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Influences Of Culture
Do you ever feel like you have full control of decisions? People from one culture could have totally opposing views against another foreign culture. One might also appreciate their own culture in different ways. Cultures even have their own expectations but are not always achieved. Culture sometimes informs the way a person views others and the world.
Some may believe that culture always affects how a person views others and the world. In the personal essay Two Ways to Belong in America, Bharati Mukherjee. Explains the differences and similarities between herself and her sister Mira after immigrating to America. Both had Indian culture inheritance which which had a great significance when they immigrated to America. According to Mira, “I’ll become a U.S citizen for now, then change back to Indian when I’m ready to go home. I feel some kind of irrational attachment to India that I don’t for America” (Mukherjee 90). Even though Mira is an American citizen she still grasps on
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her Indian heritage, refusing American culture. This represents how culture can always affect the way a person views the world. In reality, culture can sometimes affect the way people view others and the world. Furthermore, my grandparents crafted homemade sweaters for me as cultural Mexican gift every year for my birthday. I would not wear them too often but on special occasions I would wear one of the sweaters to prove my family that I still hold my culture closely within me. In addition the short story Everyday Use, Alice Walker projects the importance of cultural value. The story is about two sisters with a tragic past that have different perspectives on there African culture, so the mother has to decide who will maintain quilt tradition.
Relating to how I currently carry on my families Mexican culture through, language, music, and cloths. For example Miss Wangero, “Maggie can’t appreciate these quilts! She’d probably be backwards”(Walker 82). Dee/Miss. Wangero shouts at her mother that her sister maggie is not capable of appreciating the quilts. The mother explains how the quilt has been passed on within every family member who added a new portion of the quilt. Dee knew that Maggie would use the quilts and their mother encourage Maggie to put the quilts to everyday use. Forcing Maggie to have the responsibility of the quilt shows how culture can affect future decisions. To summarize, Dee and her mother had different perspectives on how Maggie appreciates culture. Leading on to how expectations can change one's point of view of the
world. In my experience, my family's expectations of me influence my everyday decisions. Sometimes I sometimes fail those criteria which reflects how expectations are not always guaranteed.As well as the novel excerpt Two Kinds, Amy Tan revolves around the idea that not all expectations are met. The novel states how a mother who had faith in her daughter, Jing-mei had high expectations for her. Unwillingly Jing-mei was not successeeding her mother's expectations, so over time her mother was losing faith of her daughters future. According to Jing-mei, ‘’I failed her times, each time asserting my will, my right to fall short of expectations” (Tan 28). Jing-Mei has failed so many times to the point where she accepts those failures. She wants her mother to acknowledge her mistakes so that she could feel a part of very successful culture. Everyone at some point will fail some others expectations which shows how one's culture can always affect the way a person views the world. All combined, expectations are not always achieved. Generally speaking, culture can affect the way ones sees others and the world. To conclude, culture sometimes informs the way a person views others and the world. People from one culture could have totally opposing views against another foreign culture. One might also appreciate their own culture in different ways. Cultures even have their own expectations but are not always achieved. Do you ever feel like in your in full control of your decisions? No because any surrounding culture can really influence your everyday life decisions.
In the short story “America and I” by Anzia Yezierska, the author talks about a girl who came to America looking for the “American dream” and also trying to escape from Russia, which she calls prison. This nameless girl feels “beaten out of [her heart],” suffocated in Russia, like she couldn’t get out of her impoverished lifestyle there. She tried to adjust to living in America because she’s from a different culture and environment and she asks many questions to help herself out but then she realizes that she is not an American and never will be. She ends up working with a Russian family as a servant. Then, later on she worked in a sweatshop and got fired. She had low thoughts about
We strongly believe that culture has a great influence one’s perspective on the world as well as the people around them. This may include the choices you make and how you view from what's right and wrong. It’s influence can be great, controlling your entire lifestyle from how you dress to what you eat, or it could be small, slightly influencing the decisions you make. Your own culture may be judged and be discriminated against, causing you to react in a certain way to protect what you stand for. In the story “By Any Other Name” by Samantha Rama Rau, shows how two Indian girl’s followed their culture and stayed true to their beliefs.
