Sandra Cisneros

American writers such as Japanese-American Dwight Okita and Mexican-American Sandra Cisneros were both greatly influenced by US culture. Okita's "Response to Executive Order 9066" and Cisneros's "Mericans" establish topics of American identity and family relationships. Both Okita's poem and Cisneros's short story share themes that American identity comes from merging cultures and supporting one another is important in family relationships.

In "Mericans" by author Sandra Cisneros, the first sign of American Identity in the short story is calling relatives by traditional American nicknames, such as "Auntie." In addition, another example of American Identity in Cisneros's passage regards childhood. While growing up, Cisneros's grandmother, who she nicknamed "the awful grandmother" (Cisneros), had the opposite view of America as the narrator and disliked it. Despite Sandra's Mexican heritage, she feels a stronger connection with the United States than she does with Mexico, and reassures herself "We're Mericans, we're Mericans, and inside the awful grandmother prays" (Cisneros) In "Mericans," one of the most important conflicts
Cisneros addresses poverty, cultural suppression, self-identity, and gender roles in her fiction and poetry. In Okita's poem, American identity has more to do with how you personally experience culture than where your family comes from. Both authors know that they are Americans, despite what their family, friends, or anyone else might say.

"Mericans" by Sandra Cisneros and "Response to Executive Order 9066" by Dwight Okita are two stories by two different authors that share similar topics and themes about what it's like to be an American. They both share themes that supporting one another is important in family relationships and American identity comes from merging