Staying Put Essay

In the passage from Staying Put: Making a Home in a Restless World, Scott Russel Sanders explores the concept of migrating to new lands. Sanders bases his argument off of Salam Rushdie who argues in favor of migration as opposed to Sanders, who argues against migration and more for habitation. Sanders views migration as destructive socially, culturally and economically. Throughout his essay, Sanders supports his claim against Rushdie with his use of diction, tone, historic events and biblical allusions.
When introducing the idea of migration, Sanders captures the reader with his diction. Sanders utilizes words such as "virtues" and "seductive" to describe how the idea of migration appeals to Americans. While utilizing these words, Sanders gives off religious connotations. To support these connotations, He then goes on and introduces the concept of our "Promised Land" relating this biblical allusion to his current position of migration, suggesting that we have always been searching for this land, migrating from place to place when it "has always been over the next ridge or at the end of other trail, never under our feet." The reader can establish that Sanders views[->0] migration to be meaningless because those who migrate are not getting anywhere, mentally. Also, by utilizing the "Promised Land" this suggest that by searching for a place that doesn't exist will destroy a society.
As the passage progresses, Sanders introduces Rushdie's claim by saying that, "Americans are likely to share Rushdie’s enthusiasm for migration, for the 'hybritity, impurity... the transformation that comes of new and expected combinations of human beings...'" However, in revealing Rushdie's claim, Sanders then adapts a sarcastic, yet sophisticated tone once he states Rushdie's position. Sanders goes on to using multiple parenthetical statements, which sets a condescending tone for the rest of the passage. As Sander's argument strengthens, his tone does as well. Sanders state, "......