Immigration, and What it Means to be an American | By Cody Brotter

            In this piece, Brotter is trying to exemplify how immigration in America has “turned backwards” in its connotation, and mainly wrote it in order to inform the reader, and maybe open their eyes on the way immigration is looked at. This article has no specific target audience in which it is trying to persuade, but it can be inferred that it is directed mainly towards individuals who are concerned with the immigration issue. The main point of this essay is to demonstrate the fact that American nationalism regarding immigration is on the decline, and that the essence of “newness” which a new immigrant felt is no longer what it used to be. This shows the audience the way immigration has been looked at in the past, and may give them new insight as to what it is like to become an American, instead of being born as one. Although the topic of immigration is controversial when it comes to illegal immigrants, the part of it which Brotter is discussing has nothing to do with the legality of the issue, but the way in which it has been looked at in the past compared to how it is viewed currently. He uses an example of a story which he found in "Immigration: How It's Affecting Us," about a family of Vietnamese immigrants to evoke an emotional reaction in the reader, describing how they faced hardships as a family going from “rags-to-riches,” illustrating the way “new life” no longer means opportunities but represents new struggles. Using emotional appeals works exceptionally well in terms of trying to write about this kind of topic, whereas logos—logic—would not have as big as an impact, because looking at something such as statistics would not portray to a reader how different the lives of immigrants are in today’s world when a certain kind of connotation is attempting to be implied. Brotter continually compares two analytical pieces throughout the article. He structures them almost in a rhythmic volley as he will describe how one interprets the life of an immigrant in one way, but then has the other fire back with an almost opposite view. This effectively demonstrates to the audience how very different each interpretation of pride amongst immigration is felt from past to present. Brotter ties together the work effectively by not allowing cliff-hanging ideas to remain as well as creating a unified flow to allow the article to be easily read as one idea transforms into the next. He uses reasonably formal diction, which allows the audience to be able to fully grasp the concept which he is trying to portray while still giving the essay an intellectual feel, allowing him somewhat establish a sense of authority upon the subject. He also does this by thoroughly showing examples of each of his sources, while still citing them. There are no contradictions within the article as well, which notifies the reader that he most likely is well informed upon the subject he is discussing.

            Examining this essay has demonstrated to me the true meaning of writing an article or essay, which is that it should be focused on the content primarily, and how well a point can be made about a topic. As a student, this is always what I have strived to try and do, but guidelines that teachers have made me follow make me feel like I have been hindered in a sense. Although different from what I am used to seeing, the results I saw were no different from what I expected them to be in the first place.