In the classroom we have to deal with my cultural difference that will play out within the confines of this learning space with students. Sometimes those factors can affect whether a child is doing well in school. In the documentary A Class Divided and the article White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Backpack, a clear picture is painted of what prejudice and privilege really are.…
Culture plays a big part in both of these stories, and shows the effects on identity when you are deprived of your culture. In “Growing Up Native”, the First Nations people are shamed for the culture they have and are obligated to adopt another culture. Typically, in their culture they have long hair, but in these residential schools they were forced to cut it, because it was thought that they had lice. They were told that Indian culture is evil and their only hope was to be Christian. Also, in the book it said “They had to stand up and say things like ‘I’ve found the Lord,’ when a teacher told them to speak” (Carol Geddes, Growing Up Native, page 46). The teachers embarrassed and harassed them for some reasons the children couldn’t control. Typically in First Nations culture the boys would go out to hunt, and the females would stay in school. Therefore, the boys wouldn’t get as much of an education as he girls, and their skills may not have developed as fast. The residential school teachers did not take this into account and tried to embarrass the boys when they couldn’t read in class. They asked the girls to read instead but it goes against their culture to show up to an older boy. These children lost their identities and felt humiliated by these residential school teachers making them go against their original traditions. In “Why My Mother Can’t Speak English”, the narrator’s mother is worried…
The essay “Mother Tongue” describes a writer who grew up with a mother of Asian origin and the limitations created by her mother’s speech. The author, Amy Tan, defines her mother’s English as “broken” and that it created communication barriers. For example, when Tan’s mother would need to call her boss about work, she would rely on her daughter to make the phone call and use proper english. When Tan decided to go into English in college, it seemed foolish since she was more skilled in math and science. The author also mentions how not everyone’s speech is the same, but that is not a bad thing. Tan decided to start writing fiction, and write a book in a way her mother would comprehend. Though the writing was harshly critiqued, Tan knew she…
Chapter 2: Chapter two, Robbins explains the impact of Asian culture and expectations on Asian American students, especially where education is concerned. She also talks about how the problem of overachieving is universal across our entire country, not just in affluent areas or at well-known high schools.…
Is it easy to change the culture of a person? Andrew Marantz touches on the issue of cultural change in his article, “My Summer at an Indian Call Center.” Andrew Marantz is an American author, who publishes articles for a magazine called Mother Jones. In his article, describes his experiences in Delhi at an Indian Call Center, where he was an employee and observed cultures being taught to him in an inappropriate manner. The author uses a list of rhetorical strategies in his article, but the one that stood out was, irony. Andrew Marantz uses the rhetorical strategy, irony, effectively in his argument that Indian Call Centers ruin the identity of their workers by forcing other cultures upon them. That is due to the reason that the use of irony highlights important events and it persuades the reader that his argument is trustworthy.…
In “Indian Father’s Plea”, the father desires his son to have a good educational base free from prejudicial hindrances. He believes that American schools should maintain a friendly learning environment. He describes his son’s upbringing through his culture and how it is different from the manner in which his son’s classmates…
Dave Barry and his family go to a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant, something more familiar and recognizable to them, when they could be having traditional Japanese food and experiencing the culture. This same anecdote also satirizes the stereotypical American method of communication with other people, which is to simply talk louder and/or slower, when a better method would be to have planned ahead or learning the language of the country they’re in. Dave Barry also satirizes the American stereotype of taking aspects of other cultures as pop culture by showing how it is confusing when the Japanese do the same thing. In this excerpt Dave is confused by how the Japanese people put English words on t-shirts simply because it is seen as cool, even though the words are random and don’t have any real meaning. This very same thing can be seen in American pop-culture too, with some people even getting tattoos in other languages that end up saying completely different things than they…
The schools on the reservation are inadequately funded and staffed. The medical care is inferior and likely contributed to Junior’s lingering disabilities. Alexie crafts a poignant summary of the oppression racism has on the tribe when he describes his father’s talent as a musician, “Given the chance, my father would have been a musician. Like he’s good enough to be on the radio. But we reservation Indians don’t get to realize our dreams. We don’t get those chances. Or choices. We’re just poor. That’s all we are. It sucks to be poor, and it sucks to feel that you somehow deserve to be poor. You start believing that you’re poor because you’re stupid and ugly. And then you start believing that you’re stupid and ugly because you’re Indian. And because you’re Indian you start believing you’re destined to be poor. It’s an ugly circle and there’s nothing you can do about it. Poverty doesn’t give you strength or teach you lessons about perseverance. No, poverty only teaches you how to be poor.”( p. 17) Without shaming or politicizing, Alexie enlightens readers to the link between racism and poverty and with any luck, urges us all to examine our role in this…
