Conflicting Cultures in Gish Jen's Mona in the Promised Land

She wants to belong to her culture and felt that if she could impress Liu with her presence she would have this false sense of belonging to her own Chinese culture. From the moment she met Liu she was instantly intrigued by little body movements she had seen or the way she spoke. When conversing with Mrs. Liu Mackenzie felt like she could belong to her Chinese culture. Mrs. Liu entails “You born with it, inside you understand it. In here” (935).

While at home she doesn’t talk Chinese while eating at the dinner table out of respect. Outside of home though she speaks English and does things such as look people in the eye when they are speaking to her. She still followed the same traditions that the Chinese do back at China like hearing stories of Fa Mu Lan .When she was outside, she acted like any American child would she would dress like an American and talk like one. She was part of a tossed salad society because she did not lose her cultural identity but she was still connected to society by being an American at the same time. She had to learn to speak two languages and learn how to follow the traditions of two societies. Through a tossed salad, people do not lose the language and traditions that their ancestors learned many years back. These traditions continue to prosper and grow stronger. People are still able to be part of another society that accepts them for who they are. They are not forced to follow strict rules to be part of one society. They do not need to forget all those old traditions that have followed their family for years. For example, like speaking the language that their ancestors spoke and eating the same foods that they used to eat. Through a melting pot society, people would not have to struggle to be able to be part of two societies because they are expected to follow the same traditions that everyone else does. They do not have the cultural

The violent clash of patriarchal Europe with the Americas and other parts of the world during the colonial period directly caused a degree of cross cultural diffusion that is evident within art. During this period of immense change, european artists sought to innovate and take a modern approach to their work, breaking away from the established mold. Abigail Solomon-Godeau write of one such artist from this period, Paul Gauguin, not only for his experimentation into expressionism but for the relation to which he viewed the native people of Tahiti, regarding them from a primitivist lens, appropriating much of their culture, and the sexualization of women.

However, in Engkent’s mother’s case she follows the Chinese beliefs even though she is living in Canada for more than

In the book Indians in Eden by Bunny McBride and Harald E. L. Prins. In chapter two it talks about the Somes family who associated with the Wabanakis who came to the area to hunt, trap, fish, and to trade with newcomers. An uncle of the Somes family established the first public house on Mt Dessert Island, the family opened many businesses.Many artists had ventured to Mount Dessert ecspecial Thomas Cole who was fascinated by the islands rugged scenery.Coles paintings where already famous enough and with the new painting aroused curiosity about the island making people from Boston, Providence, New York, Baltimore and other cities on the Atlantic seaboard to see for themselves Mount Dessert Island.Mount Dessert Island boasted some two dozen hotels

The Naturals Crime scenes? Murderers? Black boxes? Lipstick? Lorelai? The Naturals, by Jennifer Lynn Barnes, was about a special program of teens who work together with their special abilities of reading people to solve cold cases(unsolved cases).

Tan was born to a pair of Chinese immigrants. Her mother understood English extremely well, but

She feels very embarrassed and wishes she were American. In the end of the story, she writes a quote that her mother actually told her, “You want to be the same as American girls on the outside. But inside you must always be Chinese. You must be proud you are different. Your only shame is to have shame” (Tan). In the end the character understood and knew that her mother was right. Tan was not confident with her Chinese identity when she was young, and that influenced some of her works like “Fish Cheeks”.

Native American’s and the girls in St. Lucy’s lost loved ones during the change in culture. Native Americans were beaten, tortured and even killed so other Native Americans would change cultures. According to Carolyn J. Marr “At Chemawa, a cemetery contains headstones of 189 students who died at the school, and these represent only the ones whose bodies were not returned home for burial” that the school was harsh and treated the kids poorly which resulted in deaths of kids. The girls in St Lucy’s experienced the same hash punishments but they were not severe, as the Native Americans punishments were. The nuns were serious about changing the girls from wolves to humans, if one girl could not adapt to the culture then they would be kicked out

