She Doesn T Matter What Your Heritage Poem Analysis

Throughout both stories you see that being American doesn't mean your culture has to be from America. Any person, ethnicity, and race can be American because appearances and heritage don't define what it means to be

Society judges those who are different both physically and mentally and those that don’t fit in with the social norm but it is up to the individuals to look past that and rise against their judgement. Shane Koyczan’s ‘To This Day’, is a poem about those who have been bullied throughout their lives and its long term impact it leaves. The poem tells multiple stories of the victims of bullying due to their physical appearance or their mental state. The poem begins with a personal adecdote talking about how he earned his first nickname. The anecdote is used to allow the readers of the poem to relate as it doesn’t rely on the abstract logic as the anecdote provides proof. He tells his story about how he used to love pork chops, and didn’t know the difference between pork chops and karate chops, until he was called pork

Racist terms can be used positively, but only depending on the preference of the person being addressed. The society that we live in today opposes the use of racist language, but it can be used positively with other people. In her essay “The Meaning of a Word,” Gloria Naylor wants the audience to understand her past experience with the word “nigger.” According to Naylor, the racist term can impact anybody negatively. However, I believe such languages can bring out unity, diversity, and a feeling of acknowledgment. Different races also use racist terms in a funny and friendly way. The common word “nigga” is used almost everywhere in this way. Similarly, Christine Leong’s essay “Being a Chink” discusses how racist terms like “chink” are used in a friendly and compassionate way. From the two essays, I favor Leong’s essay because she states how racist terms can be used as a trend of assimilating everyone together. At the end of the day, racist terms can express unity and diversity.

How should one define the American Identity? The American Identity should be defined as multicultural individuals who commit to similar common values, ideas, beliefs, and personal freedom rather than being defined by race, ethnic identity, and religion. Our common values, ideas, and beliefs depend on the core structure of the American government: the Constitution, which provides freedom, equality, and independence. Since America is very diverse due to the constant flow of immigrants from all over the world, there is no such thing as being a pure American. Everyone’s background lies somewhere else. Therefore, our identity would be defined by our common ideology and common values instead of our ethnicity and religion. Our common values and ideologies are largely influenced by mass communication through the media and popular culture. With the rise of globalization and youth culture, popular culture has been the largest influence on an American identity through sports, television, and social media. Because of the constant need of entertainment in society provided through pop culture, the American people are brainwashed by pop culture. They have forgotten their common values and core ideas that created the American identity.

The “American Identity” as I perceive it is to have a state of mind to be part of the American culture. The “American Identity” is about (no matter what your race is) living in America and physically taking part of the American culture. The adjective “American” means a native or inhabitant of North America or South America.

In my opinion, the American Identity is shown through the ideas of its people, and their willingness to take risks. The creation of The Constitution and the Declaration of Independence were two ideas shown through the people. Americans were willing to take risks no matter the circumstances.

The topic of American identity was used by many poets, novelist, and other writers. The short stories ''Response to Executive Order 9066'' by Dwight Okita and ''Mericans'' by Sandra Cisneros both have the common theme. Cultural heritage and appearance do not determine your American identity. Both of these pieces of text prove this theme.

Everyone inherits something during life, whether it be money from a recently deceased relative or physical features from parents. Throughout the poem “Heritage” by Linda Hogan, the narrator remembers all the traits and lessons that she has garnered from her kin. A superficial reader of the poem might assume that the narrator is simply reflecting on said traits and lessons, but in reality she is actually attempting to illuminate and reconcile the differences in her life.

America is one of the only nations in world where it is nearly impossible to define our nationality by one race, ancestry, or religion. We are a melting pot of different religions and races, and it is somewhat difficult to find anyone from the immigrant blood lines from Europe or Africa. Some people would even say that you have to be from Native American decent to be a true American. Ancestry or race, does define being an American. What really defines Americans in my opinion, is our unique economic, political, and social values.

In Okita's Poem, and in the story Mericans both show the injustices each character faced. Even though they both had experienced different forms injustices, they both related to their American identity by showing resentment to someone above them, or by giving examples of how injustice had changed their life or lifestyle in a negative way. Furthermore the texts relate not by just having injustices, but how the main characters show their American identity by sharing their lifestyle.

She portrays herself as a 14 year old girl who is Japanese American. However, she also explains how she is like a normal 14 year old American girl. Her favorite food is a typical American fast food dish, the Hotdog which most Americans enjoy. Her and her best friend, Denise, look at boys together, enjoy hanging out, and behaving the exact way a normal young girl would. When Okita went to school, Denise moved her seat and accused Okita of trying to start a war and giving secrets away to the enemy. Naturally Okita felt hurt because her best friend even accused her of doing something just because there was a bombing that was caused by Japanese. She even characterizes herself by saying she "has bad spelling", she "has a messy room", and she "has always felt funny using chopsticks". Which is slightly weird considering when we think about chopsticks we usually associate them with Japanese heritage and culture. However, from how Okita is characterized she is portrayed as a normal teenage

Author Ronald Takaki points out in his book, A Different Mirror, that “America has been racially diverse since [the] very beginning” and stresses how the American population is made up of all different races and cultures, citing that “currently, one third of the American people do not trace their origins to Europe” (Takaki). Similarly, author Aurora Levins Morales in her poem, Child of the Americas, starts off with a recurring concept that she is “a child of the Americas” meaning, like many others she is an American with many roots tracing back to being a “Puerto Rican Jew, a product of the ghettos of New York” showing how many diverse cultures she is made up of. But Morales hammers in that “[she] was born at the crossroads and [she] [is] whole” emphasizing there is no such thing as a typical American, America is comprised of numerous heritages and cultures (Morales). A bit differently, in Author Hector St. Jean de Crevecoeur’s document, What is an American?, he agrees with the conviction that America is like a melting pot, but Crevecoeur strictly focuses on “a mixture of English, Scotch, Irish, French, Dutch, Germans, and Swedes” as being the heritages that make up American, disregarding people of color and different

American identity is a hoax. The media includes books because the books publishers only publish what they want. They do not publish everything. If everyone's book was published I would say american identity might be real. The reasons that it seems american identity is not real are that if it were real we would all be basically the same in that way, and if it were real you would have people saying why it might not be and they very fact that no one argues about it is basically other people thinking its a joke. Its for reasons like this and many more that the idea of american identity is one of our biggest scams in american history.

What does it mean to be American? The American identity has always been a complicated discussion. It is by nature identified by diversity. Many think it has to do with the birthplace of the person and others think it has to do with their inheritance. In 2011, Amy Chua published Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother as a memoir. Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother presents the evolution of this American woman. The elements of Chuas evolution seemed to involve; native identity; inherited identity; resisted identity and resolved identity.

American identity is unlike any other; it is shaped by each person's individual ethnicity, race, gender, sexuality, and more. Known as the "Melting Pot," no two people experience America the same way, and as such no two people have the same American identity. For example, my American identity is shaped by all the intersections of my identity. My American experience is the musicality of Spanish and English intertwining, quiet prayers in the evening, seemingly endless therapy sessions, the anxiety of walking alone at night, the discomfort of being the only person of color in a classroom, the snide comments about "my people," the fear of rejection when my family discovers the aspects of me I cannot change but that they wish I could, discovering a new religion and finding peace with god for the first time.  These things all shape my American Identity, experience, and the way I see my place in the world.