Writers such as Dwight Okita and Sandra Cisneros were greatly influenced by the American culture. "Response to Executive Order 9066" by Dwight Okita, and "Mericans" by Sandra Cisneros both authors establish the topic of American identity. In Okita's poem, American identity has more to do with how you experience culture than with where your family came from. Both Okita's poem and Cisneros's short story show that cultural heritage and physical appearances do not determine what it means to be American.

In response to "Mericans", the first sign of American identity that is noticed by this short story is the classification of relatives in the style of traditional American names such as "Auntie" and "Uncle". The next thing that is noticeable relates to the young American identity, regarding childhood. As part of the American culture a couple of ideas that could be experienced in childhood that the narrator tries to avoid being a victim of. For example, the grandmother prays for family members. The narrator imagines that the grandmother is worried because many of her children and grandchildren live in "that barbaric country with its barbaric ways". This refers to the grandmother's dislike of the United States, which contrast with the narrator's view. Despite her Mexican heritage, the narrator feels a stronger connection to the United States than to Mexico. By stating that "We have promised to stay right where the awful grandmother left us until she returns".

In this short story, the biggest topic that relates to the American identity is how young boys and girls are playing together and the girls are constantly agonized and picked on for the fact of being a "girl". To the point where they tried to keep up and do just the same as the boys would. In Cisneros's story, the most important conflict between characters is over their opinion of the