Category: E3 2-3 Page Draft (Page 1 of 2)

Feston Joseph

5/25/20

Eng1121 (Prof Scanlan)

In New York Day Women the author shows how life is like for immigrants and how they adapt.It is about a Haitian mother and a haitian daughter and they have to adapt to American lifestyle.The mother keeps a lot of traits from her Haitian culture but the daughter is adapting quickly.This shows that the daughter is showing more effort to adapt but the mother is hesitant to adapt and she isn’t showing as much enthusiasm to adapt.A example of the mother keeping parts of Haitian culture is when she told the daughter yo give up her seat to a pregnant woman or a old woman.this shows that the daughter obeys the mother to show that she has respect for her.In the story the mother and the daughter have a relationship where they don’t see  eye to eye and they disagree about a lot of things but they have a relationship where they have a  understanding with each other.

The author wanted to show that when immigrants move to America they have to adapt to American lifestyle.It could be hard  for some of them but for other immigrants they put more effort to doing that.Through this story this story is centered around the daughter and the mother and how they act to each other.The mother and the daughter had a shaky relationship at first but they improve on that and they have a better relationship.In the story the daughter’s ethics has changed because of the respect that she has for her mother. At first she was willing to give up her seat sometimes but at the end she is willing to give up her seat all the time. The mother started to adapt to American lifestyle and she lives like a usual New Yorker.This shows that the relationship that the daughter and the mother has grows and becomes more special as they have love to each other

Whitney Dale

ENG 1121 (Prof. Scanlan)

Essay 3 First Page

05/24/2020

In “ New York Day Women” by Edwidge Danticat, The two main characters are Suzette and her mom. Suzette is a youthful Haitian lady who works in the city and her mom is a Haitian outsider who is stuck in a rut. The author shows how life is like for immigrants and how they adapt to our society. As you read on the daughter is showing more effort to adapt to society working in the big city but the mother is hesitant to adapt. Suzette accidentally saw her mother who will never go outside of Brooklyn, now strolls the streets in Manhattan. According to the narrator the mother was afraid to take the subway which then, Suzette worried. Due to shock, the daughter began to follow her mother, then finds out the hidden side of her mother. In this short story the speaker’s mother exhibits feminist ethics. The reason is because her taking care of other people children is a traditional normative for women. As Suzette follows her mom, she then loaded with memorable statements of things her mom has advised her before. As she was getting to know her mother in this process as well. For an example she remembered when her mother asked her “would you give up her seat for an old lady like her”. At the beginning of the story she says she would give up her seat sometimes but not all the time. Then in the end her response changed, due to the motivation, appreciation, and respect for her mother. To see the hard work she puts in daily and end up finding out that her own mother was also working hard without her knowing.

In the end I feel like the relationship between her and her mom will always be a growing relationship. That is the reason “New York Day Women” is such a amazing story to read, her mom’s challenges with American culture, envision Suzette’s when she sees her mother strolling in Manhattan. Throughout the story, the relationship between Suzette, and her mother changes. Where the daughter shows deontology ethics. In the beginning she said that she usually wouldn’t give up her seat for an elderly but, in the end she remembers her mother’s words and realizes that giving up her seat is the right thing to do. Which shows how much respect she has for her mother. This was the development in her character, where she had changed her state of mind, and decides to exert kindness the way her mother did. The mother also grew, in terms that according to the narrator, her mother was adjusting to her new life in America and finally began to be a part of the city, as shown from her experiences in the city. I think this is more the relationship that people have with their parents as they grow up. It goes from, confuse love for her mother to Suzette learning to accept, appreciate and love her mother more then she thought.

SIYU.WU

Reacher Essay

English 1121 (Prof. Scanlan)

5/17/2020

The Ethics In New York Day Women

New York Day Women is short story wrote by Edwidge Danticat，a female American-Haitian novelist. In this short story author descried a daughter from a Haiti immigrant family who work as a while-collar in an advertisement company’s office，accidentally saw her mother，a woman will never shop outside of Brooklyn，now stroll in Manhattan. The curiosity force the daughter to follow her mother，then find out the hidden side of her mother. In the story the mother did many different choices compare to what she told to his daughter. The reason for change the choice is because mother have different ethics due to different relationship or condition. In other word，different relation or condition between different person will cause people apply to different ethics and lead to a different choice or even same ethics but in different answer. In order to support and explain the idea，first I will explore the scene where the daughter will not give seat to others in the subway，and the scene hit by a car in Haiti，which involve the Utilitarian Ethics. Then I will talk about the Deontology Ethics follow by mother in the scene，when she never attend to parent teacher meeting，because she doesn’t want to make her daughter feel shame. Finally it is the scene of daughter decide to give her seat out on a subway train，because the old lady remind the daughter of his mother，so she apply Virtue Ethics to make this choose.

In the story the family of the speaker (the daughter) is an immigrant family from Haiti. The mother is the first-generation immigrant and the daughter is the second generation. 2 different generation represent 2 different of life style in 2 country，American and Haiti. This cause mother and daughter have a different choice when they apply Utilitarian Ethics，benefit other and benefit self or only benefit self . As the story said，the mother mention，if you hit by a car the driver will blame you for destroy his car. life of poor is worthless in Haiti，instead of taking care of others you have to take care yourself first，this lead the mother apply Utilitarian Ethics，then lead to the choice，wait for the dispute settled before across the street in the scene of taxi driver yells to another. In the article form Grade Saver,“Krik? Krak! Summary and Analysis of “New York Day Women”” said “To Suzette’s eyes, while her mother’s body might have reached America, her heart and soul never made the trip.” Even thought the mother move to America，but sense of value which she learn never change，the result of hit by a car in Haiti made mother to wait for the dispute settled，let the car go first then across the street to make sure her safety，benefit the driver and herself. Compare to the second-generation，the daughter，what she learn is based on American culture，one things in this capitalism society is to maximum the self-profit，this why the daughter will not give her seat out on subway follow by her Utilitarian Ethics. If the daughter have the same taxi driver dispute，she is like to across the street instead of waiting as her mother. The different create by the culture this condition. As author Kristine Abrahamsson wrote in his article “Mothers and Daughters between Two Cultures in Short Fiction by Edwidge Danticat”， “The gap between the mothers and daughters were widened by the differences between Haitian and American culture and by the complexity of the political relationship between the countries.”  The gaps create by culture lead to the a different answer for the daughter and mother.

