In studying the immigrant narrative, we learn in a multi-faceted way about the joys and hardships involved in the immigrant experience. In reviewing the stories of a vast array of different ethnic groups, we come closer to understanding the complexities of survival, and the ways in which people relate to each other both good and bad.

Essentially, the immigrant narrative evolves into two distinct categories: one involving immigrants, and the other, minorities. Within these groups, the stories of families and individuals emerge. The immigrant narrative is very much one of voluntary participation in which a family or individual journey to the new world in search of a better life. Sometimes, as in the case of the Garcias, life in the old world is good, even prosperous, yet circumstances that may be political in nature lead to a desire to emigrate. When the Garcias enter the new world they experience culture shock. Rather than being prominent members of society, they are classified as mere immigrants, and endure the racial slurs and discrimination perpetrated by the dominant culture. The process of fitting in to the adopted country is fraught with difficulty and adjustment. Dr. Garcia, for instance, suffers the loss of professional and social status while also seeing his patriarchal dominance ebbing as his daughters assume the attitudes and behaviors of the dominant culture. Essentially, though, the Garcias successfully regain their socioeconomic status, migrating to a more affluent neighborhood with the girls attending the best schools and eventually college. As the girls assume traits of the dominant culture, even losing their accents and engaging in interracial relationships and marriages the sense of the American dream as a blending of many cultures emerges. This is furthered explored in "The Lesson" as the classroom with its diverse student body reflects the changing face of America. Here, immigrants turn to education to provide assistance in their climb up the socioeconomic ladder. The need to learn the language of the dominant culture becomes paramount. This idea also surfaces in "Hunger of Memory" as Rodriguez recognizes the need for fluency in what he calls "public" language to succeed in the Promised Land.

In addition, "The English Lesson" becomes a microcosm of America as every character has a story that seems to reflect part of the larger immigrant narrative. Thus we have Lali escaping the traditional role of the submissive female by attending school and experiencing a certain freedom and respect, Mr. Fong all ready doing well but wanting to do better, Aldo, rapturous at becoming part of the dominant culture, and Diego despising the America while wanting it to serve his needs. Resoundingly, the experiences of immigrants, no matter how hard, seem bearable because of the hope that inspires their dreams.

Conversely, the story of minority groups is often one of oppression and forced participation in a system they neither respect nor desire. As James Baldwin indicates, many African Americans fight in wars for a culture that denies them equal rights. In effect they are fighting for the wrong cause. Similarly, in "The Lesson" the Black children are exposed to a world to which they have no real access. F.A.O. Schwarz, as a bastion of WASP culture, serves as a symbol of inequality, remaining beyond the reach of people who are denied the right to such earnings potential. Related issues also arise in the experiences of Native Americans. A fear and distrust of the law emerges in the attitudes and actions of the characters in "American Horse." Elsewhere, in "The Man to Send Rain Clouds" syncretism occurs as we see the grandfather observing the natural rituals of death, and the sprinkling of the grave with holy water to ensure future rain. Here, Native Americans have found a way to survive and observe tradition within their families and communities. This trait also surfaces in the Mexican-American narrative-"From Hunger of Memory" and "Like Mexicans"- family members retain their ethnic identity through language and tradition. . . . A resulting loss of ethnic identity is the necessary sacrifice for participating in the American dream. However, as evidenced by many of these works, once a level of comfort and acceptance is achieved, a renewal of interest in ethnic roots becomes possible, and the celebration of dual identity evolves.

In exploring the experiences of immigrants through the narrative format, a comprehensive view of American society emerges. A study of Immigrant Literature through symbolism might also be effective especially by exploring the images other cultures have of America. To this effect, objects such as the Statue of Liberty, the American Flag, the bald eagle, and the automobile might shed light on how others view Americans while displaying how Americans see themselves. Commodities such as Coca Cola as well as other symbols of materialism might also be illuminating. However, I really believe that human experience as in the form of narratives, memoir, or character studies provides the most profound and enlightening lessons in who we were, are, and hope to be. [YH 2001]

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The immigrant narrative is the fundamental story-line of the dominant culture in the United States. This is because immigrants (the majority of people in the U.S.) chose to come to America. For example, in the Garcia Girls, the family chose to come to America in search of a better life. In other words, they voluntarily participated in the American Dream by journeying to America for freedom and success. This narrative is a distinct contrast with the experiences of the minority culture.