Culture often means an appreciation of the finer things in life; however, culture brings members of a society together. We have a sense of belonging because we share similar beliefs, values, and attitudes about what’s right and wrong. As a result, culture changes as people adapt to their surroundings. According to Bishop Donald, “let it begin with me and my children and grandchildren” (211). Among other things, culture influences what you eat; how you were raised and will raise your own children? If, when, and whom you will marry; how you make and spend money. Truth is culture is adaptive and always changing over time because
Some may say that people can adapt to a new place and completely let go of their culture; thus they are saying that cultural identity does not continually inform the way one views the world. This however, is not accurate. While people can adapt to a new place and adapt to parts of a new places culture, they cannot completely let go of their cultural identity. It will always impact the way one views the world. Take for example Bharati, the author of the personal essay “Two ways to belong in America”. While Bharti's sister Mira chose to hold on to every aspect of their indian heritage; Bharati wanted to feel like she belonged fully in America. When talking about her sister she says “She is happier to live in America as expatriate Indian than as an immigrant American I need to feel like a part of the community I have adopted”(85). Bharati needs to feel like she belongs, and though she may have broadened her culture; her perception of the world and others is still influenced by her indian cultural
They both think they deserve the blanket because Maggie wants the quilt to use everyday as a blanket and Dee wants the blanket to have up. Maggie has a bigger culture than Dee because Maggie will use it everyday and she will have it when her and her man get married. Wangero said, laughing that “Maggie’s brain is like an elephant’s” , well they mean she has a memory as and elephant. Dee said “Maggie can't appreciate these quilts.” Their mom thinks maggie deserves it. My mom would have said Maggie deserves it too because my mom would want to to use it everyday. Their culture and my culture sees the same. It’s the same and a lot of ways. Maggies mom made a promised and she kept it , exactly like my family would have. (Maggie 64) by now was standing in the door. I could almost hear the sound her feet made as they scraped over each other. As I see it is that we all see culture in the same way but just by different
n “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker, we hear a story from the viewpoint of Mama, an African American woman about a visit from her daughter Dee. Mama along with her other daughter Maggie still live poor in the Deep South while Dee has moved onto a more successful life. Mama and Maggie embrace their roots and heritage whereas Dee wants to get as far away as possible. During her return, Dee draws her attention to a quilt. It is this quilt and the title of the piece that centers on the concept of what it means to integrate one’s culture into their everyday life.
Wangero and Mama both have different outlooks on the meaning of heritage. Wangero see’s it as something of the past or objects while Mama and Maggie’s idea involves people. Maggie wants the quilts to represent her time with her family and those who have gone on before her. There is sentimental value connected to Maggie and Mama’s sense of heritage because it involved their loved ones. Wangero’s heritage is a false construction in favor of what she wants to believe and is easily changed. In the quotes presented above, Wangero explains in disgust why she deserves the quilts, she sees the quilts as representations of the past, and by this she misses the true meaning behind the quilts. Her forced efforts to know her heritage blindsides her from seeing the true beauty in her heritage. The irony of “Everyday Use” is Wangero argues that Mama and Maggie do not understand their heritage while it is Wangero herself who does
The idea of heritage is very different from one person to another. The story of “Everyday Use” shows a dynamic picture of two sisters that see their family history and upbringing nearly opposite points of view. The quilts become the catalyst for a cultural battle between Dee’s (Wangero) new “enlightened” lifestyle and Maggie’s contentment with her upbringing.
How much a culture affects the way a person views the world depends on the person’s past experiences and
Quilts symbolize a family’s heritage. Maggie adheres the tradition by learning how to quilt from her grandmother and by sewing her own quilts. Maggie also puts her grandmother’s quilts into everyday use. Therefore, when Dee covets the family’s heirloom, wanting to take her grandmother’s hand-stitched quilts away for decoration, Mama gives the quilts to Maggie. Mama believes that Maggie will continually engage with and build upon the family’s history by using the quilts daily rather than distance herself from
Does the way you were brought up in your home effect the way you make choices? Or are you using your own personal judgement. In the well-crafted texts such as Ethnic Hash, Everyday Use, and Legal Alien it is shown that one’s culture can persuade a person’s view but every now and then they make their choices independently.
Not a single person lives the same life or shares everything in common with someone else. However, one bond that everyone possess is culture. Culture is not the same for every person, and everyone that identifies themselves with a certain culture is not exactly the same (Trumbull and Pacheco 10). Culture consistently influences the way humans perceive the world, items, others, as shown in “Two Kinds’ by Amy Tan and My Mother Pieced Quilts by Teresa Palomo Acosta.
Do you think culture can affect a person’s view to others? Culture includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom and any other capabilities and habits brought upon a person. In this essay I have read three different stories on how culture can have a huge impact on someone’s life. In the text “Everyday Use “, “Two Ways to belong in America “and “An Indian Fathers Pleu” these three stories explain how culture affects how people view others. One’s culture can cause them to have disoriented vision towards another.
To conclude, cultures are a major part of our lives and they constitute the image we see the world in. cultures can sometimes influence us, even in ways we don’t expect. Sometimes we find ourselves forced in cultures with negative stereotypes but that does not mean we should be ashamed of those cultural groups but rather embrace our culture and stray from the negative characteristics of that
Our culture is our foundation and without it we will fail to adapt to our surroundings and potential be social outcast or lost in negativity. We must adjust to our surrounding for survival; however, my culture teaches me no to totally conform to every aspect of society and world.