The mother never attend to her daughter’s Parent-Teacher Association meetings is the result of following the Deontology Ethics as a mother. As a parent to know about her child is a duty base on Deontology Ethics to show you care and love the child，but the mother did not  go to Parent-Teacher Association meetings in the short story also is a form of love following Deontology Ethics.  As the story set，they represent different culture，when a foreign mother join the meeting only will cause the people around her daughter feel her daughter is live in a uneducated environment and create a  stereotype to her daughter. The mother refuse to go is a action of love， to protect her daughter.  In the article form Grade Saver,“Krik? Krak! Summary and Analysis of “New York Day Women””  wrote“Suzette’s mother refusing to attend Parent-Teacher Association meetings because she doesn’t want to embarrass Suzette with her “foreignness” is another example of this love.” Sometime child feel embarrass due to they are parent different with other children，discard also is a way to protect your love. On the other hand for mother refuse to go，it is  not because the culture different apply to ethic，but  the trust between daughter and mother.   As the peer view article from Eduzaurus “Review Of New York Day Women By Edwidge Danticat” state:“It is possible that since she knew her daughter so well that nothing the Teachers can say changes her opinion of her. Suzette underestimates her mother as a person who was a shut into a person who was experience with the city.” Maybe the mother just know the daughter too well，so she decided not to go to the meeting. No matter in which way the mother love her daughter，but in 2 different way，a way of discard for protect and the way show she know her daughter well as a love of care. Both explain point to the love，which mean the mother is fulfill her duty to her child as a example to follow the Deontology Ethics.

Raysi Perez

Essay 3 Draft

English 1121 (Prof. Scanlan)

May 17, 2020

A Good Fall

In Ha Jin’s “A Good Fall,” the central characters are Ganchin, Master Zong, Cindy, and Fanku. In this story, a Monk named Ganchin who worked as a kung fu teacher got fired from his job by Master Zong. Master Zong wouldn’t give Ganchin the money that he owed him and he took his passport away so Ganchin had no money and had nowhere to go. Cindy tried to help Ganchin by letting him stay at her house but Ganchin decided to live with Fanku. While living with Fanku, Master Zong Kidnaps Ganchin and takes him to the airport so that he can go back to China but Ganchin escapes. The ethics shown by Master Zong is utilitarian ethics and Cindy and Fanku are virtue ethics. 

Holly E. Martin’s article “Falling Into America: The Downside of Transnational Identities in Ha Jin’s A God Fall” explores the lives of immigrants living in flushing Chinatown. In another article “Kant’s Contribution to moral education: the relevance of catechists by Chris W. Surprenant, Surprenant speaks about virtue ethics. While one article speaks about the short story “A Good Fall” and the other article talks about virtue ethics, both articles will be able to help understand the ethics of all four characters. In order to show this, I will first talk about Ganchin getting fired, Second, I will talk about how Cindy and Fanku try to help Ganchin, Lastly, I will talk about how Master Zong kidnapped Ganchin.

In the short story “A Good Fall” by Ha Jin, Ganchin is a kung fu teacher who got fired from his job at the Gaolin Temple. He asked Master Zong for the money that he owed him but Master Zong refused to give him his money. “We don’t owe you any money” (336) Ganchin would continue speaking to Master Zong telling him that he needs his money and that he deserves it “Master Zong, I worked for you for more than two years and never made any trouble. Now that you fire me, you should give me at least my salary so I can go back and clear the debt I owe” (337) but Master Zong still refuses to give him his money. “We’ve provided lodging and board for you. This is New York, where everything’s expensive. As a matter of fact, we paid you a lot more than fifteen hundred a month” (337). After Ganchin tried to get his money, Master Zong took his passport and inserted it into his robe. “I can’t let you have your papers if you stay on illegally. From now on you’re on your own, and you must move out tomorrow. I don’t care where you go. Your visa has expired and you’re an illegal alien, a lawbreaker” (337). From this scene, you can tell how Ganchin felt betrayed by Master Zong after working for him for over 2 years. “Life in Flushing does not bring the material wealth or the freedom from obligations in China some immigrants are expecting” (Martin). Master Zong shows utilitarian ethics. He is very selfish and doesn’t care about Ganchin. He just used Ganchin to get money for himself. 

