Social And Cultural Identity: Poem Analysis

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“In the social jungle of human existence, there is no feelings of being alive without a sense of identity,” once said by Erik Erikson. This quote can be interpreted in way that explains without any knowledge of your identity, you will not be able to live your life in your own perspective. Through many connections with the poem “Internment” and the vignette “My Name” from the book The House on Mango Street, I was able to learn the significance of identifying my own social and cultural identity, and accepting the effects of my individualism on others’ perspective, including mine.
First of all, from the poem “Internment” by Juliet S. Kono, the speaker was able to take pride in herself by finding positive features about herself and the situation …show more content…

In “Internment” by Juliet S. Kono, the text states, “The branding of her indignation” (Stanza 7). This quote explains the main character’s anger is enraging and burning inside of her, due to the injustice of being imprisoned for her ethnicity as a Japanese. I …show more content…

Yet, she dislikes the meanings of her name, so she tries to find who she really is. According to the text, “At school they say my name funny as if the syllables were made of tin and hurt the roof of your mouth” (¶5). This illustrates how her name was addressed in a way that she hated and affected her opinion towards her name. This is significant because it connects to my personal experience of being bullied at school for my name that is viewed as strange by the bully. The author shares, “I would like to baptize myself under a new name, a name more like the real me, the one nobody sees” (¶5). The author is explaining how her opinion about her name has changed due to many influences. Due to those influences, she would like to baptize under a new name that really reflects her true identity. This leads me to believe that I also desire to be baptized under a new name that really reveals my true self, the true me that defines who I actually am. I completely support the author’s point of view about her name and the effects that they have on her opinions, since it is important to identify your true self by any