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A memoir of a bilingual childhood
A memoir of a bilingual childhood was effected
Differences in cultural
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Everyone has a way to view the world around him or her, either through experience or religion. Nevertheless, all of those ways of viewing the world all ties down to culture, where it defines a person’s background, personality, and history/experiences. With each person’s having their own unique culture that only belongs to them, and no one else. Such as: a relationship between a mother and her daughter, the comparison between two sisters, and how one is considered as a human being while the other is marked as an unknown species.
There is a saying of “Like father, like son,” which might go as well as for the female side. But it not necessarily true; as for in the short story of “Two Kinds” by Amy Tang, the mother tries to show her daughter, Jing-mei, that she could be anything she wants in America. As she also
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In “Two Ways to Belong in America”, a personal essay by Bharati Mukherjee, explains how one sister is considered as a citizen while the other is considered as an immigrant. With each having a specific title given by the government. As the new American immigration laws were put in use, Mira, her older sister, complained that “’I’ve obeyed all the rules, I’ve paid my taxes, I love my work, I love my students, I love the friends I’ve made. How dare America now change its rules in midstream (71)?’” Arguing how America has done something to make her feel inferior. On the contrast, Bharati decides to become a US citizen and given up on some of her culture. Which she describes it as, “America spoke to me – I married it – I embraced the demotion form expatriate aristocrat to immigrant nobody, surrendering those thousands of years of ‘pure culture,’ the saris, the delightfully accented English. She retained the all. Which of us is the freak (71)?” Wondering if it was the right choice to choose in the beginning, or that it was a natural thing for this to happen to
America is a nation consisting of many immigrants: it has its gates opened to the world. These immigrants transition smoothly and slowly from settlement, to assimilation then citizenship. These immigrants are first admitted lawfully as permanent residents before they naturalize to become full citizens. In her book “Impossible Subjects: Illegal Aliens and the Making of Modern America”, the historian Mae Ngai draws our attention to the history of immigration and citizenship in America. Her book examines an understudied period of immigration regulation between 1924 and 1965.
The story is about two sister who currently lives in America. It has to deal with moving to the United States in the 1960’s. Both sisters moved to the United States in hope to pursue their dreams and to achieve they goals with college and further education. Both having similarities in appearance and religious values. Both Bharati and her sister Mira had planned to move back to their homeland India after their education. This story relates to our point of culture having a major impact on how people judge each other because it has a huge impact on how people view the world differently because, in this example, I feel manipulated and discarded. This is such an unfair way to treat a person who was invited to stay and work here because of her talent” it is basically stating on how even immigrants (like the sisters themselves) who have come into the U.S., are sometimes given fewer benefits and rights than everyone else and that they feel discluded from being able to express themselves if they wanted to, or to have good thoughts that America is as good as people has said it was, with all this freedom. The last example is, I feel some kind of irrational attachment to India that I don’t to America. Until all this hysteria against immigrants, I was totally happy.” This demonstrates that it isn’t the country itself that makes people unsafe or unsure, it’s the people running it who try to put limitations
To begin, Charlotte and The Mother from “Borders” have both struggled with society trying to shape them into a certain type of person. Charlotte has always tried to conform to what her mother wanted since she was you. She would “...obey all rules without question or argument.” (pg.226) when it came to her mother. As she got older she began to realize that thing can be done different ways then what her mother wanted. The Mother from “Borders” has a similar problem as Charlotte. She is a proud Blackfoot citizen living in Canada but doesn't consider herself a Canadian. While she is going to visit her Daughter in Salt Lake City she must cross the border. While at the border the guard asks her about her citizenship. She answered with Blackfoot; that wasn't the answer the guard was looking for. The guard tells her “...you
She has never had to experience the idea of fitting in with her own culture. Being American is simply natural and a way of life for her. Traveling to another country, especially to one that was nothing like she expected it to be, helped to her stumble upon some important insights. She states being away from her own culture did not change her but made her able to realize what values and habits were the most important to her. In the other story, author Patricia was of Korean descent, but was born and raised here in America. Due to her Korean descent Patricia never really knew for sure where she belonged. She used a name to describe it, “hyphenated Americans,” because she looks like she is from another country but was born and raised here. People right on the streets of New York will ask her where she is from and compliment her on her good English skills. This makes it difficult to truly identify as an American. To really know what values and habits are her own. Traveling to Korea, visiting what they have called her homeland, taught Patricia some important insights of her own.
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
The United States is a nation of immigrants but also a nation of Americans, when exactly does it happen that an immigrant becomes an American? Most of the people in the United States came from Europe or their ancestors came from Europe. Many immigrants were poor, day laborers who chose to live in the city. They came to America in hope of a better economic life. Many lived in sections of the city that suffered from severe poverty. They often lived in run down tenement houses that were unsafe. All the while, they clung to the cultures of the “old world” they just left. It was not until the 1880s that things began to change. Jane Addams, a middle class woman, decided to help the impoverished immigrants. She opened a settlement house and she called it Hull House. It was the first settlement house in the United States. She focused on Chicago’s most poverty-stricken area. The Hull House became the social center for immigrants. It offered night school for adults, kindergarten classes, clubs, a public kitchen, an art gallery, a coffeehouse, a gym, a bathhouse and so much more. Hull House helped immigrants become part of the social world in America. It also tried to Americanize the immigrants and encouraged them to assimilate into the American culture. In short, when Jane Addams founded the Hull House she wanted to help immigrants become part of the American culture and she persuaded them to leave the customs of the “old world” in their past.