After getting fired from his job, Ganchin went out to meet up with his friend Cindy. They spoke about Ganchin getting fired and his living situation. Cindy told Ganchin that she could stay at her place “You know, you can always use my place. I’m on trips most of the time anyway” (338) but he refused and told her that he would stay at his friend’s house “Thanks. I may be able to stay with my friend for the time being” (338). Ganchin was worrying about his situation and Cindy tried to help him figure out what to do. “You shouldn’t worry so much, sweetie. If worse comes to worst, you should consider marrying a woman, a U.S. citizen” (338). Ganchin responded, “I’m a monk and can’t think of anything like that” (338). He then started speaking about how he wished he was an illegal coolie so that he can restart his life but he’s never worked outside the temple and doesn’t have any skills. Cindy tried to help him by telling him that he can do something with the skill that he does have “Come on – you can teach Martial arts” (339). From this scene, you can tell how much Cindy cares for Ganchin and wants him to be good. She wants to make sure that Ganchin tries to find something so that he doesn’t struggle. “she continues to encourage Ganchin to change”(Martin). When Ganchin moved into Fanku’s house, Fanku was very kind and helped Ganchin out by giving him a place to sleep. “Here, you can sleep on this” (339) He also provided food and money for him. “Fanku let his guest use whatever for he had in the studio for free, while he himself ate at work.” “He lent Ganchin sixty dollars” “Fanku often brought back food for Ganchin, a box of rice mixed with pork roast, or a bag of fish croquettes, or a bunch of egg rolls and spareribs.” (340). Cindy and Fanku both show Virtue. Cindy tries to help Ganchin and stays thinking positively about the situation that he is in. Fanku helps out Ganchin by giving him a place to live, food, and money. “virtue requires an individual to develop ‘a frame of mind that is both valiant and cheerful in fulfilling its duties” (Surprenant).

Fanku told Ganchin to wait in the house for the superintendent but Master Zong showed up instead. Master Zong went to Ganchin so that he can send him back to china “We won’t hurt you. We’re just helping you go home, to keep you from deterioration into a bum” (344). Ganchin asked him where they were taking him and master Zong replied, “To the airport.” Ganchin was too weak to fight so he obeyed them. Zong told Ganchin that he bought a plane ticket for Ganchin to go home “Don’t be upset. I bought the plane ticket for you and will give you some cash for our travel expenses. When you check in at the counter, I’ll let you have your passport.” (344). Ganchin started telling him that he kidnapped him and Zong laughed at him. On the way to the airport, ganchin was thinking of a way to escape. They parked in a garage and took him to the airport. Master Zong continued to tell Ganchin that he’s just doing this for his reputation. “They just didn’t want to sully chinas image by letting an ocher-robed monk roam the streets of New York. That would tarnish the temple’s reputation as well.” (344). Ganchin was trying to think of a way to escape and then a passenger cart with three rows of seats was passing by and he got on it. He finally escaped. Master Zong is again showing utilitarian ethics by being selfish. “The story “A Good Fall” does demonize Master Zong” (Martin). He kidnapped Ganchin and took him to the airport so that Ganchin being homeless doesn’t tarnish his temple. 

Both Articles helped better understand the ethics being shown in this short story. Martin’s article spoke about Ganchin, Cindy, and Master Zong. He spoke about the short story and how immigrant’s lives are in flushing Chinatown. Surprenant’s article spoke about virtue ethics. It helped show how Cindy and Fanku use Virtue ethics when helping out Ganchin.

Jennifer Zheng

Essay 3 draft

English 1121

5/17/2020

There’s A Destination for Everyone

In Tony Parsons’ short story “Say Hello, Wave Goodbye,” the central characters are Jaswinder Smith also known as Jazz, Megan, Donald Harrison, and lastly the man in black. In this short story, Parsons explores one of Jazz’s daily life at work as an immigration officer of the UK Border Agency. Securing the airport with other fellow agents. She examines travelers’ passports and detects fake reasoning in the Arrival hall queues, holding those whose stories do not match in a small corral where she at the end of her shift, goes and interacts and investigates farther. The story displays a connection between Jazz and those she interacts with, exploring all types of ethics as they landed on her border. 

 In Zhang Longxi’s article, “The Pale Cast of Thought: On the Dilemma of Thinking and Action,” he explores the idea of the “Interpretation” between mental activities and physical actions. On the other hand, another article from Denise K. Lajimodiere’s “Ogimah Ikwe: Native Women and Their Path to Leadership” talks about the increased visibility of Native American women in leadership roles. While these articles are not focused on Parsons’s story “Say Hello, Wave Goodbye,” they help me understand the ethics of Jazz, forming my thesis which is to show that “Say Hello, Wave Goodbye,” highlights how Jazz’s characteristics are connected to virtue, feminist, deontology, and global ethics. In order to prove this, I will first discuss Jazz’s job and her first meeting with the travelers who triggered her alarm. Second, I will be discussing the stereotypes in the airport fiction where she goes looking for the passport-muncher and when she goes and interacts with travelers in the holding room. Lastly, I will be exploring the scene where Jazz informs Donald what was going on as she helps him get home/ depart him. 

An immigration officer of the UK Border Agency job is basically to evaluate travelers and notify them if they are skeptical, forbidding them to enter the United Kingdom. Although that is what Jazz does, she thinks otherwise, she likes to refer to her job as not to refuse entry to the UK but to have/ hear the inner alarm bell (Parsons,46). This emphasizes how she views herself; someone that is not stern and has a different/lighter perspective of what her job is about. With that being said, Jazz’s character is full of virtue and deontology ethics, as an officer, there are certain behaviors she does that makes the reader get a better understanding of her virtuous human being like her moral wisdom. A central scene that really provides an insight into the way that Jazz identifies passengers repeatedly reasoning is when she indicated Donald, Megan, and man in black to take a seat in a small corral. After hearing their response of visiting, Jazz made a decision due to her inner alarm signaling that they are not permitted to enter the United Kingdom. The most important thing to notice is that Jazz hates to be deceived by others more than anything. Knowing that they are being dishonset here saying Barack Obama planted a microchip in its brain, forged passport, and lastly visiting the wax museum to see candles and eat the world-famous British pizza. She still does her job accordingly, showing little to no personal feeling. As an immigration officer, she held back from saying anything offensive and was able to control her temper which carries her through the end of the story.

