Not A Wild Tongue By Gloria Anzaldua

As the words of our founding fathers, life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness is the American dream that many pursue, whether immigrated to the United States or born here. Within Demetria Martinez’s book, Mother Tongue, a novel, the character named Jose Luis flees from El Salvador to the United States in order to escape it’s brutal civil war. His choice to flee El Salvador and enter the United States under a false name places him in a difficult situation, both in his moral abandonment of his home country El Salvador, and for crossing the United States border illegally. The position of Jose Luis can be dissected into the need for borders, the asylum process into the U.S., the reason why politicians reject immigration, and the potential

The United States has been a host to a wide diaspora of people. Immigrants have had to transition from their familiar land to a new-fashioned foreign land that they must consider home. They bring with them the essence of their initial homeland such as customs, traditions and beliefs that inadvertently change the dynamics of culture within the United States. As a result the United States is an extremely culturally diverse nation. The continual changes or accretions that Americans encounter have always been a controversial topic depending on the experiences of individuals and communities that have immigrant populations. This essay will critically explore

In conclusion, in place of the "melting pot", American culture satisfies the term "mosaic". If true assimilation were to occur, immigrants would have to abandon all their cultural practices and act in accordance to one set American ways. But, immigrants do not completely give up their traditions and practices. Their identity remains unique because of their distinct

The culture of every ethnic group is beautiful in its own way and worth cherishing. Today, America is known as the great melting pot not for the number of immigrants it has but rather because of the wonderful cultures and traditions the immigrants brought with them. Immigrants do not need to forgo their mother tongue, significant celebrations or customs to become American. However to be socially accepted, they will need to learn English, take part in celebrating national holidays and fulfill their patriotic duties Americans like every other U.S citizens.

In order for assimilation to occur a minority group becomes an integrated part of the majority group; this assimilation results in non-distinguishing of one group from another by cultural characteristics. In order for this process to be complete, it must entail, not only an active effort by the minority group to shed all distinguishing actions and beliefs, and also complete unqualified acceptance of that individual by the dominant society.

Assimilation is necessary to survive in any culture. This is because there are certain attributes that are embraced (which help to improve communication and understanding). Those individuals who are able to accept them will transform the way that they can interact with everyone. This is the key for having increased opportunities.

What is assimilation you might ask. Well i'd be glad to tell u. It means the process of adapting or adjusting to the culture of a group or nation or the state of being so adapted. I think assimilation is okay as long as it's not forced assimilation. Here are a few reasons why i think forced assimilation is not okay the first reason is if they're not willing to learn a new language and my second reason is what if they don't want to leave then your taking away someone's liberty. Those are two reasons why i think force assimilation is bad and shouldn't be

The passage How to Tame a Wild Tongue by Gloria Anzaldua exposes the difficulties that many ethnicities of immigrants are exposed to, when they recently migrate to the United States. Gloria Anzaldua stands up for the minorities who are underrepresented, as well as talks of her own personal experiences. Anzaldua does not let linguistic terrorism be a negative influence, resulting in her own language being robbed from her, and pridefully speaks the language, regardless of the situation that she is presented with.

Identificational assimilation refers to giving up one’s ethnic identity for that of the dominant group. Although this happens to many ethnic groups that arrive to the United States, the process in regard to the Italian American community is quite sluggish,and many preceding generations still affiliate strongly with their ethnicity. At first, there were many pressures for acculturation into the dominant culture, forcing Italians to learn English and keep up with the American ways. However, by being grouped in locations where the Italian population was abundant, immigrants, instead, were able to learn distinct Italian dialects as well as maintain their culture. In this way, the process of cultural assimilation was slowed down. Now, their identification

Overtime, the issue of assimilation in America has always been present, but overlooked. Although the thought of a country with plans to assimilate different cultures and races may seem insane, the U.S. has been the most successful. Despite the fact that we are one of the few successful assimilated countries, there are inevitable problems that may occur such as pride and judgment. Schlesinger and Serrano both discuss the topic of assimilation, but express different opinions. Schlesinger pushes for assimilation, while Serrano leans towards separation. Serrano has some good points on why our nation should separate; however, Schlesinger’s opinion seems to be more beneficial towards the country. By reading over Schlesinger’s point of view, his argument seems to be valid.

Immigration has always been a contentious issue in the United States. Benjamin Franklin thought that the influx in German immigration would flush out the predominately British culture in America at the time. (5) Furthermore, a continual wave of foreign cultures began pouring into the American metropolitan areas at the turn of the 20th century. The migration of Italians, Poles, and Jews across the Atlantic Ocean began a mass assimilation of cultural ideology and customs into the United States, yet many people thought that these migrants could not adapt. Today, the American society has become a melting pot of foreign influence; however, many cynics remain skeptical about the incorporation of Latin American people and their influences.

There are some, however, that do not agree with this assertion. Samuel Huntington, a political scientist, disagrees with the idea that immigrants are assimilating. He thinks that out nation is becoming “two peoples and two cultures” (Huntington pg. 1). Huntington claims in his article “The Hispanic Threat” that immigrants are not assimilating language and do not have patriotism. He focuses on the majority immigrant group in the United States, Hispanics, and explains how “in 2000, more than 28 million people in the United States spoke Spanish at home, and of those 28 million, 13.8 million spoke English worse rather than very well” (Huntington pg. 5). Huntington, and others who share his beliefs, think that as Spanish culture and language increases in the United States, the more committed Hispanics will be to their ethnic identity, not assimilating to the Anglo-Protestant culture America was built on (Huntington).

Alejandro Portes and Min Zhou introduced the concept of segmented assimilation, which stressed a three-part path: assimilation for those with advantages in human capital, an ethnic disadvantage for some because of poverty and racialization, and the selective retention of ethnicity for yet others. Assessing present levels of assimilation among today's immigrant groups requires considering the possibility that the process itself may be changing. To ascertain this, we must first understand three major theories of immigrant and ethnic-group integration. The theories are the classic and new assimilation models, the racial/ethnic disadvantage model, and the segmented assimilation model. One of the general, classic assimilation theory sees immigrant/ethnic

Throughout The Mother Tongue, Bill Bryson construes the origins and the history of English and the language's countless quirks.

In the personal essay “My Mothers Tongue” (1990), Amy Tan, widely known author explains her insights on language and culture identity using details and memories from her own life experiences. Tan conceals that the language in which her mother used with her “was the language that helped shape the way [she] saw things, expressed things, made sense of the world” (1208) and in the process it made her who she is today as an author. Tan illuminates the euro centricity of the Master Narrative by retelling stories of her mother being treated poorly because of her “broken” or “limited” English. She recalls many past experiences where her mother suffered from bad service and treatment from restaurants, stockbrokers, and even hospitals. Using examples from her personal life Tan gets her point across about language and culture characteristics in order to show how Chinese culture is affected by the master narrative and also encourages others to include a variety of cultures in order to overcome bias opinions. Tan’s apparent audience can be ranged from the child of an immigrant to a doctor and offers an authentic and rich portrayal of Chinese history through her conflicting experience of her Chinese and American cultures.