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LITR 4332 American
Minority Literature 2013 Student Midterm Samples midterm assignment
#3. Web Highlights |
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Jillian Norris
Web Review
The first web article that I have
chosen to review is called
Dominant Immigrant Culture vs. African American Minority
Culture. I chose this article because I enjoyed
the way the author explained the differences between dominant immigrant culture
and minority culture. The author did a wonderful job of identifying and
explaining the traits that make up each group, and how those groups were
affected by their status as either “immigrant” or “minority.” In this review,
the author focuses on two texts that we have read in class,
The Bread Givers
and
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, in
order to show how the two cultures in which she is discussing experienced life
when they first came to America.
She begins by providing a wonderful
analysis of Max Goldstein’s experience and why he falls into the category of
“immigrant.” She claims that because he “sailed from [his] native land, crossed
the sea, and came to America in search of a better life, in search of
opportunities known as the 'American Dream'," that he belongs to the immigrant
culture. I think that this is an accurate summation of what qualifies as
immigrant status, and this is also an excellent example of how unlike Frederick
Douglass’s American experience was. In his
Narrative of the
Life, Douglass was born into slavery and forced
to work in the harshest conditions with no hope of making a life for himself.
The author of this web article refers to Douglass’s experience as an “American
Nightmare” because he was “not given the right to keep the money they earned and
advance their station in life.” I believe that this is a fair interpretation of
what Douglass went through as a slave in America, and I particularly liked the
way she paralleled the “American Dream” in the Bread Givers with the “American
Nightmare” of Douglass’s story.
From this
article, the author taught me a more concise way of explaining the difference
between immigrants and minorities in America. I had tried explaining this to a
friend of mine after we had first started discussing it in class and even though
I knew what I was trying to say, I was struggling to find a way to explain it
properly because the concept was still so new to me. However, after reading this
article and after more in-class discussion, I now have a very clear
understanding of the two concepts and feel confident discussing them with
others.
The second article that I chose to
review is entitled
American Minority Cultures and the American Dream,
which touches on pretty much the same topic of the previous web article. I was a
little hesitant to review two articles that were so similar in focus, but what
really struck me about this article was the author's reference to the text
The
Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano
in which he quotes the author as saying “I now saw myself
deprived of all chance of returning to my native country, or even the least
glimpse of gaining the shore… my present situation [was] filled with horrors of
every kind, still heightened by my ignorance of what I was to undergo.” Out of
all of the texts that we’ve read, I think that this one quote perfectly
encapsulates what it means to be a first generation slave coming to America. The
terror that Equiano felt as he stepped onto the boat and realized that he was
completely alone is a feeling that I'm sure that almost all incoming slaves
could relate to, and I love that the author chose to begin his article with this
chilling reference.
The author then goes on to
explain the hypocrisy of the
Declaration of Independence’s
suggestion of equality. He references the famous line “all men are created
equal,” and makes the suggestion that, at the time it was written, many people
did not seem to fall into the category of “men”, such as women, indentured
servants, and slaves and were therefore denied civil rights for years. He then
explains that even now African Americans struggle to find equality in American
society, stating that African Americans are still a minority who often struggle
to achieve financial success while Caucasians occupy the best jobs.
I
really liked that the author pointed out how African Americans were excluded
from the equality declared for all men in the
Declaration
and compares it to how in modern society one can argue that they have still not
achieved equality in America. I think that this is something that people don’t
often think about. African Americans have now rightfully acquired all of the
same rights as everybody else in the country, and it has been universally agreed
that slavery was a heinous practice, but discrimination is an issue that
continues to affect African Americans and can prevent them from achieving the
American Dream.
The final web article that I
will review covers a different, yet somewhat related topic. It is entitled
the American
Dream vs. the Dream and, as the title suggests,
it discusses the blurred line that differentiates the American Dream from the
Dream. He starts off with a great argument that if someone has to create their
own dream due to oppression, then it has become merely “a dream” rather than the
“American Dream." I particularly liked how he explains that the “American Dream”
becomes tainted in the eyes of African American slaves, and follows that up with
Douglass’s experience of finally obtaining freedom, only to be met hostility and
assault in his desire to find work. I think that this is a great point to be
made in discussing African American attempts to achieve the “American Dream,”
but I wish that the author had delved further into the idea that what Douglass
was left with was merely “a dream” as he was forced to alter what makes up the
“American Dream.” Overall, I felt that he began his essay with some great ideas,
but I was left wishing that he had pushed them a little further and delved
deeper into the distinct differences between the "dream" and the "American
Dream."
