Collected below are several student research proposals from the 2002 offering of this course. The purpose of these copies is to provide present and future students with models for student research proposals and an idea of what kinds of answers to expect from the instructor.

Angela Branch (Moss)

Dear Dr. White:

            I have been very intrigued by Monkey Bridge and the discussion of "Karma".  I would like to develop my research into Asian-American Immigrant authors and the traditions of the family, religion, and the Confucian ethics.  One of my main sources would be Monkey Bridge and its author Lan Cao in anticipation of me finding other sources with the "Karma theme" also displayed. I have pondered on the thought of doing gender roles among the Asian culture because of the essay we read last week The Woman Warrior.   I saw differences with the way the genders were respected between that essay and Monkey Bridge in the fact that the girls had a month long celebration like the boys of The Woman Warrior.

            I am leaning toward the journal because I would like to cover a great deal of information.  However, I thought you may be able to help me narrow my topic if necessary.  Also, could you please help me with locating other female Asian-American writers that may fight my topic of research?

Thank you,

Angela Branch (Moss)

*************

Dear Angela,

Yes, the journal sounds appropriate for what you're about here, as you're seeking to learn about a number of broadly related topics. Most of your topics are "cultural," so look for opportunities to involve literature in them when and where possible. One possibility, as I'd try it, would be to do a keyword search in the MLA database in the library, using "karma" as the keyword in order to see what other kinds of literature get associated with the concept. Since the term is originally Hindu, it involves a lot of Asia in addition to Vietnam. I seem to remember a book by a Hindu American called "Karma Cola."

As far as other names of Asian American writers go, feel free to drop by my office, where I can show you some anthologies listing some names besides those in our own anthologies.

One final piece of advice. Keep looking for ways to unify your research into one learning experience. To some degree you can do this after the research. But also keep in mind how much these various topics are related to each other. Confucian ethics embody karma and they dictate family and gender roles, which may also be distributed through karma. As with our own culture, where all the living parts somehow buttress or depend on each other (even when they apparently disagree), so with Asian culture. Of course, then you're also welcome to research what happens when Asian culture encounters American culture--but not required.

Susie Gibson

Option 1

Preliminary Sources:

            How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents by Julia Alvarez

            Monkey Bridge by Lan Cao

            Bread Givers by Anzia Yezierska

            Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan

Topic: Americanized daughters of immigrants.

As I read How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents,  Monkey Bridge, and Joy Luck Club, I noticed that the daughters of immigrants have a hard time trying to assimilate into the American culture. In most of these instances they have to deal not only with becoming Americanized, but also trying to stay within their own cultures to please their parents.  Most of the time I noticed that the daughters are willing to change, but the parents keep holding them back emotionally, reminding them to stay a good girl.  I almost get a feeling that to become Americanized they must turn bad, which is not true.

I plan on focusing on the conflicts that arise between the first generation parents and their second-generation daughters.  I realize that right now this topic is quite broad, but I feel that as I start my research that I will probably narrow down to only 1 or 2 cultures instead of the entire list I have above.  

Since I have not read Bread Givers I am not quite sure what information I will receive from there.  Until I read this book I am a little concerned about having enough information in the other 3 books to complete a good research paper.  But I know I will probably be able to find more information by researching immigration in general.

***********

Dear Susie,

This is a very good, specific topic, so stay with it. Your last paragraph perceives the research situation accurately.

The most striking element is the final sentence of the first paragraph, about how becoming Americanized appears to be turning bad, which you deny. Maybe you could consider how this appearance comes into being. That is, what is the Americanized girl doing that immigrant parents automatically consider "bad?" Then, going to your viewpoint, what are they missing? Maybe they're confusing independence with immorality? But maybe in some ways one can understand their confusion. How does an Americanized girl juggle the two elements--how does she stay independent and moral? One possible answer is that Americans individually internalize morality instead of having it depend on family or community, though of course this always remains a shaky proposition. Anyway, it's a great topic, and how well you handle it may depend on how much you keep asking questions of their and your attitude.

Thanks for a thoughtful start.