She had to keep all these English’s separate because each was like its own language. If Amy were to mix them, it would become confusing and wouldn’t have made sense to her or her mother as they had grown accustomed to this language and communication. One language was the English she spoke to her mother. Amy had to simplify her English when speaking to her mother; Amy would speak the basic ideas of what she was trying to say to make it easier for her mother to comprehend. For example she said, “Not waste money that way” to her mother one day; she would even say this to her husband because it was routine to her to do so. When she made a speech once, she felt as if the way she was speaking was wrong because her mother was in the audience. A second English language to Amy was how her mother used English with her. Tan describes her mother’s English as “broken” or “fractured” language. This type of English affected Tan greatly; she said it limited her possibilities in life and also affected her performances in school when she took achievements tests, IQ tests, and the SAT because it limited her language skills. Another type of language that she grew up with was Amy’s translation of her mother’s Chinese. She described it as “watered down” and yet sometimes she would grow in confidence when she was on the phone with people because of this. However, later her self-esteem would lower because of

The historical fiction Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford is an almost quintessential illustration of the idea that love can exist anywhere without parameters. Clearly, this idea is seen with the relationship between Henry Lee, a Chinese American boy residing in Seattle, and Keiko Okabe, a Japanese American girl who falls victim to the atrocious Japanese American internment policy put forth by the United States government during World War 2. Despite the clashes and deep-seated hatred both of their Old World cultures had for one another, Henry and Keiko developed a relationship that transgressed such feelings of animosity. As the plot of the novel progresses, it becomes apparent to the audience that certain items are pivotal when influencing the course of the novel. Without these significant aspects in play, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet most likely would have taken a route disparate from the original course of the novel. Let us scrutinize these items so that we may better understand their vital importance to the story line.

Jeanne experienced internal conflict following her release from Manzanar. She begins to feel the conflict of being both Japanese and American. Being in Manzanar helped Jeanne see her fellow Japanese differently than ever before. However, being isolated from her American’s she still hasn’t resolved her confusion in identifying as a Japanese American. After she leaves Manzanar, the shock of ethnic prejudice compels her to try to reclaim her American identity by fitting in, but her continual attempts to conform to white America’s definition of social achievement lead her to neglect the Japanese side of herself. The distance she puts between herself and her Japanese ancestry mirrors the unhealthy isolation from American culture that she experiences

“Holy Cow, An Indian Adventure,” by Sarah MacDonald, is a book written describing Sarah’s experience living in India. She goes through many tough times and endures life changing experiences that eventually make her the person she is meant to be. In this book Sarah relates India to western perspective several times. India and the United States do have similarities, India and the United States both are run by a Democracy, they both have very strong cast systems; both have their own “Hollywood” films, and both places have many religions mixed within.

Parks implements footnotes through her detailing of Suzan-Lori Parks's Part 3: "Open House" of Imperceptible Mutabilities in the Third Kingdom (1989), as Miss Faiths is the authoritative figure throughout the story she is not only a historian, real estate agent, and a nurse, but she also provides instructions to the other characters in how they should conduct themselves as this is represented by the text from Miss Faith saying, “Mrs. Saxon, book says you are due for an extraction Mrs. Saxon an extraction are you not. Gums should be ready. Gums should be healed. You are not cheating me out of valuable square inches…” (Parks 44).

In the Reading of The Jewel of Medina by Sherry Jones, is about A’isha who was married at the age of nine to a Mohammed. A’isha wants to become a warrior, but is the “child-bride”, and becomes one of the favored wives of Mohammed. Before she can marry Mohammed she is forced to stay at home to remain a virgin until she is married at the age of 9. A’isha won’t have Mohammed to herself as he will marry many other women, and will have to share him. Being so young, she is unaware of how the society she resides in works. She questions the relationship she has with Mohammed, the dedication her family has towards, and how a woman who wants to be a fighter. Includes is the idea of women taking roles as leaders, and the jealousy that can be created within this religion. It I think A’isha becomes a strong role model for women, because wanted change for Muslim women, she didn’t understand the actions of women in the religion, and how she wanted the attention from Mohammed but was often overlooked.