Summary: The Process Of Assimilation

146 Words1 Page

Assimilation has been a successful process that has easily helped civilize many people. The Native Americans and the wolf girls are perfect examples of this, and have been able to become part of a new culture through assimilation. However, there is evidence that the process was a difficult one since there is a in both cases extreme cultural gap tween student and teacher that caused them difficulty in the forced assimilation. The assimilation itself done at an uncomfortable distance away from home causing students to feel homesick. The complete destruction of the old cultural ties does little to improve this. The difficulty in the process of assimilation was mainly caused by how the Indian students and the wolf girls were viewed as uncivilized,

Show More
Related

  • Karen Russell's St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised By Wolves"

    1181 Words  | 3 Pages

    “St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves”, by Karen Russell is the story of a pack of human girls who were born of werewolves. They are taken from their families in the wilderness and brought to a St. Lucy’s. It was here that they were to be civilized. The process of civilization involved stripping them of their personal and cultural identities and retraining them in a manner that was acceptable to the human world. This is a close analogy to the Residential Schools of Cultural Assimilation for native Americans from 1887 to the early 1950’s.

    Read More

  • Belonging In Riel Nason's Short Story 'The Box'

    1579 Words  | 4 Pages

    In a social setting the feeling of belongingness to a group is very important. If one is different and does not belong to a group that person is outcasted. The first story, “The Box” written by Riel Nason is about a character named Jeff who goes to a long time friends wedding and faces a number of obstacles. The second story is called “One, Two, Three Little Indians” written by Hugh Garner and focuses on the obstacles a native-canadian faces. Characters Jeff and Big Tom experience alienation and the difference in values which restrict them from achieving belongingness. Ultimately, it is seen that acceptance to the environment is the key to either success into integrating or failure to do so in certain circumstances.

    Read More

  • The Negative Portrayal of Native Americans in Children’s Literature

    2127 Words  | 5 Pages

    The American society came to the conclusion hundred of years ago that it was in the best interest of America to misrepresent Native Americans, both in the past and present. The American continents were said to be inhabited with animal-like savages that had no cultural value. Schools have taught that it was the European's duty to civilize the new lands. One of the primary tools that have been used in the education of children is the picture book. Picture books have provided the American institution with a means of teaching our children that the Native Americans were bestial and animalistic, thus enabling us to ignore or justify the atrocities that Europeans and Americans have inflicted on the native societies.

    Read More

  • Case Study: Our Spirits Don T Speak English

    1004 Words  | 3 Pages

    You simply cannot justify ripping a child from a loving home and stripping them of their culture and placing them in prison like dormitories where you attempt to “civilize” them. Deculturaliztion will never be a right or just act. Decades later the Native Americans are still picking up the pieces from the wrecking ball that was the Indian Boarding School experience.

    Read More

  • Assimilation: The Drawbacks of Cross-Cultural Misunderstandings

    1530 Words  | 4 Pages

    The author of the book, The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures, Anne Fadiman exhibits a story about the collision between two cultures and the way things affected the character’s lives. The main character, Lia, is found grasped in a dilemma within her family’s culture and the American lifestyle. Since a baby, Lia suffered form epileptic seizures, which were viewed as a positive trait for the Hmong community; those people who suffered from seizures were credited to be a twix neeb, in other words, “a person with healing spirit” (Fadiman 21). Lia’s parents Mr. and Mrs. Lee, were having a difficult time comprehending the seriousness of the epilepsies that Lia was suffering from. Her parents had never been exposed to Western medication; therefore, it was very difficult for them to understand the procedures that needed to be completed in order to save Lia’s life. Fadiman enhances her opinion in regards to the situation by stating, “I have come to believe that her [Lia’s] life was ruined by not septic shock or noncompliant parents but by cross-cultural misunderstanding.” Cross-cultural misunderstanding is indeed; the main cause for unsettled immigrant lives in new countries, such as Lia’s family. In order to enhance a successful life at a new country, the Lees needed to adapt and understand American culture into their own lives.

    Read More

  • Coculturation Acculturation

    835 Words  | 2 Pages

    Curtin’s “Coculturation: Toward a Critical Theoretical Framework for Cultural Adjustment” explores the many aspects of cultural adaptation. To enhance the conversation and construct a dialogue that counters that of the status quo, Melissa L. Curtin proposes a theory of Coculturation. Curtin (2010) seeks to “underscore the complex and ongoing processes of identification for all members of a community; to challenge any notion of a static, monolithic target culture; and to foreground that macrolevel sociopolitical and sociohistorical contexts, as well as microlevel social interactional processes, are important in understanding cultural adjustment” (p. 271). This work illuminates the conversation of acculturation and assimilation by combating the hegemonic discourse of traditional theoretical frameworks. According to Curtin, the rhetoric surrounding acculturation in the U.S. commonly “presumes an imagined national host community of a white, monolingual, English-speaking America to which immigrants should quickly assimilate.”

    Read More

  • The Effects Of Assimilation In Black River By Maurice Kenny

    1877 Words  | 4 Pages

    Much of the literature studied on Indigenous culture concerns the effects of Assimilation. Assimilation is a strategy used by colonial groups mostly in the Western world to try and “Make Indigenous culture disappear” (Episkenew, 8). This paper will show how the Poem, “Black River” by Maurice Kenny illustrates the effects of assimilation of Indigenous peoples and the role lose of identity has on their social determinants of health. While the literary work is short, it effectively demonstrates invisible losses stemming from a market driven environment. The poem illustrates the poor influences on social determinants of health with three main themes: loss of environment, interruption of family dynamic, and forcing the adoption of Western lifestyle.

