The literacy of my Hispanic culture has always been part of my life. Having parents from Mexico has been a great impact on my exposure to Hispanic traditions and customs. Growing up in a Hispanic household showed me the importance and meaning of Hispanic traditions. Some of the traditions I became accustom to were Day of the Dead, Quinceañeras, and the Three Kings. Hispanic culture puts an emphasis on family, unity, and the transition of childhood to adulthood. As I grew older I understood the traditions and customs better. They weren’t just parties with colorful decorations, candy bags, and piñatas. They were holidays that commemorated our dead, parties that acknowledge the change from a little girl to a woman, and they were celebrations I …show more content…
I started noticing the small things that made up my culture. Such as our own version of the Happy Birthday song called Las Mañanitas, the traditional cake to the face, and the food we ate. I noticed that the food I ate at home and the Hispanic community parties differed from my school food or the fast food joints. The cake to the face was another small tradition we held at every party just for fun and giggles. Las Mañanitas became a song that every child memorized as they grew older to sing before the blowing of the candles. The song is a small part of our culture, which unites us as a Hispanic community. The song creates a special moment where people unite to celebrate and share their happiness with someone …show more content…
Our culture we has a coming of age party that celebrates your transition from childhood to adulthood called a Quinceañera. It’s similar the American version of a sweet sixteen. It differs in the rituals and meaning behind the party. Quinceañeras consists of multiple traditions and customs. Starting with the attire of the fifteen year old. Traditionally they wear dresses similar to ball gowns of which ever color of preference they chose upon. Other traditions consists of dance numbers they perform with their male dancers, chambelanes, to present their self to the community and show their transition to adulthood. My experience in the passage to adulthood helped me understand and practice my culture better. It brought me a better understanding of how my culture celebrates coming of age. I felt fortunate to have the possibility to experience this tradition. It was a celebration uniting us to participate in our own
Most importantly, I wanted to understand why people are so dedicated to their heritage even though they are apart of the United States culture. Even though this does not personally impact me, I have known other people who can relate to this first-hand so I wanted to become more aware, as well as, connect with what they go through and feel. During my reading 3 placement at Morse Elementary School in Poughkeepsie, I worked with two boys who were Mexican and fluently spoke both languages. When both students presented a poster about themselves, they described many aspects of their Mexican culture and when asked to identity themselves, they said they were “Mexican.” After reading the article and having this first-hand experience, this allowed me to understand what Casares is describing. This is another reason why I selected this reading because I wanted to see the connection and if there were any similarities or
of the native tongue is lost , certain holidays may not be celebrated the same , and American born generations feel that they might have lost their identity , making it hard to fit in either cultures . Was is significant about this book is the fact it’s like telling a story to someone about something that happened when they were kid . Anyone can relate because we all have stories from when we were kids . Alvarez presents this method of writing by making it so that it doesn’t feel like it’s a story about Latin Americans , when
quinceañeras are a tradition for a girl who at the age of 15 becomes a young women. Another example, in the United States Culture theres sweet 16 which is similar to a quinceañera, but in this case a girl becomes a young women at the age of 16. Each culture has their own rituals, traditions, rite of passage that contributes to the development or defines one’s self identity, there’s similarities or differences between the rites of passage, why do only girls receive quinceañeras, and does commercialization of rituals and or rite of passage have an affect on its overall
A quinceañera is an event that is celebrated worldwide. The term “quinceañera” means fifteenth years in English. It’s an extravagant birthday bash for a young lady turning the age of fifteen.”Celebrating my quince años meant beginning a life of a new adult. It has also given me much more responsibility for my own actions” (Xochitl Comparan, Victoria, Texas). This event is celebrated differently by many diverse cultures, and as time goes by some of the traditions change. Even though the traditions may alter, the whole point for this eventful activity stays the same. The point for this event is to recognize the young lady’s transition from childhood to womanhood. This is also known as “the coming of age.” On this one day, it’s all about the girl, nothing else matters! Organizing one of these events is a very expensive and lengthy process. It takes a lot of time and dedication. There’s a lot to be incorporated in the huge event; such as planning the ceremony, every decoration detail for the reception, all the traditions that must happen during the day, and most importantly to figure out who will be a part of this ritual.
The history of a quinceanera dates back to the Aztecs in 5000 B.C. The Aztecs believed that by the age of fifteen, young boys had to take on a job of a grown man. As for the girls, the Aztecs believe that when they turned fifteen they were already a young woman. At that age, the young ladies were given instructions and responsibilities of womanhood. Young girls were also considered marriage ready by the age of fifteen. The quincearenas were plain and simple back then. The only thing the quincearena had to do that evening was to enjoy herself and have a great time with her family members and friends. The quincearenas now a days are not so plain at all nor simple. At times the birthday girl is given the opportunity to wear and choose two or three different dresses to wear on her special day. A traditional
Compare and Contrast Between Hispanic Culture and American Culture I. Introduction The Hispanic population has experienced incredible growth in the past decade in the United States of America. In 2006 it was estimated that the Hispanics cover 11% of the population in North America. Their origin is in Mexico and the few Spanish speaking countries in the Caribbean. American culture is derived from people who originated from the European nations like Italy and the Great Britain.
