Summary on "The F-Word"
Summary on “The ‘F-Word’”
It is not uncommon to sometimes hear or see what here in America is considered to be a strange or different name and decide to make fun of it or the holder of that name. This is a major obstacle that an Iranian immigrant named Firoozeh Dumas, author of “The ‘F-Word’” had to face. She illustrates a picture using words about the hardships that her name has brought upon her during her entire life. Throughout the story, she uses humor to describe what would have been a rather negative situation, and in the end she decides to embrace the name she has and not let any remarks about it bother her.
Dumas moved to California from Iran at the age of seven, moved back to Iran, and after two short years, she moved back to the states, only to put herself in a web of mockery because of her name. Being an immigrant, she had somewhat of an idea that growing up in America would be full of challenges, but she would have never imagined that her name would be a major pothole on her road to social integration. At the age of twelve, Dumas decided to give herself the “American” middle name, Julie, but little did she know that her attempt to start the sixth grade with a more easily pronounced name would backfire because now she shared names with a neighbor. Despite the fact that she now shares names with a neighbor of hers, she comes to find life to be much less complicated and in her own words, brought her “an entirely refreshing new sensation” (Dumas 59), because now people will not see her as a foreigner, but as a friend. Although, this wonderful feeling that she has, would soon lead her to believe that she is trying too hard to be something that she is not. Dumas gets a reality check when she says that “people would have probably never invited me into their house had they known me as Firoozeh” (Dumas 59).
As the days grew into years, Dumas made her way to college, where after carrying the pseudo-name, Julie, for such a long time, she eventually decides to
It is not uncommon to sometimes hear or see what here in America is considered to be a strange or different name and decide to make fun of it or the holder of that name. This is a major obstacle that an Iranian immigrant named Firoozeh Dumas, author of “The ‘F-Word’” had to face. She illustrates a picture using words about the hardships that her name has brought upon her during her entire life. Throughout the story, she uses humor to describe what would have been a rather negative situation, and in the end she decides to embrace the name she has and not let any remarks about it bother her.
Dumas moved to California from Iran at the age of seven, moved back to Iran, and after two short years, she moved back to the states, only to put herself in a web of mockery because of her name. Being an immigrant, she had somewhat of an idea that growing up in America would be full of challenges, but she would have never imagined that her name would be a major pothole on her road to social integration. At the age of twelve, Dumas decided to give herself the “American” middle name, Julie, but little did she know that her attempt to start the sixth grade with a more easily pronounced name would backfire because now she shared names with a neighbor. Despite the fact that she now shares names with a neighbor of hers, she comes to find life to be much less complicated and in her own words, brought her “an entirely refreshing new sensation” (Dumas 59), because now people will not see her as a foreigner, but as a friend. Although, this wonderful feeling that she has, would soon lead her to believe that she is trying too hard to be something that she is not. Dumas gets a reality check when she says that “people would have probably never invited me into their house had they known me as Firoozeh” (Dumas 59).
As the days grew into years, Dumas made her way to college, where after carrying the pseudo-name, Julie, for such a long time, she eventually decides to
Cited: Dumas, Firoozeh. “The ‘F Word’”. Read, Reason, Write: An Argument Text and reader. Ed Dorothy Seyler. 10. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2012. 57-60. Print.