Jose Vargas tells the story of his life; from coming to America, finding out that he is residing here illegally, learning how to live with that, and finally to sharing with everyone that he is an undocumented immigrant. Jose has a difficult task in front of him, though. He must win his audience over to his side so that he can further his agenda of developing an easier path for undocumented immigrants to receive citizenship. There are many ways he could go about this, trying to skirt the topic of his illegal activities, but Jose is an intelligent man and knows how to influence his audience. He uses the story of his life to connect with others, and in connecting with them wins them over, even if only indeterminably so. In My Life as an …show more content…
By showing that he is gay, but it’s not all that he is, and that he has endured struggles, but he’s overcome them, he creates a connection with other homosexuals.
Vargas is able to connect with people who have anxiety and depression by showing how much he struggled in these same areas throughout his life. The stress caused by the question his Lola presented, “What will happen if people find out,” caused him tremendous emotional trauma and led to his bouts with anxiety and depression. This question comes up again and again throughout the story and was most likely a motivating factor in why he ended up telling everyone. By considering this emotional aspect of his life in his essay, not only does Vargas create an empathetic bond between him and people struggling with these mental disorders, but he also creates a sympathetic bond with other readers aware of this disorder and the devastating effects it can have on a person.
He also creates a very strong and intimate bond with other immigrants throughout the entire paper. He used pathos by telling the story of his own immigration, of the day he was brought to America, and of having to jump through certain loops to stay under the radar. He discusses having to lie to friends and coworkers and not being able to obtain a driver’s license or job without going to the extremes. By laying out every obstacle he had to jump over he immediately creates credibility and a link between him and other
Recently illegal immigration has become a very pressing issue among people. Many people around the borders are being greatly affected by the issue and think immediate action needs to be taken to put a stop to the issue. The Documentary Border War: Battle Over Illegal Immigration takes a stand on the issue using many examples of pathos, ethos, and logos to try and persuade people that illegal immigration is a very serious issue and we need to put a stop to it. This documentary follows the lives of people who have been affected by illegal immigration, and explains how they feel about the issue. Another way that people can look at the issue of illegal immigration is through the eyes of the immigrants, and the reasons why they might be trying
Hello reader, I’m about to tell you a story of some of my life. I am not normally one to volunteer details about myself, which I’ll remain somewhat reserved or completely leave some events out of this autobiography. Nonetheless, I believe I can still make my story interesting for the reader. I was born 1979, in Tampa, Florida; which, is also the same day my biological father decided to leave my mother and I. My mother isn’t a native Floridian, but had moved there with her family when she was still an infant, and had spent most of her life growing up in Florida. Needless to say, my father leaving was not an exciting time for my mother and I. Although she was employed Jimmy Cater was president and had taken the nation into
Getting through high school, getting a license, getting into college, and getting a job are all extremely intimidating parts of every young adult’s life, but it is hard to imagine doing all these things illegally with the fear that at any moment everything could come crashing down. In Jose Antonio Vargas’s article, “My Life as an Undocumented Immigrant”, Vargas explains his take on the struggles of being a gay, illegal immigrant trying to achieve the American Dream. Throughout the article, Vargas tells his story and really makes the reader feel sympathy for his fight and his strength. He does a very good job keeping the readers drawn in as well as appealing to pathos and ethos.
Correspondingly, Vargas has not only immersed himself into his new culture, but learned to love it as well. He “built a career as a journalist, interviewing some of the most famous people in the country” (Vargas). Even though he is living the American dream, he is also “living a different kind of reality… in fear of being found out (Vargas).” Because of his status, it is hard to live a “normal” life. Even with all he has done to “earn” citizenship, he is still unrecognized as
Vargas handled it through journalism. The article “My Life as an Undocumented Immigrant” is about Vargas’s life story as an unwanted American. In the article he uses ethos, pathos, and logos to share his story with the readers. He uses data’s, location, names of palaces, and other events that were happening at the time. For example, “Dream Act” and “Obama administration has deported almost 800,000 people in the last two years”, which was before 2011. He published this article with the New York Times in 2011, but it wasn’t the first time Vargas had published something. He tells the readers that he is “paying state and federal taxes” and on “April 2008, [he] was part of…[the] team that won a Pulitzer Prize” to show that he is credible in telling his struggling life story as an undocumented immigrant.
I was able to compare my own experience of moving from Guatemala to his journey towards the United States. The reason I mention health disparities is because it greatly impacted our lives. For example, I lived with a supportive family, inside of a safe neighborhood, and given an opportunity of excellent education. Luis, on the other hand, was involved in a gang affiliated family, an unsafe neighborhood, and given low quality education. The opportunities I was given was the chance of getting a free degree from a college in Roswell, I was taught good morals such as independance and determination, a full time job with benefits, and although it’s indirect, the health disparities I was involved in is what helped me to achieve these opportunities to a positive future. The same applies to Luis, but he managed to overcome the obstacles that came with the terrible environment he was involved in and managed to become a good example for not just his family, but others who read this story who may be influenced. Perhaps one day I could write a story of my own about my experiences in order to reach out to my generation, just as Luis
In the novel Enrique’s Journey, Sonia Nazario demonstrates the onerous journey of illegal immigrants. Sonia Nazario aims for the readers to make them understand what most of the immigrants go through during their journey to the United States. By appealing to ethos and pathos throughout the book, Sonia Nazario portrays the path that Enrique undergoes to reunite with his mother.
