Stephanie Rodriguez English 114A Prof.

Mary Gifford Essay 3 Culture: First Draft

"Coming Together as one" Culture has many different meanings. For some it can refer to the appreciation of literature, the kind of music one chooses to listen to, or the food that person chooses to eat. Culture can be defined in many different ways. For example, Anthropologists see culture as capturing and analyzing human behavior patterns. To biologists, Culture is seen as "Cultivation of bacteria." Both of those meanings are two completely different ideas to what I believe culture is. Everyone has culture, it's something that we are not born with, but something we grow up being a part of. Culture is what characterizes a group of people. It defines everything they do, to their language, social habits, music, religion, and arts. Culture defines a person, and can have a huge impact on a persons individual identity. Culture, therefore influences and shapes our personality. In" Leaving Home" we've come across stories where culture has affected peoples personal experiences, in many different ways. Throughout the readings we realize that culture is more than just a set of norms and believes, it is a way of life. In "Leaving home" there are several brief stories where we learn more about culture and the impact it has on peoples daily lives. "The Circuit" is based on a 12 year old boy Panchito, his brother Roberto, Mom, and Dad. Panchito was born into a poor social class. Both him and his family struggle day by day to provide shelter, and food. Together, Panchito and his brother have to put school aside and help his father in the field and work as a "Bracero." A Bracero is a mexican laborer allowed into the U.S for a limited time as a seasonal agricultural worker. Panchito and Roberto have to sacrifice there education to help the family through rough times. Panchito never had a stable home, him and his family had to constantly keep moving in order to keep up with the job.

During the end of "The Circuit" right as Panchito was about to start settling down, and begin making time for himself and school, his family ends up having to move again to start the new job. He said " I saw that everything we owned was nearly packed in cardboard boxes." The ending of the story makes the reader realize that although all Panchito wanted to do was to get the proper education, but his duty was to his family. The moral in this story shows that people who are able to receive an education should take hold, and appreciate what they have in front of them. A lot of students take school for granted and don't see the big picture of how the real world really works. School was everything Panchito wanted. He saw it as an escape from the reality he had to live. All he wanted was to live a normal life, but due to the fact that his social economic status affected him, he wasn't able to fulfill his dreams of continuing with school. Throughout the story neither Panchito or his brother ever complained of having to work in the fields. This is because of the culture and the norms they grew up in. Growing up with a Hispanic/Latino family, you grow up in a very close environment. You learn to stick by your families side and help them no matter what the circumstances are. Maybe if Panchtio would have decided to stay back and have an education he would have felt as if he was betraying his family. Panchitos norms went beyond what he wanted. At the end of the story he knew that his duty was to help keep his family together, and in well conditions. In "The Circuit" we see the clash and struggles a family has to face together in order to keep moving forward. The Circuit showed the readers the life of a working family who had to sacrifice education in order to earn money as a "Bracero." We can relate this story to "The setting sun and the Rolling World" because both stories have to do with agricultural land. " The Setting sun and the Rolling World" begins where old Musoni asks Nhamo his son, " You haven't changed your mind?" His son replies "No father." This story is based on the clash of a son and his father. The son wants to leave home, he wants to experience new things, and leave behind the land his dad owns. All Nhamo wants it to be able to live his own life, and not stay in the same place taking care of an old piece of land that really have nothing for him. Nhamo wants to experience new places, and explore new places. These two stories are very different yet can be very relatable. In the Circuit all Panchito wants is a stable place for him to stay with his family, and continue

with schooling. Instead Nhamo has a place to stay with his father, but decides to leave him and the land they own and continue his journey alone. The differences are very obvious. Panchito is more family oriented, as for Nhamo he wants to experience the world, and does not let his father stop him from making the decision he wants. I believe that this is a perfect example of how cultures can be very different. Panchitos morals don't let him leave his families side. Yet Nhamo is willing to leave the land his father has for him to cary on and care for. This can also be an example of the different opportunities both characters have because of where they come from, and who they have grown up to be from there culture. These two stories can relate to observations/arguments made in "The Self and Social Behavior" article by Harry C. Triandis. Triandis notes in his article "It is clear that conformity is functional in simple, agricultural cultures(if one is to make an irrigation system each person should do part of the job in a well-coordinated plan) and in working-class jobs(the boss does not want subordinates who do their own thing)." With that we can relate both stories to this article. Firstly it can relate to "The circuit" because it explains that an agriculturalist worker should be able to complete their part of the job, in a well coordinated mannerso it won't affect other parts of the crop fields. When i read this part of the article it made me think of "teamwork." This article gives us a better understanding about the different perspectives seen from different types of cultures. It gives us a few details of the life of a person who has to struggle with keeping a job. The article also stated " In simple cultures, both groups and individuals have fewer goals( often just the goal of survival." This is a perfect example to both stories. In "The circuit" Panchito and Roberto had no other option but to settle for the job there family had provided them. The job of working in the field day by day, gave them enough food, and shelter to survive. Although they wanted more than just a job, there culture didn't provide them with the opportunity to become something else other than an agricultural worker. They ended up falling in the same shoes as there father. This quote from the article can also be related to "The setting sun and the Rolling world" because although Nhamo owned what was his and his fathers land, he wanted more in life. His culture, and his beliefs allowed him to leave his father, and experience new things without the land. The land was not as important as it would have been to Panchito and his family. The land to Nhamo was nothing but a waste of land that was dead, he did not want to waste his time trying to repair it.

Culture has the power to define where a person stands in society. Not only in society, but it can also define a persons action and beliefs, maybe even personality. Culture is seen as a beautiful thing, but we also have to learn not to take it so seriously. Although culture has great ideas; Culture can also affect peoples lives and create great obstacles like the ones we have seen in the previous stories. We have to learn how to learn more about others people culture, and remain open minded and realize that there are many other cultures and not just ours.

Work Cited: Triandis, Harry C. "The Self and Social Behavior in Differing Cultural Contexts." University of Illinois,Urbana Campaign. N.p., n.d. Web.

Rochman, McCampbell. Leaving Home. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print.