In Amy Tan's "Two Kinds," Amy's relationship with her mother exemplifies the complexity of traditional values which shadowed first and second generation Chinese immigrants living in the US. Both Amy and her mother have underlining identity conflicts within themselves as well as with each other. These discrepancies in their relationship are the outcome of the cultural clash they inevitably experienced as Asians in America. Even though Amy's mother views herself as American and propounds American tradition, she still views the world around her through a rather Asian and immigrant perspective. The mother lost everything dearest to her in China and in 1949 moving to America with no regret since she believed "there were so many ways for things to get better." Amy was the variable of her mother's experiment which enforced typical American ideals, but in an Asian manner. .
In general, Amy's mother yearned to American and wanted Amy to be a Chinese Shirley Temple. She even adopted the racist American mentality illustrated when bemoaned Amy for looking "like a Negro Chinese." She was impatiently waiting for her American dream to occur, ridiculously confident that her daughter will be a prodigy, or at least become forcefully construed into one. To Amy, and of course the reader, the mother's quest of being assimilated into American culture highlights her ludicrous intentions and dreams. The mother's identity complex is epitomized best in her conversation with Auntie Lindo. They carry on a conversation as though they were completely American (in the 1950s), bragging (and lying) about their daughters" "prodigies" and acting as if it were a problem instead of their dreams. The mother tells Auntie Lindo that her "problem worser than yours, If we ask Jing-Mei (Amy) wash dish, she hear nothing but music. It's like you can't stop this natural talent." This conversation symbolizes the sheer irony of the story.
It is generally agreed that language and culture are closely related and these two notions cannot be separated. ... Speaking about language and culture, one can say that through language people verbalize culture. ... Japanese language is a vivid example of how language and culture are interrelated. ... This is how culture affects language. Summing up, it is worth saying that culture depends on language, and vise-versa. ...
In some cultures, independence is highly valued and toddlers, while in other cultures interdependence if more of the custom. ... In some cultures such as American cultures, parents want their child to express their frustration in any way they feel the need because it forms a sense of independence. ... If an American child is born and raised in Africa with a home life focused on African values and culture than they will have values commonly seen in African cultures rather than those seen in American cultures. ... If an Asian Indian child is born in America and raised with American culture, they...
Culture is a way for an individual to find his or her identity. ... Communication plays a crucial part in culture. ... This cultural experience is also present in universities where it is known as academic culture. Every university has its own academic culture. Academic culture defines the attitudes and values of the lecturers and students. ...
Virtu Like most Western philosophers, Niccolo Machiavelli's ideas were heavily influenced by the early Greek philosophers. Most notable among the Greek philosophers who inspired Machiavelli was Plato. In particular, Machiavelli took interest in Plato's concept of just rulers who ruled by moral virtue. Machiavelli argued against this Platonic philosophy. He believed in "virtu", whatever was best for the State was virtu. ...
Introduction This document focuses on an African Nation, and a "traditional" culture that inhabits the geographic area. ... This document will be broken down into different sections: General Information on Mali; Dogon Culture, and Dogon Art. ... ("Mali " 2000) Dogon Culture. ... Overall, the Dogon have changed little over the centuries, but the culture is hardly monotonous. ... (Paraphrased & edited; Keim 54) Dogon Art One of the most important parts of Dogon culture is their art. ...
When comparing and contrasting the development and later decline of major Indian cultures, one must come to understand the way of living of each culture. ... Usually, that fault of these cultures comes from the Earth itself. ... To begin, each culture must be first be identified, generalized with other cultures in order to compare. ... Both cultures were located in the forested core of the Midwest. ... The Woodland culture, is the most divergent from the others. ...
Question Is there a culture of poverty? ... Response Yes, there is a culture of poverty. ... In some cultures only men work because women are not allowed to go out and work and their labour power remains unused and get wasted. ... Apart from these there are also certain factors of culture which would facilitate a person to get out of poverty adding up with the personal efforts. ... The culture of poverty usually has values which binds people closely together unlike big cities. ...
In this case, culture affects how an individual live their life. ... Education is a crucial factor to culture. ... Culture makes men the leaders and women the followers. Culture also defines success of an individual. ... Culture also affects how people are motivated. ...
South Asian culture is still full of distinct and undefinable aspects. In the movies and popular literature it is represented as the culture of silence, religion and spirituality. ... Thus, the South Asian culture and Indian culture in particular are intended on sacred wisdom and spirituality, which raise routine life to gods. ... The Oriental culture is mainly man-ruled, but women can make own choices about certain matters. ... A modern world moves fast, brings new trends, but India guards its traditions and culture....
