Prof. Jessica Penner | OL70 | Fall 2020
Answer in the comment section below:
Who is this piece intended for? To which DC/DCs does Kothari belong? Do you relate to her situation in any way: it does not have to be a situation that is specifically related to food! Think broadly. (Write around 150 words.)
Professor:Â Jessica Penner
Email: eng1121.citytech2@gmail.com
Office Hours: 1 to 2 PM on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. I’ll be available through Zoom and will send an invitation through email each week. Try to join my meeting at the start of the hour, not at the end—since I may be talking to other students or have another appointment after the hour is up. If the above times don’t work for you, we can schedule a different time. This means you’ll have to schedule an appointment in advance via email.
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Kevon Dawkins
8/30/20
English 1121
Word Count:177
The excerpt “Kothari’s Work” from Geeta Kothari is intended for people who are being discriminated against based on their ethnicity and culture. She tries food that is outside her culture(Indian) as a result she’s jealous of theirs and tries to fit into the America way of life(style).I believe the author fits into a cultural group that discusses the importance of every aspect of traditions so she doesn’t feel left out but that’s life you to accept the way you are no matter the consequence and your past experiences so you can improve to become a better being..Everyone can relate to this life experience but in my opinion (dogma),it’s up to you whether you want a change by protesting or use resources to overcome your obstacle or keep the pain until psychological effects takes place in both inner self and other self.Everyone must stand ,believe and “ don’t listen to the naysayers” quoted by Arnold Schwarzenegger that you should never listen/think what people say,think,hear ;it’s not their opinion it’s yours!!!.
Yaire Castillo
1 September 2020
English 1121
Word Count:248
Geeta Kothari in the excerpt, “If You Are What You Eat, Then What Am I?” claims that Kothari is having trouble identifying herself through meals. Although, her Indian culture strays her away from eating specific foods that doesn’t mean that her cravings of eating american foods such as hot dogs or even salami are any less. She tends to be very frustrated on how she can’t eat or drink whatever she wants due to the fact that she is being obedient to her families regulations. This piece is intended for different cultures. Kothari makes a great point in pointing out that Indian food and culture is very different from American food. But just because they are different that doesn’t mean that its anything bad. The discourse community Kothari belongs to is her own Indian Culture. Even though she does have a hard time trying new foods and being open to the idea of trying new things she always goes back to her traditional foods. The way I relate to Kothari’s situation is that I tend to have a hard time deciding what culture to side with more. Should I be closer to my moms culture since she is more opened about her Mexican culture or my dads Colombian culture. When people ask me, what culture are you more exposed to? I never know how to answer that question so from time to time I just change it. One day is my moms and the next is my dads.
Xavier Manzanares
Word count: 220
Eng1121
I believe the excerpt, “If You Are What You Eat, Then What Am I?” by Geeta Kothari is intended for newcomers in any culture or place because at first you’re going to feel confused, left out etc. she explains to us how the american foods she sees her classmates eat all the time such as tuna, hot dogs and salami are foods her indian parents wont let her eat due to their culture and their perspective of it while geeta doesn’t understand and hates her parents for not meeting her expectations of a mother/father she states how “ They are supposed to help us negotiate the world outside, teach us the signs, the clues to proper behavior what to eat and how to eat it” she says this because as an outsider to her discourse community which would be the american school she feels alone while looking at everyone else eat american food she fails to realize that her parents are following their indian culture the discourse community in which they grew up with and they are also as confused and left out as geeta herself. I can relate to her in a way both my parents don’t speak english very well so it took them a while to get used to living a new life in the united states.
Rania Mohamed
09/02/20
English 1121 OL70
Word Count:180
In the excerpt, “If You Are What You Eat, Then What Am I?” by Geeta Kothari is showing how she is having a hard time knowing what meals fit her best to wish in. She comes from an indian family and she is obligated to eat and drink within her cultural sphere due to her family’s rules and lifestyle. Therefore she feels neglected due to this issue. She believes Indian and American food are different but shouldn’t feel or be a bad thing. She is open to trying new cultural food but she will always have her indian cultural food by her side. I relate to this because I usually like to try different types of cultural food. Everytime I go out I try my best to go to different cultural spots all over New york city to eat. This is just so I can have an experience of what type of food cultures I am surrounded with eat on a daily basis.
