tag是什么-opposites
Unit 1
Paper Tigers
Wesley Yang
Additional Background Information
(About
Battle
Hymn of the Tiger Mother
)
What follows is a comment on
Battle Hymn of the Tiger
Mother
by Elizabeth Chang, an editor of
The Washington Post's Sunday Magazine,
which carried the article on January
8
th
, 2011.
The
cover of
Battle Hymn of the Tiger
Mother
was catnip to this average
parent's soul. Although
the memoir
seems to have been written to prove that Chinese
parents are better at raising children
than
Western
ones,
the
cover
text
claims
that
instead
it
portrays
bitter
clash
of
cultures,
a
fleeting
taste
of
glory
and
how
the
Tiger
Mother
“
was
humbled
by
a
13-year-
old.
”
As
a
hopelessly
Western
mother
married
into
a
Chinese
family
living
in
an
area
that
generates
immigrant
prodigies as reliably as clouds produce rain, I
was eager to observe the comeuppance of
a parent who thought she had all the
answers.
And,
in
many
ways,
Mother
did
not
disappoint.
At
night,
I
would
nudge
my
husband
awake
to
read
him
some
of
its
more
revealing
passages,
such
as
when
author
Amy
Chua
threatened
to
burn
her
older
daughter's
stuffed
animals
if
the
child
didn't
improve
her
piano
playing.
at
it.
cards
back
at
her
young
girls
and
ordered
them
to
make
better
ones.
For
a
mother
whose
half-Chinese children played outside
while the kids of stricter immigrant neighbors
could be heard
laboring over the violin
and piano, the book can be wickedly gratifying.
Reading it is like secretly
peering
into
the
home
of
a
controlling,
obsessive
yet
compulsively
honest
mother
—
one
who
sometimes makes the rest
of us look good, if less remarkable and with less
impressive offspring.
Does becoming
super-accomplished make up for years of stress?
That's something my daughters
and I
will never find out.
Chua
is a law professor and author of two acclaimed
books on international affairs, though readers
of
abandons global
concerns to focus intimately on Chua's attempt to
raise her two daughters the way
her
immigrant parents raised her. There would be no
play dates and no sleepovers:
have time
for anything fun, because I'm
Chinese,
there
would
be
a
total
commitment
to
academics
and
expertise
at
something,
preferably
an
instrument.
Though
Chua's
Jewish
husband
grew
up
with
parents
who
encouraged
him
to
imagine
—
and
to
express
himself,
he
nonetheless
agreed
to
let
her
take
the
lead
in
rearing
the
children and mostly serves as the Greek
chorus to Chua's crazed actions.
In Chinese parenting theory, hard work
produces accomplishment, which produces confidence
and
yet more accomplishment. As Chua
note
s, this style of
parenting is found among other immigrant
cultures,
too,
and
I'm
sure
many
Washington-area
readers
have
seen
it,
if
they
don't
employ
it
themselves. Chua's older daughter,
Sophia, a pianist, went along with, and blossomed,
under this
approach.
The
younger
daughter,
Lulu,
whose
instrument
of
Chua's
choice
was
a
violin,
was
a
different
story.
The
turning
point
came
when,
after
years
of
practicing
and
performing,
Lulu
expressed her hatred of the violin, her
mother and of being Chinese. Chua
imagined a Western
parent’s
take
on
Lulu's
rebellion:
torture
yourself
and
your
child?
What's
the
point?
...
I
knew
as
a
Chinese
mother
I
could
never
give
in
to
that
way
of
thinking.
But
she
nevertheless
allowed Lulu to abandon
the violin. Given that the worst Lulu ever did was
cut her own hair and
throw a glass, my
reaction was that Chua got off easy in a society
where some pressured children
cut
themselves,
become
anorexic,
refuse
to
go
to
school
or
worse.
No
one
but
an
obsessive
Chinese
mother
would
consider
her
healthy,
engaging
and
accomplished
daughter
deficient
because the girl
prefers tennis to the
violin
—
but that's exactly
the point.