Minorities can be defined in terms of race, gender, or social status. Unlike immigrants, minorities have no "social contract" with the U.S. because they were forced to participate in the American Dream. Minorities, therefore, suffer discrimination by the dominant culture their whole lives. Immigrants, however, may experience problems of "minority" cultures for a short time only. For example, in "Brooklyn Revisited," the immigrants have assimilated and are not ridiculed (like the Blacks) by the dominant culture.

The immigrant narrative has the power to distinguish between these two groups because it is the backbone for the two. Both of the groups suffer discrimination, as in stage three of the narrative, but immigrants do not suffer it as long. For example, in "Soap and Water," the girl was deprived of opportunities until she enrolled in school to improve her life. There, she was discriminated against, but finally overcame it. The same is true of the Garcia girls. They overcame the name calling and went on to a better life. Minorities may experience the same problems but they never seem to outgrow it.

Another difference that the narrative makes clear between the two groups is noticeable in stages one and two. Yes, both cultures leave the "Old World" and journey to the "New World." However, immigrants like Mr. Fong in the "English Lesson" choose to come to America to improve his position in the country. Minority journeys are not the same because they consist of forced participation. The slaves did not want to come to America and the Indians did not want us to take their land. In essence, they were choiceless. Immigrants have a choice.

Mexican Americans are an interesting comparison in terms of the immigrant and minority cultures. Mexican Americans are seen as the "ambivalent minority" because they take on characteristics of both the immigrant and minority groups. In other words, there is a sort of both/and concept going on with them. Their status is complicated by many things such as historical, sociological, and language elements. What happened to the Mexican Americans, in a historical sense, is comparable to what happened tot he Indians when the Europeans came in. Obviously, they had no choice. Popular culture, generally tends to regard them as immigrants, and in some ways they are. It is often a matter of such things as do you buy into the dominant educational system or not? Language is also a hindrance in classifying the Mexican Americans into either category. Generally, immigrants drop their language and begin speaking English. Mexicans seem to speak both languages. Taking all of this into account, the dilemma is clear. Are Mexicans immigrants or minorities? The story "Like Mexicans" deals with this very dilemma and it seems to discuss both the similarities and the differences between the two.

The power of a narrative to organize, shape, and reflect our lives is phenomenal. It seems that the only weakness of structuring a class around the narrative is that students will often begin to generalize too much about immigrant/minority experiences. However, the strengths of organizing a class in this way are powerful. Story-telling certainly has power over us because stories shape our idea of reality. Or perhaps, it is the other way around, such as in "Going Home: Brooklyn Revisited" where the author realizes that her reality is partially fiction. In any case, narratives are powerful because of components such as characters, symbols, and self-changes. [MG 2001]

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The immigrant narrative is a good jumping off point when studying multicultural literature, since America is a country created mainly through immigration. American multicultural literature can broadly be grouped into three categories. One category is literature written by people who immigrated into America by choice, another is literature written by people who were forced to immigrate, such as the Africans who were brought here as slaves, and finally literature written by people who were here before immigration began, such as the American Indians and Mexicans. The immigrant narrative helps us to explore, understand and criticize the literature that has been written by these three groups of people.

Two of the above three groups of people left their old world to live a new life in a new world, America. For the voluntary immigrant is was generally a move that improved their lifestyle over that in the old world. They came searching for a better future. This idea can be evidenced in Mohr’s story, "The English Lesson." Mrs. Hamma is teaching English to newly arrived immigrants, and she asks them to tell a little about why they came to America. One student responds, "I come from Hong Kong but originally born in city of Canton, China…I taking the course in Basic English to speak good and improve my position in this country." For the involuntary immigrant it is a constant struggle to leave the oppression behind.

Most immigrants and minorities have experienced exploitation and discrimination at some point in their life in the new world. These feelings can be exaggerated by feelings of culture shock. In Yerzirska’s story "Soap and Water," a young Russian immigrant woman is working in a laundry while she earns her college education. She is shocked to find that the dean of the school has refused her teaching diploma because her appearance isn’t clean or kept and her clothes aren’t "teacher quality." The author writes, "While they condemned me as unfit to be a teacher, because of my appearance, I was slaving to keep them clean. I was slaving in a laundry from five to eight in the morning, before going to college, and from six to eleven at night, after coming from college" (p. 106). The young woman has sacrificed severely to obtain the American Dream of having a college education only to be told that she is told she is not good enough to obtain it.

