1. Mia Orlandi
2/14/2015
Comm 366
PAC Assignment
Part A:
I’ve always been interested in my family history, since I grew up in a home where both
sides of my family valued their heritages in one way or another. My moms side of the family is
English, while my dad’s side of the family is Italian. Today I am going to be focusing on he Ital-
ian side of my family. My dad’s parents were born in Italy, and immigrated to America in 1949.
Some views and values that someone from this homeland might practice include the con-
cept of family care. According to the Gale Encyclopedia of Multicultural America, Italian
Americans display an attachment to the values of domesticity and loyalty to the family (Pozzetta,
2000.) These people value family more than anything and are always taking care of the elders in
the family. Italians also value tradition by passing down many practices that are important to
their culture. Italian people are always very welcoming to people entering their home, especially
family. Italian Americans are also very reliant on networks in geographical regions, giving un-
derstanding to why there are so many “Little Italys” across the United States (Pozzetta, 2000.)
Italians always view food as very important. Dinnertime is a very special time of the day, and
meals are rather large and take hours of preparation. Although this is not necessary a value, Ital-
ians are often associated with crime, mainly due to the association to the Mafia (Pozzetta, 2000.)
A lot of these views and values have made their way into my household, which I find extremely
interesting.
Some non-verbal gestures that Italians tend to do would be using hands while speaking. I
know I tend to do this a lot especially with the amount of speeches and presentations I have been

2. giving in my classes recently. Italians also tend to speak quickly and frequently, which I know I
do a lot as well. Italians are also very affectionate, giving a lot of hugs and kisses on the cheek
when greeting someone. They are also very animated and lively when speaking, which is another
interesting component from the Italian culture.
The story of how my family came to America is so interesting! It started out when my
grandfather was a prisoner of war during World War II and he was brought over to America
(near Toledo, Ohio) with other German and Italian prisoners and met my future grandmother at a
camp and fell in love. After the war, all of the prisoners were sent home, so my grandfather was
transported back to Italy. My grandmother came on a boat to Italy to visit him a few months
later, and there she became pregnant with my dad. My grandparents wanted my dad to be born in
the United States, so my grandmother then came back to Ohio where she gave birth to my dad in
1948. It wasn’t until about six months later, in 1949, that my grandfather finally had the money
to then come back to the United States. One of the problems that my grandparents had to deal
with was money. My grandfather was a very poor mason, and saving money to travel and sup-
port his family was a hard thing to do. Another problem that my grandfather had to face was that
he barely spoke any English, so it was hard for him to communicate with Americans in the small
town he moved to in Ohio. Another problem that was faced was when my grandfather had to be-
come an American citizen. There were many requirements to become an American citizen due to
a law passed in 1940. These requirements included English proficiency and residential status
(Pineiro-Hall, n.d.) My grandfather didn’t become an actual American citizen until 1953, which
was a definite hardship for him.
I believe that there are a lot of homeland customs that my family still practices. My name
is an Italian word meaning ‘mine’ which my dad gave to me to keep the tradition of Italian first

3. names (his name is Gino.) In addition to this, my dad and his family would always receive a box
around Christmas time when he was growing up. This box would be from relatives in Italy and
would contain tons of delicious pastas, candies and other Italian foods. Too keep this custom
alive, my dad’s brother, who lives near New York City, sends us a box of Italian food from an
authentic food store near there. It is always exciting to open this box, which sometimes contains
small gifts for my sister and I. Another tradition that is practiced in my family is the cooking of
an Italian fish soup called cuccicco, which my dad prepares as a special Christmas dinner. This
soup was always a tradition in his household, and he carried it down to ours. We also make a lot
of other simpler Italian dishes on weeknights, along with a lot of pasta! In addition to this, hunt-
ing animals and mushroom hunting are very popular in Italy, which is something my dad enjoys
because his dad showed him how. My dad is also a mason, as was his father and his grandfather.
Traditions are very important in my family and when I have a family I will keep these customs
alive.
I believe that all these customs and traditions have made me into a very well rounded and
educated person. A lot of my peers have no idea where their family came from, or know very lit-
tle about their heritage. I take a lot of pride in where I am from, and I even won a scholarship in
high school for writing a similar paper about my family traditions. I believe that knowing a lot
about your own culture adds a piece of education and knowledge that you can’t learn anywhere
else, and it helps to understand why you may be the way you are. Learning about my own culture
has made me interested in other peoples families and their history, and I often ask people if they
are a certain heritage based on their last name. “How did you know that?” is asked far too often.
Within my specific culture, I feel that the outgoing, talkative side of Italian-Americans has made

