Many writers have focused on the idea of American identity within stories and poems. In the texts “Response to Executive Order 9066” by Dwight Okita, and “Mericans” by Sandra Cisneros, the common theme between the two works is the idea of American identity. Although they have a common theme, American identity is developed differently in both texts. In “Response to Executive Order 9066” the narrator says "If it helps any, I will tell you, I have always felt funny using chopsticks, and my favorite food is hot dogs." this dialogue shows that she believes that these things make her more American. In addition she states "My best friend is a white girl named Denise-" this shows that she believes having a white best friend authenticates her American identity. We know that the girl narrating has lived in America at least since grade school. she has grown up with American customs and ideals. In her opinion, she is truly American. but because she is Japanese American, it does not matter. she is suddenly stripped of her American identity that she has grown up with and is now told that she is an outsider. an example of this is in a dialogue featured in the text, " You're trying to start a war," she said, "giving secrets …show more content…
“Response to Executive Order 9066” shows us a young girl who has grown up surrounded and immersed in American culture, and she believes her true American identity shows this. she believes that eating, talking, and being best friends with a white girl makes her American, because that's what Americans do, that is American identity in her eyes. We are shown a different side in “Mericans”. This text also shows a young girl, not completely ready to abandon all tradition to her roots. she believes that she can be an American and still hold on to her customs, but it seems that her family is beginning to change, and become more Americanized, abandoning
Many writers have considered the identity of America. Two remarkable writers of two different time periods have shouldered this. They created two important works. The first, Abraham Lincoln; a great leader in the midst of an incredible time of change and confusion, delivered the Gettysburg Address to an assembly that came to him saddened and horrified by the trials of war. These same people left, changed, that day from the cemetery. The other, Allen Ginsberg, wrote the poem "America" for a generation of people caught between World War II and the Cold War. The comparison between these two works is important for learning the identity of all Americans.
Tindall, George, and David Shi. America: A Narrative History. Ed. 9, Vol. 1. New York: WW. Norton & Company, 2013. 185,193. Print.
America is a nation that is often glorified in textbooks as a nation of freedom, yet history shows a different, more radical viewpoint. In Howard Zinn’s A People's History of the United States, we take a look at American history through a different lens, one that is not focused on glorifying our history, but giving us history through the eyes of the people. “This is a nation of inconsistencies”, as so eloquently put by Mary Elizabeth Lease highlights a nation of people who exploited and sought to keep down those who they saw as inferior, reminding us of more than just one view on a nation’s history, especially from people and a gender who have not had an easy ride. In some respects, we can attribute the founding of America and all its subsequent impacts to Christopher Columbus. Columbus, a hero in the United States, has his own holiday and we view him as the one who paved the way for America to be colonized.
Tindall, G.B. & Shi, D.E. (2010). America a narrative history 8th edition. New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. p.205-212.
Everyone had to prove they were independent, capable, and willing to integrate into the cultural melting pot with its own identity of hard work, grit, and determination which established and fostered success in American society. But, not everyone who chooses to take the adventure and risk associated with becoming American wishes to share in this identity. Many feel it necessary to shun the American identity and observe it with a level of disdain. Disregarding the reasons themselves or previous generations may have immigrated to America for. In the short story “Mericans”, Sandra Cisneros illustrates this concept through a character in the story. “The awful grandmother knits the names of the dead and the living into one long prayer fringed with the grandchildren born in that barbaric country with its barbaric ways. (Cisneros)”. In the story it is later identified the children in reference were indeed born in the United States. “Awful grandmother” has an incredibly low opinion of the society in which her grandchildren were born. Barbaric, let’s take a look at that word shall we—“without civilizing influences; uncivilized; primitive (barbaric)”. The detriment of that perception seems to be counterproductive to the melting pot concept of the United
Chang-Rae Lee’s Native Speaker expresses prominent themes of language and racial identity. Chang-Rae Lee focuses on the struggles that Asian Americans have to face and endure in American society. He illustrates and shows readers throughout the novel of what it really means to be native of America; that true nativity of a person does not simply entail the fact that they are from a certain place, but rather, the fluency of a language verifies one’s defense of where they are native. What is meant by possessing nativity of America would be one’s citizenship and legality of the country. Native Speaker suggests that if one looks different or has the slightest indication that one should have an accent, they will be viewed not as a native of America, but instead as an alien, outsider, and the like. Therefore, Asian Americans and other immigrants feel the need to mask their true identity and imitate the native language as an attempt to fit into the mold that makes up what people would define how a native of America is like. Throughout the novel, Henry Park attempts to mask his Korean accent in hopes to blend in as an American native. Chang-Rae Lee suggests that a person who appears to have an accent is automatically marked as someone who is not native to America. Language directly reveals where a person is native of and people can immediately identify one as an alien, immigrant, or simply, one who is not American. Asian Americans as well as other immigrants feel the need to try and hide their cultural identity in order to be deemed as a native of America in the eyes of others. Since one’s language gives away the place where one is native to, immigrants feel the need to attempt to mask their accents in hopes that they sound fluent ...