Each successive generation that lives in American generally becomes more assimilated into the American culture, at least where voluntary immigrants are concerned. In Sotos "Like Mexicans", the author is sure he will marry a Mexican like himself, and is surprised when he falls in love with a Japanese girl. He is even more surprised to find when he meets his future in-laws that they are remarkably similar to Mexicans. "I felt better, though, when I got out of the car and saw the house: the chipped paint, a cracked window, boards for a walk to the back door…Her people were like Mexicans, only different" (p. 303-4). Both families had assimilated to the American culture and had become very similar.

In contrast to the immigrant assimilation, the American Indian culture has fought hard to remain independent of the "immigrant culture" or American dream. This is seen in Chrystos’ poem, "I Have Not Signed a Treaty With the United States Government." The author tells us that the U.S. is not like the American Indian culture at all. "The United States can’t dance can’t cook has no children no elders no relatives" (p. 304). The Indians have fought hard against assimilation to this day.

The final part of the immigration narrative is the rediscovery of the ethnic identity from which one came. The third generation and on have become far removed from the old world and sometimes have a desire to reconnect with their heritage from the old world. This was evidenced in the "Garcia Girls" when Yolanda returns to the Dominican Republic as an adult for a visit. "This is what she has been missing all these years without really knowing that she has been missing it. Standing here in the quiet, she believes she has never felt at home in the states, never" (p.12).

The immigrant narrative gives us a way to compare and contrast multicultural literature. Comparisons can help us to better understand these different cultures. Knowing where someone came from can give us insights into who they are and why they are a certain way. It can make us more sensitive to others plights, and open our minds to new worlds. [anonymous violet 2001]

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. . . However, there is a distinct difference between the immigrant and minority experience. No matter what the reason for immigrating to America may be, immigrants do have an element of choice in their decision. African-Americans was faced with being forced to participate in this society. Baldwin notes that the suit he wore to M. L. K’s funeral "was drenched in the blood of all the crimes of [his] country" (286). This typifies the fact that the social contract between blacks and white dominant America was broken. However, Baldwin’s narrative gets complicated by the fact that even though he has "made it," he had to betray "the people that produced [him]" (286). To a degree, this would imply a type of assimilation. However, "No Name in the Street" is chocked full of resistance, too. This resistance is also seen in "The Lesson." Not only are the children using an African American dialect (which defies assimilation), at the end of the story, Sylvia declares that "ain’t nobody gonna beat me at nuthin" (145).

It should also be noted that there is often a conflict between the recent immigrant and the minority. In "The Lesson," the girls "terrorize the West Indian kids" and in "Like Mexicans" the grandson must "marry a Mexican girl. No Okies..." (140 & 301). This is also seen In "Going Home: Brooklyn Revisited" as the author details the anger that the Italians in the neighborhood feel when African Americans begin an internal immigration. These clashes between minority and immigrant have a lot to do with the fact that one takes away jobs from the other. Furthermore, immigrants have a better opportunity to assimilate.

The minority and immigrant narratives become even more complex when examining Mexican Americans. As the "Ambivalent Minority," their narratives often blur the lines between immigrant and minority. In "El Patron," there is a deep fear of "la policia", which is common in the experiences of minorities. However, the father speaks with great pride the "decorations for bravery among Mexican-Americans" in World War II. This pride in fighting for his country and his America falls in line with the immigrant narrative. Furthermore, there are generational conflicts between the father and daughter that exemplify the daughter’s assimilation. She is definitely not one to talk down to; or else one may be subjected to getting a "pot of mess-age" for dinner (218). She has moved beyond a traditional role and is not overly keen about having to dealing with a "macho, chauvinist jumping bean (219). Overall, Mexican-Americans operate within both narratives. . . . [SK 2001]

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All of these stages [of the immigrant narrative] are patterns the immigrant may choose to use, if necessary. Understandably, no one would choose to experience shock or pain, nor is it to be taken lightly, but it only lasts until the next immigrant comes along. Then, they can move forward. (If they choose). Choice just does not seem to be an option for the minority groups. . . .