And,
oh,
what
Chua
put
herself
and
her
daughters
through
before
she
got
to
her
moment
of
reckoning.
On
weekends,
they
would
spend
hours
getting
to
and
from
music
lessons
and
then
come home and practice for hours
longer. At night, Chua would read up on violin
technique and
fret about the children
in China who were practicing 10 hours a day. (Did
this woman ever sleep?)
She
insisted
that
her
daughters
maintain
top
grades
—
Bs,
she
notes,
inspire
a
hair-tearing
explosion
once refused to let a child
leave the piano bench to use the bathroom. She
slapped one daughter
who was practicing
poorly. She threatened her children not just with
stuffed-animal destruction,
but
with
exposure
to
the
elements.
She
made
them
practice
on
trips
to
dozens
of
destinations,
including
London, Rome, Bombay and the Greek island of
Crete, where she kept Lulu going so
long one day that the family missed
seeing the palace at Knossos.
Sometimes, you're not quite sure
whether Chua is being serious or deadpan. For
example, she says
she tried to apply
Chinese parenting to the family's two dogs before
accepting that the only thing
they
were
good
at
was
expressing
affection.
it
is
true
that
some
dogs
are
on
bomb
squads or
drug-sniffing teams,
is perfectly fine
for
most dogs not to have a
profession, or even any special
skills.
shortcomings:
She is,
she notes,
approach
is
flawed
because
it
doesn't
tolerate
the
possibility
of
failure.
On
the
other
hand,
she
sniffs
that
are
all
kinds
of
psychological
disorders
in
the
West
that
don't
exist
in
Asia.
When
not
contemptuous,
some
of
her
wry
observations
about
Western-style
child-rearing
are
spot-on:
work,
and
sleepovers
are
kind
of
punishment
parents
unknowingly
inflict
on
their
children
through permissiveness.
Readers will alternately gasp at and
empathize with Chua's struggles and aspirations,
all the while
enjoying her writing,
which, like her kid-rearing philosophy, is brisk,
lively and no-holds-barred.
This
memoir
raises
intriguing,
sometimes
uncomfortable
questions
about
love,
pride,
ambition,
achievement and self-worth that will
resonate among success-obsessed parents. Is it
possible, for
example, that Chinese
parents have more confidence in their children's
abilities, or that they are
simply
willing to work harder at raising exceptional
children than Westerners are? Unfortunately,
the
author
leaves
many
questions
unanswered
as
her
book
limps
its
way
to
a
conclusion,
with
Chua acknowledging her uncertainty
about how to finish it and the family still
debating the pros
and cons of her
approach (anyone hoping for a total renunciation
of the Chinese approach will be
disappointed).
Ending
a
parenting
story
when
one
child
is
only
15
seems
premature;
in
fact,
it
might
not
be
possible
to
really
understand
the
impact
of
Chua's
efforts
until
her
daughters
have
offspring
of
their
own. Perhaps
a
sequel,
or
a
series
(
is
in
the
works.
But
while
this
battle
might not have been convincingly concluded, it's
engagingly and provocatively chronicled.
Readers of all stripes will respond to
Structure of the Text
Part I (Paras. 1-2)
The author, an Asian living in the
United States, introduces
himself as a
‘banana’.
Part II (Paras.
3-5)
The author describes how he
believes Asians are generally viewed in the United
States and how he
views Asian values
himself. It is clear that his overall attitude
toward his cultural roots is negative.
Part III (Paras. 6-8)
The
author agrees that Asians (especially Chinese) are
over-represented in American elite schools
and that, percentage-wise, more Chinese
earn median family incomes than any other ethnic
group
in the United States.
However, he does not accept
the idea that the Chinese are “taking
over” top
American schools. He
particularly ridicules the idea that the United
States has to worry about a
more
general Chinese “takeover”, as Amy Chua’s book
seems to suggest.
