美国高中生观点型写作范文赏析--Cultural Identity

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本文是一个从印度移民到美国的孩子，跟大家分享了在他眼里，他对自己文化的认识，我们一起来看一下。

Cultural Identity

Disproving oneself is a part of the life experience. Self-discovery and an

answer to the question "Where do I belong in life?" are things we seek until the

day we die. Until recently, my search for self-discovery was composed of an

effort to find out where I belonged in life. I also sought an answer to the

question: "To what culture do I belong?" At first I was not able to answer this

question. Following a discussion in English class that concerned cultural

assimilation in America I asked myself whether America, as it is claimed, does

truly promote individualism.

美国本土高中生观点题型写作范文汇总，点击进入

My bi-cultural experience began when my family immigrated to the United

States from India. Nine years later I shared my struggle of being caught between

two cultures with my eleventh-grade English class. We had been discussing an

essay, "Does America Still Exist?" by Richard Rodriguez who believes that

cultural assimilation exists in the United States. It saddens me that this

process occurs without any celebration, as Rodriguez points out. Not celebrating

assimilation creates the impression that America is allowing immigration solely

because the economy needs it. While economic factors are the driving force

behind any society, it must be acknowledged and celebrated that cultural

diversity augments economic growth.

What bothers me is that Rodriguez seems to be overemphasizing the effects of

cultural background in defining individuality. And because I live in America I

feel as if I am being defined solely in cultural contexts. With this in mind, I

began to wonder whether America is truly a place where individuality is valued.

If cultural diversity is accepted, why are Americans still defined in relation

to one another? Why are people being defined as diverse ... different ... from

one another? This did not seem very individualistic to me. Surely, I concluded,

if "Americans" are placed under a banner "People of Cultural Diversity," it is

not very individualistic. Since it is widely accepted that America is a place

where individualism is encouraged, I could not understand why "American" was

defined as anything at all, much less as people who were different from one

another. I mulled this over for some time and came to the temporary conclusion

that America does not foster individuality.

Then I had a seemingly sudden change of heart. It was more like a revelation,

really. I was selecting pictures from India to show my English class that gave

examples of different aspects of Maharastrian Indian culture, such as marriage.

I asked my mother to explain the pictures and how they exemplified Maharastrian

customs. I was shocked how much I really had not known about my native culture

and thrilled that I had immediate connections to learn more. For the first time

in nine years I was able to see my cultural duality as a blessing, not a burden.

I realized that if I was not in America I would not be able to share my

heritage. I am able to pick and choose from different aspects of both cultures.

Because of this, my individuality is more clearly defined. Hence, to me, America

is a place where I can be an individual.

To what culture do I belong? I am not one hundred percent American and I am

not one hundred percent Indian, so I cannot say I belong completely to one

culture or the other. I can't say that I'm half and half because I don't know

whether I am or not. Such a thing is impossible to quantify. I do not belong to

any culture. I am of Indian heritage but I am much more than Indian. I am much

more than a nationality. I am an individual who is willing to learn about all

cultures and to incorporate from them the aspects that I wish. I am not

American. I am not Indian. I am neither, yet both. I am an individual. I am me.

?

重点词汇短语：

disprove 反驳，证明...是虚假的

be composed of 由...组成

immigrate 移民

solely 仅仅，独一无二地

cultural diversity 文化多样性

seemingly 貌似

revelation 意外的发现

thrilled 非常兴奋的

heritage 遗产

incorporate 合并，吸收