Preview

Two Ways To Belong In America Essay

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
584 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Two Ways To Belong In America Essay
Azariel Isa Manokham
10-7-15
3*
Karen Smith
Unit 1 Embedded Assessment #2 Is the culture inside of you your satellite revolving the universe? As you grow in age and knowledge you satellite orbits and you grow bigger and bigger. How does culture affect people? A person’s culture informs the way he or she views others and the world because of one’s personal past and experiences affecting their point-of-view and/or perspective. Knowing that culture defines who we are, we can affect others as they affect even more people, etc. Acting like a chain reaction in how we view the world. How we view the world can be told from many different sources such as; “Two Ways to Belong in America”, “An Indian Father’s Plea”, and “Two Kinds”. These sources explaining our parent’s influence on us, how this influence affects us, and how we use this in our lives. Telling us that we either grow upon or fall off of our experiences. With our parents influence on our lives, how does “Two Ways to Belong in America,” contribute to our culture.
…show more content…
They also affect and bring out who we are and who are to be to the world. They really show us how we view others such as a personal essay titled, “Two Ways to Belong in America,” by Bharati Mukherjee. This essay portrays a certain given information that explains our parents influence from a certain quote, “ That sense of Betrayal had it’s desired effect and drove me, and thousands like me, from the country.” (Mukherjee 72). This quote tells us that once something this ‘nuclear’ happens to us, we tend to be driven away from what is true to us and we move to another direction. Like a misleading road to what we should really be doing. Knowing that our parents influence on us affects our culture, we can also use this in our

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    In the short story, "Two Ways to Belong in America", Bharati tells that there are two ways to belong in America. The first one is belonging legally. To belong legally you either have a green card, or you are a citizen. The other way is to fit in with society, and to feel as if you belong. Bharati is an American citizen, and married outside of her culture. She was prepared for this and was ready for the emotional strain. Mira had only a green card, and married an Indian student in 1962. Mira has become nationally recognized for her contributions in the fields of pre-school education and parent teacher relationships. After 36 years as a legal immigrant in this country, she clings passionately to her Indian citizenship and hopes to go home to India when she retires. This shows how both of the sisters have different views on their lifestyles.…

    • 260 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Everyone is raised in their own ethnic surroundings. This is mainly based upon the ethnicity to which one belongs, the type of parents by which one is brought up, or the “Americanization” of parents from another culture. An individual informs others of their cultural standards through their actions, their initiative, their respect of family, and their futuristic thinking. These aspects build up one’s personality and lifestyle.…

    • 351 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    I believe your culture affects everything you do within your life. As an example, in the book, ‘Lullabies for Little Criminals’ by Heather O’Neill, the main character Baby believes that the implications she makes of herself being experienced with drugs and alcohol make her look cool and more mature. This is due to…

    • 550 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    It is important for children to make their own decisions on how they look at the world. But it is up to the parent to influence their child on how the outlook is. Children get most of their perception of culture from their parents. Three ideas that play a major role on a child’s perspective on culture are: social interactions between parent and child, the passing down of heirlooms, and emotional connections. These concepts are seen in the poems Hanging Fire by Audre Lorde and My Mother Pieced Quilts by Teresa Palomo Acosta.…

    • 390 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Have you ever wondered about the effect of a person’s culture on their views? Culture has an important effect on a person’s views. Many authors, such as Amy Tan, Santha Rama Rau, and Robert Lake, have strong views about culture. Their stories show the relationship between a person’s culture and their view on the world. A person’s culture can affect the way they view others and the world.…

    • 1004 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Introduction: One’s culture is a key part of their identity. Culture can reside in a nation, family, ethnicity, a religion, etc. Mahatma Gandhi once said, “A Nation’s culture resides in the hearts and in the soul of its people”. One’s culture is usually seen through the religion and traditions of their nation; therefore this influences their everyday lives and their behavior.. Culture influences one’s appearance or the way they talk, but also a person’s ideas, judgements, and treatments of others.…

    • 400 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    In conclusion, attitudes and beliefs play a massive part in someone’s cultural components. Furthermore, without these components, each on of us would be nobodies, and not a single person could express their thoughts and beliefs as they wanted. Culture is in the roots of a person and will always be the root of a…

    • 496 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Do you sometimes have doubts about your perspective of yourself based on how society is or what is "popular", or even what someone tells you? Do you sometimes listen to them and sometimes not? Cultures do have a certain impact on our daily perceptions and how we view others, but we are still in control of our own being, our take on how people around us act, and how we choose to let them impact us or not. Outside judgment from society and our peers could also change or alter how we think of ourselves. One example of how cultures affect us is an Indian lady named Bharati Mukherjee sharing her experiences with people outside of her culture.…

