly dissimilar from the immigrant. Immigrant daughters who did work outside of the home, usually in factories, did so to supplement the family’s inadequate income. Though many mothers demanded unopened pay envelopes from all their children, many daughters tried to exert control of their own wages by demanding an allowance, paying board instead of overturning their whole pay, or moving out on their own completely. One day in an immigrant’s home would be sufficient to convince anyone of the cooperation and discipline that women use to run their household. Extensive housework was required and daughters often went through rigorous training in sewing, cooking, and spinning- â€Å"the skills of life† (Ewen, 32). Girls became proficient in these skills before they became teenagers and learned to be self-sufficient and sacrificial. Women were also in charge of family fiscal affairs where all income from husband and children was given to the mother. Also, usually with Jews, the women did the work of â€Å"domestic religion† (Ewen, 41). These rules were handed down from generation to generation to ensure the proper methods for religious rituals. Housework was divided between the females of the household in order to maintain a more demanding home in America. These homes needed more â€Å"care than in Europe, in part because the evolution of new standards of living and new hous ehold acquisitions made house work more complex† (Ewen 149). Laundry had to be done more than once a month and native cooking in a new environment was difficult. Tenement housing did not ease the burden as well with its inadequate provisions. Hence it was difficult for immigrant families to meet new American standards of â€Å"clean and different clothing every day† with a daily bath (Ewen, 155). â€Å"Nevertheless, despite the small cramped quarters and the endless fight against dirt and grime, immigrant women kept their houses clean (Ewen, 156).† Even against unsanitary and grimy conditions, immigrant mothers instilled in their daughters the value of an orderly and pleasant house. Despite the desperate attempts to Americanize immigrants, the first and second generations did not let go of all of their traditional ideals and beliefs. Even so, they did not continue unscathed by the process. However, these ideals from the Old Country helped them â€Å"meet the challenge† (Ewen, 266). This culture became a mutual protection for immigrants against the scarcity and struggle of tenement life. It also provided a bond for the community and was the foundation for their survival. As the years passed, immigrants eventually succumbed to American ideals, but they have not totally given up their culture now that they are considered Americans. Even so, one can look back on this period and see the significant struggle that women had between customary ideas and the assurance of modernity. 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Definitions and Examples of Rhetors

Definitions and Examples of Rhetors Definition In the broadest sense of the term, a rhetor is a  public speaker or writer. According to Jeffrey Arthurs, in the  classical rhetoric  of ancient Athens,  the term rhetor had the technical denotation of a professional orator/politician/advocate, one who actively participated in the affairs of state and court (Rhetoric Society Quarterly, 1994). In some contexts, a  rhetor was roughly equivalent to what we would call an attorney or a lawyer.   In addition, the term rhetor is sometimes used interchangeably with rhetorician to refer to a teacher of rhetoric  or a person skilled in the art of rhetoric.  Rhetor  has fallen out of popular usage and is generally used in more formal or academic language in the modern world. However, the rhetors art is still taught as part of many educational and professional courses of study, particularly for persuasive professions such as politics, law, and social activism. See Examples and Observations below. Also see: Classical RhetoricComposition StudiesEloquenceEthosOratorRhetorical SituationRhetoric and RhetoricianSophistVoice (Rhetoric)What Is Rhetoric? Etymology From the Greek, orator The word  rhetor  has the same roots as the related term  rhetoric,  which refers to the art of using language to have an effect (usually persuasive) on audiences. Although it is used more often in the context of spoken language, rhetoric can also be written.  Rhetor  derives from  rhesis, the ancient Greek word for speech, and  rhema, which specifically defined that which is spoken. Examples and Observations Since [Martin Luther] King was the ideal rhetor at a critical moment to pen the Letter [from Birmingham Jail], it transcends the Birmingham of 1963 to speak to the nation as a whole and to continue speaking to us, 40 years later.(Martha Watson, The Issue Is Justice. Rhetoric and Public Affairs, Spring 2004)The Sophist as Rhetor-  How next can we define the rhetor? Essentially, he is a man skilled in the art of rhetoric: and as such he may impart this skill to others, or exercise it in the Assembly or the law courts. It is of course the first of these alternatives that interests us here; for . . . the sophist qualifies for the title of rhetor in this sense should one choose to describe him in purely functional terms.(E.L. Harrison, Was Gorgias a Sophist? Phoenix, Autumn 1964)The Aristotelian Rhetor vs. the Neo-Aristotelian RhetorEdward Cope recognized the cooperative nature of rhetorical argument in his classic commentary on Aristotle, noting that the rhetor is dependent upon the au dience, for in ordinary cases he can only assume such principles and sentiments in conducting his argument as he knows will be acceptable to them, or which they are prepared to admit. . . .Unfortunately, under the influence of the nominalistic individualism of the Enlightenment, the neo-Aristotelian left behind the community framework inherent in the Greek tradition to focus on the rhetors ability to work his will. This rhetor-centered approach led to such oxymorons as considering a community destroyer like Hitler to be a good rhetor. Whatever accomplished the rhetors purpose was taken to be good rhetoric, regardless of its consequences for the ecosystem as a whole. . . . [T]his rhetor-centered approach blinded itself to the value implications of reducing the criteria of rhetorical practice to mere effectiveness in achieving the rhetors purpose. If pedagogy follows this idea of competence, then the neo-Aristotelian teaches that whatever works is good rhetoric.(James A. Mackin, Jr., Community Over Chaos: An Ecological Perspective on Communication Ethics. University  of Alabama Press, 1997) The Role of the Rhetor in the Humanist Paradigm of RhetoricThe humanist paradigm is based on a reading of classical texts, especially those of Aristotle and Cicero, and its governing feature is the positioning of the rhetor as the generating center of discourse and its constitutive power. The rhetor is seen (ideally) as the conscious and deliberating agent who chooses and in choosing discloses the capacity for prudence and who invents discourse that displays an ingenium and who all along observes the norms of timeliness (kairos), appropriateness (to prepon), and decorum that testify to a mastery of sensus communis. Within such a paradigm, while one does recognize the situational constraints, they are, in the last instance, so many items in the rhetors design. The agency of rhetoric is always reducible to the conscious and strategic thinking of the rhetor.(Dilip Parameshwar Gaonkar, The Idea of Rhetoric in the Rhetoric of Science. Rhetorical Hermeneutics: Invention and Interpretation in the Age of Science, ed. by Alan G. Gross and William M. Keith. State University of New York Press, 1997) Emerson on the Power of EloquenceHim only we call an artist, who should play on an assembly of men as a master on the keys of a piano; who, seeing the people furious, shall soften and compose them; should draw them, when he would, to laughter and to tears. Bring him to his audience, and, be they who they may- coarse or refined, pleased or displeased, sulky or savage, with their opinions in the keeping of a confessor or with their opinions in their bank safes- he will have them pleased and humoured as he chooses; and they shall carry and execute that which he bids them.(Ralph Waldo Emerson, The Conduct of Life: Fate, December  22, 1851) Pronunciation: RE-tor