Part IV
(Paras. 9-14)
In these paragraphs, the
author tells the story of a Chinese American whose
experience as a
graduate of one of the
most competitive high schools in the U.S. proves
that while Asian
overrepresentation in
elite schools is a fact, the success of Asian
students is not an indication of
their
higher intelligence but rather of their constant
practice of test-taking.
The fear that U.S.
schools
might become “too Asian” (too
test
-
oriented) in response,
narrowing students’ educational
experience, has aroused general
concern.
Part V (Paras. 15-22)
The author points out that the ethnic
imbalance in elite schools is not only resented by
white
students and educators, but that
even Asian students are beginning to raise serious
doubts. They
are tired of the crushing
workload and believe there must be a better way.
They envy their white
fellow students
who finally get to the top - strong, healthy, with
a high level of academic
achievement,
and with time even for a girlfriend or boyfriend.
They cannot help but still feel
alienated in this society.
Part VI (Paras. 23-28)
In
these Paragraphs, the author tells the story of
another Chinese student who
describes the
subtle
influence of his Chinese upbringing, which makes
it difficult
for him to be
culturally
assimilated.
Part VII (Paras. 29-36)
In
these Paragraphs, the author discusses
the problem of the “bamboo ceiling”—
the
fact that in
spite of high academic
achievement, virtually no Asians are found in the
upper reaches of
leadership. The author
believes that this is because Asian upbringing
fails to provide children with
the
requisite skills for leadership.
Part
VIII (Paras. 37-43)
Between Para. 36
and Para. 37 in the original essay, there are many
more case studies reflecting
vividly
the negative effects of Asian culture. But in
order to limit the essay to a manageable length,
we (the compilers) were unable to
include them. Therefore, in this section, the
essay comes to a
somewhat abrupt
conclusion.
Interestingly
enough, the author feels that
the
Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother
is well
worth
reading although he does not
agree with Amy Chua, because, in his opinion, the
book provides all
the material needed
to refute what ‘the Tiger Mother’ stands for. More
importantly, the author
thinks that Amy
Chua should be praised for her courage to speak
out and defy American
mainstream views.
Detailed Study of the Text
1.
Millions of
Americans must feel estranged from their own
faces. But every self-estranged
individual is estranged in his own way.
(Para. 1)
Millions
of
Americans
must
feel
alienated
(separated)
from
the
essence
of
themselves
by
their own faces.
The author is referring here to ethnic
minority people in the United States, especially
Asians.
Note that “face” here does not
refer to skin color or facial features alone, but
also to cultural
di
fferences.
His
point
is
that
these
attributes
force
him
into
the
category
of
“immigrant”,
though he
doesn’t feel like one.
2.
You could say
that I am a banana. But while I don't believe our
roots necessarily define
us,
I
do
believe
there
are
racially
inflected
assumptions
wired
into
our
neural
circuitry. (Para. 2)
A banana is white inside and yellow
outside. The term is often used ironically to
refer to an
Asian American who is like
all other non-Asian Americans people except for
the color of his
skin.
The
author admits that people can call him a banana,
but he does not like it, because he does
not
believe
his
Asian
roots
determine
who
he
is.
However,
he
has
to
admit
that
there
are
racially inflected assumptions wired
into many Asian Ame
ricans’ neural
circuitry.
racially inflected assumptions:
racially based prejudices, beliefs and
ideas
wired into our neural
circuitry:
deeply planted in our brains
(in our minds)
3.
Here
is
what
I
sometimes
suspect
my
face
signifies
to
other
Americans:
An
invisible
person,
barely
distinguishable
from
a
mass
of
faces
that
resemble
it.
A
conspicuous
person standing
apart from the crowd and yet devoid of any
individuality. An icon of so
much that
the culture pretends to honor but that it in fact
patronizes and exploits. Not
just
people “who are good at math” and play the violin,
but a mass of stifled, repressed,
abused, conformist quasi-robots who
simply do not matter, socially or culturally.
