Summary Richard Crasta

There comes a point in time in an individual’s life in which their name truly becomes a part of their identity. A name is more than just a title to differentiate people; it is a part of the person. In Lost Names: Scenes from a Korean Boyhood by Richard E. Kim, names play a major role on the character’s identities. The absence and importance of the names in the story make the story rich with detail and identity through something as simple as the name of a character. Names are a significant factor affecting the story and the characters throughout the novel Lost Names.

In the Lee reading there was a focus on the importance of a name and where it comes from. There was also an in-depth

In her story “By Any Other Name”, Santha Rama Rau suggests that identity can’t be determined by a name or society’s rules. Santha is coming to a new school, an American school where on the first day she is given a “pretty English name” instead of her own name. Santha states, “At that age, if one’s name is changed, one develops a curious form of dual personality” (page 1). Santha looks at this other name as a dual personality that she is not apart of. She doesn’t view this name/personality as her own.

These names that have been given to the people of the City, as expected in such a society, are not at all sparkling with the individualism of the person you lay your very eyes upon in the City of collectivism. In these names, there are no expressions of personality. The name you are given may be yours and only yours, but it doesn’t mean as much.

In the memoir “By Any Other Name” by Santha Ram Rau, we learn how cultural identity can be weakened within someone however, never truly stripped. A name reflects your cultural identity along with everything about who your are. When arrived at school, Santha and Premila learned they didn’t have proper english names as the headmistress exclaimed “[M]y dears, those [names] are much too hard for me. Suppose we give you pretty English names.”(1). Your name reflects upon your cultural identity, as many places around the world have different spellings, annunciation, and name popularity. Changing your name cuts the connections one has with their culture as english names don’t tie back with indian culture. Cultural language also ties with one’s identity

The Namesake was written in 2003, it was the first novel Jhumpa wrote. She based the novel off of a story she heard growing up about her father’s cousin, he was in a train wreck and the rescue workers saw him from a glint of light shine off his watch. This is a story about a boy who felt like an outsider, who felt that his name didn't fit who he was. This is the quote I decided to choose “Pet names are a persistent remnant of childhood, a reminder that life is not always so serious, so formal, so complicated. They are a reminder, too, that one is not all things to all people” (Lahiri). This quote is about and Indian tradition where the parents of the child give them a pet name, just like a nickname something memorable and fun. Jhumpa showed readers how being multicultural is being like an outsider, like trying to fit into your new home, but not wanting to forget your old home

A namesake is someone or something that has the same name as another person or thing. In the book The Namesake, Gogol was named after a Russian author, Nikolai Gogol. His father had been reading a book by him one day while he was on a train in between the two cities Calcutta and Jamshedpur. In the middle of the night the train crashed and the rescuers found him because of the book pages he had left in his hand. Ashoke claimed that the book saved his life. After he recovers from his train injuries, he and his wife Ashima move to America. Ashima, who gets pregnant, has her baby in an American hospital, beginning their Bengali family. Thus, his first child was named Gogol. Although Gogol was the name on his birth certificate, it was not meant to

Names are the beacon for the start of life; they give us a way to call one another while also acting beyond simply as serving as references. Names have the capacity to show meaning behind one's past, current standing in the present, and life in the future. This perspective of names is clearly portrayed in Jhumpa Lahiri’s, the Namesake, where Gogol, an American born Deshi, struggles personally with his identity, more specifically his name, as he grows up in the United States. Much of what makes names so important in the Namesake revolves around the personal struggle and deep family meaning behind them, and through comprehending this interpretation of names, I believe that Julie Kagawa’s perspective of names being “a bunch of letters or sounds strung together to make a word” is irrational.

At birth everyone is given a name by their parents. Your name is part of your identity and how you are addressed and recognized by the world. The different verities among the population created other names given to different races. These names are offensive, demeaning and are only used to refer to a person in a disrespectful manner. They can also cause a segregation among a nations people, these names are forced upon people weather they are rich or poor, old or young, male or female and are used to describe the same race of people. In the class reading "What 's in a Name? “by Henry Louis Gates he reminisces about a personal experience of his that he had with his father. In the story he describes his father was a hard worker and, because of this he was in high financial standings and, he was well respected and given privileges that at the time was rare for people of his race but he was still black and his name, his individual identity was not important instead he was given a racial identity, this is the only thing he was known as, this type of negative recognition is something many black Americans can relate to. One’s race is a predominant part of our identity and is what causes discrimination.

The Namesake is a fictional novel written by Jhumpa Lahiri. Lahiri’s purpose of the book was to demonstrate a family's hardships moving to a new country, and then their children’s lives as Americanized Bengalis. The audience, in my opinion, was written particularly for an established Americanized American. These Americans are intended to realize little details that newcomers to America worry about, and the life differences that the average American wouldn’t think twice about. She wrote regarding certain factors, specifically the strong Bengali culture, versus the ordinary American culture, and the day to day worries of an immigrant new to America. The author focused on themes regarding family and hardship, but she also incorporates a large

When it comes to the topic of identity, many people believe others shouldn’t try to change their peers, and their peers shouldn’t try to change others because it can change their sense of personality. And this is expressed in two different but yet similar in theme stories. In the short story By any Other Name, written by Samantha Rama Rau, there were two sisters that were recently just moved to a new British-run school, they are Indian and are very nervous to go to a school with primarily British kids. But first they have to go to the main desk and talk to the teacher. When they walk into the room and introduce themselves to the teacher, the teacher then states, “‘Oh, my dears, those are much too hard for me. Suppose we give you pretty English names.

The novel The Namesake revolves around and focuses on the life of Gogal Ganguly who is the only son of Ashok and Ashima who had moved to U.S.A from India their homeland. U.S.A is the place where Gogol is born and brought up with his unique name. However, in India names play a great role. Whenever a child is born in India a lot of importance is placed on the naming of the child. In India usually there are two names, one is nick name and one is official name. Nick name is used at home or casually by friends and relatives. Mostly they does not behold any significant meaning. But, official name beholds a lot of importance. Official name is used professionally in school, universities and offices.

The meaning of names is a central focus of the novel, because names define people. Their worth and functions are summarized by the names. To some extent, the names also discourage originality. This occurs especially to

There are many things that can be used to identify a culture or a group of people, as well as an individual. Identification is what distinguishes you from others. For example, when I was helping my tutee, Noorhan, with her application to the University of San Diego, one of the sections asked to fill out her family information. I was confused on why her last name was Albayati, but her dad 's last name was Kareem, and her mom 's last name was Rajab. I asked her why this was. She said that there was a mistake made when they came to America, but her last name is in fact Albayati, and it is her family name. She said the family name is very important in her culture, and it helps identify her family to other families and vice versa. We can also see this in My Identity, My Allegiances. For example, the author, Amin Maalout, says that he is different from everyone else because there is no one else out there that has all of the same allegiances as he does. He is trying to show that the combinations of all your allegiances makes you who you are individually. The combination of things such as the language you speak, the clothes you wear, the religion you practice, the food you eat,

As a topic for my essay, I chose cultural issues around names. Unfortunately, I did not have a choice to discuss this topic in the class, so I will at least express myself in this work.