Miss Moore [in "The Lesson"] has assimilated to the American way because she received an education, but she also demonstrates signs of resistance with her nappy hair, choice of neighborhood and does not attend church. I believe her education validates even more her ties to her heritage. She obviously has a choice and chooses her people to mix with. [JL 2001]

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I can remember having the discussion with a family member about my courses from last term, which included Minority Literature, and my courses for this term, which include Immigrant Literature. I was asked why I was taking this course "again." I guess the question shouldn't have surprised me, but it did. The terms minority and immigrant do have things in common, but as we are learning they have many differences. We have learned that for the most part, immigrants choose to leave their ‘old' world voluntarily. African-Americans were brought here in the holds of the cargo ships in shackles and chains, the native Americans and many of the Mexican Americans did not physically leave their "old' world, the map was rewritten over them and they were oftentimes displaced involuntarily. We can feel the excitement of the people as they embark on their journey went hey are coming as immigrants, we can feel the loss when the "journey" is not taking the minority groups anywhere new. Both groups certainly face their share of discrimination and exploitation. The big difference there is that for the immigrant it will probably be gone in the next generation, for the minority it will forever remain a constant. [PK-A 2001]

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Everybody, except for the American Indians and a few of the Mexican Americans, were either voluntary or forced immigrants to the United States. The voluntary immigrants are of all different nationalities, but their narratives are drastically different from the American Indian and African American narratives. While James Baldwin has achieved socioeconomic immigration, as an African American, he still has the "us vs. them" mentality that most minorities have. . . .

Objective 1a, which discusses the concept of narrative as a literary and cultural category, is a good way to organize multicultural class because each minority and nationality of immigrant has a story/narrative to tell—and we can learn something from each and everyone of these stories. We can learn how each different group has reacted to the United States culture and how they have succeeded or not succeeded. I think that most people are either following the immigrant narrative or resisting it. People either assimilate to the majority of the American dream and try to succeed based on this society’s values or they resist and in most cases do not succeed because of their resistance. [DT 2001]

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Multi-Cultural literature presents a panoramic view of literature to be enjoyed by avid readers and students alike. Enjoying diversity is the key to exploring the different fundamental groups that form multi-cultural literature. Immigrant narrative forms a major chunk of multi-cultural literature. Poetry, prose and drama, all fall under this title. Although all these other types of literature and studies in imagery, symbolism, and characters play a valuable part in studying this art form, the genre of immigrant narrative cannot be discounted. Without the narrative or the story, I believe, there would not be any of the other parts. It is the story that first allows one to do critical analysis of any kind.

Immigrant narrative primarily focuses on the narrative of the immigrants to the U.S. in contrast to the narratives of the minority in the country. Although this is confusing at first, one realizes that America is a land filled with immigrants of all colors, nationalities, religious beliefs etc. This understood, the deficiency within this concept can be foreseen because then those who were in this great land before the colonizing began seem to be voiceless. Thus to remedy this incongruous aspect, the term minority literature establishes the hitherto relatively "unheard" voices of the American-Indians, the Mexican-American, and the enslaved African-American has been coined to give voice to their stories.

All immigrant narratives portray the trials and tribulations of assimilation and acculturation. To assimilate means, according to the Webster’s dictionary, the absorption of a minority group into the dominant, mainstream culture. Admittedly this poses a problem because assimilation can take place only if the dominant culture acquiesces, provided the minority group is willing too. As we can see from all the pieces read for this course, American Immigrant Narratives (AIN) are primarily from groups of people who chose of their own free will to come to this "dream land." In contrast, the Minority Narrative (MN) voices the bitterness of being forcefully brought, constrained, and dislocated by the muscle-flexing dominant "white" colonizer. Assimilation therefore takes on different shades of meaning, and resistance and rebellion causes dissension among the citizenry.

The Garcia family chose to come to America much like those other people who tried to flee from politically volatile parts of the world. Having landed on these shores, nevertheless, allowed them little freedom because of the lack of acceptance and discrimination showed them by the dominant culture. So we see the young ‘Carla’ facing insults and taunts by the so-called ‘white boys’ of her school. Similarly Professor Whiteside’s judgment of the inability of the young Russian girl to fit the position she sought because of how she looked—in Yezierska’s Soap and Water—bespoke of a harsh reality totally transposed from the vision the immigrants had of this land before their arrival.

In contrast, the trauma faced by Baldwin, in No Name in The Street, was one of bitter anger that gave rise to militancy, which would resist any form of assimilation or absorption by the dominant culture. The young girl waking to The Lesson, by Bambara, realizes the incongruity of her status, and the sense of shame she feels awakens the feeling of opposition and resistance, which is ultimately detrimental to the theory of assimilation.

