ipl-logo

'Was Smash Flat' By Meimei

694 Words3 Pages

In this story, written by unknown, the author is showing that while Meimei’s mom wants to stay close to her Chinese roots, Meimei would rather assimilate as an American. This was shown using the dialogue of the mom, her dislike of “American rules” and tournaments, and Meimei’s desire to be away from her mom. Throughout the story, when Meimei’s mom was speaking, there were many grammar mistakes and syllables missing that make it sound like she is a stereotypical Chinese-American mother. When she is describing when a girl got hit by a cab, she says “Was smash flat”, instead of the more grammatically correct “Was smashed flat”. When she is talking about why going to an American tournament would be a bad thing, she says “Is shame you fall down …show more content…

When she was explaining to Meimei what Chinese torture is, she explained it like this. “Chinese people do many things. Chinese people do business, do medicine, do painting. Not lazy like American people. We do torture. Best torture.” Even when explaining something as gruesome as torture, the mom still thinks that everything in China is better than it is in America. If assimilation means liking your country, and disliking your country means that you think the people are lazy and do not work, than the mom dislikes her country and does not want to assimilate. Also, her mom has a hate for “American Rules” that everyone must know. “This American rules. Every time people come out from foreign country, must know rules. You not know, judge say, too bad, go back. They not telling you why so you can use their way go forward. They say, don’t know why, you find out yourself but they knowing all the time. Better you take it, find out why yourself.” The mom here is talking about some of the knowledge needed to lawfully live in the US. She thinks that knowing and abiding by American rules is silly, and they should let people in even if they don’t know the laws. If assimilating into a country means knowing and abiding by that country’s laws, and Meimei’s mom does not think that these laws are important, than she is not trying to assimilate. Meimei learned the “American rules” and is following them, and that is why

Show More
Related
958 Words | 4 Pages

Families serve as children's principal settings for cultural and racial transmission, serving as their primary crucible for socialization, “What it all comes down to is that the family is the unit of cultural preservation. This is true for all families, but for immigrants, it is particularly bittersweet; to do one thing means something else is excluded” (Lee). Lee says that she felt lost at times for not knowing about her family's history before migrating to the United States, "Because our parents never spoke about Korea, we felt as if we’d landed in the middle of the Iron Range of Minnesota via spaceship" (Lee), and for not practicing the culture of their country of origin, “They (author’s parents) insisted that we were not Koreans or even Korean-Americans, but Americans”

Read More
1830 Words | 8 Pages

She makes note of how different the American culture is from Iran’s. These differences are even prominent from a very young age, as shown in how Dumas described her American school experience. One difficulty in assimilating into a new culture is the feeling of not fitting in. Dumas describes this feeling as “becom[ing] permanent foreigners, belonging neither here nor there” and “floating between worlds but never fully landing” (134). As she, or any other immigrant, spends more time in America, there is a point where they don’t feel they can identify with one distinct culture.

Read More
684 Words | 3 Pages

Sara and her family are going through this assimilation process because they believe they will be welcomed by society and adopt American identities. For immigrants’ transitions, and Sara in particular, a reality of independence is strongly desired. She seeks to become independent of her family and her cultural background because she believes that independence is a sign of authenticity and originality. This process is a combination of self-creation and Americanization. English language skills and a method of education are also critical components of cultural assimilation.

Read More
684 Words | 3 Pages

Assimilation: the process of taking in and fully understanding information or ideas. This is a common topic throughout both "Response to Executive Order 9066" and "Mericans", two stories about other cultures blending into American culture. Both stories focus on the toxicity of American culture and the racial divide between people. Even though the main characters in both texts have completely assimilated into American culture, they are still treated like outsiders and considered foreign, whether they grew up in the US or not. Although the stories diverge in terms of circumstances, tone, and mood, both generally reflect on the negative impact of American culture and how it has affected the lives of immigrants.

