Misfits New Name Analysis

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Do you think your name defines who you are? The chapter from the book The Misfits by James Howe and the article New Life In The US No longer Means New Name by Sam Roberts both deal with the ways names can affect someone culturally and personally. Although both texts have similar messages, the theme of names is different in each. In The Misfits by James Howe the theme addressing how names can affect someone is revealed through Bobby’s speech. Bobby addresses the effect of the way names can affect someone as he talks about his own personal experiences he encountered with being called a name. For instance, When the kids call Bobby fluff when he said “And that hurt”. Bobby showed how that when the kids call him fluff it hurt him. He does not want other kids to feel hurt by names people call them. Bobby further states, that “Another thing …show more content…

Sam Roberts reveals the ways how immigrants coming to the US altered their last names to fit in more by giving examples of real life experiences of when immigrants came to the US. To illustrate, when Sam Roberts says “Adopting names that sounded more American might help immigrants speed assimilation”. When he says this he is explaining that changing a name to sound more American helped you fit it and not be discriminated. If you didn’t you would possibly be treated differently than someone who Americanised their name. Additionally, In the article says “Some names were simplified by shipping agents as immigrants boarded ships in Europe.” When this is addressed in the article they are talking about if you’re name was complicated the staff who worked in immigration would anglicize their name to make it easier to say. In this article Sam Roberts is addressing how names affect the way and how fast you could assimilate to the

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