Toward the middle of the short story, it not only shows Jazz’s feminist ethic but a presence of deontology ethic as well. With the fugitive passport-muncher on the loose. While she went scouring for him, she said something along the line, “Sooner or later, you bang your head up against my border” (Parsons, 54). This features a logic from Lajimodiere’s article, where she notes that “women’s power and status were based on their relative control over land” (A history of nature). Jazz knows the airport from the bottom of her heart, compared to the passport-muncher, it’s her land, showing her power. By the time the passport-muncher was corner, she gave him a warning, “Don’t make me take you down” (Parsons, 54). He noticed it was only her and thought little of her since he was a foot taller and twice her weight, also the fact that she was a woman (Parsons, 54). But Jazz easily took him down, she was independent and made a process in mind. By the time she enters the small corral, she shows the authority she has as an officer to Megan telling her about the rights she has in order to get her to cooperate. When Megan started to open up and asked her a question about love, Jazz shows her feminist side and shared a bit of advice. 

Toward the end where Jazz sees Donald heading towards the Arrivals hall, she notices something strange about him, in the passage, it stated, “He looked at her mildly, slightly bewildered, as if they had never met” (Parsons, 53). In Zhang Longxi’s article, Aristotle explains, “humans as rational beings would think before they act and would interpret the present to anticipate the future” (Longxi,282). When Jazz finally sits down with him, she slowly and patiently explains to him that he has been reported missing, and his family is worried about him and she is going to send him home. This part emphasizes global ethics. According to Kimberly Hutching’s global ethics, “Such behaviors are connected to these major focal points: access to global markets, climate change, and a broad set of human rights related to health, education… and equality for all” (Hutching). Jazz sees that Donald doesn’t remember and looks confused, she shows him the boarding card and ensures him once again. When he asked what happened to him, she was on the verge of telling him the truth but she didn’t because “she knew that wasn’t really what he was asking about…”(60). And just smiled.

Like what Tony Parsons once said, “Airports are places of extreme emotion where people come and go and experiences begin and end.” He revives “Say Hello, Wave Goodbye” after roaming the terminals for weeks, he creates characters like Jazz who guide wandering travelers to their destination.

Andy Zhang

Essay 3 draft

English 1121 (Prof.Scanlan)

5/17/2020          

 “Say Hello, Wave Goodbye” Ethics and Gender Roles

In Tony Parson’s short story “Say Hello, Wave Goodbye,” the central character was Jaswinder “Jazz” Smith, who works as a border examiner at the United Kingdom airport. Jazz dealt with differents passengers and examine their passport and check their reason for entering the United Kingdom. Due to her super sharp sense as a female examiner, and her knowledge in psychology, she was able to discover that the man in black was a drug smuggler and Donald with a forged passport. The strong combinations of feminists, and deontology ethic that Jazz displays when making decisions concerning  Donald, and Megan and other passengers during different situations that each passenger posses perfectly reveals the idea that work ethic can be affected by gender roles. Where work ethic is the principle that hard work is intrinsically virtuous or worthy of reward. 

In Kirsten Stam, Ellen Verbakel & Paul M. de Graaf’s article “Do Values Matter? The Impact of Work Ethic and Traditional Gender Role Values on Female Labour Market Supply,” Kirsten examines the idea of the explanatory value of work ethic and traditional gender role value with regards to the variation in the female labor market supply. Where the idea that work ethic can precede one’s motivation to work and is able to explain one’s effects in the moral role and gender role. On the other hand, in Kate Krueger article “The Woman at Home in the World: Annie Swan’s Lady Doctor and the Problem of the Fin de Siècle Working Woman,”  Kate explores the idea that a woman would not lose her femininity through work ethic and maintain a public role in support of women’s employment after marriage. While I was satisfied with Kate’s idea that a woman would not lose her femininity through work ethic, I think that Kirsten’s idea of the explanatory value of work ethic and traditional gender role value makes a better claim on the idea that work ethic can be affected by gender roles. In order to show this, I will first discuss how Jazz’s gender role and feminist ethic is affecting Jazz’s decisions concerning Megan. Second, I will discuss how Jazz’s gender role and deontology ethic is affecting Jazz’s decision concerning the Man in Black. Ultimately, I will discuss how the idea of work ethic can be affected by feminist and deontology ethics of a female gender role through Jazz reaction and decision in the short story. 

In Tony Parsons short story “Say Hello, Wave Goodbye,” the story takes place at the UK airport, where Jazz examines different people that hope to enter the UK for various reasons. sOne important detail that should be brought up is that Jazz is a female borderline examiner and that her gender played an important role in her work. In the short story when Jazz encounters Megan, her sharp sense and feeling affected her decision that was made toward Megan. After Megan answered her question about the reason that she came to the United Kingdom and her plan in the United Kingdom. Megan’s reply to Jazz’s question triggered Jazz’s sharp sense and that caused her to notice that Megan was lying to her and that resulted in Megan being in the “NOT OK CORRAL” in the airport. From the scene “ Jazz smiled pleasantly. ‘And what are you planning to do in the UK?’ ‘I want to see the wax museum?’ Jazz nodded. Madame Tussauds was a legitimate reason to visit the United Kingdom. Lifelike effigies of Nelson Mandela and Brad Pitt – how could anyone resist? ‘What do you want to see there?’ Jazz said. Megan had not been anticipating a follow-up question about the world-famous wax museum. ‘Candles?’ she offered. Jazz looked at the young traveler. This girl should not be a problem, Jazz thought. But she is….. ‘And I want to try some of that world-famous British pizza,’ Megan said, and jazz got that cold tense feeling that came upon her when she knew that someone was telling her lies.” (Parson, 47). This feeling and the sense of Jazz shows that her femininity ethic and her gender role affected her work ethic and her role as a borderline examiner. From that scene, we can see that her feelings and thoughts were affecting her decision toward Megan. Where Jazz’s feeling and thoughts of her feminist ethic and her gender role caused her to be suspicious of Megan’s answer and that overall affected her choice to keep Megan in the “NOT OK CORRAL” instead of letting Megan pass her examine even though there seem to be no questions to Megan’s answer toward Jazz’s examination. 

