English
Questions on Meaning
- What seems to have prompted Chavez’s essay? How can you tell?
What prompted Chavez’s essay is concerning the presence of “nearly 12 million illegal immigrants.” There is also the growing fear illegal immigrants “will never fully adapt” in the US. I can tell this when Chavez 73% of the children of half of these illegal immigrant households became US citizens. The common assumption to illegal immigrants is that they will remain poor, uneducated, etc. However, Chavez pointed out that this form of stereotyping is erroneous. She cited statistics that says illegal immigrants have better family values than legal immigrants and native Americans.
- What distinctions, if any, does Chavez make between legal and illegal immigrants? Are such distinctions important to her?
Because so many illegal immigrants have spouses or parents who are legal immigrants or native Americans, the distinction made by Chavez is important. The mixture of illegal and legal immigrant families/households means that they should not be rounded up and deported. Instead, illegal immigrants who have reputable lives should be given the chance to live like legal citizens (such as the granting to them of amnesty). Because illegal immigrants tend to have more intact household and family values than their counterparts, “they should represent hope to the rest of” American people.
- What is Chavez’s point in paragraphs 5 and 6, and how does this point fit into her larger argument?
In paragraphs 5 and 6, Chavez said that there are people who fear that illegal immigrants are more difficult to assimilate into the American society. They believe that illegal immigrants will ultimately lead to the collapse of the US civilization. Chavez somewhat admitted that some immigrants find it hard to catch up with native Americans. However, if taken generally, such is irrational and not based on actual evidence. She mentioned some surprising statistics. She said that nearly 50% of illegal immigrants (aged 18 to 24) attend college. Fifty percent (15%) of them graduate in college.
Chavez revealed her purpose in writing until the end of her essay. I suppose she chose not to state her thesis in the introduction because she is specifically addressing her essay to her target readers. She believed that there are readers who have preconceived notion about illegal immigrants and so it is better to not to state her thesis in the introduction. This would probably remove from the readers, who have preconceived ideas against illegal immigrants, any bias.
Work Cited
Chavez, Linda. Supporting Family Values. 17 April 2009. Townhall.com. Web. 9 April 2013.