Lori Gouner

Dr. White,

For American Immigrant Literature I plan to write a formal analytic paper.  I was fascinated by the contrast between immigrant/minority cultures and the dominant culture but I couldn't figure out how to devise this into a working paper.  What I came up with is that the American capitalistic system and trends of commercialism (models of the dominant culture) had profound effects on shaping the immigrant/minority identity.  During stages of assimilation the immigrant tries to fit these molds and later rejects them. It's almost as though the immigrant has to develop split identities or an alter ego to function in American culture like in "No Name Women". Both immigrant and minority texts seemed to look down on the American capitalistic system with resentment however they have to compete in it in order to survive.

I saw these major themes at work in most of the poetry that we read especially when the poems pointed out objects of commercialism, franchises, or the government itself.  Is this social darwinism, or strictly a focus on commercialism's effects on the immigrant identity? Again, I don't know if this will be a productive topic, perhaps you could point me in the right direction.  I'd like to work with the poetry we examined and a few other short works in the anthologies.

Thanks for you help,

Lori Gouner

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Dear Lori,

I like the idea of your working primarily with poetry. No other student has proposed doing so, and you seem to have a good sense of poetry. One's tempted to turn the topic to the problem of American commercialism and poetry--many of our poets get jobs in advertising agencies!

But the conflicts you identify in your first paragraph offer plenty to work with. You might identify some of the competing images of the immigrant identity and the capitalist identity. The resentment but have to compete angle is also striking as a kind of resolution of these conflicts--it's a mournful sort of resolution, but what's the opposite? To sing the jingles?

I find myself straining to come up with other immigrant poets, but, as one of our objectives notes, prose seems to be overwhelmingly the immigrant medium, at least as far as representing the immigrant narrative. If you need to develop material, you could work with this issue some. I wasn't sure if by "a few short works in the anthologies," you meant our prose anthologies, but certainly you could make some comparisons with the attitudes expressed there. Also check Jason Bollich's essay proposal on shopping--I recommended his reading ahead on the Raban essay (scheduled for the last class), and that might serve your purposes too.

About your question whether it's commercialism or Social Darwinism, it depends on what you're emphasizing. The first tends to emphasize buying or shopping, whereas the second more emphasizes acquisition of money and power (admittedly in order to go shopping, so obviously they're connected).

Kristy Cox (Kaizer)

Dr. White

Hello, this is Kristy Cox (Kaizer).

I am choosing the option 1 as my research outline.  I have decided to focus on minority females.   I would like to explore their struggles as immigrants, as minorities, as mothers, as human beings trying to make it in America.  The texts I would like to use are: Soap and Water, A Wife’s Story, El Patron, To DA-DUH, IN memoriam, from The Woman Warrior, Silent Dancing, The Making of a Writer: From the Poets in the Kitchen, Report from the Bahamas.  I would also like to tie in J. California Cooper, The Future Has a Past.

The topic and texts seem broad; perhaps you can suggest a narrower path.  I really want to explore the struggles women encounter upon their arrival and years after.  I also want to touch the family structure.

*****

Dear Kristy,

You're right, it's a bit broad in focus and in texts, but go ahead and start working with it, with the idea that you'll refine the points you're making and maybe cut a few texts that don't help those points as much. The main need in a "diverse" essay is to unify the materials. Have you ever conferred with the Writing Center on the second floor of Bayou Bldg? They might be able to give you some tips on how to focus the paper and make the elements cohere. Anyway, the topic is interesting, and you seem to feel a commitment to it, so proceed and check in as you like, but I'm sure it would benefit you to get some help during some stage of the organization and composition. The effect of women's identities on family structure may be a way to unify the materials.

One important need is to clarify your use of the word "minority." Be careful not to get it too crossed up with "immigrant," as the first 6 weeks were devoted to distinguishing the terms. The terms obviously bump into each other now and then, so just be sure that your meanings are clear and not muddled.

Jennifer Laubach

Dr. White,

I will be writing a formal analytical essay for my research project.  I would like to focus the essay on a comparison between Old World parents and New World children.  In doing so, I will be utilizing a few of the short stories from class, as well as Monkey Bridge and The Bread Givers.

I was also considering tying in some personal accounts from my own family history.  I am leaning more towards exploring Jewish American immigrants rather than trying to cover a broad spectrum of immigrants, but have not decided completely (which is why I included Monkey Bridge in my possible sources.)  If you could suggest a few Jewish American authors that would work well with my topic, I would greatly appreciate it.

Thank you,

Jennifer Laubach 

****

Dear Jennifer,

It's a good topic for an essay, so stay with it. For other Jewish American writers in our anthologies, you might check the names I've assigned for the coming weeks, plus Vivian Gornick in the Visions book. You could do both Jewish American and Asian American groups as having very strong ideas of fealty to one's ancestors, which heightens the tensions between the two generations.