Jumping to another scene of the short story, when Jazz was examining the passport of the young man in black. Jazz’s deontology ethic and gender role affected her choices and her work ethic as a borderline examiner when she was examining the passport of the man in black. While Jazz was examining the passport, her gender role served an important role, her carefulness rang her inner alarm bell when she noticed that the biometric data on the microchip didn’t fit and the passport photo of the man seemed different with the man in real life. “Jazz liked to say that it wasn’t her job to refuse entry to the UK. It was her job to have an inner alarm bell  ….. The inner alarm bell rang loud and long when she looked at the passport of the young man dressed in a black T-shirt, jeans and cowboy boots. She looked at him and she looked at the passport and she read the biometric data on the microchip and somehow it did not fit. In the passport, the photo the man looked as though he had had some kind of cosmetic surgery. But in the flesh, he just looked unwell.”(Parson, 46). From the scene, we were able to indicate that Jazz’s deontology ethic seems to be affecting the decision that will be made toward the man in black from her careful observation of her gender role characteristics and her role as a borderline examiner. 

After all, going through different scenes of Tony Parson’s short story “ Say Hello, Wave Goodbye,” we were to discuss how Jazz’s feminist, deontology ethic and gender roles were able to affect her decision made toward Megan and Man in black. It would be a whole different situation in the scene if Jazz would have let the man in black pass the borderline examination because she is not following the deontology ethic and gender role. And Jazz would let Megan also pass the borderline examination because she’s not following feminist ethic and gender roles. From the different scenes in the short story, the idea of work ethic can be affected by feminist and deontology ethics of a female gender role was explored and examined through Jazz’s reaction and decision toward each traveler that was trying to enter the UK in the short story. 

Yinghe Zhao

ENG 1121 (Prof.Scanlan)

Essay3 Page Draft

5/17/20

Life Is a Long Journey

In Ha Jin’s A Good Fall, the central characters are Ganchin, Master Zong, Cindy, and Fanku and they belong to two main camps, the good and the evil. The good is to describe people like Ganchin, Fanku, and Cindy — Ganchin follows the rules to be a good monk and doesn’t want to hurt anyone, Fanku and Cindy tries their best to help Ganchin, and in the end Cindy brings everyone to help Ganchin.  The evil is to describe people like Master Zong — He was a selfish man who wanted to be wealthy, so he refused to pay Ganchin (and the monks who used to work in his temple) salary, kept his passport and forced Ganchin to go to the airport to send him home. In the short story it shows each character’s types of ethics (especially deontology and utilitarian) for the specific things. 

In Holly E. Martin’s article “Falling Into America: The Downside of Transnational Identities in Ha Jin’s A Good Fall,” documenting the hardships of immigrant life in the United States. On the other hand, in Colm Toibin’s article “ Exiles From Themselves: Ha Jin’s characters are far both from China and from their sense of who they are,” explore the Chinese immigrants in the United State are uneasy about their new country. While the obvious ethics is deontology in Ha Jin’s “A Good Fall,” another one is utilitarian ethics. Among the five types of ethics, the reason that deontology ethics and utilitarian ethics are more valuable is because the setting and context of the story point to Chinese immigrants’ difficult life in the new country and how evil treats those good. In order to prove this, I will first explore how hard life can be for immigrants (Ganchin and Fanku’s life), and address the question of how Master Zong treats Ganchin scenes, then explore how these good helped Ganchin successfully “shake off” from the evil Master Zong in terms of our class handout Five-types-of-Ethics. Second, by using the ideas of Holly E. Martin and Colm Toibin to discuss immigrant life, new environment, and social circumstances in immigration fiction. Lastly, I will compare the different feelings for different people when they face the same new environment (immigrants and writers). 

The journey of life is so wonderful, but one journey is not yet started, another journey is started, just like the main character Ganchin in “A Good Fall.” Ganchin is a monk who works at Gaolin temple as a Kung Fu teacher. He is an illegal immigrant, lives in the temple on Main street, Flushing, speaks Chinese. Ganchin had never been paid his salary. Fanku works as a cook in a restaurant. His family are all in China. He wants green card status there. He lives in a basement near downtown Flushing. There was a small bathroom, but no kitchen, it had only a cot bed, and a narrow table with metal chairs on either side. Even if the living environment is bad, they face all kinds of difficulties in the new country, they do not want to give up, because all they want is to improve their life (to give a better life to their families in China), get a legal identity and realize their dreams. This is because for many Chinese, the United States is a dream, it represents the high material development and the high spiritual civilization. In this short story, Ganchin follows a rule and tries his best to be a good monk and a good Kung Fu teacher at Gaolin temple. But Master Zong treats Ganchin badly. Master Zong fired Ganchin and kicked him out of the temple since Ganchin’s illness was getting worse. He kept refusing to pay Ganchin’s salary. And the scene that really led to the collapse of Ganchin’s psychological defenses was, “Don’t resist,” Zong hissed. “We won’t hurt you. We’re just helping you go home, to keep you from deteriorating into a bum” (344). The Ethics that Master Zong seems to follow were utilitarianism. “Utilitarianism is the view that the morally right action is the action that produces the most good. There are many ways to spell out this general claim. One thing to note is that the theory is a form of consequentialism: the right action is understood entirely in terms of consequences produced.” Master Zong was a selfish person who did these things to Ganchin in order to get the most benefit for himself. And for his own benefit without regard for others. His behavior of hurting others for his own benefit led Ganchin to want to commit suicide. Fanku and Cindy helped Ganchin a lot in this short story. Fanku first met Ganchin at a traditional Chinese New Year party, although Fanku wasn’t really Ganchin’s friend, he still helped Ganchin. “When Ganchin asked to stay with him for a few days, Fanku welcomed him, saying he was proud to help a friend” (339). Fanku encouraged Ganchin to talk to Master Zong. He always brings some food back to Ganchin. Although he did not have enough money for his lawyer, he lent Ganchin money when Ganchin asked for it. The ethics that Fanku seems to follow were deontology. “In contemporary moral philosophy, deontology is one of those kinds of normative theories regarding which choices are morally required, forbidden, or permitted. In other words, deontology falls within the domain of moral theories or rules that guide and assess our choices of what we ought to do (deontic theories),” When Ganchin asks Fanku for help, Fanku’s choice is to help Ganchin without hesitation. Cindy invited Ganchin to live in her home because she flew abroad a lot, encouraged Ganchin to change, and brought everybody to help Ganchin at the end. The ethics that Cindy seems to follow were deontology and a little bit utilitarianism. It is because when Ganchin needs someone to help him, Cindy’s choice is to encourage him and bring the lawyers to help him suing the temple and turning Ganchin into a celebrity. It shows her choices of what she ought to do when someone needs help. Cindy seems to follow a little bit utilitarianism because she said, “Now there’ll be ways for you to avoid deportation—you can apply for political asylum, or marry a citizen or a legal resident. You know, you’ll be

