In “The Right Road to America?,” Amy Chua informs her audience about the possibility of America’s national identity becoming lost due to the influence of immigrants. Chua’s defines her thesis by stating “Around the world, nations face violence and instability as a result of their increasing pluralism and diversity,” (336). The key points of the text includes Chua explaining why America and other nations could lose their core identities, how the United States could become unglued from its true meaning, and how citizens can fix this imminent problem. The information in this text is significant, especially in today’s society. With all of the issues about immigration coinciding with our current president, this text relates to current subjects …show more content…
She explains her thesis by stating “Others who write stories of migration often talk of arrival at a new place as a loss of communal memory and the erosion of an original culture. I want to talk of arrival as a gain,” (360). The key points of the text include Mukherjee describing her transition between Calcutta and the United States, and what it means to be and American and how culture influences that aspect. The information in the text is significant; the people of America are a part of a melting pot, sometimes it is hard for them to find the distinction between American culture and their own. The information in Mukherjee’s story is clear and specific, unbiased, and is relevant to the purpose of the story. I believe Mukherjee has achieved her purpose of informing her audience about cultural differences; she presents certain strengths and weaknesses within the text.
Mukherjee opens her story by establishing a tone and setting. Mukherjee describes when she first moved from Calcutta to the United States. By doing this, she lays down the setting for her story. In the first two paragraphs, Mukherjee sets the tone by explaining how America is a myth of democracy and opportunity. This type of tone suggests the story will be about inequality. Mukherjee does reveal key information in the beginning of her essay. When it comes to
In “Two Ways to Belong in America”, Bharati Mukherjee explains how it’s possible for immigrants to come to America and still keep their culture. Mukherjee writes her and her sister experience as immigrants in America. While she adjusts and adapts to America’s culture, her sister still holds onto her Indian culture. This essay shows the different viewpoints of how immigrants adapt when they come to America.
Susan N. Herman was elected president for the American civil union, Herman is the chair of Professor Law at Brooklyn Law school which Herman teaches about terrorism and civil liberties. In Rereading America: Cultural contexts for critical thinking and writing Herman uses an effective story to show how the Patriot Act can be a threat to American liberty and how the Patriotic Act can go wrong. After the attack of September 11, 2001 George W. Bush signs the USA Patriot Act. The Patriot Act was signed for America to have the ability to fight terrorism.
In her early days, her pessimistic self only finds the problems: widespread poverty, no respect for time, no sense of space and privacy, people glaring at western women, dirt and filth, the unbearable heat, poor medical standards, etc., etc. But soon she decides to make the best of her stay in India,
That leads to exposure of new cultures because they have been under their parent’s guidance and were raised by their ways, but now they were on their own. The text says, “...two sisters from Calcutta, Mira and Bharati, who lived in the United States for some 35 years..” During those years, they were able to see the diversity of the United States. “When we left India, we were almost identical in appearance and attitude... We dressed alike, in saris; we expressed identical views on politics, social issues, love and marriage in the same Calcutta convent-school accent.”
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
Bharathi Mukherjee’s later novels Jasmine(1989), The Holder of the World(1993) and Leave It to Me(1997) comprised her last creative phase conveniently termed here as the phase of immigration. By now she has travelled a long distance in terms of thematic perception and character portrayal. Beginning with an expatriate’s uprooted identity in the early 70’s, her creative faculty explored the transitional dilemma of characters in early 80’s, whose acculturation bids were occasionally thwarted by the complexity of cultural plurality in the adopted land. However, after the publication of The Middleman(1998), the process of cultural acclimatization appears to be complete and the characters betray the confidence of an immigrant, almost a naturalized citizen, in facing the challenges of human life.
The United States of America has long been known as an immigrant’s country. It is a melting pot of all different races, ethnicities, and nationalities. However, the time elapsed between the foundation of America and now has led to the development of the American identity. American nationalism has changed the scope and parameters of who is truly “American,” and who is welcomed in America. The United States is no longer a country of immigrants, it is a country filled with citizens of diverse heritage, but they all identify as an American. This poses a problem for those who still wish to immigrate to America. It is still described as a place where there is a possibility of an “American Dream,” and where anyone can become anything.