(Para. 3)
This
is
how
I
sometimes
guess
other
Americans
look
at
us.
(This
is
what
I
sometimes
4.
I've always been of two minds about
this sequence of stereotypes. (Para. 4)
of two minds:
(
BrE
: in two
minds) not decided or certain about
something.
this
sequence of stereotypes:
this series of
stereotypes. On the one hand the author is angry
that Asians should be viewed this way,
and he thinks it racist, but on the other hand, he
has to
admit that these views do apply
to many Asians.
It is
ironic to note that the author himself seems to be
especially influenced by these racist
prejudices. One may also wonder whether
the stereotyped views some people have when they
first
encounter
people
of
other
races
necessarily
have
devastating
effects.
For
example,
Chinese
thought
of
Westerners
as
a
mass
of
blue-
eyed,
yellow-haired,
big-
nosed,
hairy
chested aliens
at one time. Fear of the unknown or unfamiliar is
a common human reaction.
5.
Let
me
summarize
my
feelings
toward
Asian
values:
Damn
filial
piety.
Damn
grade
grubbing. Damn Ivy League mania. Damn
deference to authority. Damn humility and
hard work. Damn harmonious relations.
Damn sacrificing for the future. Damn earnest,
striving middle-class servility. (Para.
5)
Now the author is
talking about much more serious things. He is
talking about
his
feelings
toward Asian values rather than
features or skin color, and his attitude is one of
total rejection
and condemnation. While
we must realize that all cultures or civilizations
have drawbacks,
and we have every
reason to listen to the bitter reactions of angry
young Asians toward our
shared culture,
we should also remind ourselves that
y
oung people’s judgments may be hasty,
imbalanced, and immature.
Damn:
Note that this word is
generally considered extremely offensive and
obscene in all its
usages,
and
is
therefore
avoided,
but
here
the
author
is
so
bitter
that
no
other
expression
seems
adequate.
Indeed,
he
may
have
deliberately
chosen
this
word
to
shock
the
Asian
community, especially Asian
parents.
filial
piety:
love for
, respect
for, and obedience to one’s parents
think my face means to other
Americans.)
An invisible person: a
person much the same as others of the same group;
a person who is
hardly distinguishable;
a person nobody will pay special attention to
devoid of any individuality:
without any individuality
Asian
culture
is
said
to
stress
uniformity
or
conformity.
The
individual
is
encouraged
to
merge with the collective. Self-
promotion or assertiveness is considered in bad
taste whereas
invisibility is regarded
as a sign of modesty.
icon
：
n.
偶像
The successful Asian
student has become a symbol to be
worshipped.
to
patronize and exploit:
to treat
somebody in an offensively condescending manner
and
make use of him or her
The
author
says
that
American
culture
pretends
to
honor
the
‘Tiger
Child’
(the
successful
Asian)
as
an
icon
(a
symbol
of
success
and
everything
it
represents),
but
actually
it
treats
Asians in a
condescending way and makes use of them.
a mass of stifled,
repressed, abused, conformist quasi-robots:
a large number of people
who
are not allowed to act or express themselves
freely, treated in a harsh and harmful way,
and made to behave similarly, like
robots.
do not matter socially or
culturally:
do not have much social or
cultural importance.
grade grubbing:
striving for
high academic scores
ivy league mania:
craze, obsession regarding entry to ivy
league universities
deference to
authority:
respect for and submission
to authority
humility and
hard work:
modesty, humbleness;
diligence
earnest striving
middle-class servility:
Middle-
class people usually
“hope t
o rise and fear to
fall” (Bunyan) and therefore work
slavishly and behave submissively.
One may wonder whether what the author
describes here is racially determined or mainly a
reflection of social and economic
conditions. Many of the values listed above are
similar to
those of the American
Puritans when obedience, respect for the old,
diligence, thrift, simple
living,
family loyalty, discipline, and sacrifice were
considered essential virtues.
6.
