Identity Paper (Week 7)

Cristal Meza

March 28, 2012

English 1A

Knapp

Identity

Have you ever wondered if other people classify you differently than the way you would describe yourself? In describing my own identity I would identify myself as Mexican American. Many people struggle in knowing how to identify themselves because they do not know if they belong more to their original culture or the culture they are being raised in. I, myself am an example of this because my parents were born in Mexico, they then decided to come to the U.S. so that made me have a different lifestyle than they had back in Mexico. I describe my identity as being Mexican American and that my cultures, acknowledging that Mexican is one culture and american is another have reflected who I am today. 

Having two cultures can explain why I have two identities. The culture that I feel I strongly belong to would be in the Mexican culture because my parents have taught me many of the traditions, celebrations and customs that they have learned throughout the years. I have grown up eating Mexican food, friends watching soccer games, people dancing banda and cumbia. I am very happy to know that I can speak Spanish fluently. My language also forms part of my identity because it’s the way how I interact with family members. It concerns me when many Latino people lose their language because they want to fit in with society so they do not speak their own language because they are embarrassed they will be made fun of.  But I have lived in the U.S. for so long that it is only normal that I will also have an American identity. The English language also forms part of my identity because it’s the main language in the U.S. and its need for mostly everything. In the U.S., I can honestly say that education is a strong encouragement by most people and that it it is crucial attend college in order to have a stable life. Being a student forms part of my identity because I am intrigued to keep learning more because it is much wanted by other people that I take advantage that I have the ability and time to do it. I could relate to Gloria Anzaldua because she mentions spanglish as a form of speaking Spanish.

After reading the short story "How To Tame Wild Tounge" from Gloria Anzaldua it reminded me much about how my life has revolved around using different forms of speaking from only one language.  Anzaldua explains how there are the Chicanos who use English and Spanish words and combine them. After reading this short story I learned that at times the way I speak is called anglicism. For example, " words borrowed from English: bola from ball, carpeta from carpet, machina de lavar (instead of lavadora) from washing machine" (107). Many Mexican people speak this way, because as Anzaldua mentioned we are being rushed into assimilating and learning English, however at the same time we are learning Spanish so we tend to blend the words together. This can be very confusing to people who are not used to speaking this way because they will have trouble in understanding what is meant by certain words. Many people will also argue that "it is not a correct way to speak English" however people should not be limited in how to express themselves, if they are not working they should not be criticized for what some people would consider to be slang because many people enjoy having their own space to speak freely. 

To end with, all of these descriptions is what forms part of my identity. Whether it is my language, culture, or way of life it all adds up to make up who I am. I noticed how Anzaldua mentions how many Latinos feel the pressure of trying to assimilate into American but they should take it one step at a time and instead embrace who they are.