Read More
854 Words | 4 Pages

While there are many big ideas and issues presented to us in “Crying in H-Mart” by Michelle Zauner, one that seems very prevalent is the cultural disconnect Zauner feels between herself and her family's heritage. The text “In the Land of the Free” by Sui Sin Far also shares a similar idea of cultural disconnect due to immigration laws. Both of these texts show us that having an ethnic and social divide within family members can cause instability within the family itself. Zauner writes about not being able to understand Korean fully, which leads to a massive culture and social divide between herself and her family members. She writes “Growing up in America with a Caucasian father and a Korean mother, I relied on my mom for access to our Korean

Read More
670 Words | 3 Pages

So when they return to their homelands, they have hard time getting along with the native people, cultures and traditions. Often, these ‘non-residents’ marry someone from other countries, and both the spouses experience troubles getting acquainted with their partners’ cultures and ways of living. Things get even more difficult for the non-residents’ children. Many of them are born and brought up in the foreign culture. These children actually live in two different environments - one at home that resemble the original cultures of their home country or their root, and one outside their homes (the culture and traditions of the country they are living in).

Read More
887 Words | 4 Pages

The immigrants (Firoozeh and her mother) and the Americans (their neighbors) work together, disregarding nationalities and seeing that we all need to help each other because we are all equal. Thus, immigrants who who are treated with respect have greater success in

Read More
579 Words | 3 Pages

Sara says, "I remember once asking my dad if he felt like he belonged in America. He said he didn't know. He said he always felt like an outsider, like he was always observing but never really participating" (Saedi 4). This demonstrates how difficult cultural assimilation can be for some people, particularly those who have strong ties to their cultural heritage. Sara's father's experience demonstrates how cultural assimilation is a difficult process, with individuals facing unique challenges based on their cultural background and personal

Read More
783 Words | 4 Pages

Lastly, the American education is another reason where ¨ the people refuse to let the government control education¨(pg.88). Education In the U.S. is open for all the immigrants regardless on the race, religion, or skin color, were everyone have the same opportunity for education. Therefore, knowing the American customs can help immigrants to have easier life in the

Read More
1686 Words | 7 Pages

Assimilation is usually meant to indicate what happens to immigrants in a new land. However, “rejection, loneliness, discrimination—these were the byproducts of living in the United States” (Ghymn 37). In Marilyn Chin’s essay on assimilation “How I Got That Name,” the speaker acquaints the readers how she got the American name “Marilyn.” The tension between the two cultures is evident, for the speaker is treated as “Model Minority.” Her race and ethnicity define her; in fact, the stereotypes inscribed with her race restricted and cage her significance in the society.

Read More
781 Words | 4 Pages

Introduction to under bed gun safes For most people, gun ownership is primarily to provide protection. Whether it is protection for yourself, your family, your loved ones, or for property, guns are considered as weapons that can secure and save. For this reason, many of us choose to have guns in our homes and offices. We feel more secure if we have guns handy and easily accessible in times of great need. Gun ownership, of course, entails big responsibility for gun owners.

Read More
301 Words | 2 Pages

For many new immigrants coming to America, it is difficult to adjust into the new society. Many come to America without the basic knowledge of English, the new immigrants do not have the ability assimilate to American society because of the lack of possible communication between the immigrant and an native. Non-English speaking immigrants that come to America face harsh challenges when trying to assimilate to U.S. society because immigrants are often segregated into ethnic communities away from natives, Americans do not know basics of words of other well known languages, and the lack of government funding education programs. Assimilation into a new society is difficult enough, but when the society pushes any new immigrants to separate part

Read More
746 Words | 3 Pages

Because of her mother, the girl often emerges victorious after participating in matches. Furthermore, when her daughter is curious about Chinese torture, Mrs. Jong instructs, "Chinese people do business, do medicine, do painting. Not lazy like American people. We do torture. Best torture.”

Read More
554 Words | 3 Pages

This shows that immigrants are struggling to cull cultures and new environment. Richard Rodriguez, also states “ I was talking to the Laotian kids about why they don’t like the Mexican kids ( Rodriguez ). This also relates because Ms. Tran also said, because of her race, she did not get along well with others. This shows that assimilation is also one of the most significant problems that immigrants face. Others may say that discrimination is the most significant problem.

Read More
477 Words | 2 Pages

In the story the mother is saying it's her daughter's fault that she looks like a Negro Chinese person. When the real truth is it's not her daughter's fault she looks like a Negro Chinese person. The way you look is all part of your culture appearance background. Than she made a comment about how she looked like a boy with curly really short

Read More

More about 'Was Smash Flat' By Meimei

Related Topics

Open Document