introduction
The rhetoric of a culture pertains to the written works of a culture. It can consist of fables, tales of mythological figures, essays, music, poems, plays highlighting the inherent values of the culture, diaries, newspapers, and so on. Societies can change over time, and as generations come and go, beliefs or practices might change. As a result, rhetoric plays a fundamental role for those who wish to understand a specific culture because it reflects how a culture has changed throughout history.
The rhetoric created by the Bostonian Jewish immigrants tends to show common themes: these themes include but are certainly not limited to TRADITION and COMMUNITY.
The rhetoric created by the Bostonian Jewish immigrants tends to show common themes: these themes include but are certainly not limited to TRADITION and COMMUNITY.
TRADITION
Diaries can be insightful raw and un-edited accounts of what the struggles of being an immigrant was like. One such account from a Jewish immigrant peddler depicts the struggles he faced trying to maintain his religious traditions while also balancing his strenuous and arduous life as peddler (Goodman 108). His diary is a reflection of the struggle many other Jewish people felt during this time; the daily demands of an unaccommodating American culture often made it difficult for them to adhere to their traditions they'd kept in their homelands. This article is one example of why Jews began to assimilate with American culture, gradually leaving their own histories and certain traditions behind.
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COMMUNITY
Newspapers are an excellent source of rhetoric because they reveal current events all experienced by entire Jewish communities. They chronicle day-to-day life, making them an excellent means with which to observe how cultures change over time. For example, this Jewish Advocate article from 1901 entitled "Race Suicide" highlighted the concern that fewer people were marrying early to have children ("Race Suicide" 8). This population decline posed a problem to the community because it represented a community-wide drifting from tradition as well as a loss of community that would keep the Jewish culture from lasting and spreading. Its form as a newspaper article makes it a crucial part of Jewish writing because it brings a community issue to the community's attention.
Another Jewish Advocate editorial, the one shown on the left, demonstrates the importance of community in Jewish culture by describing a petition against the Burnett Bill, an attempt to restrict immigration through a seemingly unfair literary test ("The Immigrants Protest" 8). This written account indicates a sense of community because of how the community comes together in the face of injustice, as well as a struggle against the discrimination it faced. |
Each of these sources is a component of a common theme found in Jewish rhetoric of the time period. Upon analyzing these sources, one can better understand the Jewish culture and lifestyle as well as the common values they hold.