I
understand
the
reasons
Asian
parents
have
raised
a
generation
of
children
this
way. …This is a stage in a triumphal
narrative, and it is a narrative that is much
shorter
than many remember. (Para. 6)
The author says that he
understands why Asian parents have raised their
children this way. It
is natural for
most Asian parents to try to improve
their children’s lives through
education.
a
stage
in
a
triumphal
narrative:
A
stage
(the
beginning
stage)
of
a
success
story.
And
many
Asians have achieved success in a much shorter
time than people realize.
7.
Asian
American success is typically taken to ratify the
American Dream and to prove
that
minorities can make it in this country without
handouts. (Para. 7)
to be taken to:
to be considered to
to make it:
to
succeed
8.
Still,
an
undercurrent
of
racial
panic
always
accompanies
the
consideration
of
Asians,
and
all
the
more
so
as
China
becomes
the
destination
for
our
industrial
base
and
the
banker controlling our burgeoning debt.
（
Para.
7
）
But
there
always
exists
a
feeling
of
racial
panic,
though
it
may
not
be
obvious,
whenever
people
think
of
Asians.
This
undercurrent
is
now
becoming
stronger
as
more
American
industrial
companies
move
their
manufacturing
base
to
China,
and
China
has
become
the
banker
controlling our growing national debt.
9.
But
if
the
armies
of
Chinese
factory
workers
who
make
our
fast
fashion
and
iPads
terrify us, and if the
collective mass of high-achieving Asian American
students arouse an
anxiety about the
laxity of American parenting, what of the Asian
American who obeyed
everything his
parents told him? Does this person really scare
anyone? (Para. 7)
The author is
pointing out the contradiction here: If…, then
what about…? It is clear that he
doubts
if
there
is
any
reason
for
Americans
to
be
afraid
of
the
Asian
American
who
obeys
everything his parents tell him.
Children brought up in this submissive culture
cannot pose any
threat.
fast fashion
: This is a
contemporary term used to refer to products
designed and brought to
market quickly
in order to capture ever-changing fashion trends.
10.
Earlier this year, the publication of
Amy Chua's
Battle Hymn of the Tiger
Mother
incited
a collective
airing out of many varieties of race-based
hysteria. But absent from the
millions
of words written in response to the book was any
serious consideration of
whether Asian
Americans were in fact taking over this country.
(Para. 8)
to
incite
a
collective
airing
out
of
many
varieties
of
race-based
hysteria:
To
provoke
many
people into stating openly various kinds of strong
racist opinions
b
ut absent from the
millions of words…was any serious
consideration…:
But there was
no serious consideration in
all these millions of words…
11.
I
mean, I'm proud of my parents and my neighborhood
and what I perceive to be my
artistic
potential
or
whatever,
but
sometimes
I
feel
like
I'm
jumping
the
gun
a
generation or two too
early. (Para. 9)
The second sentence of
this sentence means that I feel like I am changing
into a new person a
generation or two
too early.
This shows that the changes he has to
make in response to a new cultural environment
have
come in conflict with his old
cultural legacy, and he feels lost.
12.
I ride the 7 train to its last stop in
Flushing, where the storefront signs are all
written in
Chinese and the sidewalks
are a slow-moving river of impassive faces. (Para.
10)
the storefront signs:
店面招牌
Note that
Flushing (
法拉盛
) now has the
largest Chinese community in New York city, larger
than Chinatown.
impassive faces:
faces
showing no emotion
Note that
etymologically, the word impassive is related to
“passion” rather than “passive”.
13.
There
are
no
set-asides
for
the
underprivileged
or,
conversely,
for
alumni
or
other
privileged
groups.
There
is
no
formula
to
encourage
“diversity”
or
any
nebulous
concept
of
“well<
/p>
-
roundedness”
or
“character.”