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Immigrants choose to change their lives. The minority does not choose to join the dominant culture. In the Garcia Girls the family chooses to come to America. In Da-Duh, In Memorium, the girl chooses to live in the U.S. In The Making of a Writer, the women choose to come to America. In all of these, the families or individuals are moving up in the world. As a contrast, the minority stories are different. Minorities cling to old ways and stay together. This is evidenced in Like Mexicans and The Lesson. The characters cling to a certain way and retain a language to themselves. When we read the two types of narratives, it becomes evident that they are not the same. Forced participation goes nowhere. Voluntary participation moves up.

The two groups do share certain aspects. When the immigrant first comes to America, he experiences the poverty, the discrimination that plagues the minorities. [LL 2001]

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In this class the main organizing principle for studying multicultural literature is the narrative—the story telling of the lives of immigrants through literature. The narrative works between the cultures and the literature. We decide to leave the Old World to have a better life here in America. The immigrant narrative has five stages. And where the minority cultures differ from the immigrant is in the stage three: shock and resistance. Minority seems to stay in that stage unable to go past, to be assimilated and to be rediscovered, but this is possible at a cost.

The immigrant narrative is a yardstick to our success in achieving the American dream. We measure our life by what we imitate, by how much we assimilate into the dominant culture. On the other hand, the minority, which includes Native-Americans, African-Americans, and Mexican-Americans, is unable to forget the Old World or the past and move onto the New World.

The immigrants want to come here for a better job, for religious freedom or to escape political oppression. Therefore, the statue of Liberty takes on a higher meaning, almost religious for the rest of the world. This is the land of opportunity where hard work equals to success. This is the land of freedom and the cost of this success is to forget the past, to learn the American culture and to blend in. As in "The English Lesson", the students are from all different ethnic backgrounds, just arrived from different countries. The teacher even reminds them that her "grandparents came here from Germany as poor immigrants, working their way up" (22).

The realization of the American dream is an on-going process with the different characters going in and out through the five stages of the immigrant story. When the immigrants first come here, they have to stay within their community where traditions, language, and way of life are familiar. In "The English Lesson", we see that everybody wants to improve their English in order to find a better job, "also to be eligible to become American citizen" (24). Learning the language becomes an immediate necessity to adjust to the new life. But we see that Diego Torres who is here to make money and "go back home to buy my house and property" resists assimilation (25). These feelings are shared by Baldwin with the description of his childhood friend and his mother who stay in the community and resist change.

On the other hand Aldo Fabrizi is proud to be a citizen and declares, "my whole family is citizens – we all Americans and we love America!" (26). He is completely assimilated into the dominant culture. The reference to "So…everybody got a chance to clean toilets! "Equality…."(29) displays the fact that everybody starts from the bottom and this is equality! [HM 2001]

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The immigrant narrative can also be applied to the stories of minority writers. Minorities are different because they didn't voluntarily leave their old world and join the new world. Instead, the new world invaded and took over their old world lives. It is easy to use the immigrant narrative as a way to contrast the minority and immigrant literature. In the minority stories such as "American Horse" and "The Man to Send Rain Clouds" we see how the minorities resist the journey to the New World and the assimilation. In "Man to Send Rain Clouds" the indians hide the body of the old man so they can bury him according to their old customs. And in "American Horse" the mother fights to raise her child her way.

But, at the same time, we get a small sense of the minorities assimilating into the dominant culture. After all, the sherriff, who takes American Horse from his mother, is an indian himself. And the other indians do hide the old man's body in the back of a pickup truck.

The narrative is also a good way to evaluate internal migration. The movement from New World to Old World doesn't have to be a physical ovement.

We see, in stories like "The Making of a Writer," that there is an internal migration. In this story the girl starts out living in the old ways and ideas of her mother and mother's friends. But, then she moves past them. When she goes to the library, she begins her internal migration towards the new ideas of the dominant society. She finally settles into the stories by white and black people with forward thinking ideas.

In the dominant society the narrative is seen in the movement out of our home environment and rules and out into the world and into our own homes where there are our own rules. In doing this we effectively leave behind the old ideas of our parents. We see this in "The Garcia Girls" when the girls live at home they start their journey to the dominant society's ways, but they are still trapped by the ideas of their father. But then, when they move out, they are free to assimilate into the new society. They became things their father would never agree with but they are following their own rules. Then, when they visit home they fall back into the roles of four little girls again. [CS 2001]