Answer:
Explanation:
The short essay, “Rice for Thanksgiving,” describes how someone from a mixed cultural background celebrates not only Thanksgiving, but life in the United States. The author uses the term “rice and gravy” to describe herself, meaning that even though she is white and Asian, she is still an American. She even describes how she is proud of her family background, especially since it survived a period in America when Asian culture was discriminated against. Her grandmother actually tried to hide the fact that she was Chinese. Overall, the author shows us that all cultures blend together in the United States and every family makes each holiday and tradition unique.
Even though I come from a family that has been in the United States for a long time and celebrates all of the holidays in a traditional manner, my friend is similar to Jocelyn Fong in that she is half white and half Asian. Her mom comes from Okinawa, Japan, and actually loves to celebrate Thanksgiving. She likes to cook a very traditional Thanksgiving dinner that doesn’t include any Japanese food whatsoever. I think she likes this particular holiday because it is celebrated in a very “Japanese” way, with a big feast that includes more food than anyone can eat. It is a way of honoring people with abundance, two things that are very important in Japan. So even though we don’t eat rice and gravy for Thanksgiving, we still observe two cultures blending together like Jocelyn Fong’s family.