The excerpt, If You Are What You Eat, What Am I? Written by Geeta Kothari reminds me of the phrase, ”America is a melting pot”. America was considered the melting pot of the world. The melting pot was a very popular phrase used to describe how hundreds of thousands of immigrants came to America tried to assimilate their culture. The author is trying to make a connection between her own identity and various kinds of foods she likes/does not like or craves to eat in order to have a sense of belonging. Food to the author represents belonging. Eating the wrong type of food could isolate you from the community, friends, family and peers. For example, when the author lived in London she ate traditional foods such as kidney pies to ”belong” with her school friends and when she visited her home back in Asia, her meals consisted of traditional Asian dishes such as aloo tikki and smashed channa dal. Eating these traditional dishes would have been one way for the author to connect to her country and family. I think the writer felt a degree of sadness when she realized she was losing her memory as to way her ancestors cooked. I think Kothari belonged to at least two communities, American and her country of origin. I can relate to the author as well. My best friend told me a story where her grandmother came to America in 1990 at a time where most Immigrants where arriving to America from an eastern European county. My friend told me that her grandmother spoke only Yiddish. But, because her grandmother wanted to fit into the “American” culture and belong to an American Brooklyn community. My friend spoke only English. Eventually, she was unable to communicate with her because she did not learn to speak English.
Amrin Ahad
September 2, 2020 // Wednesday
Word Count: 317
After reading “If You Are What You Eat, Then What Am I?” by Geeta Kothari, I realized I can relate to her in every way and our cultures are so similar. We both have a certain lifestyle that we have to follow and we both come from a strict family and culture. The narrator stays true to her culture but her curiosity gets the best of her and drives her crazy for food she isn’t allowed to eat. This piece was intended for cultural families who face discrimination for what they eat, do, wear, etc. Geeta feels frustrated at her parents because they won’t do the job of a parent and as stated in the passage, “They are not like other parents, and they disappoint me and my sister. They are supposed to help us negotiate the world outside, teach us the signs, the clues to proper behavior: what to eat and how to eat it.” Geeta also believes the fact that her cultural Indian food and American food are very different from each other but it’s also not bad food. In addition, Geeta doesn’t belong to one discourse community but she belongs to two discourse communities. She belongs to the American community and her own cultural community. But she feels like an outsider in the American community since she can’t eat certain of their foods. Like I stated earlier, I can totally relate to her situation all the way. I am a Bangladeshi-American. I was born and raised in Brooklyn but my family never lets me forget where my blood and culture comes from. My parents used to lecture my sister and I why we shouldn’t eat certain foods because of our religion, Islam. I went to public schools my whole life so I always felt left out when my classmates talked about how good the ravioli is today or how good the chicken pizza is.
Shania Marius
September 2, 2020
This piece “If You Are What You Eat Then What Am I” written by Geeta Kothari, is mainly intended to appeal to those who feel lost and confused as to which discourse community they culturally identify with. As the main character moves to America from India she has a difficult time trying to assimilate to the culture America has offered her because she’s worried about no longer fitting into her Indian culture. Realistically Kathari belongs to both the Indian and American discourse community because she’s influenced by both, has acquired specific syntax, and has changed her values through the exposure of Indian/American culture. I relate to Kathari’s situation as I’m half Dominican/Jamaican and feel the pressures of needing to “pick a side” because I want to satisfy both cultures. Through that I’ve been able to let my uniqueness be what influences my “values, communication, and etc”. I now embrace both sides of my family without feeling the need to present myself differently around either because I’m just me.)
Muhammad Musharib
English 1121
Professor Penner
Word Count: 185
Geeta Kothari, Who’s the author of an article called “If you are what you eat, then who am i”. The clue of even starting the article is on the title itself. I was able to predict that this article will be associated with the ethnicity of the author’s culture. The intention of this article is based on Geeta’s tradition because she cannot eat meals that contain the meat of a cow, and she’s trying to determine how the American community will see her or recognize her as Americans or pass racist comments. Kothari belongs to an Indian culture that is living in New York. After reading this interesting article or a story of Geeta Kthori, I can relate to myself because I also belong to a similar community, I’m from Pakistan and I’m Muslim. There are certain things that I cannot eat. For example, Pork is something that I cannot and will not ever eat, and cow meat that is slaughtered is a non-Islamic way I cannot eat, However if cow meat or cricket meat is slaughtered in an Islamic way then I can eat.
Ethan Mau
9/2/2020
Prof. Penner
English 1121
Geeta Kothari, the author of story called “If You Are What You Eat, Then What Am I”. This story is about a girl who is struggling with her identity, where she is a particular race ( indian ) and lives in a (assumed) American area. This story is interesting because it pertains to communities of people who are struggling with their identity through food, as something that I have encountered as well. She has difficulty getting used to the food culture in America, as well as experiencing forms of racism by not fitting in with both her family’s culture, as well as the culture where she lives. I relate because I have strugglged with an identity crisis, wondering if I would rather follow asian culture, or go the full American culture route. There are foods in chinese culture that American people would be afraid of eating, The main character in this story belongs to two different discourse communities, both American public school, and Indian home life.