Here
we
have
something
like
pure
meritocracy. (Para. 12)
set-asides:
slots set aside for people in special
categories
招生的保留名额
for the underprivileged:
专为弱势群体（保留的名额）
F
or alumni or other
privileged groups:
为校友及其他享有特权的团体（保留的名额）
T
here
is
no
formula
to
encourage
“diversity”
or
any
nebulous
concept
of
“
well
-
round
edness”
or
“character.”
：
There
are
no
special
provisions
to
encourage
diversity”
(referring
mainly
to
ethnic
diversity,
guaranteed
by
what
was
known
as
‘affirmative
action’)
or
any
vague
idea
of
“well
-
roundedness”
(referring
to
set
-asides
for
students
with
special
athletic
or
other
talents)
or
“character”
(referr
ing
to
set-asides
for
students of especially fine character,
demonstrated, or example by community service.)
Note
that,
according
to
the
author,
this
school
is
different.
It
operates
on
the
basis
of
something like pure meritocracy.
meritocracy:
a
system in which advancement is determined only by
ability and achievement.
Here
it
refers
particularly
to
a
system
of
education
in
which
admission
to
an
educational
institution, evaluation and promotion
are all determined by ability and achievement
(merit)
.
14.
This year,
569 Asian Americans scored high enough to earn a
slot at Stuyvesant,
a
long with 179 whites, 13
Hispanics, and 12 blacks. Such dramatic
overrepresentation,
and what it may be read to
imply about the intelligence of different groups
of New
Yorkers, has a way of making
people uneasy. (Para. 13)
to
earn a slot
: to get admitted into the
school; to be allowed to enter the
school
slot:
available
position; opening; place
dramatic over-
representation: a
disproportionately
large percentage of those admitted
15.
But intrinsic
intelligence, of course, is precisely what Asians
don't believe in. (Para. 13)
But Asians, of course,
believe only in hard work. They don’t believe in
natural intelligence.
16.
“Learning math is not about learning
math,” an instructor at one called Ivy Prep was
quoted in
The New York
Times
as saying. “It's about
weightlifting. You are pumping the
iron
of
math.”
Mao
puts
it
more
specifically:
“You
learn
quite
simply
to
nail
any
standardized test you
take.” (Para. 13)
an
instructor
at
one
called
Ivy
Prep:
a
teacher
at
a
school
called
Ivy
Prep,
meaning
a
school
for preparing students to get into Ivy League
universities.
pumping the iron of math:
lifting the iron of math, rather than
an iron weight
.
Note that the author
is
playing on the slang expression “pumping iron”: to
lift weights
.
to
nail:
to fix, secure, or make sure of,
especially by quick action or concentrated effort.
17.
And so there is an additional concern
accompanying the rise of the Tiger Children, one
focused more on the narrowness of the
educational experience a non-Asian child might
receive in the company of fanatically
pre-professional Asian students. (Para. 14)
an
additional
concern
accompanying
the
rise
of
the
Tiger
Children:
an
additional
worry
related to the rise of high-achieving Asian
American children.
the
narrowness
of
the
educational
experience:
Non-Asian American
parents
are
worried
that
their children’s education experience will be very
narrow because they are surrounded by
Asian students who are all obsessively
pre-professional
.
pre-professional:
Preparatory to the practice of a
profession or a specialized field of study
related to it.
18.
A
couple of years ago, she revisited this issue in
her senior thesis at Harvard, where she
interviewed graduates of elite public
schools and found that the white students regarded
the Asian students with wariness. In
2005,
The
Wall
Street Journal
reported on
“white
flight” from a high school in
Cupertino, California, that began soon after the
childre
n of
Asian software
engineers had made the place so brutally
competitive that a B average
could
place you in the bottom third of the class. (Para.
14)
to revisit the
issue
：
to look at the issue
again
“
w
hite flight”:
the fleeing (running away) of white
students
a B average could place you in
the bottom third of the class:
If your
grade were no more
than B on average,
then you would be quite likely to find yourself in
the lowest third of the
class.
19.
You
could frame
it
as
a
simple
issue
of
equality
and
press
for
race-
blind
quantitative