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Impacts of culture on development of identity
Impacts of culture on development of identity
How culture influences the development of our identity
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The author of “My Two Lives” describes herself as Indian-American because she was obviously Indian with her heritage greatly defined in her house with her parents, but she describes herself as American because of life she lives outside of her home. She used examples saying that she could speak English without an accent, and things that her parents had little knowledge of, such as books and music, entered her life. She found herself becoming more and more American, but she also had the constant reminder that she wasn’t. The author said she felt neither Indian nor American because as an immigrant she felt like she needed to stay completely true to the culture of her family, but she also felt that she needed to adapt to the new world. She felt
The other author to provide readers with a different historical perspective is Daniel Richter. Richter’s book Facing East from Indian Country allows readers to see the story of coming to America from the Native American perspective. An interesting point that Richter makes in his book is “Perhaps the strangest lesson of all was that in the new nation whites were the ones entitled to be called “Americans” Indians bizarrely became something else” . In early America when the first Europeans arrived to America they mistakenly referred to the natives as “Indians”. Even people today use the term “Indian” when referring to the Native
“The minute our train leaves the Hong Kong border and enters Shenzhen, China, I feel different. I can feel the skin on my forehead tingling, my blood rushing through a new course, my bones aching with a familiar old pain. And I think, my mother was right. I am becoming Chinese. (179). In the story A Pair of Tickets by Amy Tan, the protagonist character, Jing-mei, finds herself in several difficult situations due to how her social and cultural upbringing has shaped her. She finds herself pulled between her Chinese DNA and her American background. While she was raised being told that she was Chinese and “it’s in her blood”, she does not identify as such, because she grew up in America and only sees herself as an American. After her mother’s passing,
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 ...
In the book Between the World and Me written by Ta-Nehisi Coates, Coates composes his book as a letter form to his fifteen year old son distilling the notion of what is is like to live in contemporary America as a black person. Ta-Nehisi Coates is unravelling his argument by incorporating personal experiences before and during fatherhood, also including his son’s experiences and young men such as Michael Brown whose death has brought awareness of the dangers of living in America as a black person. Coates is desperate to raise his son in a different manner than most black parents have been doing for the past years. He is not going to give his son false hope.
I am a Japanese-American, growing up I never felt like I belonged in either one. I never felt that I was fully Japanese because I did not have all of the same beliefs and traditions as other Japanese people. Nor did I feel fully American because I fully do not believe in all of the American beliefs. I saw myself relating more to the Japanese culture because it taught me to be more respectful to my elders and other people in the community. Growing up I had to assimilate to the prevailing culture because people were bantering me because I had unusual views than they did. It was hard for me growing up; I was trying to identify myself as either a Japanese boy or an American boy while I was at school and at home. At school I had to be this normal American boy, while at home, I had to be a Japanese boy. I felt like two different people. This also tied into me having an awkward relationship with other kids my age especially the girls. I would ask my parents if it was okay for me to date, their response was “as long they are some sort of Asian, then it is okay.” Today my parents do not believe in that saying, they just want to see me in high spirits, but as I was growing up it was hard for me to find a girl that I liked that fit my family standards I always found myself fond of another race other than my own and my parents were not too thrilled with the choices I made when it came to girls when I was an adolescent.
It is necessary, in order to grasp the role race has in immigration, to understand what exactly Americanness is. Based on the experiences of immigrants and the dominant culture of the nation, Americanness is the status attributed to an American citizen who is fully incorporated into the traditions, cultures, and lifestyle choices of mainstream America. On the surface, this appears to merely be an issue of musical preference, or religious beliefs. However, actual Americanness is transcendent and engrained in whiteness. Whiteness, curiously enough, does not necessarily relate to actually being white insofar as skin color is concerned, but rather, in being fully steeped in dominant American culture. Because of this connection, Americanness and whiteness are, essentially, one in the same.
When asked to define ones cultural identity people usually take the path that leads to their country of origin. They describe their beliefs and tradition which mirrors the values of people within that geographic location. But what about the people who are torn between two cultures? How would they define their cultural identity? This is the problem faced by Henry Park, the protagonist of the book Native Speaker by Chang-Rae Lee. Originally from Korea, he immigrated to the United States with his parents when he was little. However, his struggle of trying to find his acceptance into the American culture still continues. The book outlines his endless uncertainty of trying to define his cultural identity and his feelings as an outsider to the American Culture. Not being able to commit to either of the cultures leaves Henry confused regarding his true Cultural identity which Chang very artfully presents as a fuzzy line between the American and Korean Culture.
