The Story of the Crossing
The Story of Crossing
Amongst today’s society there seems to be plenty of judgment. Wherever you go it is quite easy to find someone whom will ask or tell you ‘why are you wearing that shirt’, or ‘why do you speak with an accent.’ People do not accept others whom do not fit the stereotypical American. In doing so this creates many cultural differences and problems between ethnicities. Some of these problems most definitely include discrimination which can lead to high self consciousness. Much of this judgment is present amongst both articles, The Crossing, and The Story of My Body. Within The Story of My Body, Ortiz Cofer writes about her experiences being a Puerto Rican immigrant living in the U.S., while in The Crossing, Ruben Martinez writes about being the son of two immigrants and searching for an undocumented alien, UDA, in order to question and gain information, for he is a journalist. When Cofer begins describing her residence in the U.S. she presents the fact that she is born of two Puerto Rican immigrants. Her mother, and father both being of ‘white’ complexion. “As a Puerto Rican girl born of ‘white’ parents, I spent the first years of my life hearing people refer to me as blanca.” She also states how being a daughter of two Puerto Ricans, there are some stereotypical characteristics that she overthrew. “My mother is barely four feet eleven inches in height, which is average for women in her family.” But as Cofer became twelve she was already over five feet. This discussion can compare to Ruben’s article in The Crossing. He presents the fact that he is born of two immigrants, both being of different ethnicities. “… son of a mother who emigrated from EL Salvador and a Mexican American father who spent his own childhood leaping back and forth,…” Ruben uses this statement to compare himself to his culture by using a metaphor, ‘the line’. “I am, again, on the line… I return to it again and again because I am from both sides.” To compare these two
Amongst today’s society there seems to be plenty of judgment. Wherever you go it is quite easy to find someone whom will ask or tell you ‘why are you wearing that shirt’, or ‘why do you speak with an accent.’ People do not accept others whom do not fit the stereotypical American. In doing so this creates many cultural differences and problems between ethnicities. Some of these problems most definitely include discrimination which can lead to high self consciousness. Much of this judgment is present amongst both articles, The Crossing, and The Story of My Body. Within The Story of My Body, Ortiz Cofer writes about her experiences being a Puerto Rican immigrant living in the U.S., while in The Crossing, Ruben Martinez writes about being the son of two immigrants and searching for an undocumented alien, UDA, in order to question and gain information, for he is a journalist. When Cofer begins describing her residence in the U.S. she presents the fact that she is born of two Puerto Rican immigrants. Her mother, and father both being of ‘white’ complexion. “As a Puerto Rican girl born of ‘white’ parents, I spent the first years of my life hearing people refer to me as blanca.” She also states how being a daughter of two Puerto Ricans, there are some stereotypical characteristics that she overthrew. “My mother is barely four feet eleven inches in height, which is average for women in her family.” But as Cofer became twelve she was already over five feet. This discussion can compare to Ruben’s article in The Crossing. He presents the fact that he is born of two immigrants, both being of different ethnicities. “… son of a mother who emigrated from EL Salvador and a Mexican American father who spent his own childhood leaping back and forth,…” Ruben uses this statement to compare himself to his culture by using a metaphor, ‘the line’. “I am, again, on the line… I return to it again and again because I am from both sides.” To compare these two