Personal Narrative: My Cultural Identity

My Cultural Identity
Culture is the basis of all people and their way of life, it makes everyone unique, without it there wouldn’t be any diversity in our world. Culture is not just determined from where you come from geographically, it is determined by the traditions that you follow. No two cultures are the same in this world, but each one can be broken up into three general categories. These three categories are rituals, relationships, and restrictions. Rituals are specific activities that your family or culture participates in. Relationships are the way that your culture interacts with certain groups of people. Lastly, restrictions are things that have limitations in your life. My rituals, relationships, and restrictions define who I am, …show more content…
Rituals are activities that one participates in that defines who their culture, rituals can also be items, such as food. One example of a ritual that my family and I participate in is eating dinner together. We believe that this is an important time to share about your day and how you are feeling. Another ritual we have around the dinner table is eating. My family occasionally makes dishes from Germany and Hungary. My Mother enjoys making kiełbasa, the aroma takes her back to when she visited her relatives in Germany, and it also gives us a taste of our cultural background. My Father takes pride in his homemade goulash, (a Hungarian-German soup), and we appreciate him sharing what our ancestors enjoyed. An example of a ritual in another culture was in Jing Mei’s family in the short story “Two Kinds”. Her mother would test her every day, attempting to improve her knowledge. Rituals are fundamental to physically displaying your culture to …show more content…
Your restrictions are the limitations that you have in your life. Your restrictions could be enforced by your family, friends, and even society. An example of when society enforced restrictions was when people of color were segregated and enslaved several decades ago. The restrictions in my life are enforced by my family. One of my restrictions is my ability to drive. According to the government, I am legally permitted to drive, but my parents disagree. They believe that I should not be allowed to drive until I am mature and responsible. My family also enforces how my education should be treated. They believe that it is one of the most important things in my life, therefore much of my time is spent doing homework; this restricts my free time. Restrictions are often based on your family values, but they can also be defined by