Passage Analysis of Identity Crisis in English Assignments

This essay analyzes Fiona Teng's article "Call Me by My Names," focusing on the identity crisis experienced by a Chinese individual in a Western country. The student's essay examines the author's narrative techniques, exploring themes of cultural adaptation, racism, and the impact of name changes on personal identity. The analysis delves into the author's experiences with adopting English names, the subtle forms of racism encountered, and the challenges faced in professional and social settings. The essay also references another article by Zheping Huang to highlight the shared experiences of immigrants. The conclusion emphasizes the importance of cultural understanding and acceptance, advocating for efforts to eliminate subtle forms of discrimination and promote respect for diverse cultural backgrounds. The essay adheres to MLA 8 style, providing a works cited page and in-text citations to support the analysis.

Running head: ENGLISH ASSIGNMENTS
English Assignments
Name of the student
Name of the University
Author’s Note

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ENGLISH ASSIGNMENTS
The identity Crisis
Introduction
Call me by my names is an article written by Fiona Teng which describes her experience as a
Chinese in a western country. It is written in a first-person narration where the authoress
pours out how her identity came at stake while trying to adjust with an entirely new place,
culture and language. In this report, a close analysis will be done regarding the type of
writing the authoress has tried to set up.
Discussion
The authoress Fiona Teng describes her experience as growing up in a culture different from
her ancestral origins (Teng, Fiona). She is a residence of Hong Kong, who grew up in the
United States. She had to adopt an English name throughout her life in the west as the people
used to find difficult to pronounce her name. Her journey from being a person to losing her
roots in the midst of changing names is the essence of her writing. Moreover, the pains she
describes while experiencing this conundrum of names is certainly something that shake the
readers of the hidden racism that she has faced her entire life.
Her adoption of names was not restricted to a particular one, but she had to take multiple
names despite having her Chinese name Deng Wing Hung. It means intelligence and
perseverance (Teng, Fiona). However, the English society where she tried to fit in had
proposed her English names which would be her new identity apart from the one she was
always. Her ambiguity about who she really is caused a deep sense of agony and inferior
complex which she stated at the beginning of the paragraph.

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The diction she uses throughout the article is smooth, clear, plain and forcible. The language
is also clear and lucid which makes the writing an easily relatable piece, where the reader can
connect with the authoress almost instantly.
Her experience during her stay in the western culture also taught her some invaluable life
experience, for instance she came to know that befriending people from the white community
can help her survive and stop her from crumbling (Teng, Fiona). The persistent racism she
encounters has also been experienced by numerous other people like her where they are
bound to take a foreign name in order to fit in the pronunciation zone of the majority.
The analysis of the paragraph starting with, “In Professional settings”, she speaks about the
name calling in a professional atmosphere. Calling by the Chinese names can indicate more
intimacy and a hierarchical position within a social rank. The latter is also inappropriate
considering the business setting. She explained this type of figure of speech to be very
sportive as this would not involve complexities to decode the real pronunciation of the
names.
Similarly, in Hong Kong, the trend of setting an English name is quite fascinating where the
casual English name is set as a cooler version of their names. This is an influence of the
colonialism where the language supremacy works, and the Hong Kongers love themselves to
be associated with a funky name options apart from their ancestral names.
This embrace of one culture and the utter rejection of another create a sense of identity crisis
within the minds of many immigrants. This is emphasised with another article written by
Zheping Huang, where he describes a similar type of experience he had to undergo while
residing in the Western countries (Huang, Zheping). However, lastly he embraced his
ancestral name with the support of his diverse peer group who made an effort to pronounce
the names with utter sincerity.

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Conclusion
This particular reading points out the racism that has been practiced subtly in the western
countries. Without their realisation, the name change game can put in a lot of stress in the
minds of the people from another culture. Though there are some linguistic differences in
pronouncing a name from other culture, it is worth giving an effort which would also help the
person in concern gain more confidence. This acceptance of the cultures can easily make the
entire experience a wholesome and enriching one. In reference to the above analysis, it can be
concluded that people like Fiona Teng experience this subtle humility on a daily basis which
should be eliminated by the united effort of the western culture and the immigrants.
Moreover, the assumed behaviour in the professional setting should also be reduced in order
to put forth the importance of the Chinese culture globally and in a respectable manner.

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References
Huang, Zheping. "After Being James, Peter, And William, I Decided To Stick With My
Chinese Name". Quartz, 2019, https://qz.com/908929/after-being-james-peter-and-william-i-
decided-to-stick-with-my-chinese-name/.
Teng, Fiona. "Call Me By My Names: A Story Of Shame, Trauma, And Liberation In A
Chinese Name". ZINE, 2019, https://zine.philaprint.com/2017/07/24/call-me-by-my-names-a-
story-of-shame-trauma-and-liberation-in-a-chinese-name/.