A Quinceanera celebrates a young girl turning 15. A Quinceanera is a very big party. The Quinceanera recognizes a girl’s journey from childhood to maturity. The customs of a Quinceanera highlight God, family, friends, music, a lot of food, and dancing. They also embrace religious customs, and the virtues of family and social responsibility. Many families today are merging their American and Hispanic heritages by choosing to celebrate a Sweet Sixteen. For their fifteenth birthday the Hispanic do the full-blown quinceanera traditions. The Quinceanera consist of the religious ceremony, the reception, the tiara with the number sixteen, and much more. The families are encouraged to select the customs that have a special meaning to them and add
The Quinceañera is a celebration in Latin America that is very comparable to our Sweet 16 celebration, also know as the fiesta de quince años. The origination of the word comes from the feminine term of fifteen-year-old in Spanish. The overall celebration marks the transition from childhood to becoming a young woman. In earlier times this celebration was meant to be a teaching point for young women to learn how to cook, weave, and the art of becoming a mother. Depending on the family specifically, some can carry a religious tone, and some can be more traditional and casual.
In my Spanish 103 class, I have learned a lot about the Hispanic culture. I have looked at the similarities and differences in Hispanic and US culture. In this essay, I will be seeing the similarities and differences in holidays in each culture. Specifically Christmas, Easter, Holy Week, and specific holidays to each culture. I will show how each culture celebrates it then compare and contrast each holiday.
The Hispanic community represents many nationalities and ethnicities, including Mexicans, Cubans, Puerto Ricans, 15 Central and South American countries, Spain, and the Dominican Republic (Cattan, 1993). Hispanic group are well known in the workforce, politics, education, social economic and religion. The Spanish culture influences a variety of areas such as music, food, language. Most languages are rooted in Latin. It is always good to learn about other cultures if we expect the same consideration when we visit other countries. Differences are what make life interesting. Majority of the United States is built on immigration, which has made this country the most diverse. And the Hispanic group contributes to that diversity.
To help me understand and analyze a different culture, I watched the film Selena. The film tells the life story of the famous singer Selena Quintanilla-Pérez. Not only does it just tell personal stories from her life, it also gives insight to the Mexican-American culture. Her whole life she lived in the United States, specifically in Texas, but was Hispanic and because of that both her and her family faced more struggles than white singers on the climb to her success. Even though the film is a story about a specific person, it brought understanding into the culture in which she lived. Keeping in mind that these ideas that I drew about the Mexican-American culture is very broad and do not apply to every single person in the culture, there were very obvious differences in their culture and the one that I belong. Mexican-American culture identifies with their family rather than individualized or spiritual identities and the culture has gone through significant changes because of discrimination and the changing demographics of the United States.
All birthdays are special. Birthdays celebrate life and the passing of time. In a young Mexican girl life, there is no birthday more important then her quinceañera. The quinceañera is a celebration of a girl’s journey into womanhood. The story of my fifteenth birthday is contributed for a better understanding of how special it is to celebrate a girl’s transformation into a lady, and how it differs from any other birthday she celebrates.
The term Hispanic is one used in today's world as a description of the culture and people from all countries which were at one time under Spanish rule. In America the influence of Hispanic culture is evident. Hispanic culture affects certain things such as media, food, people, and in particular education. In certain states at least half of the population is full of Hispanics. With every passing day, the Hispanic population increases rapidly. Because of this Hispanics increase more and more jobs have become bilingual; schools have changed curriculum to meet the needs of Hispanic students, and the Spanish culture is being taught to American students. As the Hispanic population grows, the increase in changes of American education has grown as well.
Folklore is a collection of stories passed down from generation to generation that includes Legends, Myths and Fairy tales. Legends are a semi-true story, which has been passed on from a person to another person that has an important meaning. Myths are a traditional story, especially one concerning the early history of a people or explaining some natural or social phenomenon. A Fairytale is a children's story about magical which they have imaginary beings and lands. Hispanic Folklore is the traditional is mostly about beliefs, legends, customs and stories of the community of the hispanic culture. Hispanic or latino culture encompasses the traditions, language, religious beliefs and practices, legends, music and history.
My older sibling was suppose to have a Quinceanera, but they didn’t feel like wasting all that money for just one birthday party. When a female turns 15 they have a Quinceanera. During their Quinceanera they greet everyone, and dance. Most of the times you see them wearing a poofy dress, and sandals. At some point during the party they sit down, and someone puts high heels on their feet. This shows that the girl has become a woman, or at least has stopped being a little girl. This Hispanic and Latino tradition shows the theme Coming of age, since they use the high heels to show that the girl became a