As a child, I was fascinated with personalized souvenir stands. There were so many names; I was determined to find mine. I would scour the rows of license plates and mugs in each store to no avail. I came to the realization that with a name like Malena, I would not find a custom keepsake. That, however, does not bother me anymore. I know now that having an uncommon name is a souvenir in itself. Based on the people I share my name with, the expected personality traits, and the meaning of my name, I would say my name fits me well. Instead of plucking a name they liked off a popular baby name website, my parents took a different approach. They named me after an actress with an uncommon name, and they changed the spelling to make it even more different. They wanted my name to be spelled how it would be …show more content…
Malena means “from the tower.”2 Although this meaning puzzled me at first, I can see how “from the tower” relates to my personality. When atop a tower, one can see for miles in every direction. He/she has a wide expanse of detail to take in, while still being able to see the big picture. Ever since I was young, that’s the view I have had on life. When I was in preschool, I came home one day and said to my mom, “The teacher helper has an earring in her tongue.” My mom thought it was hilarious, but she was shocked that I noticed. She called my friend Jenna’s mom to see if Jenna had noticed; she hadn’t. I was quite the oddity at that age. In fact, a few weeks prior to the tongue-earring realization, I had comforted a nervous Jenna on our first day of school. I said that it would be just like old times. I’m not sure what “old times” I was referring to considering we were three, but I was looking at the bigger picture. I knew that everything would be alright even though it seemed scary. I have had the tower view mentality for the majority of my life, so I feel that it would be fitting to say I’m “from the
However, Xxxxxx is my preferred name and the name that relates to my culture and the land where I grew up. It is “my piko name connecting to my aina”. It also connects me to my ancestors and enables me to feel their presences. Even though I highly prefer this name, I cannot use this name openly as I want to which is a big burden for me. Nevertheless, the significance it carries and the culture that prevents me to disclose this name are very important to me. The significance of my home lanf and my cuture is what makes this name very special. Therefore I feel comfortable sacrificing my preference over my culture and belief.
feminine things like jewel. She pines after the beautiful necklace she saw at the fair, in order
The main character says he is “so much a child in my bed. Nothing but a big boy who who needs to be held” (116). The way she talks to him is like a mother figure, but twisted at the same time, “Come to mamita. My stupid little bird” (118). He is frail, gentle, trusting, young, and she is the opposite of innocent, “I’m vindictive and cruel, and I’m capable of anything,” she says (109). Because he is so sweet and frail, she looks like even more of a monster next to him. It makes her character pop out at
“Can you imagine what a mess a world would be without names? (website)Names are very important to a person and their individuality. Ayn Rand’s novel “Anthem” is a book in which the people written about do not have names. The importance of having your own individual names is huge. A name can have meaning given to it, like how the name Sue means lily. Most parents when giving you your name have a meaning behind it and put much thought into what their future child should be named. Names can give you a part of your identity.
There are many reasons why people may feel self-conscious; in which, others may or may not, be able to relate to. “My Name’’ is the fourth chapter in The House on Mango Street and in this chapter, Esperanza and I share some similarities. Being named after a relative, born in the Chinese year of the horse, and a dislike in our own name are similarities we share in this chapter. [Esperanza] “In English my name means hope. In Spanish it means to many letters’’(10). Esperanza expresses a dislike in her name due to the length stating, that her name it is too long. When I was younger, I felt the same as my parents placed upon me three middle names at birth. I to felt my name was too long. I would feel embarrassed when my family would address me by my full name although, they would only do so if I was
Everybody always has two names: one from their parents and one from their friends. The name that is given by
As a young girl, I was never fond of the name Anna. The name came along with too much baggage.. Unknowingly, people would constantly call me the wrong name, and some people, disregarding my opinion, even created strange nicknames for me. Over the years, I have been called a variety of names including Annie, Ann, Anna, Annabelle, Anne Frank, banana, banana boat, etc. Frankly, there are just too many variations of the name “Anna”. Being an extremely common name, almost everywhere I go, whether it be school or the grocery store, I always seem to find another “Anna”. Although nameberry.com tells me that “Anna” means grace, it actually means unique, intelligent, and affectionate.
“Be who want to be,create a name for yourself”(Unknown). Being one is the greatest gift to society. Creating a name for one is important and key to striving in throughout society. A name will never define someone as a person. The person will define the name. The article “ ‘Black’ Names: A Resume Burden?” by Bootie Cosgrove- Mathers discusses, the burden many parents of color face when choosing their child 's name. The stereotypes set out throughout society on if a parent of color should name their children “black” sounding names is significant. Parents of color should name their children “black” sounding names to embrace their black identity, bring across equality, and end the negative stereotypes that come with “black” sounding names.
People from foreign ethnic group have names that is difficult to pronounce for native people. A typical response they get when they introduce themselves is a curious look and subsequently a question-- How do you pronounce your name again? The way a name is pronounced, it can shape how individuals see us and define our accomplishments. When an ethnic name is Americanized or changed or given nickname, it can change how people view his/her identity. Even in the job market, the employer is likely to hire candidate like them and sometime they judge a pool of potential candidates with the familiarity of name. As name can be connection to self identity and related to ancestry, people should not be biased based on name and how it is pronounced; people
The middle name that appears on my birth certificate is Cristina and I’m quite fond of my middle name because to me the name sounds utterly cheerful and friendly. Maria and Cristina complement each other. Many people when I tell them how my middle name is spelled they tend to believe my mom made a mistake and spelled my name incorrectly. The truth is she meant to spell it like that not because she decided to be slightly unique and spell my name without the letter h but because she decided to commemorate someone or something.
In conclusion, the development of the folktales leads to the obtaining of ideas about gender. In many ways our society supports the idea that women seem underestimated as well as physically and mentally weak in comparison with the men who is portrayed as intelligent and superior. This can be shown in many ways in the different versions of this folktale through the concepts of symbolic characters, plot and narrative perspective.
In middle school, kids’ minds began to develop and whenever I said my last name they would snicker. This also relates to my name being mispronounced, but it was not the first time having my last name mispronounced and definitely not the last. Middle school was probably one of the times I became the most aggravated towards people who said my name incorrectly. However, I had other
The concept of identities being defined by a name (or vice versa) is not an unfamiliar one -- in fact, one could argue it to be one of the most globally discussed topics in writing. My Name by Sandra Cisneros, What is in a Name? by Okaikor Aryee-Price, and The Color of Water by James McBride all prove that society judges people’s identities unfairly based on their names, devalues those with unfamiliar names, and shows little regard for personal identity.
A cultural artifact is something that does not come from nature, it is something that is invented or made and helps tell us about the way the world is. Cultural artifacts can be seen as a good and bad thing; depending on your generation or how you look at how the artifact being used. Cultural artifacts have changed the way the world is and the way the world works. For this paper, the cultural artifact the cell phone has changed the way we communicate and do business. Everything we need is just a few clicks away.
Is it important to know what is behind your name? Now in days, many names are given without knowing their meanings or where they come from. For example, I was given the name of Judith just because my parents heard it and liked it. It depends where and in which culture were they raised. For this purpose I researched my name Judith. Some of the main points I found were interesting to me like the history and my personality.