Mispronunciation Of My Name: A Short Story

In order to find his identity he went against his parent’s wishes in attending Columbia, but instead attending Yale. But before he set off for college he went through the legal process of changing his name. To his surprise it was a very mechanical task. His reasoning to the judge for the change “I hate the name Gogol, “he says I’ve always hated it.” “Very well”, the judge says stamping and signing the form, then returning it to the clerk. He is told the notice of the new name must be given to all other agencies, and that it’s his responsibility to notify the Registry of Motor Vehicles, banks, schools” (102). Although the moment in the courtroom was not as momentous as he had imagined, he stepped in there as Gogol Gangouli and left as Nikhil Gangouli in twenty minutes. A moment he waited eighteen years for finally arrived. Now that he is free of his parents and his old name, he can now be confident, especially with women in introducing himself without anticipating unwelcomed questions about his name.

In her article “Be Specific,” Natalie Goldberg mentions the importance of being specific and giving things their proper name. By doing so we are able to connect with the world on a much deeper level,thus allowing us to become conscious of our surroundings and recognize the uniqueness these objects bring to this world. A name is a unique way of distinguishing people from one another. It is an important aspect of our individuality and who we are as people. It reveals who we are and where we come from.

Why do people get made fun of for their names when they have no control over them? Firoozeh Dumas’ “The “F Word”” tells about how she gets made fun of for her name. It also is about how Dumas feels about her name. She uses many examples of times in her life when her name has caused problems and made situations difficult for her. Dumas is from Iran, but moved to America when she was young. Her name is “Firoozeh,” which is very different from American names, so many people couldn’t pronounce it. Many of the children in her classes made fun of her name and didn’t want to talk to her because it was so different.

Do you take the time to try and pronounce someone's name correctly? In Firoozeh Dumas’s memoir “The ”F Word” she explains how she immigrated to America from Iran. When her family arrived she had to hurdle many obstacles just from her name. The kids in her classes would make fun of her and her family members names. This went to the extent of not getting job interviews,even with a good education. Dumas argues that she should at least get a chance. Although, she does admit that over time, people have gotten better with trying to pronouncing her name and accepting her.

What would it be like to grow up with no friends simply because your name was different from everyone else's? Firoozeh Dumas answers this question for all of her readers when she recalls the struggles of her childhood in her story, “The F Word.” Her story is not about the actual cuss word, but rather the struggle she had growing up in America with an Immigrant name. In her memoir, Dumas uses humor to talk about touchy subjects and to make her piece more enjoyable for her readers.

Her essay is aimed at Middle Americans or other immigrants living in the country who face the same issue as her. Having a name that is uncommon and hard to pronounce, can be a challenge for the peers of those with the names. The claim is not being made toward the easy to pronounce Bill’s, Susan’s, and Richard’s. The claim is also not aimed at professionals or people of

As the human race gets older we change the meanings of words to accomplish a deep need to feel superior to other groups of people. This "tragedy looms larger than farce in the United States [and other countries] today" (Kozol). Sometimes people will use a respected name but give it the context of an insult, others use terms of endearment to promote or demote someone, and still others use derogatory names.

This journal speaks on how names are seen as some form of “talent” as it is bestowed upon us on birth. This also has religious implications as some feel as their name is a gift talent given from god. Everyone's name within “their eyes were watching god mean something. An example of this would be Tea Cake. “John Callahan says that Tea Cake "revivifies" names” . The names also have a slightly overshadowed sense of racism, as in a way most of the names given to black people have a sort of dumbed down approach to them. Going back to the complete disregard of the “Afro-American” culture by the

Going through middle school is no easy task for the ordinary teenager however when there are some very obvious differences between you and your classmates the process is even harder. This is exactly what Stefana had to deal with while in seventh/eight grade. Her classmates had easy to pronounce American names while Stefana was constantly being asked to stand up, pronounce her name, spell it and then would have her name be pronounced incorrectly by a handful of her teachers. This may not seem like a big deal but it gave Stefana a deep feeling of alienation from her American classmates. Since her name was difficult for her teachers and classmates to pronounce it led to shortened, unappealing nicknames such as “Staff” and “Petrify.” What made this even worse is that with a foreign name like “Stefana Peitrofesso” her classmates would be able to easily identify her foreign heritage which had a direct correlation to the low income job that her parents most likely had. Having a foreign name meant that you were easily identifiable as not as affluent because during this time period the parents of immigrants didn’t have as good jobs as the general population. All of this information was made available simply by someones first and last name because of

I have normally regarded my name as simply boring. Samuel is easily pronounced, easily shortened, and incredibly ordinary. I understand my name holds sentimental value to those closest to me and I do identify with some of the characteristics embedded within it. While I know that names do not define personality, I cannot help but to find annoyance within multiple aspects of my birth-given label.Weirdly enough, I know my name fits me because no matter how hard I have tried, I cannot imagine being referred to as anything other than “Sam”.

My husband had the idea for this book with a baby on the cover, looking rather unhappy, and the title, “What Did You Call Me?” A nice little double entendre. Occasionally the names, and nicknames our parents and families saddle us with aren’t an improvement over a label they might have ‘called’ us.

This can lead you to accept anything and self-destruction. We can try to break the cycle by calling each other by our real names instead of nick names which doesn’t have anything to do with the real you.

Though she admits that there has been a change in the society in the recent past where individuals are now more willing to learn and accept the ethnic names of others, there is still major social problems which affect people who use ethnic names. That other children had corrupted her name to something else may be indicative of a form of bullying, which has been proved to have disastrous effects on its victims in the long run. Rather than be a victim of social awkwardness, it would be easier to adopt a name which is not

I had a hard time pronouncing words that contained the letter r; therefore, I had to attend speech class twice a week. Going to a speech class helped me correct my language, but lowered my self-confidence. I was that student that did not want to read or speak in front of the class because my language was constantly being corrected. I still sometimes feel very uncomfortable speaking in front of people. Therefore, I have to remind myself that confidence is the key to success. I realize from my experience when I was a child, that if teachers or adults over correct children, especially when it comes to language differences, children are more apt to be silent and not talk. Children tend to lack social needs and self-confidence because they are told their language is bad or not right according to the American Standard

“Don’t worry Milliarde, things are moving along now.” He smiles at me. My brother is the only person left in the world who I let call me by my full name,