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Comparing Okita's Poem And Cisneros '

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After reading Okita's poem and Cisneros's story you gain a new understanding of American identity. Both passages portray the idea that family cultural background and appearance do not determine who may identify as American. Throughout both stories this idea is supported in several ways. Both authors used different techniques to portray the same common idea.

In response to "Mericans", the first support of American identity I noticed is this story is based on the American titles. eLike "aunt" and "uncle", those are traditional titles in America. I also noticed it relates to the young American identity, regarding niece and nephew roles. For example, the grandmother prays for family members. The narrator has a feeling that the grandmother is worried about …show more content…

eLike "aunt" and "uncle", those are traditional titles in America. I also noticed it relates to the young American identity, regarding niece and nephew roles. For example, the grandmother prays for family members. The narrator has a feeling that the grandmother is worried about her grandkids because they live in America, which she describes as "barbaric", "born in that barbaric country with its barbaric ways." This shows the reader how much the grandmother truly dislikes America, and doesn't like the idea of her family heritage going to "waste" to that country. Unlike the grandmother, the narrator feels the opposite. She enjoys and relates to the American identity regardless of her Mexican heritage. The narrator expresses her stronger connection to the United States than to Mexico. The narrator's American identity subtracts from the "awful grandmother's" strong Mexican roots, but the Americans judge the narrator based on her looks. (stereotypical) After reading "Mericans" I soon realized the theme could potentially be, One's heritage doesn't dictate what culture one identify and relates

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They both show ways of perceiving American identity and what it means to an individual, particularly of one who is Japanese American or Mexican American. In Dwight Okita's poem, the girl's American identity has to do with her experiences in her life, not where she is originally from. In Sandra Cisnero's short story, the girl's American identity contrasts strongly with her family's culture and heritage. The two texts highlight the importance of individual identity and American identity, not physical appearance and heritage or ethnic background. The main characters in both of the texts relate and connect more to being American than their other cultures.

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Richard Rodriguez’s claim about a person's identity is the using race as a basis for identifying Americans is not valid; culture should be what defines a identity. Richard Rodriguez says that newcomers were being “welcomed within a new community for reasons of culture. “ (136-137). Richard Rodriguez says that newcomers were welcomed when they were identified by their culture. Richard Rodriguez also says “I am Chinese, and that is because I live in a Chinese city and I want to be Chinese.“

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Both Dwight Okita and Sandra Cisneros developed the theme of American identity in their writing. Dwight Okita expresses the individual theme in his poem of physical appearance does not define one 's American identity. In Sandra Cisneros short story she develops her individual theme of cultural heritage does not define your American identity. Together these two writers develop a common theme of cultural heritage and physical appearance does not define one 's American identity.

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The grandmother is selfish throughout Flannery O’Connor’s short story and the author displays it many times during the story. Grandmother is an older lady who only cares about herself and her appearance. She insists that she always dressed her best in case a tragedy were to

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The Grandmother is the only member of the family still alive at this point. The misfit holds the grandmother at gunpoint. The grandmother uses faith as a way to escape death and pleads for the character to spare her life. “Pray!” The grandmother pleads pathetically.

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She interprets the idea as if the reader does not believe on a God. O’Connor also carefully draws out her characters. O’Connor made the Grandmother a women so that any reader felt lower than and feel below in authority. The grandmother is shown as a pushy woman with characteristics of selfishness. These characteristics show when she insisted on going to the old house.

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Without the narrator’s courage, Grandma would have been buried in Bakersfield, where she didn’t want to be buried. Finally, Grandma is helpful when she brought the narrator’s family together. “When you’re family, you take care of your own” (Haslam 251). After Grandma passes, even though it is sad, she had helps her family bond and come

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Throughout the piece, the unnamed grandmother is shown to be an annoying and deceitful person. The Grandmother 's "selfish focus" has made the people around her miserable particularly her son (Brown 2). Bailey 's relationship with his mom is rocky but it is never shown just how long it had been deteriorating. In later paragraphs, the grandmother is revealed to be

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The grandmother uses Jesus as a scapegoat to show how she is a child of God while the Misfit tells of how he really perceives Jesus and that there is no justification of his actions. In the event of the car accident, the Grandmother was left with a physical crisis that quickly showed as her family was sent off into the woods to be killed one by one. This soon transitioned to a spiritual crisis both between the Grandmother and the Misfit as she uses Jesus's name to try and escape her fate. This spiritual crisis leads the characters to express their personal conception of reality and how they perceive the revelation of the situation that they are in. The Grandmother has a sense that reality should revolve around her and that she should manipulate tools such as religion to benefit her outcome.

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