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Assimilation vs. Diversity
The United States of America is a strong country with its own general culture. At the same time, it is a country in which many unique and different cultures are represented. Having a general culture with many unique cultures mixed in has helped make America the country that it is. Immigrants should assimilate to American culture, but should be allowed to keep certain aspects of their original culture.
During my lifetime, I have had experiences with three friends from foreign countries. All of them are proficient when speaking English. Two of them had no problems with assimilating, however one of them, my old friend Anna, did not even try to assimilate to the American culture. I met Anna when I started seventh grade. She had moved to the United States with her parents from Russia a year earlier. Eventually, we became friends, but as our friendship progressed throughout eighth grade, she often complained about American culture. I would mention something that many but not all Americans enjoy doing, such as watching television. She would call it a stupid American tradition. Because of this, I almost felt that she was anti-American. Anna always liked people from different countries. When our friend Emily moved to the United States from Taiwan, Anna was excited to meet another person from a different country. After eighth grade, we went to different high schools. We did not keep in touch. A year later, we both took summer school and talked to each other almost every day for about a month. It turned out that during eighth grade, Anna's parents were expecting a baby. Anna was an only child. I feel that a part of her may have been upset, not because of another lifestyle change, but because the baby wo...
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...and educated. They can also practice ethnic traditions within their families. Through meeting Paula, I have learned some unique information about Brazil that I never thought I would know. When I talk with her, I rarely think about the fact that she's from Brazil. She is just like any other American, except she talks with a Brazilian accent. On the other hand, when I talked to Anna, she always made it quite clear that she was Russian and not American. I feel that people like her should not come to the United States if they do not wish to at least partially assimilate to American culture.
Works Cited
Bray, Thomas. "Memorial Day and Multiculturalism." Detroit News 24 May 1998.
Hairston, Maxine. "Diversity, Ideology, and Teaching Writing." College Composition and Communication 43.2 (May 1992): 179-195.
Tan, Amy. "Mother Tongue." Three Penny Review. 1990.
Writing with Readings and Handbook. 3rd ed. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2013. 52-57. Print.
By looking at Billy’s condition during the war, we can see that the war was not as glorious as the countries wanted you to think which at the time was not obvious. This adds a critical and significant point of view on the war to Vonnegut’s anti-war book. During WWII, the fighting countries didn’t want to show how terrible war really was, instead they showed images of patriotic men fighting in the war. In reality, these “men” were just kids out of high school and some from college, not ready to fight battles in a war. Vonnegut tries to show this in his book by inserting passages throughout Slaughter House Five, to help explain this to his readers. By describing Billy’s poor body structure and inadequate clothing and tools, one can clearly see
War novels often depict a war hero facing off against an enemy, with a winner on the other side. However, Kurt Vonnegut’s novel Slaughterhouse Five takes an opposite approach to the telling of a war story. The narrator uses the protagonist, Billy Pilgrim, to display his own anti-war sentiment. Vonnegut’s style of writing as well as his characters help to portray the effect of war on individuals and society as a whole.
Kurt Vonnegut, the author of Slaughterhouse-Five, provided a powerful first-hand account describing the horrific events of WWII. Vonnegut recounted the events and wrote about himself through the novels protagonists, Billy Pilgrim. He was pessimistic regarding the novel because he wrote, “It is so short and jumbled and jangled, because there is nothing intelligent to say about a massacre” (Vonnegut 22). However, on the other spectrum critics considered it to be “one of the worlds greatest antiwar books”(Vonnegut Back cover). The controversial novel was published in 1969, which was over two decades after WWII. The time it took Vonnegut to write the novel is an indication of how difficult it was for him to write about the bombings. Vonnegut does not write the novel to portray the narrator as, “John Wayne or some of those other glamorous, war loving, dirty old men” (Vonnegut 14). Instead, he writes about the true chaos’s the narrator endured during his time in Dresden. Vonnegut’s novel consisted of events that reflected major societal and political movements, such as civil rights movements, and antiwar movements, within the United States during the 1960s.
Slaughterhouse Five, written by Kurt Vonnegut is an anti war novel told by the narrator who is a minor character in the story. Slaughterhouse-Five is the story of Billy Pilgrim, a man who has come "unstuck in time. "The bombing of Dresden is what destroyed Billy. Dresden’s destruction shows the destruction of people who fought in the war: the all the people who died. Some people, like the main character, Billy Pilgrim, are not able to function normally like before because of what they saw, because of their experience. Throughout the book, Billy starts hallucinating about his experiences with the Tralfamadorians: he wants to escape the world which was destroyed by war, a war that he does not and cannot understand. Vonnegut uses the technique of repetition.. The main repetition is “so it goes” which is told after anything related to death, he also uses other repetitions throughout the book. The major theme of the story is the Destructiveness of War. Vonnegut uses repetition to reinforce the theme of the story.
Kurt Vonnegut’s background had an endless influence upon his writing. In his early years, Vonnegut was a private in the 106th infantry division in World War II. He and five scouts were caught behind enemy lines, and then captured. They were held POWs and were beaten on various occasions. In 1945, they witnessed the fire-bombing of Dresden, Germany. Kept during this time in a slaughterhouse, this is part of the inspiration for Slaughterhouse-five. After being released from the Slaughterhouse, Vonnegut called Dresden “utter destruction” and “carnage unfathomable”. This distressing time in his life led to one of the many themes of Slaughterhouse-five which is that nothing good can come from war and a massacre. This theme is expressed in the story when Billy Pilgrim says “Birds were talking. One bird said to Billy Pilgrim ’Poo-tee-weet?’” After the bombing, the POWs had to gather the bodies for a mass grave and then all the remains were set on fire. Vonnegut and the other prisoners were only there for a few more months, until they were rescued. The lasting effect this awful war caused Vonnegut had significant affect upon his writing; on return to the U.S., he was awarded a purple heart.
Slaughterhouse Five is not a book that should be glanced over and discarded away like a dirty rag. Slaughterhouse Five is a book that should be carefully analyzed and be seen as an inspiration to further improve the well-being of mankind. Vonnegut makes it clear that an easy way to improve mankind is to see war not as a place where legends are born, but rather, an event to be avoided. Intelligent readers and critics alike should recognize Vonnegut’s work and see to it that they make an effort to understand the complexities behind the human condition that lead us to war.
Graff, G., Birkenstein, C., & Durst, R. K. (2009). The Growing College Gap. "They say/I say": the moves that matter in academic writing : with readings (p. 379). New York: W.W. Norton & Co.
It is true that the more people from different cultures that are in a given area, the more the cultures are diversified. However, with all realities, some claim that immigrants dilute the American culture. Indeed, they cause some changes to the culture. Nevertheless, these changes can bring a wealth of attraction and a source of beauty for the country that everyone should be proud of. It is obvious that every single immigrant in the US has his own culture and way of life. When all these are added together, they form a very rich culture. In addition, they bring various interesting aspects such as food, music, literature, etc. That makes the Americans rich in cultural knowledge. The importance of cultural diversity is that it teaches the people to understand each other’s views, interests, and ideas and helps people view the world in different ways. This would finally lead the society to work towards each other’s interest, mutual goals, and objectives. Tamar Jacoby in his article “Are Today’s Immigrants Assimilating in U.S Society, Yes,” he said that, “Those who are coming now are people who understand cultural fluidity, understand intermarriage and find that a natural, easy thing. This maintains unity and balances in the society” (411). Once this stage is reached, all the problems would be solved. Then it can be said that America has reached a true democracy, echoed by
Many immigrants have closer ties to their home country. This affects the people that they talk to in America and how often the talk to people that don't speak their native language. “Dawb was already attending...High School, … early fifty percent of the student body … many of whom were Hmong.”(Yang 56). If you talk a lot with other immigrants from your home country it is most likely that you don't want to go out of your comfort zones and want to with other people that are like you. “… Compared with results from 2002, more immigrants say that they spend time with people from their birth country and have closer ties there.” (Bittle 45). You are also more likely to spend more time with them. “ It is the 1960s … The men are huddled … overhearing. French, English, and Kreyòl commingle. French, I understand. English … is from that of an American child. Kreyòl, the language of my birthplace, is a mystery. Kreyòl predominates…” (Benoit 31). Immigrants also call their family and friends back in their home country a minimum of once a week. This has increased by 12 points, 40% from 28%. It is very difficult for many of the immigrants to get to know other people that aren't from their home country. If the immigrants were to be more comfortable and know these people, than the immigrants would learn the customs.