rich, but not filthy rich like a millionaire who doesn’t have to work” (349) in the short story, she may be selfish in helping Ganchin, and may want to marry Ganchin so she tells him that you can marry a citizen or a legal resident, just because she is an ABC (American Born Chinese) and an American citizen. 

In Holly E. Martin and Colm Toibin’s article, they both explore Chinese immigrants in the United States are uneasy about their new country. Many Chinese immigrants feel that when they first arrive in the United States, everything is new and everything is good. May say to the friend: here is too good! Come and have a look! But after one year is another feeling, people will know that the senator only saw the appearance of life, here life is much richer and much more complex than before. No extra money, no skills, no friends, different languages, different cultures. It was then that people realized it was not easy to integrate into the life of a new country. Ganchin is a new immigrant, he taught martial arts in China but he only speaks Chinese, so he works at a Chinese temple on Main street — a place where many new immigrants live and work, it shows “Once inhabitants of a sprawling and familiar culture, they are now confined to a few rooms, a few streets” (Toibin). At the same time, it also shows “the American type of success was not for everyone. You must learn how to sell yourself there and must change yourself to live a new life” (Martin). Ganchin wants to succeed in America, wants to pay off the money he owes in China, and let his parents live a better life than before in China. When he failed and faced the blow, Cindy encouraged him to change a new way of life, and Cindy suggests he teaches martial arts outside of the temple. But he asked Cindy back “For that I’ll have to know some English, won’t I?” (339) and says “I’m too old to change” (343). If Ganchin had followed Cindy’s suggestion, his results might have changed. The life of new Chinese immigrants in the United States is different from what they imagine. They imagine that everything is new and everything is good. But the reality is that: “hope has been crushed rather than abandoned, in which the struggle to find a place to live becomes as much a daily battle within the self as it is with society” (Toibin). Many undocumented people want to have a legal identity in the United States, even if the cost of more money is willing to, many people try again and again but not to succeed, their hopes are shattered again and again. Fanku wanted to have a green card, but when he heard some news: “A girl at Olivia Salon has spent more than eighty thousand dollars for attorney’s fees but still can’t get A green card” (340). He was afraid that he would be like the girl who works at Olivia Salon, after spending a lot of money his hope would still be crushed. And he would feel that he would want to do something illegal when he really needed money — rob someone. While he is struggling with himself, the society and money, he always remembers his responsibility: I have to send money to my wife and daughter back home as well” (340). Their lives, some of them ups and downs, some of them uneventful, but in any case, they were out-and-out foreigners, struggling, broken and remaking in a strange land, with an understanding of American society.

Zachary McCallum 

English 1121 (Prof. Scanlan) 

05/10/2020 

 ‘New York Day Women’ Literary Research Paper 

“New York Day Women” by Edwidge Danticat focuses primarily on a mother and daughter who immigrated to the U.S from Haiti. Suzette (the daughter) is on a lunch break in Manhattan when she catches her mother out and about. This throws Suzette off guard because according to her, her mother has never left Brooklyn and is wary about taking the train. Suzette follows her mother around to see what she’s up to.  

 In the article “Oral narrative as short story cycle: forging community in Edwidge Danticat’s Krik? Krak!”, Rocio G. Davis dives into topics such as motherhood, womanhood, class issues and much more. While Rocio G. Davis’ article dives into those topics, “Mothering the Motherless: Portrayals of alternative mothering, practicing within the Caribbean diaspora” by Amanda Putnam adds the focus of identifying one’s self along with motherhood. Both articles share a strong message of motherhood, feminism, class issues and self-empowerment. With these documents, I will show how “New York Day Women” exhibits self-awareness and feminist ethics which the main character goes through due to the help of her mother with the article by Amanda Putnam. After this, I will go into detail about the strong sense of motherhood and feminist ethics in “New York Day Women” with Rocio G. Davis’ article. 