4. me into a person that will be perfect for my career. I know that I do well as a communication ma-
jor, and I excel at my current part-time job as a waitress because of these aspects. This is so in-
fluential because I have always noticed that I enjoy talking and meeting new people, but I never
associated it with anything until I started learning more about my heritage. Once I knew why, I
began to embrace it and make it my own. I also care a lot about my family, which is another in-
fluential aspect from my culture that I enjoy, and I will use when I start my own family.
Part B:
I believe that looking at American from an outsiders point of view is something that eve-
ryone should try once. By doing this, you see our societies customs and rituals as new and differ-
ent. I believe that our country has its own very unique food, customs and arts due to the fact that
America is a melting pot of other cultures. The blend of each culture has created so many unique
features for America and there is no other country like this. Holidays, for example, are very im-
portant to American people, yet a lot of these holidays are adapted from other cultures. Our cul-
ture also has distinct regions that help make it unique, such as the midwest and east coast. When
most outside people think of America, they think of the country as whole, but as we as Ameri-
cans know the huge differences in each region. In addition to this, using an outsiders point of
view, I would also describe our culture as busy, workplace oriented, and self-oriented. To people
from other cultures, we focus too much on our jobs and our possessions and appearances, which
may seem very narcissistic and odd to them.
I believe that mainstream American culture includes sports, apple pie, and family. Ameri-
can culture is very wrapped around sports- from our daily metaphors to romantic date ideas to
family bonding. From an outsiders point of view this may seem very weird. The idea that this

5. country is obsessed with a game that is just made up for entertainment, etc. is could be consid-
ered unintelligent or may even make an outsider take us less seriously. Sports are very important
in our culture and many people consider some aspect of sports to be a large part of their lives. I
grew up in a household where my family would all gather around the TV to watch the olympics,
or ride together to the high school football games. From my point of view, this was always an
important part of growing up, as well as many of my friends, relatives and peers. I also believe
that our nation’s symbols- including the bald eagle and American flag are both very important
and tributary. All across the nation, kids start their day at school by saying the pledge of alle-
giance, and the flag and bald eagle are displayed in homes, businesses and schools everywhere.
In a recent essay done by veteran Barry Loudermilk, America was described as a place
where pride for the country does not exist. Flags no longer hang up in schools, red white and
blue is no longer appropriate to wear, and the motto ‘In God We Trust’, is considered incorrect
and wrong. Barry discusses how wrong these actions are and if you don’t like the culture of the
country-please leave. I agree with this essay entirely. I grew up reciting the pledge of allegiance
every morning, and setting out flowers on graves on Memorial Day. I spent the 4th of July
watching a parade and donning red white and blue. I remember learning about Betsy Ross and
her creation of the American flag, and I currently work at Applebee’s-where we serve hundreds
of active military and veterans for free on Veteran’s Day. These colors, symbols, and activities
are all what makes our culture what it is. These are all things to be proud of. It makes me sad to
think that there are people who don’t see our country in a positive light because of problems that
we might be facing such as poverty, obesity and crime. I think people forget that there are prob-
lems like this everywhere, yet we are lucky to live somewhere we can be free, and where we can
make our own choices and get an education. This article surprised me- living in Big Rapids, I

6. tend to forget that people around the country do not respect America, the culture, or the symbols.
Loudermilk makes a true statement with this essay- either love the country or leave it.
A true metaphor of American culture is that it is a ‘melting pot’. America is made up of
all kinds of people from many different places, who each bring their own unique traditions to the
country. You may not realize it, but so much of our culture is based off of other cultures, as I
previously mentioned. Each culture brought their music styles, food, entertainment, etc. Asians
notably brought nail salons and a lot of their cuisine, while Irish brought St. Patricks Day, and
Italians brought other types of their food such as pasta dishes. These are just a few examples, but
this is what makes America so unique. My grandparents adopted many Italian customs from It-
aly, but also learned new ones from living in America, and passed those down. I never thought of
it too much until these assignment, but its so interesting that so many family customs come
straight from Italy, and I get to share them with friends. It is really cool that we are able to expe-
rience a culture influenced by so many other places and this assignment is just a reminder why I
love America.
sBibliography:
Pineiro-Hall, E. (n.d.). 1940 Nationality Act. Retrieved February 14, 2015, from http://li-
brary.uwb.edu/guides/usimmigration/1940_naturalization_act.html
Pozzetta, G. (2000). Italian Americans. In Gale encyclopedia of multicultural America (2nd ed.,
Vol. 2, p. 988). Detroit: Gale.