Essay on Comparing Texts

Revising activity

Destini Chinn

English

Writers such as Dwight Okita and Sandra Cisneros were greatly influenced by the American culture. “Response to Executive order 9066” by Dwight Okita, and “Mexicans” by Sandra Cisneros were influenced by the topic of American identity. In Okita’s poem, American identity has more to do with experiencing culture then from where your family came from. Both of the authors stories show the cultural heritage and physical appearances don’t determine what it means to be an American.

The first sign of American identity is the classification of relatives throughout the story. The next sign of American identity is in regards to young children. As part of American culture there are things young children go through while they are young. For example, the grandmother prays for family members. The narrator imagines that the grandmother is worried because many of her children and grandchildren live in “that barbaric country with its barbaric ways.”

In Cisneros’s story, the most important conflict between characters is over there opinion of the United States. In this story the narrator’s American identity contrasts with the “awful grandmother’s” strong Mexican roots, but the Americans judge the narrator based on her looks. As a possible theme for Cisneros’s story could be cultural heritage is not as important as physical appearances.

The letter “In Response to Executive Order 9066” is the description of a little girl who is very overwhelmed by the American culture. She states: “I have always felt funny using chopsticks and my favorite food is hot dogs.” Reading further into the text we see that the girl is greatly affected by her best friend Denise. She had been affected by her friend simply because her family culture is completely different.

In conclusion,

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