Throughout the story Suzanne’s recalls bits of advice and messages that her mother use to give her throughout her lifetime. Through her mother’s guidance and counsel Suzanne becomes enlightened towards the end of the short story. For instance, in “Mothering the Motherless: Portrayals of alternative mothering, practicing within the Caribbean diaspora” Amanda Putnam states “Merle Hodge’s Crick Crack Monkey and Edwidge Danticat’s “Krik? Krak!”, offer similar collective mothering practices, showing women within a community nurturing daughters whose mothers are absent. Their purpose is to help the daughters acquire qualities which will allow them to develop into strong adult women” (Putnam 1). Even though Suzette’s mother in “Day Women” (apart of Krik? Krak!) was not an absent parent, her mother gave her advice and taught her about life lessons that makes Suzette reflect on her life. This results in her becoming a better woman. For example, in the short story “New York Day Women” Suzette’s mothers asks her if she would give her seat up for an elderly lady. Suzette’s says sometimes she does but, sometimes she doesn’t. In the third paragraph she says “My mother, who is often right about that. Sometimes I get up and give my seat. Other times, I don’t. It all depends on how pregnant the woman is and whether or not he is sitting down” (Danticat 1). However, at the end of the short story when Suzette is done with her reminiscent thoughts of her mother, she self reflects and decides that when she takes the subway from that day forward, she will give up her seat for an elderly lady or a woman who was pregnant. This not only shows self-awareness but the presence of feminist ethics. She takes consciousness of her actions and who she is and then changes her actions. The feminist ethics kicks in when she finds a newfound appreciation for women. I say this because she doesn’t just say she’s going to give up her seat for and elderly woman like her mother but also a pregnant woman. Feminist ethics is a type of ethic that values women and that is what Suzette did at the end of the short story.  

In “Oral narrative as Short Story Cycle Forging Community in Edwidge Danticat’s Krik? Krak!” by Rocio G. Davis, the speaker emphasizes motherhood and feminist ethics within his article. The article says “Corollary to this, the story entitled ‘New York Day Women’ has a daughter watching, unobserved, as her mother makes her way from her home in Brooklyn, to Madison Avenue where in Central Park she cares for a young child while her Yuppie mother goes jogging : ‘This mother of mine, she stops at another hot-dog vendor and buys a frankfurter that she eats on the street. I never knew that she ate frankfurters… Day women come out when nobody expects them’ (150,153). Both stories emphasize the different worlds mothers and children inhabit while linking their mothers. Furthermore, issues of race and class oppression suggested in both stories serve as factors that complicate maternal relationships because they lead the mothers to find ways of surviving or of asserting independence they cannot, or will not, share with their children” (Davis 76). This quotation from the article highlights motherhood in “New York Day Women” because it correlates with Suzette’s mother taking care of other people’s children but also touches on the mothership that Suzette’s mom has with her daughter. For example, Rocio G Davis talks about how Suzette’s mother didn’t tell her daughter about her day job which affected her relationship with her child. Even though, Suzette found a new appreciation for her mother I am pretty sure she still wondered why her mother never told her anything about her babysitting job.  

The speaker also shows feminist ethics within his article when he states “In a note distributed by her publisher, Danticat defines the challenge she set herself: “I look to the past to Haiti-hoping that the extraordinary female story tellers I grew up with the ones that have passed on will choose to tell their stories through my voice. For those of us who have a voice must speak to the present and the past” (qtd. in Casey 525-26). Danticat’s narrative presents the voices and visions of women, usually mothers and daughters, whose personal tragedies impel them to form community in the midst of oppression and exile” (Davis 68). This shows feminist ethics because it shows how Edwidge Danticat’s writing displays how women overcome persecution and expulsion. She shows woman in a strong light that does not conform into traditional normative ethics.  

The writing of Edwidge Danticat is a writing that is not common to find. She writes with experience, emotion and warmth. With “New York Day Women” she manages to teach the readers a lesson or two about self-assurance and respect whether the reader be man or woman. “New York Day Women” did an excellent job of publicizing self-empowerment, motherhood, and feminist ethics.  

Leviza Murtazayeva

English 1121- Prof. Scanlan

First Page Draft

                                                                                 Immersion into a New Lifestyle

           Many known stories create a picture of perfect ethics. But there are fewer stories that show the real picture, feelings, emotions, fears, etc. Mostly characters may have exaggerated emotions, it is different from short stories that hit home to those who emerged into a new environment and are forced to nothing but assimilate to a new lifestyle. The short story “Assimilation,” by E.L. Doctorow demonstrates the central characters to be Roman and Jelena. Roman is pictured as a stressed of life Hispanic college student, that works at any vacancy to pay off his college bills and for housing. Roman works as a dishwasher at a restaurant later is promoted to a busboy. Happy about his increase to the wage, he gets an offer from his boss Borislav, of three thousand dollars to marry his relative and make her legal in the United States. This is when we meet the next main character Jelena, a young woman that has the main goal of just moving and becoming legal in the United States. The story progresses to the confusion between someone being satisfied but, committing fraud or following the moral type of life. Ethics are the moral presentations of how society should act, fairly to others. Does that mean people will become apathetic to others or the opposite, is there a reason for any person to sacrifice themselves for someone else? The main conflict of this short story occurs between the two different sides, the morality and self-satisfaction, which characters seem to deal with constantly.

              In the article by John McGowan “Ways of Worldmaking: Hannah Arendt and E.L. Doctorow” the reader may realize the real circumstances that may occur concerning “desolation”– emptiness, which gives a reader an idea of some type of view such as modernity. My goal for this research is to help readers of Doctorow’s work to recognize the prospection of the author and his point of view by including political ethics in the short stories. The closest relation of ethics for “Assimilation,” and central characters’ actions is Virtue ethics. Roman believes it is not moral to have a marriage without love and for money, this is why he would be cautious about his decisions about taking the offer and marrying Jelena, who does not have the same morals. With the two opposing morals of the short story, I can examine the choices that the character had been coming up with throughout.

        E.L Doctorow is known to write short stories that mostly contribute to isolation, immigration, and hard choices, which we accoutered in “Assimilation,” when the characters reach critical point upon choosing what is right for them, follow moral standards or sell yourself. It is important to know the ethics that follow up this short story, it mostly argues upon virtue ethics. An article “ASSIMILATION – E.L. DOCTOROW – MOTIVATION,” by Tim Lepczyk & filed under E. L. Doctorow, Motivation have reviewed the story with;

“It ends with Leon welcoming them in and saying, “Let the war begin.”