While Crèvecoeur may insist cultural diversity is the significant quality that establishes American character from any other nation, he and Paine agree that the American identity is formed by the ideas of freedom, civil rights, and justice. According to Micheal True, Paine is able to capture how Americans dream of personal freedom, and how a fairly new and untested government becomes unique to their experience. True depicts Paine's “ essays embellished the American dream and showed a deep trust in the democratic process, as represented by the colonial experiment. It showed a firm belief in a new age, free of the burdens of the past. “ (American Writers:A Collection of Literary Biographies, 506). While Americans seem to demand more from their governments and justice systems, Paine suggests Americans have an uncommon character for justice. Paine says what is lawful and ethical according to the common people is a ubiquitous and specific trait to the Americans. He admits American justice and integrity, “they distinguish us from the herd of common animals” (331). While freedom, justice, and civil rights can be desires of the character from many other nations, the opportunity to enact their ideologies into a new society separates Americans from those under a pre-existing
In “Only Daughter” Cisneros Sandra states somehow I could feel myself being erased. Some citizens feel this way because they feel it isn’t enough activities in America to make them feel more at home with their cultural. However, the United States provides sufficient opportunities for individuals to exercise freedoms of their home cultural.
Tindall, George Brown., and David E. Shi. America a Narrative History. 8th ed. Vol. 2. New York: W.W. Norton &, 2007. Print.
Tindall, George B., and David E. Shi. America: A Narrative History. 7th ed. New York: W.W. Norton & Company Inc., 2007.
Have you ever read a story and thought to yourself how great it feels to be an American? This feeling comes from a sense of security that we as Americans feel every day. It has not always been this way, when our founding fathers were trying to decide how the nation should be run people disagreed and there was confliction. This is seen all throughout history and even in today’s world. The sense of security and freedom though is what sets America apart from the world. In Declaration by Thomas Jefferson and Autobiography by Benjamin Franklin one can read about the disagreements and influences the authors and others around them had. Both of these stories are not only American but they are also written by two of the most influential Americans during
In “I Want to Be Miss America,” Julia Alvarez examines her adolescent struggle to be “American.” For Alvarez, her Hispanic culture becomes a burden to her inclusion in American society. So, Alvarez and her sisters, struggle to become what they are not, Americans. Alvarez uses a somewhat biased stereotype to identify the model of an ideal American, but she does make clear. The struggle of all American teenagers to fit into or molded by a standard which for many of them is impossible to achieve.
“The Star Spangled Banner” emphasizes America’s perseverance and its unwillingness to surrender to adversity. The prime example of this “American attitude” traces back to the dawn of America. Harsh European laws during the Colonial Period allot little to no rights to its own subjects in America. American colonists’ penurious lives are in constant peril of taxation through means such as the mercantilist system and selfish laws like the Navigation Acts. However, American colonists refuse to remain under control of such an oppressive government. In the eyes of the Europeans, they are rapacious rebels who are oblivious of the supremacy of their mother country. Yet, in the eyes of the colonists, they are merely humans asking, and eventually fighting, for simple rights that–according to their tenets–belong to everyone. Although their adversary is the seemingly invincible England, the colonists are able to endure and emerge as the victor. “The Star Spangled Banner” clearly demonstrates the perseverance and audacity in this cl...
The United States of America a nation known for allowing freedom, equality, justice, and most of all a chance for immigrants to attain the American dream. However, that “America” was hardly recognizable during the 1940’s when President Franklin Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066, ordering 120,000 Japanese Americans to be relocated to internment camps. As for the aftermath, little is known beyond the historical documents and stories from those affected. Through John Okada’s novel, No-No Boy, a closer picture of the aftermath of the internment is shown through the events of the protagonist, Ichiro. It provides a more human perspective that is filled with emotions and connections that are unattainable from an ordinary historical document. In the novel, Ichiro had a life full of possibilities until he was stripped of his entire identity and had to watch those opportunities diminish before him. The war between Japan and the United States manifested itself into an internal way between his Japanese and American identities. Ichiro’s self-deprecating nature that he developed from this identity clash clearly questions American values, such as freedom and equality which creates a bigger picture of this indistinguishable “America” that has been known for its freedom, equality, and helping the oppressed.
Now ever since the election of our president I’ve never felt more Hispanic now then my nineteen years on this earth. I always knew who I was and where my heritage begins. But now it as though I have to constantly remember in this America I don’t belong here according to Trump. I was born in America, English is the first and only language I speak and yet everyday I feel like I’m not an American. Americans are portrayed as these people who are proud of there country for being “The Land of the Free and Home of the Brave.” However, how can I be proud if I’m not wanted here in this country. Just as I’ve stated in the prior paragraphs There have been times I wish that I could pass as white. Not because I’m ashamed of my heritage or my family. I would do it just for the sake of feeling safe at night. If this is how I feel I can only imagine how the millions of undocumented immigrants and people of different races, feel as well. Knowing any day, they could be attacked or