My Name
My name was a mistake, kind of. My mom could hardly call me Brittany for a while because she had been so set on another name. It means the child my uncle could never have – it means my heritage – it means filling out a lot of bubbles on standardized tests – it means a continual association with Britney Spears – it means misspelling and even more mispronunciations – it means beautiful blue ocean – it means assumptions about my abilities, nationality, citizenship, and race – it means part of me.
This was composed to answer a prompt we gave the women at the local detention center during our SpeakOut! Writing Workshop. We handed out the vignette, “My Name” by Sandra Cisneros. This is originally found in The House on Mango Street, which is a compilation of short writings which have gained considerable popularity among individuals of all age groups and walks of life. We asked the women to think about what their name means, how it plays into identity, and what it represents. Many women decided to write about their child’s name, which was a powerful look into the lives of these writers.
*You can find “My Name” by Sandra Cisneros on the Resources Page!
Adventures in Literacy 