Melting Pot by Anna Quindlen Q & A

What does this essay suggest about the way people live in city neighborhoods in the United States?

it suggest that there is a great mix of people in city neighborhoods.

Do you think it is possible to belong to both groups?

yes, if you work at respecting and being part of both groups; no, because you cant't be two things at the same time.

What experiences do most of residents share?

Most of the residents have seen a lot of changes in their neighborhood.

Identify the different groups in Quindle's neighborhood.

New arrivals and long-time residents; children of past immigrants; Italians, Hispanics, and Yugoslavians; and families and singles.

What advice would Quindlen give on how people of different cultures can get along?

People must be tolerant and interested in people form all backgrounds will help people get along.

Describe Quindlen's neighborhood

Quindlen's neighborhood is made up of "old-timers" and newcomers, young and old, Ecuadorians, Yugoslavs, Italians, and others. Although the different groups can be prejudiced against each other, they often get along as individuals.

How is Quindlen both "one of them" and "one of us"?

She is one of them - an interloper- because she is one of the young professionals who has moved into a neighborhood and changed its character; she one of us - the old timers-, because she is of immigrant Italian descent.

What attitude does Quindlen say most people have toward other who are new or different?

She says that most people have a suspicious or negative attitude toward others who are new or different. People see these others as a part of "them," not "us."

What purpose might Quindlen have for including details about the neighborhood?

She wants to shoe that a mix of people live the neighborhood. She wants to illustrate for readers a diverse urban neighborhood. She wants to show how groups can dislike one another while individuals within those groups accept one another.

How do these shared experiences both unite and divided the residents?

The residents are united by common problems and by the ways in which they adapt to the changing neighborhood, as when an Italian grocer starts to stock mangoes for Indians. Change can also divided them, as when one set of immigrants becomes old-timers and look on new arrivals as outsiders.

About the selection; background knowledge

The speaker of "Melting Pot" describes her changing urban neighborhood both from the viewpoint of an outsider who has arrived only recently and of an insider who was the daughter of immigrants. She considers the idea of being accepted in a multicultural community: how people regard their neighbors as "us" or "them," and how they may hold broad prejudices against some ethnic groups as a whole but relax the prejudices as they get to know individual members of those groups.

What purpose might the details about squid support?

They inform readers about what modern urban neighborhoods are like; they reflect on the ethnic diversity of a neighborhood.