The F Word
Kelly Bazile
English 102-04
Schexnayder
April 24, 2011
How Effective is “The F Word”? When having a baby one of the most difficult parts of the process is deciding on a name for the little one. Parents want to be careful in choosing, no one wants there child picked on or treated unfairly because of a name they have chosen. In the article “The F Word” the author,
Firoozeh Dumas expresses her thoughts and feelings about coming from Abadan, Iran to
America with her native name. She explains how her name that has much meaning in her country was nothing but a hindrance for her trying to get established in this country.
In the “F Word” the author uses contrast between names in America and names in her home land to show the effectiveness of this article. “How could our parents have ever imagined that someday we would end up in a country were monosyllabic names reign supreme, a land where “William” is shorten to “Bill”, where
“Susan” becomes “Sue”, and “Richard” somehow evolves into “Dick” ( Dumas751). Here the author uses logos to make the reader think, why is it that we call “William” by the short name of “Bill”? It’s a logical question, the audience may want to know the answer to. It makes one wonder, do the names in this country have any meaning or are we just trying to make things as simple as possible. If simple is what we, as Americans are after, is that why we don’t like to pick acentric names for our children? In terms of ethos, the author effectively tells how she researched her idea by adopting a new simpler name “Julie”. “People actually remembered my name, which was an entirely refreshing new sensation. All was well until the Iranian Revolution, when I found myself with a new set of problems. Because I spoke English without an accent and was known as Julie, people assumed I was American . This meant that was often privy to those real feelings about those, damn Iranians” (Dumas 753). The authors says
English 102-04
Schexnayder
April 24, 2011
How Effective is “The F Word”? When having a baby one of the most difficult parts of the process is deciding on a name for the little one. Parents want to be careful in choosing, no one wants there child picked on or treated unfairly because of a name they have chosen. In the article “The F Word” the author,
Firoozeh Dumas expresses her thoughts and feelings about coming from Abadan, Iran to
America with her native name. She explains how her name that has much meaning in her country was nothing but a hindrance for her trying to get established in this country.
In the “F Word” the author uses contrast between names in America and names in her home land to show the effectiveness of this article. “How could our parents have ever imagined that someday we would end up in a country were monosyllabic names reign supreme, a land where “William” is shorten to “Bill”, where
“Susan” becomes “Sue”, and “Richard” somehow evolves into “Dick” ( Dumas751). Here the author uses logos to make the reader think, why is it that we call “William” by the short name of “Bill”? It’s a logical question, the audience may want to know the answer to. It makes one wonder, do the names in this country have any meaning or are we just trying to make things as simple as possible. If simple is what we, as Americans are after, is that why we don’t like to pick acentric names for our children? In terms of ethos, the author effectively tells how she researched her idea by adopting a new simpler name “Julie”. “People actually remembered my name, which was an entirely refreshing new sensation. All was well until the Iranian Revolution, when I found myself with a new set of problems. Because I spoke English without an accent and was known as Julie, people assumed I was American . This meant that was often privy to those real feelings about those, damn Iranians” (Dumas 753). The authors says