The Powerful Words of Amy Tan, Maxine Hairston, and Mike...

The Powerful Words of Amy Tan, Maxine Hairston, and Mike Rose The power of words is immeasurable. Words help people to voice their opinions and express their thoughts and feelings. Our everyday lives are shaped by communication and in general language. A persons language can often influence success and happiness. America is viewed as a melting pot for numerous different people and their respective languages. Language is so vital in our society that a person of diverse ethnic background can face many tribulations throughout their everyday life. Many renowned writers and other professionals have expressed their personal opinion about the value of words over the last few years. Chinese-American author Amy Tan is one of the many†¦show more content†¦Amy Tan calls for an educational system where children from all cultures are encouraged to follow through on any goal no matter what language they hear at home. Maxine Hairston also has vast experience dealing with language. She is a Professor of Rhetoric and Composition at the University of Texas. Hairston describes what she feels is the ideal college composition class in her 1992 essay Diversity, Ideology, and Teaching Writing. She explains that with changing demographics, we face an ethnic and social mix of students in our classrooms, which holds true in schools around the nation today. Now more then ever the landscape of our educational system is changing. Hairston introduces a composition course structure that would be centered on the students and their experiences. Hairston suggests utilizing each students life as a lesson and in turn to enlighten students to cultural differences. She proposes an interactive classroom where students collaborate with other writers, this process of decentering so one ca understand the other can foster genuine multicultural growth. Hairstons technique teaches students not only grammar and writing techniqu es but lets students experience what life would be like for a fellow student similar to Amy Tan. The experiences that someone like Tan would contribute to a classroom such as Hariston would be a rewarding contribution. Other students who would