    • 844 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    I chose to explore the daily rituals and routines of my good friend Tarek Ahmed from Yemen. He arrived in the United States in the year 2006 and we’ve been great friends since then. Over the years I’ve realized that he’s carried his culture as well as rituals and routines that he practiced in Yemen to the United States. These daily rituals and routines are of daily importance to Tarek because as a child, he was taught to never forget his culture. “When I came from Yemen, I knew that I could not forget my hometown and that I had to carry my culture with me.” Ever since Tarek came to the United States, he’s had trouble fitting in. His culture was very different to the people around him. They didn’t accept him for who he was and where he came from. Tarek knew that he had to adapt to the cultures of the United States, but not to the extent where he’d forget his original culture. “I knew I had to change who I was around other people so that they would accept me,” said Tarek. Tarek had only changed the way which he acted around the people who did not accept him for who he was. At home, he still practiced the same rituals and routines which he practiced in…

    • 1817 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Over the course of a lifetime there are many lessons to be learned. There are stories to tell, friends and enemies to be made, and money to be had. But these things are all greatly affected by where and when a person is from. The setting of a person’s life will change who they will meet, what opportunities they will have, how much money they will make, what they will believe, and eventually who they become. Changing the setting of a person’s life, could entirely change who they are.…

    • 1523 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    What it means to be an American, most people would tell you it means freedom to pursue and do what you want. In my opinion freedom and the “dream” don't come easy it takes more than hard work and dedication to earn a dime in this country. To be an American it means, responsibility to serve and do everything in your power to be a part of your society. To be an American it means you will obtain rights, for example, the 2nd amendment states you have the right to bare arms. To be an American it means you have freedom, to own whatever you desire if you work hard enough for it.…

    • 436 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The United States is known as the Melting Pot because is full of people who have immigrated from other countries. Many immigrants come to America seeking a better life. When immigrants want to enter the U.S. they must go through a certain called the immigration process. They must pass the immigration process to enter the country. There is one place where typically, immigrants come to. This place is called Ellis Island. All immigrants have very different reasons to come, experiences, and struggles they face when they arrive in America.…

    • 770 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    American Identity Essay

    • 709 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Most people would agree that being an American is living in the United States, but it is also more than that. It’s the feeling of freedom. Immigrants come to America because they want a better life for themselves and their families. Our country is great because citizens have many privileges that other countries don’t. Also, Americans are different, but get to live in the same country together. The American Identity is composed of working hard to live how you wish to live, standing up for your beliefs to make positive change, and coexisting peacefully with friends, family, and neighbors. This lifestyle was one of the many pull factors for immigrants in other countries.…

    • 709 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Unity in Diversity

    • 313 Words
    • 2 Pages

    A system of social status, marriage, body adornments, dancing, myths and legends, cooking , inheritance rules, puberty customs, and religious rituals, these are examples of cultural universals. Anything that is part of everyday society that all cultures have but do differently is called cultural universal. Adaptation is a major role of culture because it provides people with a means of form structure modified to fit a changed environment. For example, in many tropical societies, women cannot have intercourse with a man until her child is at least two years of age. She must not chance getting pregnant because she can only breast feed one child at a time. In the tropical societies protein us scarce, and only if she was to stop breast feeding the child before it was two the child would be prone to Kwashiorkor disease. Look at different cultures and not judging their customs, such as, not good or bad, right or wrong. This is known to be culture relativity. The thinking of one’s own group ways is superior to others, or judging other groups as inferior to one’s own is called ethnocentrism. They believe that the way of life only goes by their beliefs and values. When certain things are exercised in a culture on a regular basis it becomes value of that culture. For example Tangus play a game called taketak, the game isn’t based on who wins or loses because they believe it causes ill-will. Guidelines to behave in certain situation and circumstance are called norms. For example There was a plane crash with survivors and some dead, the survivors where stuck for days without help or food supply. They had to consume parts for the dead’s body in order to survive, if not have done so the survivor’s would have…

    • 313 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Mahatma Gandhi once said that “no culture can live if it attempts to be exclusive”. Culture is defined by the practices of a society in every walk of life. However, in order for cultures to grow and flourish there must be an understanding of the culture itself and other cultures of the world. Through fully understanding the state of American culture, we can ultimately understand other cultures and how they differ or parallel our own. These are my observations:…

    • 1160 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays