Rhetorical Analysis

It is evident that the "American Dream" is something that everyone desires and strives to achieve, but what is ironic is that when asked, most people cannot define the term.  The term "American Dream" is somewhat vague and indefinite, solely because of the fact that everyone's "dream" is different.  For example, when asked to define success, some would say having a steady job and money in order to support them and their family, whereas my success story would differ.  It would most likely entail a job that I enjoy, rather than a steady job, and a family that I'm happy with and love to come home to, rather than just a family.  It is pivotal for us to take these thoughts into consideration when asked about the "American Dream."  In Murphy's piece, she analyzes what the dream might mean to other immigrants as opposed to Americans.  Using Chinese-Americans as her prime example, Murphy explores the misconstrued perception of the "American Dream."

Murphy establishes her credibility by utilizing a novel accounting for one's family's migration to America.  Murphy assesses Fae Myenne Ng’s, novel, Bone, and the characters found within it. Ng expresses the hardships that a Chinese-American faces after choosing to re-locate to San Francisco's Chinatown.  In short, the father figure in the novel, Leon Leong is unsuccessful and fails at obtaining what he perceived to be the "American Dream."  Murphy allows her audience to question the fact as to why Leong failed?  If he was in America, living in a culture-based town, surrounded by his family, then why was he so unsuccessful?  Murphy then questions the fact as to why, we as Americans, force many immigrants to give up their cultures and traditions upon making the move to the United States.  Sure, if everyone knew and spoke perfect English it would make communicating a lot easier, but who would want a country devoid of different cultures and languages?  By forcing immigrants to give up their native language and cultural traditions upon moving here, we are losing what makes us, as a country, different.  Murphy's capacity to show that individuality is important through her diction and overall structure of her essay, is probably what comes across the strongest.

In analyzing Murphy's composition dealing with the conceptions of the "American Dream," it is evident that essays do not need to follow a coherent or procedural structure.  What is important is the fact that the writer takes a stand and conveys their point of view to the reader, but at the same time assesses the opposite viewpoint without giving the essay a 'wishy-washy' effect