    Read More

  • Indian Wind Wolf Analysis

    1448 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the United States today there is a great amount of cultural diversity, but unfortunately the predominant American culture causes other cultures to be overshadowed causing difficulties for students of other cultures to succeed in our school system. This is what we see in the story of the Indian Wind-Wolf as he begins going to kindergarten. For Wind-Wolf, this is his first time outside of the Indian culture and it is very difficult for him to be the only Indian in his classroom. It causes him to feel like an outcast. As teachers we have the responsibility to create an environment in the classroom that makes each student feel that they belong there. For Wind-Wolf, and any other cultural minorities, the typical classroom does not have these

    Read More

  • The Assimilation Policy and Its Impact on the Indigenous Australian Society

    1077 Words  | 3 Pages

    The assimilation policy was a policy that existed between the 1940’s and the 1970’s, and replaced that of protectionism. Its purpose was to have all persons of aboriginal blood and mixed blood living like ‘white’ Australians, this established practice of removing Aboriginal children (generally half-bloods) from their homes was to bring them up without their culture, and they were encouraged to forget their aboriginal heritage. Children were placed in institutions where they could be 'trained' to take their place in white society. During the time of assimilation Aboriginal people were to be educated for full citizenship, and have access to public education, housing and services. However, most commonly aboriginal people did not receive equal rights and opportunities, for example, their wages were usually less than that paid to the white workers and they often did not receive recognition for the roles they played in the defence of Australia and their contribution to the cattle industry. It wasn’t until the early 1960’s that expendi...

    Read More

  • The Upbringing Process: Children Assimilation

    995 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Aldous Huxley's dystopian novel Brave New Word, people are conditioned on how to exist in every aspect in their society from the day they are born until the day they die. They are told what to feel, what to believe, what to enjoy, how to spend their time, and what emotions are acceptable. This starts with recordings played in their infant sleep and transitions into the things they are taught as children. Of course, this is all fiction, but taken from a different perspective this can be relative to the American society today. There are processes in the raising of an American child and the public schools they attend that American children are put through that can be very closely compared to the conditioning that people experience in Brave New World; Just as people are formed to fit into society in the novel, so are we from an early age.

    Read More

  • Nigerian Assimilation

    1577 Words  | 4 Pages

    For decades, Africans from various nations have been emigrating and immigrating to America. Unlike those in earlier centuries that were forced to the United States due to slavery, “these Africans came to the U.S. to some degree, voluntarily, being only compelled by unrelenting economic crisis, political turmoil and the deleterious effects of natural disasters” (Nyang). Nigerians in particular have been doing so for reasons ranging from education, to employment, to marriage. To do so, they must go through various embassies in order to obtain a visa to enter America. Once they arrive in America, how well they are received tends to depend upon their skin color and place of origin. Although America is seen as the “melting pot” of the world, for Nigerians, it has proven to be the exact opposite.

    Read More

  • A Name for Culture and Assimilation

    1211 Words  | 3 Pages

    There are a myriad of reasons why a name becomes a crucial identity for many people. It is because they believe that a name can give power, authority, allegiances, and other special values. In many African countries such as Ghana and Nigeria or Asian countries such as Myanmar, the naming ceremony for a newborn baby is very special for the baby and the family. Even the entire society may become involved in celebrating it. People believe a name will bring the prestigious culture values to the baby that will allow him or her to fit well in the society. A name can serve a variety of purposes. It allows many people to connect with their important culture heritage, and facilitate assimilation in the society; yet, for some people, certain issues such as social or political pressure can cause them to choose one over the other.

    Read More

  • Assimilation And Multiculturalism Essay

    1279 Words  | 3 Pages

    The theoretical framework is based, on the one hand, on theories that explain the integration model in each country, which are assimilation and multiculturalism. On the other hand, it is based on the intersectionality theory, which explains the multiple-discrimination that a person can experience. The selected three theories are essential to formulating the research hypotheses, which will subsequently be tested throughout this study.

    Read More

  • Essay On Arab Immigration

    1558 Words  | 4 Pages

    ... They believed assimilation occurred into different sections of American life, and could happen in one generation or through several generations. The first section of assimilation was the straight line method that occurred step by step. An immigrant enters America and overtime they become part of mainstream society by learning the language, learning the culture, and improving occupation. If they don’t, it is believed that their children will. Another section is through using your ethnic community for upward mobility. It allows for the maintenance of their culture while drawing on their resources to move them up into American society. The last section the authors believe an immigrant can assimilate is downward into inner city culture or underclass. This would be a class with high drop-out and crime rates, low employment, and poor schooling.

    Read More

  • Obligatory In Arabic Culture Essay

    2571 Words  | 6 Pages

    In Arabic, assimilation can be obligatory in certain environments and optional in other environments. In the case of recitation of the Qur’an , assimilation are obligatory which are optional in ordinary speech (Al-Fozan, 1989: 56-57). Nasal consonants in many languages are homorganic with a following obstruent. Coronal nasals assimilate in place to an immediately following consonant.

    Read More

More about Summary: The Process Of Assimilation

Open Document