Introduction to Speech
Just Need the questions answerd in paraged format. Thanks!
Cultural Diversity in the United States - Culture Shock:The Arrival of the Hmong
           Imagine that you were a member of a small tribal group in themountains of Laos. Village life and the clan were all you knew.There were no schools, and you learned everything you needed toknow from your relatives. U.S. agents recruited the men of yourvillage to fight Communists, and they gained a reputation as fiercefighters. When the U.S. forces were defeated in Vietnam, yourpeople were moved to the United States so they wouldn’t be killedin reprisal.
           Here is what happed. Keep in mind that you have never seen atelevision or newspaper and that you have never gone to school.Your entire world has been the village. They put you in a big housewith wings. It flew. They have you strange food on a tray. TheSani-Wipes were hard to chew. After the trip, you were placed in ahouse. This was an adventure. You had never seen locks before, asno one locked up anything in the village. Most of the village homesdidn’t even have doors, much less locks.
           You found the bathroom perplexing. At first, you tried to wash ricein the bowl of water, which seemed to be provided for this purpose.But when you pressed the handle, the water and the ricedisappeared. After you learned what the toilet was for, you foundit difficult not to slip off the little white round thing when youstood on it. In the village, you didn’t need a toilet seat when yousquatted in a field to use the bathroom. When you threw water onthe electric stove to put out the burner, it sparked and smoked.You became afraid to use the stove because it might explode. And noone liked it when you tried to plant a vegetable garden in thepark.
           Your new world was so different that, to help you adjust, thesettlement agency told you (Fadiman 1997):
To send mail, you must use stamps.
The door of the refrigerator must be shut.
Do not stand or squat on toilet since it may break.
Always ask before picking your neighbor’s flowers, fruit orvegetables.
In colder areas you must wear shoes, socks and appropriate outerwear. Otherwise, you may become ill.
Always use a handkerchief or a tissue to blow your nose inpublic places or inside a public building.
Picking your nose or ears in public is frowned upon in theUnited States.
Never urinate in the street. This creates a smell that isoffensive to Americans. They also believe that it causesdisease.
To help the Hmong assimilate, U.S.officials dispersed them across the nation. This, they felt wouldhelp them to adjust to the dominant culture and prevent a Hmongsubculture from developing. The dispersal brought feelings ofisolation to the clan and village based Hmong. As soon as they hada chance, the Hmong moved from these towns scattered across thecountry to live in areas with other Hmong, the major one being inCalifornia’s Central Valley. Here they renewed villagerelationships and helped one another adjust to the society they hadnever desired to join.
Please answer the followingquestions:
Do you think you would have reacted differently if you have beena displaced Hmong?
Why did the Hmong need one another more in the U.S.neighborhoods to adjust to their new life?
What culture shock do you think a U.S. born 19 year old Hmongwould experience if his or her parents decided to return toLaos?
Using the information in the chapter related to ethnicity inchapter six, was it wrong for the U.S. officials to separate theHmong to “help†them assimilate?
Regarding language, do you believe the Hmong continued tocommunicate in their mother tongue (even if they already knew tospeak English) either in their isolated places or when they arrivedback to reunite in Central Valley California? Would American bornHmong use the mother tongue too, communicate in English, orboth?
