LITR 4332 American Minority Literature Model Assignments Final Exam Submissions 2013

Ryan Harold

Literature and History

When I signed up to take Minority literature, I had no idea what to expect. I figured that we would read a bunch of literature about famous minority writers and learn about them.  In actuality we learned much more than that. Mr. White had us think about many key objectives that exemplify different characteristics of minority groups.

            We first learned that unlike the dominant cultures, minorities did not choose to come to America. The most typical example that is used is with African Americans. They were forced to come here and join the dominant culture. Frederick Douglas’ Slave Narratives describes many of the hardships that African Americans had to go through when being forced to come to America. He describes in great detail what he had to go through as a slave. He didn’t have it as bad as some slaves but he is one of the few slaves who have a narrative on slavery such as his. He said that freedom is not something that is given to you. It is something that you have to find for yourself. It took time for African Americans to gain courage to fight for equal rights. It was a difficult struggle for them to earn their equality.

American Indians also struggled with adapting to the dominant cultures. Chrystos a poet talks about this in “I have not Signed a Treaty with the United States Government.” She is basically saying that Native Americans did not want to become part of the New America out of their own free will. They were forced to become part of the American culture whether they liked it or not. The only case in which they could still try and create a limited version of their original culture was through Indian reservations.

Mexican Americans also had to adapt to the change of having to become part of the dominant culture. One poem that I liked is called “Green Chile” by Jimmy Santiago. It talks about love and sacrifice. There are two types of chili peppers. The author says that he prefers red chili over eggs and potatoes for breakfast. This shows that he values the Mexican American culture over the American culture. He prefers his culture instead of being taken over by American culture. Another poem I liked that has the meaning of assimilation to the dominant culture is Pat Mora’s Senora X No More. It is a poem about a woman who is attending classes to learn to read and write English. She demonstrates frustration and determination and hard work when she is finally able to write her name. This shows that on the flip side, some of the Mexican Americans are assimilating and not ashamed of it.

In doing my research posts, I learned of an interesting perspective of Indians, the Noble Savage concept.  Although this topic was not directly related to the course objectives, I found it to be an interesting way of thinking about Indians. It will help with my knowledge and could be useful if I become a history teacher.

My career choice is to become a teacher. This course taught me invaluable knowledge on different minority groups in America. Although I don’t really want to be a language arts teacher, I may become a history teacher someday. In this case, it is important to understand diversity and how minorities fit in. In history this is a topic that will come up. I can use the knowledge that I gained from this course to tie in to the lessons on history that I teach. I can also use some of the poetry and outside resources that I used to show to my future students on how important minority literature is.