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Mexican american culture and traditions
Culture and impact on identity
Mexican-american/chicano culture analysis
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In the texts, "In Response to Executive Order 9066" by Dwight Okita and "Mericans" by Sandra Cisneros, a topic of American identity and perception of identity is shared. Both texts take a brief look at the lives, characteristics, and feelings of young girls living a bicultural life. In Cisnero's story, the girl seems caught between her two different cultures, and she struggles to connect with her Mexican heritage. In Okita's poem, the girl has a clear sense of her identity and place as an American. Culture is experienced and interpreted differently by each individual and each group of people.
Situated near the U.S.-Mexico border during the early twentieth century is the fictional setting of Fort Jones, the outskirts of which is where Americo Paredes’ short story “Macaria’s Daughter” takes place. Emblematic of the disappropriation of Mexican land, as well as the increased marginalization of the Mexican people, the overbearing presence of Fort Jones reveals the struggle for preservation that characterizes the Mexican-American community of the story. “Macaria’s Daughter” is the tragic account of what happens in a small community when the upholding of Mexican values and institutions, and opposition to Anglo-American culture, become more important than a young woman’s life. In this essay, I will argue that “Macaria’s Daughter” is a text
The Death of Josseline The book I chose to write a narrative about is called The Death of Josseline: Immigration Stories from the Arizona Borderlands written by Margaret Regan. This book humanizes migrating families and individuals while giving us insight on an issue that Arizona has been expressively dealing with: the movement of undocumented migrants that cross into Arizona, a state who’s anti-immigrant laws are the most stringent in the nation. The border is signified as different things to different people, which can be a very different place to individuals depending on the discourse and lenses shown as focal points.
Cohen’s fourth thesis talks about the differences among groups of people in areas of race, gender, etc. and how those differences can create monsters in society. Unauthorized immigrants often get placed into a “different” or “unwanted” group and that causes them to face unfairness in society. “How Immigrants Become ‘Other’” correlates to Cohen’s thesis because unauthorized immigrants can be made into monsters due to differences in race and legal status. The group of unauthorized immigrants can become alienated in society, and the people themselves are sometimes referred to as “illegal aliens.”
The immigrants entering the United States throughout its history have always had a profound effect on American culture. However, the identity of immigrant groups has been fundamentally challenged and shaped as they attempt to integrate into U.S. society. The influx of Mexicans into the United States has become a controversial political issue that necessitates a comprehensive understanding of their cultural themes and sense of identity. The film Mi Familia (or My Family) covers the journey and experiences of one Mexican-American (or “Chicano”) family from Mexico as they start a new life in the United States. Throughout the course of the film, the same essential conflicts and themes that epitomize Chicano identity in other works of literature
During a scene in John Sayles’ Lone Star, a character named Otis Payne is having a long awaited conversation with his distant son, Colonel Delmar Payne, about Delmar’s current position as Colonel and Otis’ current position as the “Mayor of Darktown.” The “Mayor of Darktown” is a phrase used to show the influence Otis has on the black people of Fontera. After some discussion about Delmar’s return to Fontera, the place Delmar likes to run away from, he said, “The Army hands you a command, you go wherever it is” (1). Delmar is preaching that it is necessary to allow the Army, or in most cases, an authoritative figure, to have a great influence on what one chooses to do with one’s life. It is easier to oblige to any authoritative figure, because when you do not, there will be consequences.
Mora explains that even though she was raised in a bilingual community, “Spanish and being of Mexican descent and being part of the border experience was never part of my educational experience” (Colorin Colorado). It was in her writings where she could show her appreciation of her heritage and educate others on welcoming their culture with pride. It was a great feeling to be different and being able to speak and write in two languages was something that she appreciated.
The Back of a Nonexistent Line In the film Documented and The New York Times article “My Life as an Undocumented Immigrant,” Jose Antonio Vargas describes his experience as an undocumented immigrant in the United States and provides a passionate argument for creating a pathway to citizenship for others like Vargas, who are undocumented as well. Although both the film and article give the viewers and readers an insight into Vargas’ difficult journey, a particular scene in the film sends an unspoken message about the United States as a whole. In Documented, the scene in which Jose Antonio Vargas attends a Mitt Romney campaign rally is detrimental to the immigration debate because it demonstrates the need for Americans to be educated about undocumented
Many stories embody the cultural aspects of Mexican-Americans and their struggles with living in a discriminatory society. Stories like With
Cofer addresses the cultural barriers and challenges that Latinos experience through emotional appeal, anecdotal imagery, parallelism and the use of effective periodic sentences. In her article, Cofer assesses the difficult cultural hurdles of Latin Americans with emotional appeal. She provides insight on her cultural barriers by first conveying the way she had to dress and her struggle, as it shows in this piece of text, “That morning I had organized… which to base my decision” (Cofer 5). This poignancy works to stress an agonizing feeling of uncertainty and restraint towards the author.
Barrientos tells of learning to read and write in spanish. One key feature of a literacy narrative is an indication of the narrative 's significance. The aurthorś significance of learning the language is sha wants to feel like she belongs in the Latino community. According to the text the author felt out of place because she did not speak spanish, but she was Guatemalan. “I am Guatemalan by birth but pura gringa by Circumstance?”
The Hybrid of displacement The poem chosen that mostly represents the confusion of assimilation and the sense of uniqueness is Gloria Anzaldua’s: “To live on the Borderlands means you…” because it describes the inner and outer displacement in both a negative and positive light, versus having an understanding of her own identity and embracing hybridity. She has all of her emotions out in the open and sheds a light on the struggles she has faced and others may have too. It iswritten in English and certain phrases or words with which she wanted to make a statement are in Spanish. Terms like “gabacha – a Chicano term for white women”, or “rajetas – literally ‘split’, that is, having betrayed your word”, give the poem a sincerity and straightforwardness
In the poem “To live in the Borderlands means you”, the borderlands become a place of change, such as changing from just one culture or race into a diverse culture or race and not-belonging. (Singh, A., & Schmidt, P. 2000). The poem describes how the author’s own background ethnicity people, mixicanas, identifies people like her, chicanas, as “split or mixture that means to betray your word and they deny “Anlo inside you.” (Anzaldua, F. 1987). The poem describes that the borderland is a place of contradiction, such as of home not being a home.
Through popular culture, it is clear that many people are fascinated by the prospect of extraterrestrial creatures. Some of the most common scenarios include alien abductions, invasions, and human-alien interactions. But how would humans really react in the face of such a drastic event? Octavia Butler portrays a version of this warped reality, in which alien “Communities” invade the desert regions of Earth. Humans are forced to come to terms with these new conditions, unveiling the many layers of depth and complexity of the human mind.
Otherization Practice Essay: “No Speak English” In Sandra Cisnero’s short story “No Speak English”, a woman called Mamacita struggles with the language barrier and certain social expectations after her immigration to the United States. The otherization she faces can be defined as the process where someone is treated as an outsider from a dominant group’s norm, thus indicating that if someone draws a line between someone’s personal ambitions and society’s expectations, otherization will occur. This is because when someone's differences are compared to unrealistic standards, the person can be pushed away and seen as an outsider. Initially, the author uses diction in order to show a shift in Mamacita’s identity overtime.
