Critique and Rhetorical Analysis Essay (Critical Writing)

In their articles, Patricia Leigh-Brown and Naomi Nye examine various issues; however, the most important question is the relationship between Western and Muslim cultures in the modern world. Additionally, they discuss the possible causes of hostility between people, who represent various religions.

The authors present their arguments in different ways; yet, both of them try to show that people should learn more about the values, customs, and traditions of one another. In this way, they can eliminate enmity and violence which affect the lives of many individuals. These are the central themes that these writers focus on in their articles. This paper is aimed at discussing these issues in greater detail. On the whole, one can say that these questions are of great importance to contemporary communities which need diversity and respect.

The main purpose of Patricia Leigh-Brown’s (2007) article is to show that people, who represent the Islamic culture, can integrate into a foreign society and retain their customs, traditions, and values. However, the thesis of this text is not openly stated. This is the central point that this writer makes. The article is intended to people who take interest in such aspects as culture of various ethnic groups or the development of modern American society.

This author does not rely on ethos and pathos while presenting the main ideas of the text. In other words, she does appeal to the emotions or feelings of the reader. Moreover, she does not try to show that she is most qualified to write about this topic. She does not claim that she has in-depth expertise in this question. Instead, she prefers to rely on logos in order to make her writing more convincing.

In particular, Patricia Leigh-Brown illustrates her arguments by looking at the behavior people who are familiar with different cultures. For instance, one can mention the decisions of some Pakistani-Americans girls to wear hijab (Leigh-Brown, 2007, p. 26). Moreover, she speaks about the so-called Muslim prom to which only girls are allowed. In this way, the writer attempts to show that her ideas are valid.

Patricia Leigh-Brown (2007) does not make any open arguments about this topic. Instead, she wants readers to reach their own conclusions. However, the cases that Patricia Leigh-Brown gives indicate that many children of Muslim immigrants do not want to reject their cultural heritage. More importantly, these traditions and customs can be incorporated into a different culture. She writes, about “a growing number of young Muslim women who have adopted the covering their mothers rejected” (Leigh-Brown, 2007, p, 25).

In other words, they resist complete assimilation into a foreign culture. Leigh-Brown presents her ideas in the form of a narrative essay. She discusses the experiences of people who live in a multi-cultural society. In this way, she makes her writing more vivid and interesting. In my opinion, the author makes a significant claim by showing the different cultures can co-exist in the same community. Her article implies that different value system do not have to come in conflict with one another. This is the key point of her article.

In turn, Naomi Nye’s article is similar to a persuasive essay. Her ideas are expressed in a very clear way. This is one of the distinctions that should be considered. This article can be intended for different audiences. For example, this article can be addressed to those Muslim people who accept or advocate radical ideology that is mostly based on prejudice and intolerance (Nye, 2007). The main objective of this text is to prevent preventing people from joining terrorist organizations.

To some extent, the author wants to show that people need to learn more about various cultures, traditions, literature, and so forth because in this way, they can avoid many conflicts and serve the interests of the Muslim community (Nye, 2007). This is the main thesis that this writer puts forward. This is why she refers to the statement made by a famous Arab scholar who said, “If we read one another, we won’t kill one another” (Nye, 2007, p. 314). In this way, she intends to show that radical ideology is destructive.

Yet, this article should also be read by those individuals who have prejudices against Arab and Palestinian people. She wants to refute the stereotypes according to which people, who come from the Middle East, favor or support terrorism or religious intolerance. This is one of the reasons why Naomi Nye (2007) speaks about those Muslim people, who can accept the religion and values of others.

Overall, Naomi Nye uses ethos, logos and pathos in order to convince the reader. First, she stresses ethos or her credibility as a writer. In particular, she mentions that her parents are Palestinians and Muslims, yet, they do not want to take revenge upon innocent people.

This writing strategy can make her arguments more convincing. Furthermore, one should speak about the use of ethos or appeal to emotions. The author does not sound impartial and article contains various references to her personal experiences showing that many people are genuinely concerned about the problems Palestinian people face (Nye, 2007, p. 312).

More importantly, the readers can see that she is familiar with Islamic culture. Additionally, Naomi Nye strongly relies on logos or logic in order to back up her claims. For instance, she notes that religious intolerance is similar to the requirement according to which people should travel the same roads (Nye, 2007, p. 312). This comparison can highlight the dangerous nature of religious radicalism.

Moreover, she speaks about the decisions of famous Muslim leaders Khalid ibn al-Walid who guaranteed security of people practicing various religions (Nye, 2007, p. 312). Overall, appeal to reasoning plays a critical role in this essay. In my opinion, my view, this argument is important because it highlights the importance of respect or at least tolerance to the values of different ethnic or religious groups. This is the main goal that should be achieved by modern communities.

Overall, it is possible to say these articles show the complexity of the modern globalized world. The authors of these texts demonstrate that contemporary societies must support the various cultures. More importantly, individuals should reject some of the stereotypes that they can have about foreign culture. These are some of the main aspects that can be identified. Certainly, there are several importance differences that should be taken into account.

For instance, Patricia Leigh-Brown presents her argument in the form of a narrative essay, and her arguments are not openly states. In contrast, the article written by Naomi Nye resembles a persuasive essay. However, these articles emphasize the necessity of cultural diversity in the modern world which has become extremely interconnected. This is the main issue that these authors pay attention to.

Reference List

Leigh-Brown, P (2007). At Muslim Prom, It’s a Girls-Only Night. In G. Muller (Ed.), The New World Reader: Thinking and Writing about the Global Community (pp. 24-27). New York: Houghton Mifflin.

Nye, N. To Any Would-Be Terrorists. In G. Muller (Ed.), The New World Reader: Thinking and Writing about the Global Community (pp. 310-314). New York: Houghton Mifflin.