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Amy Tan And Firoozeh Dumas Essay

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In contrast, Amy Tan and Firoozeh Dumas struggled with accepting their culture. Tan’s parents emigrated from China and settled in Oakland, California. She grew up in a Chinese culture and has struggled to accept it. Her family customs and physical appearances have made Amy feel different from Americans. On Christmas Eve Tan’s mother invited Robert, Amy’s crush, and his family for dinner. Amy was horrified when she found out that her mother invited Robert and his American family. She thought they would be disappointed with the food her mother prepared, the Chinese Christmas decorations and her loud and unsuitable mannered relatives. Throughout the dinner, Tan’s relatives displayed inappropriate behaviors that threw her off. Their behavior was inappropriate that …show more content…

These kinds of behaviors are what caused Amy to think of changing her culture and become more American. Unlike Amy Tan, Firoozeh Dumas struggled with identity. Moving from Iran with her family, Dumas has struggled with teasing and bullying because of her. Dumas’s name Firoozeh means “Turquoise” in Farsi. While living in the US, ignorant people have made fun of Firoozeh’s name. In the essay “The ‘F Word,’” Dumas narrates about the struggles of having a different name that’s always pronounced wrong because ignorant Americans refuse to learn it. She also talks about how her brothers and friend suffered with this too. Dumas not only struggled with ignorant people not pronouncing her name right, she could not get a job. When she was young, Dumas decided to change her name to Julie. Having an American name changed everything for her. Students at her school began to recognize her and invite her to social gatherings. Once she got to college, Dumas changed her name back to Firoozeh. But that became a problem after she graduated because she could not find a job. “After three months of rejections, I added “Julie” to my

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