Mericans By Cisnero Analysis

Some may say, I'm proud to be an american, but what does "being american" really mean? One might judge that by the color of your skin or by where your parents may be from. However, both Okita's poem,"In Response to Executive Order 9066", and Cisnero's short story, "Mericans", show how cultural heritage and physical appearance do not determine what it means to "be an american".

Okita's poem shows that american identity has more to with how you experience culture rather than where your family may have come from. In the poem, the narrator starts by saying how "she agrees to go" revealing her that she is in fact Japanese. However the little girl is just like any american little girl. For example, she hates using chopsticks, this very much contradicts authentic Japanese culture. She goes on to say that her favorite food is hot dogs, a very well known american food. This shows that although her culture may be Japanese American, there are many ways she associates with american

This is referring to the grandmothers strong dislike of the United states and its "barbaric ways". The grandma's view of the United States definitely contrasts the narrators stronger connection to the U.S. rather than Mexico. You can also see this view in the children's games even. Their game of Villain versus good guys, for example being a B-52 against the Germans, The kids american identity however is then judged at the end of the poem by some American tourists. They were speaking Spanish to the kids asking them to take a photo for them. When one of the kids speaks English to them they are surprised until the kids reveal that they are