The core standards of America are founded, in principle, on the basis of its diversity and equality among citizens. Begin- ning with its Declaration of Independence, the United States distinguished itself from other modern nation-states by establishing a country of men who were different but equal. Yet, despite the unifying images America projects within and beyond its borders, the idea behind E Pluribus Unum does not resound as one might assume it would.
America is known famously throughout the world with the nickname 'The melting pot.' The reason behind this is that America is extremely diverse and has many different people. Immigrants give America the chance to know the culture of many countries. They bring in their culture, religion, economic benefits, and ideology to America. I believe that the United States should allow legal immigrants from all over the world because they bring many benefits to it. Immigrants are a positive influence on United States of America.
Many people in America want to assimilate to the U.S. because they think that being American is a better option. People such as the Italians in the 1870s tried to assimilate in order to become an American to not become an enemy in the U.S. Also, the Mexicans today are constantly coming to the U.S. to have a better life because they know being American is the best solution for their problems at home. What assimilation mean is when a person leaves one’s own culture to join a different culture the person wants to be. For the purpose of this essay, an American is a person who has commitment to succeed in what one wants, able to speak english, to love the pop culture in the U.S. at the time one is living such as the hit songs, games, T.V. shows, etc. but not to other cultures, and be a citizen in America. People throughout history must assimilate to become a true American
...in time, allow them to integrate into American mainstream. The phrase “American mainstream” is forever changing in meaning. Since its foundation, America has been a nation of immigrants. At first, immigrants came to America to find freedom: freedom of religion, freedom to live by one’s own culture while being under the protection of the government, etc. Later, in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, citizens tried to push immigrants to become “Americanized”. In this case, the American mainstream comprised of people who were forced to disregard their ethnic origin and adapt to American culture. Now, the meaning of the American mainstream has once again changed. It is now comprised of people who strive to keep their ethnic origin, while forming bonding and bridging relationships with others to increase the social capital of their home, the United States of America.
As we may all have once experienced, acculturation is one of the most common part of our lives, either by music, language or habits. In many occasions is more noticeable, but they are still a part of our entire lives. Through my own experiences and some of my classmates we were able to identified this topic in our own lives. I being born in USA but raised in Mexico until I was 16 years old, made my acculturation really clear when I came to this country without any previous knowledge of this language or society. Everything was completely different, but I was able to adapt to a new culture in a small period of time, learning a new language and successfully ending High School. Now that I came to college, I feel that I am going to a new acculturation process, not as harsh or obvious. But leaving and having many Asian friends have been acculturated me to their Asian culture little by little. Everything starts when you put in practice small customs as taking your shoes at the door, eating rice with anything and eating specially with chopsticks. I have been presented to this, and in my opinion have become acculturated to this culture. However, not everyone stories are the same. Lizandro Laverman experienced acculturation more indirectly by his parents experiences. His parents, basically, came to the United States to have a better lifestyle. He himself personally considers himself as an American. Although he is actually 75% Guatemalan and 25% German he considers himself to be 100% American. He also speak fluent in both languages, so the English and the Spanish, but speaks English more than anything. He also feels embraced when as Guatemalan dishes. In general, his parents are only used to a lifestyle that comes from Guatemala as train...