For this story to work, the reader has to believe in Ramon.  He’s a simple dreamer type figure.  Taken with a fancy he jumps into situations.  Random interest is his motivation.” This quote is a good example of Ramon being selfless and commits choices from his virtue ethics and beliefs. 

“For me, it’s flimsy.  I don’t buy it.  He’s willing to commit fraud; he’s willing to be bought.” (paragraph 5)

            From the beginning, the central character Ramon obviously followed the morality of virtue ethics. As the story progresses further, he convinces Jelena to escape with him to his brother, and they do. Also, Ramon’s brother, Leon, seems to not care about morality and is totally fine with getting money from the Russian family for the arranged marriage, even though he has a criminal record. This type of motivation from Ramon’s surroundings may have been the push factor of agreeing to the offer. This also comes from Ramon being Hispanic immigrant, that works really hard at his job to pay off his and Leon’s bills, he believes that if he chooses to take the money, he will be able to afford everything he owes. As an immigrant, Ramon worked hard to become a citizen and a student. He knows the value of what he has. This type of descriptions of people and their character and moral beliefs seems to be consistent in E.L Doctorow’s stories, especially in the collection of “All the time in the world,” which includes the short story “Assimilation.” A New York Times article by Jess Row “E.L. Doctorow’s stories argues that:

It’s a truism to say that the story as a form is devoted to loneliness and alienation — “people in some sort of contest with the prevailing world,” as Doctorow puts it here — but that may be the best explanation for why these stories so often fail. Doctorow’s novels tend to follow a deductive logic, beginning with the great themes of an era (or simply with a set of historical facts) and then dramatizing them in an interwoven ensemble of characters. Without a substantial dose of irony, short stories don’t work that way; the heavy-handedness of the novelist smashes them flat. As a title, “All the Time in the World” is, in this sense, exactly wrong: these stories never have the breadth and breath — the expansiveness of novelistic time — they need. Which makes this book, as record collectors say, for completists only. (Jess, Paragraph 9)

    The assumption of Ramon selling himself to the Russian family seems to be absurd after this statement, because as we can see that when E.L. Doctorow was writing the short stories his goal was to bring the idea of choice that the characters make in a peak of stress. A hypothesis can be made when Ramon chooses to hide away from the moral standards and follow a different path of his life, this is where the title “Assimilation” can be interpreted. The short story is also a very nice comparison to the story of Romeo and Juliet, even the initials are the same. This can be related to the ending of the story when the choices have been made and ended the same way the story of Romeo and Juliet ended.

        Motivation is the main push factor of Ramon’s and Jelena’s choices in the story. Ramon was willing to follow the moral standard of life when he was becoming attached to Jelena. While Jelena just portrayed a cold shoulder back to Ramon, somewhat is choosing the feminist ethics and going for her boyfriend who she wants to bring from Russia. Later, Jelena changes her ethics and also follows virtue ethics to relate to her new lover, Ramon. In all, the author had a great impact on handling choices that were made by the characters. E.L. Doctorow created a good piece to explain how a real-life story can be related to fiction romance, including hardships and moral ethics.

Brendan Gonzalez

Essay 2-3 Page Draft

Jaswinders jobs main focus is to inspect and assess peoples stories and documents on a professional level making sure both sides are legit without any bumps in the road. Jaswinder is great at what she does as a professional her work ethic is amazing. The most important thing to notice throughout Tony Parsons short story,  Jaswinder didn’t let anything get by her any passenger that had something relatively odd she notice and pulled to the side like the women with forged documents or the man who was smuggling drugs through the airport. The main part of the story that really shows Jaswinders eye and feel for something wrong with somebody when it comes to work is. Page( 46) when the man in black came up to her at the table and her inner alarm went off quickly telling her something was wrong with the passport , she put him to the side when she went to confirm with another worker she was correct but another problem came up again with the same man in the black T-shirt he ended up being a drug smuggler as well

Jaswinder goes against the typical stereotype of a female or the feminist ethic , “traditional ethics views as trivial”. Jazz is great at what she does and doesn’t let anything get in her way or head for being in a male dominate job according to “Politico.com” enforcement jobs; today, women represent just 15 percent”, throughout the story Jaswinder shows why she belongs at the job even though its a male dominated line of work but Jaswinder shows exactly why she should be there, on page 54 she was put to the test and put in a situation,” He was a foot taller and twice her weight, don’t make me take you down. He laughed at that but when he tried to push past her she slipped one leg behind him and shoved his chest hard with the palms of her hand. He fell backwards and went down fast and heavy”, Jazz was underestimated because she’s a women going up against a man who thought he could over power her because he was bigger than she was but she didn’t let that intimidate her Jazz displayed bravery. 

Ethics chapter 12, section 3 problems with feminist ethics “Problems With This Theory” (qcc.Cuny.edu) Section 3. Problem five states “The theory ultimately disempowers women.  While women act based on caring non-females can act based on rights and duties or utility or some other basic principle and avoid dealing with women because theirs is not an ethic of rights or duties and thus they need not be afforded such.” Jaswinder doesn’t base anything on caring but stays to the code of honor to the job protecting the people and the UK to the best she possibly can, even though Jazz showed the Megan sympathy and care towards the end on page 60 giving her advice about a man, “Listen, Jazz said listen to me Megan it keeps it does if it’s real it doesn’t just fade away overnight.” Jazz showed feelings some would say because she’s a female others will say she was just being nice but regardless Jazz stood by what was right and her duties as an officer and Megan got sent back from where she came from. This could be a cause of why only 15 percent of enforcement officers are female because they think that females go by feelings and care and not duty.