Analysis Of The F Word By Firoozeh Dumas

Identity crises are common problems for immigrants coming into any country. Deciding whether to stay true to their roots or to assimilate to a new culture puts pressure on many immigrants and their families. Both Jake and Babbitt, from Hester Street and Babbitt respectively, define what means to be American on superficial terms, even though they both believe that being an American does not merely stem from racial identity. They both become obsessed with being as seen as Americans through their social status, physical appearance, the pursuit of wealth, and freedom. While both Jake and Babbitt try to assimilate to American culture, only Babbitt truly succeeds in achieving this goal.

Based off of personal interactions with Americans, Dumas rightfully characterized them as closed-minded, judgmental, and ignorant. She justifies her characterization of Americans through each anecdote included in her essay. For example, Dumas shows the ignorance of Americans in the opening paragraph when referring to the inappropriate names that Americans referred to her foreign friends and family as. In the first paragraph, she states that Americans degraded names such as Farbod (which translates to" greatness" in Iranian) into silly, disrespectful nicknames such as "Farthead." Another instance in which Dumas vindicates her characterization of Americans is when she mentions one of her first experiences using the name "Julie." The experience,

In the Namesake, the new parents are faced with a decision to name their son. A tradition where the Grandmother on the Mothers’ side names the baby. Ashima’s Grandmother was sending word about the baby’s name from India. After not hearing from the Grandmother, a proper name

In Dave Barry’s satirical essay titled “North Dakota wants its place in the sun”, he argues that name changing is a ridiculous concept. Dave Barry immediately claims that changing the name of an object, subject, or person doesn't change the identity of said object, subject, or person but rather temporarily deceives the individual. Throughout his essay, Barry utilizes the rhetorical strategies of anecdote, hyperbole, and sarcasm to strengthen and support his stance on name changing.

In Firoozeh Dumas narrative she suse the rhetorical terms ethos,pathos,logos,repetition, and flashback.“The F Word” explains how to overcome obstacles as an Iranian immigrant.She persuades the audience that they can trust her because she's an immigrant herself . Her move to California impacted her life forever. Dumas uses Ethos by sharing how she's received her BA from the University of California,Berkeley. She won a PEN/USA award in 2004 and is an Iranian immigrant herself making this narrative from someone who had first hand experience, she is someone who can speak for those who can relate. She felt the need to write this because she never thought that her name would affect her life in America, surprisingly she learned that her name would be conundrum she would have to face for the rest of her life. She sends her condolences to those who have to face the same type of situation.

In the memoir Dumas talks about the challenges she faced everyday by having an unusual name. When Firoozeh Dumas was going into sixth grade, she tried to resolve this issue by

“The F Word” written by Firoozeh Dumas, describes the struggles of an Iranian immigrant that tries to assimilate and feel accepted in the American society. The excerpt is about not feeling comfortable in using her Farsi name and the negative attitudes she receives while using it. Duma’s shows the Americans’ intolerance towards immigrants such as herself. In “The F Word,” Firoozeh Dumas suggests that stereotypical treatment and close-mindedness towards immigrants hinders assimilation through the use of social satire of the majority, flashbacks, and ethos from her personal experiences.

In Firoozeh Dumas's narrative, she uses rhetorical terms such as: ethos, logos, repetition, and flashback. “The F Word” explains how to overcome obstacles as an iranian immigrant. She persuades the audience that they can trust her because she's an immigrant; herself. Her move to California impacted her life forever. Dumas appeals to the audience's emotion BA from the University of California, Berkeley. She won a PEN/USA award in 2004 and writes this narrative from a first hand experience; she is someone who can be the voice of those who can relate. Dumas felt the need to write this because she never thought her name would affect her name in America. Surprisingly, she learned that her name would be a conundrum she would have to face for the

Our society is a melange of different cultures. Each culture contributes to cultural diversity without losing its separate identity. Living in this society, we identify ourselves as a member of one group with the same culture or more than one group, and we have the desire to be accepted by other members and enjoy whatever benefits membership brings with it. Manuel Munoz, the author of “Leave Your Name at the Border”, recounted an experience about hearing his last name mispronounced and explored the Anglicization of Latina names in American culture. In “My Summer at an Indian Call Center”, Andrew Marantz narrated his experiences about working at a call center in Delhi and the insight he received from others about his own culture. Does Mexican Americans’ identity have to be lost in the process of assimilation? Do the customer service representatives in Delhi have to erase any trace of their Indian identity? When we join, or are assimilated into a group, we are changed regardless of retaining an original cultural identity or being part of the dominant culture. The level of change we are able to achieve is based on our willingness to compromise between blending in and standing out.

When Firoozeh Dumas, who at the time of moving here, had her maiden name which she left unknown, she was taunted by other school children because of her hard to pronounce name. She failed to mention the twists people made of her name, unlike the amusing nicknames her cousins and brothers received. After coming up with her much more Americanized name of Julie, she was no longer an outsider. All of a sudden,

In the story, Funny in Farsi, the author Firoozeh informs the reader about her previous wars that she has gone through. The author relates to her to her internal conflict that she goes through during her lifetime.In the beginning of the story the author tells the reader about her struggle with her name and how people kept on miss pronouncing it. Firoozeh then decides to “...chose the name “Julie”...”(64) to help the people pronounce it with ease. She also changes her name to Julie, due to that fact that now people of the saw her as an American, and without the new name, “...[American] people would

When Abibatou Diallo was first starting school, her name stopped being so hard to pronounce. Her name stopped being what she identified at all. Her teacher took her name and with no objections from Abibatou began calling her Abby. Thinking about being called Abibatou, just fills Abby with a weird feeling now. Not a single person has called her by her full name in such a long time, that it no longer holds any meaning to her. Abby’s name is just one example of how she has been forced to become Americanized since she began her education.

In Manuel Munoz’s “ Leave Your Name at the Border” he talks about the importance of Mexican root and the impact of becoming Mexican-American. He means self-identification specify mentions the identification of name. In the article, he tells what the Mexicans in Fresno would do to fit in as “Americans.” They first would change their name to its “English equivalents.” His stepfather had to change his name from Antonio to Tony to fit in and to be able to get a job. The author argues that if he had not changed his name, he would not have got a job.

It was like seditious and insidious too, and like socialist, suspicious, fascist and Communist. It was an odious, alien, distasteful name, a name that just did not inspire confidence. It was not at all like such clean, crisp, honest, American names such as Catchcart, Peckem and Dreedle.” (210)

Brian Chen October 2014 Professor Lyon | Section 7 Ragtime by E.L. Doctorow Understanding Identity Through Society E.L. Doctorow’s Ragtime explores the construction of social identity in early twentieth century America through two unique yet coinciding narratives. The construction of social identity, contrary to popular American culture, does not result only from the principles of self-determination. Instead, one’s social identity must contain a mixture of one’s understanding of oneself with one’s relative place and relation to society and its social constructs. Failure to do so results in an identity that lacks both authenticity and true meaning as shown in Doctorow’s representation of Harry Houdini.