One’s perspective of the World around them is shaped by their education, childhood, and their experiences. All of these factors culminate to form some sort of final opinion for the person; that encompassing opinion is the person’s thoughts on every country, every culture, and every country’s people. This opinion is often difficult to shift, as it has been formed under many years, and is the basis for many stereotypes, racial prejudices, and bigotry. Jenny Boully, a Thai-American author, confronts these topics in her essay titled “A Short Essay on Being” in the Triquarterly magazine. “A Short Essay on Being” illuminates the credulous American perspective of Asia by depicting Americans as ethnocentrists, who view the world around them in a simply American view and impose their own…
Kesaya Noda is the grandchild of Japanese immigrants and was treated as a first hand immigrant fresh to the country. Rather the third generation American she actually is. “Being neither ‘free white’ nor ‘African’, our people in California were deemed ‘aliens, ineligible for citizenship’ no matter how long they intended to stay here. Aliens ineligible for citizenship were prohibited from owning, buying, or leasing land” (Noda. 4). This shows how Japanese immigrants who came here to fulfill their “American Dream” can’t. The idea of the “American Dream” is being able to buy goods, being able to support yourself and your family without as much as a blink of an eye. Continuing, Noda explains that“[b]eing Japanese means being a danger to this country during the war and knowing how to use chopsticks. I wear this history on my face” (Noda. P 4). This demonstrates that even though the author was born here she feels that she doesn’t belong in America. What causes people to react differently to her is solely because she’s Asian. She being a third generation American has caused her to experience both worlds. Meaning both cultures, Japanese and American. Just being of Asian descendant pegs her as being able to use chopsticks or a treat to the…
Thesis: Even though the Japanese Americans were able to adapt to their new environment, the…
Since teachers were scarce, this made made my job much more difficult. Class sizes became bigger and it was harder to control and teach these bigger classrooms. I also had to change my teaching style from using the bible and having students memozise and recite, to using other literary works and more complex ways to educate, such as arithmetic skills . More pressure began to fall on me to become a better teacher. Classrooms were starting to move away from having a mix of all ages, to having specific levels of schooling. I attended normal school to learn more effective ways to educate my students in common schools. Since American settlers started moving West, we started to take land for the Native Americans. Common schools were created to teach all children, regardless of social class or their religion. However, Native American and African American children were not given equal education. Centralized education had a big effect on my students who were the children of immigrants. In 1851, the State of Massachusetts passes its first compulsory school which was aimed to make children of poor immigrants more “civilized”. In these compulsory schools, students were taught how to be obedient and good workers so they would become more civilized and educated members of society. In 1860, Congress made it illegal for Native Americans to be taught their native languages. Native American children as early as four years old were taken from their parents and put into boarding schools. Centralized education had the biggest effect on Native Americans. “Kill the Indian, save the man” was a catch phrase said by Richard Pratt in the response to the Education of Native Americans. Native American children were tripped of their cultral identity within these schools. As Rury states, “The story of Native Americans education in the 19th century involved a deliberate crusade to fundamentally…
New cultures coming to America bring new: language, music, food and beliefs. Many Americans feel threatened by, or discomfort from, these new characteristics. Every day as an American and as an individual, people face the effect of cultural stereotypes. It is a reason within itself that as I grew up in a closed community, my exposure to…
In "The Struggle to Be an All-American Girl," Elizabeth Wong explains three common differences between Chinese and American schools. The scent of the schools, the subject material, and the language are all reasons the character in this essay liked her American public school over her Chinese school. While sitting among her classmates in an empty auditorium, the only smell present was the scent of Chinese medicine and imported faraway mustiness. She demised this smell and longed for the scent of French perfume that her American teacher wore. The emphasis at Chinese school was speaking, reading, and writing. The students spent their days learning about ideographs and copying them in lines from right to left. The writing utensil they used was called a moc but and it had to be held in a way that was very uncomfortable in order to avoid smudging. This was a big difference from the way students' days were spent at American school and the subjects they were taught. The character in this essay could do the multiplication tables, she could recite all of Mars's satellites, and write reports on Little Women and Black Beauty. She was extremely embarrassed by her grandmother's nagging loud voice. She wanted to hear the quiet, lilting romance of French or the gentle refinement of the American. Her brother was even more fanatic about speaking English than she was. He was especially hard on his mother. He often criticized her for her pidgin speech. He would correct her grammar in the middle of her sentence and blame her for all the mistakes he made while speaking. After two years of Chinese school, the character in this essay was granted a cultural divorce and was able to stop going. She now considers herself multicultural and is able to have the best of both…
During my time as an under graduate student in New York City, I was immersed in a melting pot of cultures. The school I attended ranged from Polish, Russian, Korean and Japanese students. The Japanese and Korean students were socially different than the American students. For example a student’s name was Sungkwon Ha and chose an American name such as Tony so that American students and teachers could pronounce it easier and that they would blend in more. When…