Immigration is a very dangerous and risky journey. Everyday immigrants try so hard to make it to the United States. This journey involves parents trying to support kids back home, families trying to start over, or kids trying to get to their mom; but some do not make it through this hardship. Those individuals, who make it, try like never before to support themselves and the family they needed to leave behind. Enrique’s Journey by Sonia Nazario is a well written novel that uses many pathos, logos, and ethos examples. Each one of them is used effectively because of the way students are persuaded in believing there true. Elements from the quotes can reveal that Sonia is knowledgeable and
Anthropologist Leo Chavez presents a very descriptive and detailed account when he wrote Shadowed Lives, UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANTS IN AMERICAN SOCIETY it takes readers into the lives and experiences of illegal immigrants. Chavez is detailed within the book points are placed regarding people's choice to migrate as well as their stories of crossing the border into the United States We can learn a lot from Chavez's book, making distinct opinions on immigration itself, and the difference in immigration culture after migrating.
Sonia Nazario composes the story of a boy named Enrique. His life changes when his mother leaves him and his sister in Honduras as she travels to America to make a better life for herself and send money back to them. Enrique does not understand why his mother left him; he begins to rebel against his family and use drugs. Soon, his girlfriend is pregnant and Enrique must go to America to get money to support them. He attempts his journey seven times before he is successful. Enrique is robbed, beaten, and sent back to Honduras. On the eighth try he successfully makes it to his mother. He is quickly disappointed in what his mother has accomplished in America and starts drug use again. Soon, Enrique has to get clean to support his child in Honduras and he sends money for his girlfriend to meet him in America. His daughter is left in Honduras, continuing the cycle that many families struggle with. The authors use of logos and pathos enables the reader to take a deeper look of what is immigration.
Christine Bowman, writer of the essay “Undocumented Lives: Migrant Latinos in America”, presents a strong response to a book of a similar name. Bowman’s authority is already shown without having to read her review at all due to her choice of topic alone and how controversial it is. She brings up the stereotypes and misconceptions about immigrants and how they are exploited for their hard work, challenging the idea that migrants are only here to take away American jobs (Bowman 261). Along with this, she argues against the complaints relating to the miscommunications between our languages and reminds us that migrants are “scared because they do not speak English” (Bowman 262). As proof of her credibility, Bowman cites a quote that further expands on the language barrier. Her use of I throughout the essay adds a personal touch, allowing her to bring up the things she feels are most important, including how migrant workers should not all be treated as they’re part of the same story (Bowman 260).
He connects with homosexuals briefly by explaining that he came out spontaneously one day at school. He does not spend large amounts of time talking about this aspect of his life, as it does not directly correlate with the essay. Vargas does tie it together, though, by stating, “Tough as it was, coming out about being gay seemed less daunting than coming out about my legal status.” He also explains how it created tension between him and his grandparents morally and practically.
Jose Antonio Vargas, courageous author of the essay “Outlaw”, contributes a first-hand life story to the boiling pot that is the argument over immigration. He recalls his own story chronologically, beginning with the month and words spoken by his mother on his day of departure over twenty years ago. He justifies the reasoning behind his leaving by retelling almost every illegal immigrant’s initiative, a craving for “a better life”. Vargas takes the reader on his journey, piggybacking through his fight for citizenship. He explains the numerous obstacles he’s had to bob and weave around and the laws he’s had to duck and cover for. On paper, Jose is the perfect American citizen, loved by his teachers and bosses a clean cut right side of the tracks
Undocumented immigrants in the United States cannot obtain a driver’s license since they do not have social security cards and other essential identification documents. A few states, however, have enacted laws to permit illegal immigrants to drive on the states’ public roads and highways. Such states, through their Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), issue driver’s authorization cards (DAC) to these immigrants (Nava par. 1). The policy gives the immigrants driving privilege and helps states to collect more revenues and reduce cases of uninsured motorists. At the moment, Nevada and ten other states and the District of Columbia have enacted laws that permit the issuance of DACs to undocumented immigrants within their borders (“Ten States and DC” par. 1). Most states legislatures, including Florida’s’, are yet to enact laws that allow for the issuance DACs to immigrants in those states. This paper discusses the DAC policy in details and makes recommendations to Florida States’ legislators to adopt the policy in their state.
Even though Vargas knew what he was doing was wrong, he convinced himself that if he lived up to the qualities of a citizen he would be o.k. (Vargas 7). Vargas talks about when he returned to Washington he told one of the higher ups, Peter, about his secret. Peter told him to keep doing what he’s doing and once he has accomplished enough they will tell the chairman. Vargas eventually leaves the paper and moves to New York to join The Huffington Post. Vargas talks about his successes of working for The Huffington Post but ended up leaving because he couldn’t take the guilt and the lies he was telling himself and friends about his problem of being illegal. Vargas ends his article by explaining why he finally admitted to being an illegal immigrant and how he feels now after he has admitted to it.