Self Identity
Self Identity
The identity of one 's self can largely be defined by one 's culture and heritage, but it is certainly not restricted by these elements. Family makes up the most part of your culture as well as the place you call home. Traveling can help put you on a road to self-discovery, and can help you find a balance of who you are in specific environments. To fully understand yourself you have to investigate all the cultures you are comprised of through your family and heritage. Then you can contrast different parts of yourself that come from different backgrounds and find a happy medium. These elements are all present in Amy Tan 's short story, "A Pair of Tickets", and the poem "Lost Sister" by Cathy Song. The two works have similar concepts, although there are some differences in setting and tone. It is also interesting to note that the authors show a great deal of similarities between themselves as well. Before jumping into the content of the two works themselves, it is interesting to note how similar the two authors ' backgrounds are, and how they intertwine their childhood experiences into their literary works. Cathy Song was born in 1955 in Hawaii with a mix of Chinese and Korean ancestry (Song 's). She adapted to Chinese culture the most, and associates with this side of her upbringing. She grew up with the ancient oriental culture of her immediate family in the midst of Western culture present in the environment surrounding her (Song 's). The poem "Lost Sister" contrasts these two types of lifestyles, those of China and the Western culture of the United States. As will be discussed later, Song 's ancestors did not get to experience the joys of freedom present in the United States, but Song had to endure the ambiguity of being a "hyphenated American" (Song 's). She also did not get to experience a true form of her Chinese culture that her roots had built for her. Amy Tan had a very similar childhood and life experiences that also helped shape
The identity of one 's self can largely be defined by one 's culture and heritage, but it is certainly not restricted by these elements. Family makes up the most part of your culture as well as the place you call home. Traveling can help put you on a road to self-discovery, and can help you find a balance of who you are in specific environments. To fully understand yourself you have to investigate all the cultures you are comprised of through your family and heritage. Then you can contrast different parts of yourself that come from different backgrounds and find a happy medium. These elements are all present in Amy Tan 's short story, "A Pair of Tickets", and the poem "Lost Sister" by Cathy Song. The two works have similar concepts, although there are some differences in setting and tone. It is also interesting to note that the authors show a great deal of similarities between themselves as well. Before jumping into the content of the two works themselves, it is interesting to note how similar the two authors ' backgrounds are, and how they intertwine their childhood experiences into their literary works. Cathy Song was born in 1955 in Hawaii with a mix of Chinese and Korean ancestry (Song 's). She adapted to Chinese culture the most, and associates with this side of her upbringing. She grew up with the ancient oriental culture of her immediate family in the midst of Western culture present in the environment surrounding her (Song 's). The poem "Lost Sister" contrasts these two types of lifestyles, those of China and the Western culture of the United States. As will be discussed later, Song 's ancestors did not get to experience the joys of freedom present in the United States, but Song had to endure the ambiguity of being a "hyphenated American" (Song 's). She also did not get to experience a true form of her Chinese culture that her roots had built for her. Amy Tan had a very similar childhood and life experiences that also helped shape
Cited: Beaty, Jerome, and J. Paul Hunter. New Worlds of Literature. New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 1994. Random House Webster 's Dictionary. New York: Ballantine Books, 2001. Shan, Jun. Jade Culture. 06 Dec. 2004 . Song 's Experience through "Lost Sister". 06 Dec. 2004 . < http://www.bookrags.com/guides/joyluckclub/>. 06 Dec. 2004.