Quite on the contrary, Under Pressure uses a very formal, factual and strong voice that comes through to the audience. Under Pressure is a self-help book that is supposed to alert parents and educators and remind them of how children should be raised in the 21st century. Over the past decades, children have grown up under the pressure of being forced to accomplish too much. The title “Under Pressure: Rescuing Childhood…” reminds the reader that something has to be done to solve this problem. It symbolizes a new beginning, a new century in which children are allowed to grow up to be what they want to be, instead of what their parents want them to be. To emphasise the fact that pushing one’s child normally fails, Carl Honoré uses voice as a literary device to contrast with Amy Tan’s description of her relationship with her mother. He analyzes parenting from a historical and scientific perspective. For instance, he begins by telling a story about an English writer who raised her daughter to be a prodigy, using dates, “eighteenth century”, (Line 1) and names, “Hester Lynch Thrale”, (Line 2) to emphasise that he has historical context to back up his message. However, in the story, the daughter never achieved anything great in life due to the high pressure she suffered under. By recalling this tale, the reader thinks about past events that help him or her make sense of the present, and therefore supports the author’s intention of the book. In addition when referring to the children, all parents would wish for an “uber-child” (Line 16). This word comes from the German word, Übermensch, meaning a super-human, in the sense that this human being has strengths and other skills uncommon to people. This explains the word uber-child, and the wish for parents to have a child, who is beyond human proportions. Through his word choice Carl Honoré wanted to emphasize of the fact that each child is unique, and although driving a child onwards is good, too much pressure might ruin the child’s self-esteem and hope. In other words, Two Kinds and Under Pressure demonstrate differences in the voice of the narrator.
Second, Under Pressure and Two Kinds demonstrate contrasting organizational styles as literary features. Both Amy Tan and Carl Honoré use short sentences written in both active and passive voice, which allows for a more flexible sentence structure. Firstly the short story by Amy Tan is told from the perspective of a young immigrant girl, who is trying to please her mother. Her mother considers the American Dream to be true, and believes that “everyone can be anything they want to be”. Amy Tan portrays her moral to the reader through a tale. She begins with introducing the setting of the story and then continuous explaining the problems of the situation. The extract ends with an open ending “I began to cry” (Line 24) which leaves the reader wondering what would have happened next. These organizational styles attract the reader and keep him or her captivated throughout the short story and long after they have finished reading it. Two Kinds similar to Under Pressure by Carl Honoré is written to catch and inform the audience. Carl Honoré is much more realistic, and portrays the life of a childhood which is defined by adults. Childhoods are being shaped and moulded by adult’s fantasies and fears, anxieties and agendas. Every aspect of a childhood is set to please the parents and not the child. Carl Honoré uses a factual person, Hester Lynch Thrale, to prove his point. He begins by telling a story which is based on facts and not a memoir as Amy Tan has done. In addition he uses scientific facts to appeal to logos through the quote, “buried deep within the DNA”. Then gradually Carl Honoré switches his style appealing to pathos through his written work. He reminds the parents that not everyone will end up “to be truly exceptional in any field” (Line 23) however with tolerance, love and dignity parents have the power to change and accept their children. Both writers launch the reader straight into the issue, and present the bleak picture of modern parenthood and touch upon the daughter-mother relationship having a deep effect on the reader, because each person is able to relate to this theme. However both authors also add their own sense of organizational style into their extract using different ways to attract the reader’s attention. For example Amy Tans text ends abruptly while Honoré comes to a conclusion of how things should be done in the future. Therefore both extracts contrast the literary feature of organization style.
Next Two Kinds and Under Pressure differ in their characterization of children as literary features. In both extracts children are viewed very differently. In Two Kinds, the mother is portrayed with power and the daughter never complains. However from the perspective of the daughter bitterness can be viewed. “I hated the tests, the raised hopes and failed expectations” (Line 22). The mother pushed her child to do these tests guiding her unnecessarily in the wrong direction. The character of the mother has an all-knowing personality, however this influences the growth of the girl in a negative way. The words “I began to cry” (Line 24) portrays a voice of lost hope and depression. Every time she did one of these tests did it not raise hope within the mother, but in her as well, willing herself to be extraordinary. Quite on the contrary Carl Honoré wrote the book because he wanted to explain to parents how to approach children differently. The tone implies that the author wants to inspire parents to trust their instincts and encourage them to find a natural way to handle children. As Carl Honoré said “A child is not a project or a product or a trophy or a piece of clay you can mold into a work of art. A child is a person who will thrive if allowed to be the protagonist of his own life.” The text by Tan gives quite a shocking image of a childhood while Carl Honoré tries to clarify how children should actually be brought up. Both readers bring up the problems in mother-daughter relationship, which are a topic that concerns everyone. Tan and Honoré differ in their characterization of children as literary features and therefore they are able to bring a similar message across to the reader very differently.
A comparison of Two Kinds and Under Pressure as literary extracts shows a shared similarity in purpose. Through their extracts both authors want to portray the difficulties of a mother-daughter relationship. A common theme found throughout both texts is the way in which mothers express their frustrations when expectations are not met, and how in response children mimic their mother’s dreams and ultimately rebel against them. The extracts focus on the idea of how mothers use their power to criticize which leads their children to obeying their mothers without questioning. Both texts come to the conclusion that pushing a child to hard at an early age will end badly and lead to the break down of a child. Through these shared ideas, Tan and Honoré were able to show a shared similarity in purpose.
Two Kinds and Under Pressure are two extracts that employ differences in voice, organization style, and the characterizations of children as contrasting literary features while sharing a similar purpose. Each text focuses on the pressure of mother’s high expectations influencing a difficult mother-daughter relationship. Although the authors have the similar message their written work varies greatly in literary features. Two Kinds uses a voice of loss hope and confusion written from a child’s perspective while Under Pressure uses a more formal register to inform the reader. The extracts portray the yearning of parents for their children to be prodigies as well as the mother’s bitter resentment when the daughter fails over and over again. The authors of the text depict these two themes through different literary techniques and devices, making them different and similar from one another. Therefore Tan and Honoré in Two Kinds and Under Pressure respectively use the contrast of literary features of voice, organizational style and the characterization of children, while sharing the similarity of purpose.
Bibliography:
BrainyQuote. Xplore. Web. 27 Feb. 2012. <http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/expectations.