Ziyam Malik
ENG 1121
Professor Penner
In the excerpt ” If You Are What You Eat, Then What Am I?” by Geeta Khothari, Khothari is experiencing an issue that has to do with self vs society. While she is Indian and her religion prohibits her from eating meats, in school she observes others around her eating foods that are off limits. Khothari belongs to a group of immigrants who are working hard in a foreign country to make a better life for themselves. I can relate to Khothari in a way because I am a muslim immigrant. I also experienced this social issue when I first arrived in the United States. I would see kids around me eating all sorts of foods which I was not allowed to eat due to religious reasons. It took me a very long time to embrace my identity and accept that I was different and being different is not a bad thing.
Mahreen Munawar
September 2, 2020
ENG 1121
Word count: 265
Geeta Kothari’s “If you are what you eat, then what am I?” is directed towards immigrants and people who feel like they don’t belong in foreign countries or places. Geeta being a daughter of immigrants, she felt embarrassed of where she came from. She wanted to be like the other kids at school and her parents not being able to provide those things that she thought were necessary at the time made her feel disappointed in her parents. This specific section of the text seemed oddly familiar considering I was in that position once and felt the same exact feeling. Having immigrant parents that don’t know much about navigating in this new foreign country makes you feel unsafe but there’s also a positive side to this that I barely hear people talking about which is learning to navigate the world around you at a young age, on your own and being independent. Sometimes you crave that safety as an adult but it teaches you what most of the people around you learn far down the road. Geeta Kothari belongs to two discourse communities. She belongs to the American community and the Indian community. Even though it is hard for her to sail between two different personalities and cultures it’ll always stay with her. Just like it’ll stay with me, so either I can be upset about all the things I can’t get right or be appreciative of this privilege I have of knowing two cultures and make the best of it while educating others around me.
After reading, “If You Are What You Eat, Then What Am I ?”, I gained an understanding that this is intended for those who are 1st generation families living in a different place that they are not used to. I say this because even I went through something like this, where the food at home is 100% different from what is given to you at school, or even from what your classmates eat. However as for Kothari considering her background, she is only restricted to eat certain meats. It’s close to nothing actually, which inhances her curiosity to these foods that her parents restricted her from. Even her sister has these cravings that she typicaly sees other people eat. These cravings consists of “bologna, hot dogs, bacon, sausages and a range of unidentifiable meat products forbidden by my parents”. I totally get what she goes through, especially in the part where she lived in london and was confused on what her lunch was at school, typically for me I never liked school lunch. But I do understand the confusion in school lunch. Sometimes you just can’t tell what it is, and this is because it’s not what you would eat at home. Also with the reactions of her friends, it always happens to me as well. Being first generation requires a lot of struggles, not just with food but the language and etiquette, and atleast at one point in your life, not fitting in.
Chyna Vazquez
September 2, 2020
ENG1121
Word Count:162
“If You Are What You Eat, Then What Am I?” by Geeta Kothari is intended for people that feel like they are an outcast between their ethnicities. Geeta mentions how she must shift between her Indian culture to be accepted by her parents and American culture to be accepted by her friends. She tries fitting in between her Indian culture by eating Indian food but feels that she is socially accepted if she eats the American food her friends eat. I think Geeta belongs to two discourse communities. She belongs to her American culture community as well as her Indian community. As a bilingual student, I can relate to Geeta’s situation. My first language was Spanish so in middle school I felt like an outcast. Every time I talked in English, I felt as if I had an accent. I worried that my friends would make fun of me if I spoke Spanish. This prevented me from expressing my Mexican culture in school.
In the excerpt “If You Are What You Eat, Then What Am I?” by Geeta Kothari, we can see the struggle of a minority represented in food. We can see how the author feels out of place because she doesn’t eat what all her friends eat. She dislikes feeling different and feels disappointed at her parents for not being as the rest of the American parents. Sadly, in society many times being different is not looked as a good thing. And one can be categorized as odd for not sharing the same culture, religion, language, skin completion etc. This is why many minorities try to act as what is considered “normal”, to be able to fit in. However, it is necessary to accept ourselves and society to accept everybody as for who they are. We see that as Kothari grows older, she starts to appreciate her culture and her family. She begins to have an interest and even misses what her mother used to cook for her.
I believe this was intended for all the minorities that feel oppressed and feel left out because of stereotypes and the lack of acceptance by others.
I feel identified with the ways the author feels, because as a minority I have also tried to fit in. I was born in Colombia and moved to America five years ago. I work in a construction industry where not only the vast majority of people are male, but they are also white. I often feel frustrated because of my accent or not having a broad vocabulary. But then, I realize how much I have accomplished in such a small amount of time; and I hope that one day we can all feel equal.