I am a young Mexican American male growing up in the United States. I identify with both American and Mexican culture. Culture to me is what made you the person that you are today and will also have a major impact in your future. Culture can also be seen as an “Identity” because it is a state of mind in which someone recognizes their traits/beliefs that leads to finding out who you are and what you do. In other words, it 's basically who you are and what you define yourself as being. Identity and culture are what makes this world an interesting place, there is a distinct relationship between identity and culture and one without the other they could not exist I consider myself a composite of both American and Mexican cultures.
In the short story, "Two Kinds" by Amy Tan, a Chinese mother and daughter are at odds with each other. The mother pushes her daughter to become a prodigy, while the daughter (like most children with immigrant parents) seeks to find herself in a world that demands her Americanization. This is the theme of the story, conflicting values. In a society that values individuality, the daughter sought to be an individual, while her mother demanded she do what was suggested. This is a conflict within itself. The daughter must deal with an internal and external conflict. Internally, she struggles to find herself. Externally, she struggles with the burden of failing to meet her mother’s expectations. Being a first-generation Asian American, I have faced the same issues that the daughter has been through in the story.
Biologically speaking, there are not many physical elements that we can change about our identity, but we can change our identity in every other aspect. However, it is possible to grow up adopting a culture that one is born with and embracing the culture that ties with the color of your skin and choose to adopt the traditions of another culture and identify within that culture. For example, someone born in Africa can identify as African and embrace the traditions of their land. Moreover, African people may move to America, and immerse in American culture. Later, they may acquire citizenship in America, after adopting cultures as their own. Some may object to this idea of a U.S. alien acquiring a U.S. citizenship. However, a person’s identity, and how others perceive them, does not determine a person’s citizenship status. Notably, one gains citizenship through a process.
Everyone struggles with identity at one point in their life. It will eventually happen to everyone. Identity is how people see one another, it is one of the most important things about someone. Identity goes hand in hand with experience. One’s experiences can impact one’s identity. In Sherman Alexie’s The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, the main character Arnold, also known as Junior, has many health issues, and notably stands out in the crowd. It does not help that he is a poor Indian boy that lives on a Reservation, and that he decides to go to an all white high school. Many of his experiences at school, and on the Reservation impact his identity. Experience is the most influential factor in shaping a person’s identity because
Growing up people would ask me where I was from, I would answer Queens. There was never a doubt in my mind that this is where I am from since this is where I was born. People would often tell me that I’m not from Queens since my parents are immigrants. I’ve always felt that I’ve had to fight to say where I’m from. These constant battles came from family members, friends, and strangers. It always had questioning my language and personal identity. My family members would say I’m Mexican but I don’t share the culture, language, nor experiences. Strangers from America would say I couldn’t be American since my parents are from another country but I do share the culture, language, and experiences. The craziest part is that my parents did everything they could so there children could
Some people struggle with understanding who they are every day. They constantly look for ways to fit in. Curiosity can make him or her search for their place in society. In the narrative “You don’t look Indian” by Greg Sarris, we follow him in his journey to finding out his true identity.
Identity is the facts of ones being and the characteristics that reflect on one. One has been named when one was born and nationality has been given.One learns the history, tradition, society rules, language etc. as one grows. Nonetheless when one moves to different country, the background, names, nationalityof one slightly changes. One immigrant to other country needs to learn new language, adopt the new environment and may meet with a refusal because of their identity, which forces one to makes changes in order to fit in the new environment, such as rename and change nationality.The articles from “Two Ways to belong in America” by Bharati Mukherjee and “The F Word” by Firoozeh Dumas, both of the author faces different issues and go through the problems that happened in their life. Even through both of these author are immigrants but they do experience different things. The author of “Two Ways to belong in America”, Mukherjee wants change her identity into American citizenship, while her sister wants to keep nationality of Indian. Dumas experienced that her original name makes people
I never really thought about where my life was going. I always believed life took me where I wanted to go, I never thought that I was the one who took myself were I wanted to go. Once I entered high school I changed the way I thought. This is why I chose to go to college. I believe that college will give me the keys to unlock the doors of life. This way I can choose for myself where I go instead of someone choosing for me.