My Belonging Essay

My Belonging Essay

  • Submitted By: hanajumy
  • Date Submitted: 02/15/2009 5:56 AM
  • Category: English
  • Words: 824
  • Page: 4
  • Views: 3

*FOUR POINTS PER CARD – SIX WORDS PER POINTS

We may all know belonging as being that which belongs to someone or as something that is connected with a principle or greater thing, but do we really understand what it means to belong as a human being?

To belong we have to try to 'fit in' and accept ourselves as a part of something. Sometimes, for the ones who have left their homeland and moved to another country, they may have a sense of not belonging even if the people in that country recognize them as a citizen of the nation. It could be because they don’t look like others by their hair color and appearance or because the languages they speak are not the same.

Chop Schtick is a feature article written by Suzy Freeman-Greene and published in the Good Weekend magazine. It deals with the idea of personal and cultural identity as being important to the concept of belonging. It is about Hung Le. He is a famous Vietnamese Australian comedian. Although Hung was raised up in Australia, he never forgot his roots, the country where he was born. He travelled to Vietnam to meet his family because he wanted to find somewhere that he truly felt he could belong. But his idealised thoughts of Vietnam no longer exist since he came back from a visit to Vietnam. He realizes he is not a full Australian but cannot label himself as Vietnamese either. He feels a sense of displacement.

First and second person are used to tell Hung’s story and his own personal experience. E.g. "That is one thing make me sad in Vietnam... I have lost something growing up here. I have gained a lot too, but I have lost a bit of myself". As a kid, he adapted to things very quickly. For Hung, moving to Australia was a big opportunity. He learnt a new language and a new culture; had a better life but he has lost himself as a Vietnamese. Back in Vietnam, he used to be one of the kids playing on street with smiles of happiness on their faces yet, now, looking at these kids, he thinks it is...

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