Out of all the stories told throughout history, from caves to computers, never has there been one more dramatically scripted as the tale of the United States of America and her immigrants. Like a Shakespearean tragedy that never ends, this story is full of romantic plots dating back to its inception: with a heroic plight of a nation borne by gun-blazing revolution and glory; fueled by the brave journeys of immigrants, dreams, and a future paved in golden freedom. Unfortunately, tragic as its nature, this narrative has panned out awkwardly—seemingly worsened century by century. In present day America, the topic of immigrants, and immigration, is not a completely delightful one, but of politics and
Salam expresses how the United State is experiencing “the fight over the future of American national identity in the face of rapid and accelerating demographic change” (Salam). This is further supported by the fact that “immigration can become a social/political issue, where racism can be used to exploit feelings or as an excuse for current woes of local population” (Anup Shah, 2016). Immigration will ultimately cause problems for the U.S. social environment.
Since the initial settlers arrived in North America, immigration has filled the American experience. Undeniably, many of the principles that unite Americans as a nation are tied to immigration. Historically, immigration has not only outlined our visualization of the United States role around the world, but immigration has also trickled into our interpretation of human nature. One great Philosopher, and the leader of the transcendentalist movement of the Mid-19th century; Ralph Emerson saw it best. Emerson viewed immigration as a marvel that will build a new race, a new religion, a new state, and a new literature in the United States (www.foreignpolicy-infocus.org). The idealism surrounding immigration clarifies in part the profound feelings immigration induces in the public policy field. These feelings have shoved with anxieties about the economy, ethnic relations and many other issues. In recent years, however, the discussion over immigration has prolonged to integrate a wide array of foreign policy issues
This book depicts the national and cultural status of the immigrant mother, who is able to preserve the traditions of her Indian heritage that connect her to her homeland. Ensuring a successful future for her American-born children is coordinated with the privilege of being an American citizen. Ashima yearns for her homeland and her family that she left behind when
With the 2016 presidential election right around the corner, it is only appropriate to write about a main issue that is a part of each candidate’s platform, immigration. It is ironic how America was once known as the land of opportunity where immigrants were welcome and how the U.S. was essentially built off of immigrants' contributions such as how the Chinese played a vital role in the building of the Central Pacific Railroad or how the Mexicans always showed their commitment to the U.S. military throughout the years. Throughout the years, immigration has been the backbone of the U.S., but what once set the U.S. apart from other nations is now being challenged and appears to be losing favor. The primary position of this paper is that immigration,
‘America is the land of immigrants’- this was the first thing I ever heard about the supreme global power of the 21st century, and my definition of the US has been expanding since then- what class of people are considered immigrants, what lives do they live after migrating, what impacts does this process of migration has on their social and family lives? Being an immigrant myself, I had the opportunity to gain many first hand experiences and find answers to many of these questions. However, as an advantage of being a second generation migrant, my transition was a lot easier than the first generation migrants. In this ethnography, I take a deeper insight on the perspective towards migration possessed by Krishna, a first generation Indian migrant to the US, who was able to achieve the American dream. Unlike most of the immigrant stories of ‘suffering’ that come to the limelight in the society, Krishna’s stance towards his immigration is relatively positive, as he believes that his new country has more or less fulfilled his dream of attaining a higher level of “well being” (Powers and Faden 2006: 15), which was his primary motivation behind the decision to migrate.
Mukherjee uses contrasting diction to emphasize the difference of experiences the sisters had on immigration and the sacrifices they had along the way when faced with the American culture. For example, Mukherjee’s use of “maintain” and “self-invention” are contradictory to each other, but in the context “maintain” refers to her sister Mira and “self-invention” is directed to Mukherjee herself. In Mira’s case, she is very attached to her Indian culture and stresses about not letting the American culture take that away from her. The author’s purpose was to highlight the tenacious mentality Mira has on her culture. In contrast, Mukherjee's use of “self-invention” regards to her loosening her strict hold of Indian culture; the exact opposite
Jhumpa Lahiri’s Unaccustomed Earth is comprised of eight short stories about different Indian families’ struggles in America, many of them going through the immigrant experience. The conflicts are with friends and family, and also with themselves, as each of them attempt to find their own identity along with fitting in with the rest of society. One of the causes of these struggles that because the families in the stories are mixed in terms of generation. Many of the adults in the stories were first generation immigrants from India, while many of the children were raised in the United States, which is the second generation. This led to blending of culture and at the same time, clashes between the immigrant mentality of living and the American mentality of living. In Unaccustomed Earth, Lahiri demonstrates to the reader the important influence of environment, specifically culture and how it impacts parental teachings, on the personality and development of an individuals’ identity, and how the actions and development of characters can affect one’s family and friends; the impact of environment and culture is shown especially by the characters and stories “Hell-Heaven” and “Hema and Kaushik”.