Creating An American Identity Essay

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An “American” identity is created by multiple things including a change in culture, citizenship, and a new country. The first real step to becoming American would be to move to America. Afterwards, you would need to be granted citizenship legally. From then on, it’s all about how you as a person change to adapt to the new lifestyle you’ve set yourself in. This includes whether you feel you’re an American or not, your lifestyle, daily routine, language, and the way you act in your everyday life. It’s not always an easy journey to create an American identity for yourself. But if you persevere, it is more than possible. To begin with your creation, you must move to America. In the narrative, “Music for My Mother” the narrator tells us how old him and his brother were when they made the move. “I was seven years old when we came to the United States. Pedrito was 11,” (Page 7). It sometimes costs a lot of money for an entire family to come to America. But how else can you be an American? The second step of the sequence would be to become a citizen. The process of …show more content…
A basic description of the change would be learning a new language, changing your overall lifestyle, and choosing in your heart to adapt to a new way of life. Many immigrants coming to America faced hardships from people around them, people whose actions and words may have made it more difficult for them to adapt. An example of this occurs in the story, “American History” by Judith Ortiz Cofer. A young girl named Elena wishes to visit a boy who has come from somewhere down south. When the mother of the boy opens the door, her dialogue is no less than rude. “ ‘Listen, Honey. Eugene doesn’t want to study with you. He is a smart boy. Doesn’t need help. You understand me,’” (Ortiz Cofer, Pg. 44). It was not easy to create that identity for yourself, especially with people like Eugene’s mother

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