“We are a nation of immigrants. We are the children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren of the ones who wanted a better life” said former Governor of Massachusetts, Mitt Romney, at the 2012 Republican National Convention. Since its establishment, the United States has grown through immigration, lending to a multicultural society. However, immigration and its government policies have become of great public interest due to illegal immigration at the Mexican border and violent events in the Middle East. For this reason it seems sensible to investigate the lives of immigrants so that U.S. citizens may take a stance on this disputed topic. Regardless of their origins, whether they are from Latin America, Asia, or anywhere else, immigrants seem to encounter similar endeavors. In Jhumpa Lahiri’s collection of short stories, Interpreter of Maladies, the author depicts the immigration of Indian citizens to the United States. Noting various matters ranging from motives to the cultural identity crisis, Lahiri exposes the struggles and ramifications of American immigration. The collection elucidates the lives of first and second generation
The immigrant’s journey to America, as depicted throughout history, transports culture, language, beliefs and unique lifestyles from one land to the other, but also requires one to undergo an adaptation process. The children of these immigrants, who are usually American-born, experience the complexity of a bicultural life, even without completely connecting to the two worlds to which they belong. Potentially resulting is the internal desire to claim a singular rather than dual identity, for simplicity, pride and a sense of acceptance. Jhumpa Lahiri, an Indian-American author and writer of “My Two Lives” could never classify herself as.
In America, it is a common misconception that all foreigners are similar; it is believed that they all have similar dreams and each of them end up chasing after the same jobs. However, this is not the case. Not only do immigrants from different countries hold different dreams, but those with a shared background even have varying hopes and dreams for the future. This is evidenced in Bharati Mukherjee’s essay, “Two Ways to Belong in America.” She utilizes several rhetorical strategies in order to show that immigrants have the ability to be assimilated into the American culture, but that they should not be deported if they choose not to conform to said culture.
Immigrants leave their countries in search for a better life and improvement of their situation. There is no singular reason for immigration; motivations range from better economic prospects to political safety. As of late, the number of immigrants living in the United States is an estimated 11 million. Those who immigrate are expected to contribute to the United States culturally, politically, and economically. Yet, full assimilation becomes difficult to achieve when the immigrant is made into “the other” by the country of reception.
... “individuality” that is specific to one person. In “Matrimony with a Proper Stranger” by Miguel Helft, both Rajiv and Vandana had different upbringings and therefore cultures, yet both wanted or conceded to an arranged marriage. This is an example of a cultural impact on two different cultures that has the same outcome, proving that “individualities” are formed by one’s upbringing. Also, culture is such a broad spectrum of topics it covers, it’s hard to find something that one isn’t influenced by any of the outside aspects.
Ruth Benedict’s anthropological book, Patterns of Culture explores the dualism of culture and personality. Benedict studies different cultures such as the Zuni tribe and the Dobu Indians. Each culture she finds is so different and distinctive in relation to the norm of our society. Each difference is what makes it unique. Benedict compares the likenesses of culture and individuality, “A culture, like an individual, is a more or less consistent pattern of thought or action” (46), but note, they are not the same by use of the word, “like.” Benedict is saying that figuratively, cultures are like personalities. Culture and individuality are intertwined and dependent upon each other for survival.
Each and every culture is defined by their people. The people make up the part of the whole and cultures function differently for a variety of reasons (Mooji, 2014, p. 81). Internal and external factors on both the macro and micro level play important roles within a society. Countries can be categorized into one of two types of cultures: collectivist or individualistic. These cultures are opposite, each culture possesses descriptive characteristics which include “religion, family structure, … and social class structure” among a number of other characteristics to which the people within the “given societies view as very important, if not critical” (Mooji, 2014, p. 82). Simply stated, Mooji (p. 90) defines people in collectivist cultures as
For many years, the idea of race itself has been in question by sociologists who are attempting to come up with a definition for what identifies one racial group from another. In fact, the largest possible determinant has been culture. Our culture is the basis of who we are in life. It is a way of life that determines the lifestyle that is practiced within a group of people, or society. In other words, a significant concept to understand is that cultural beliefs, behaviors, values, and practices are learned from birth: first at home, then in church and other places where people assemble. Some practices and beliefs in human culture include food, music, religion, sports, and health beliefs, which symbolize the values we possess in life. Furthermore, our own culture is diverse and it is significant to look within and identify what we value the most, what is essentially needed, and how we perceive the world. It is our surviving tool and subconsciously we don’t even realize it is needed to communicate and socialize with o...
Bharati Mukherjee’s story, “Two Ways to Belong in America”, is about two sisters from India who later came to America in search of different ambitions. Growing up they were very similar in their looks and their beliefs, but they have contrasting views on immigration and citizenship. Both girls had been living in the United States for 35 years and only one sister had her citizenship. Bharati decided not to follow Indian traditional values and she married outside of her culture. She had no desire to continue worshipping her culture from her childhood, so she became a United States citizen. Her ideal life goal was to stay in America and transform her life. Mira, on the other hand, married an Indian student and they both earned labor certifications that was crucial for a green card. She wanted to move back to India after retirement because that is where her heart belonged. The author’s tone fluctuates throughout the story. At the beginning of the story her tone is pitiful but then it becomes sympathizing and understanding. She makes it known that she highly disagrees with her sister’s viewpoints but she is still considerate and explains her sister’s thought process. While comparing the two perspectives, the author uses many