Tuesday, 25 November: complete Rudolfo Anaya, Bless Me, Ultima

Web highlight (final exams regarding American Indian literature): Heather Thompson

Introduction: 

My thoughts:  Involuntary participation (Objective 1a) The idea that a person, let alone a group of people lose their basic human right of choice is wrong.  When I think of how it would feel to not have a voice and to be forced to do what others want, only one word comes to mind: slavery.  American Indian literature respond to this Involuntary participation as a way of securing their survival and giving them a sense of who they are. 

Web highlights from previous finals:

1. Objective 1 states that the minority concept may be defined as “a power relationship modeled primarily by some ethnic groups’ historical relation to the dominant culture.” A minority group is a collection of people who live in a society that has a structure set up to benefit another group of people.  The group of people that this benefits is known as the dominant culture.  In America this culture is seen in most cases as wealthy, white men. (KR 2007)

2. Due to the circumstances they have been forced into by the dominant American culture, American Indians do not have much to look forward to and they do not have many prospects in life, so they find themselves forever looking backward to the past as a means of survival.  (RF 2007)

3. In respect to history, neither of these groups [i. e., American Indians and Mexican Americans] traveled to the white world and asked to be a part of the dream.  The Anglos, rather, encroached on land held by these indigenous peoples and their descendents and drove them into areas of concentrated populations.  The invaders became the dominant culture that made the acquisition of land its primary concern and ignored the needs of the people that were driven from the land to make room for expansion.  (JH 2005)

Conclusion: I believe that understanding the past and not just knowing it is the key factor to a bright future for all people.  American Indians use their past to give them a sense of self. It defines them as a people and thus expresses this in their literature. 

Questions: Any comments or questions about the highlights above?

Where is the best writing and how do you identify it?