Hanh Nguyen

Nomie Ndiaye
September 9, 2014

Exploratory assignment
Critical Respond Essay
In her essay Compassion & Terror, Nussbaun focuses on the limits of compassion that
have been preventing us from extending our appropriate concern to those who are not part of our
family, friends and institutions. Yet as the author mentions the Indian womans struggle in
understanding her own sister (which Nussbaun herself acknowledges to be in some instances be
greater than [the struggle] of understanding a stranger), I wonder if it is the compassion for our
own family members that needs to be reflected upon the most. If compassion for other people in
generalNussbaun arguesis often fleeting, narrow and self-serving because we hardly
understand them and their context, compassion for the ones most near and dear to us is perhaps
no less delicate, though in a different way.
Lets consider the parent-child relationship. The dividing compassion that could exist in
this relationship can not only slip over into a desire to promote the well-being of our children at
the expense of other peoples children as warned in the essay but also harm the relationship
itself. Coming from Vietnam, an Asian country where parents tend to become too overprotected
and even overdemanding, I have witnessed many cases in which the child who is already
distressed is further emotionally hurt by compassionate yet insensitive parents. What we can do

EXPLANATORY ASSIGNMENT

about this situation is to again put our best hope on the education of emotions and self-criticism,
which should be encouraged for not only children but adults alike.

Outline:
1) Introduction
Here I will present the topic of my essay, which is the limits of compassion in the parent-child
relationship, based on Nussbauns analysis on compassion.
2) Body paragraphs
Movement 1: Here I will explain briefly Nussbauns project in Compassion & Terror and how
it relates to my own project in this essay.
Movement 2: Here, by examining several examples of the relationship between parents and child
in a Vietnamese family, I will prove that the compassion that parents have for their children can
also be problematic and even have drastic consequences for their children.
Movement 3: Here, I will use my observation and the selected keywords and passages to show
that it is also urgent that adult get the education of emotions and self-criticism.
3) Conclusion
Here, I will turn back to Nussbaun again and stress the importance of education of emotions and
self-criticism for everyone.

EXPLANATORY ASSIGNMENT