Andrea Perkins

I propose to do my research project using the format for Option 2. I chose this option because I want to be able to explore more than one subject in regards to immigration, particularly how immigrants may experience problems of "minority" cultures. I am not positive as to the ethnic group I will be focusing on, however, I am searching for one that I know little about in order to gain the most insight from my research. So far the only group of interest to me that fits the category is the Afro-Caribbean-American. We discussed this group briefly in class during a previous unit. How could I give a thorough description of the problems that minority cultures face without making it a major focus of my research? Where would I organize this in my journal?

Another thing that interested me about this option was the reflection on a family's immigration history. Although my family doesn't have an immigration history, I thought it might be fun to interview a family that does. My only concern is how difficult would it be to find a recent immigrant to interview. Could you suggest some sources that may lead to an interview?

*******

Dear Andrea,

Sorry if I'm not helpful on the interview front, but that may work out as you do some research. What occurred to me as I read your proposal was that, given your honorable identity as an American minority, it may present an opportunity to study a very interesting and durable topic, namely the relationships between African Americans and Afro-Caribbeans. In fact, I do have someone for you to consider, namely Doreen Williams-Stewart, who is a black woman (or anyway a woman of color) from Trinidad who finished her M.A. in Literature here last year and is now teaching for the University. She's very warm and charming, and she wrote her master's thesis about Claude McKay, a Jamaican-American who was a member of the Harlem Renaissance. (You could use her thesis as one of your research sources, too.) If you're interested, I'll work up a communication between you two. Anyway, there are any number of writers and relationships to look into. Politically, probably the most striking name before Colin Powell was Marcus Garvey, whose United Negro Improvement Association (I think) promoted brotherhood between all African peoples and their American descendants. This unity is a powerful idea, but of course it's easier to announce than to bring about, as there are many cultural differences between the different peoples of the African diaspora.

Anyway, start looking up terms like African diaspora, Afro-Caribbean, etc., and start looking for important literary, political, and artistic figures who work between the different peoples. Often immigration is the dynamic for bringing these diverse peoples together. Anyway, if you meet Doreen, you'll pick up a lot of ideas in a hurry. I wonder if there's a contemporary organization working toward unity of African Americans and Afro-Caribbeans?

Kristel Ruiz

Good morning, Dr. White!

Where to begin?  I am moving back and forth between Option 1 and Option 2. I know I could write a good Option 1 paper on form and the Native American author as seen in Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko and various other writers, including Chrystos' "I Have Not Signed a Treaty with the United States Government."  I think it would be really interesting, but I'm wondering if that's simply because I'm familiar with the format for the papers and know the "right" things to do. :)

My ideas for Option 2 include a focus on Asian American Literature, specifically Filipino American immigration and authors.  The more research I skim, the more interesting it becomes on a variety of levels.  My research journal would be constructed somewhat like this:

Introduction

Immigrant Literature Secondary Sources

            An author study on either Carlos Bulosan, Bienvenido N. Santos, or Marianne Villaneuva.  A great source I found recently would be An Interethnic Companion to Asian American Literature edited by King-Kok Cheung.  I also found some interesting biographical information in the database, but will need to further investigate the usefulness of the information.

Brief History of Immigration and Immigrant Literature focusing on Filipino

Americans

            Some of my sources would include Reading Asian American Literature: From Necessity to Extravagance by Sau-ling    Cynthia Wong, The Asian Pacific American Heritage: A Companion to Literature and Arts edited by George J. Leonard, and some others.  I'd like to explore as well Rachel C. Lee's article "The Americas of Asian-American Literature: Nationalism, Gender, and Sexuality in Bulosan's 'America Is in the Heart', Jen's 'Typical American', and Hagedorn's 'Dogeaters' " if I choose Bulosan as my focus-author.

Websites pertaining to Filipino American Literature/Immigration

Family History

            This would be the fun part of my research journal.  My families have recently begun a vast genealogy quest, so it would be interesting to get information from both my maternal and paternal families to see what a mix I really am!  I also married into a Filipino/German family (my husband's father is from the Philippines and his mother is either second or third generation German) and would like to interview my father-in-law, if he's willing, to learn more about his immigration and subsequent years in the US  He is an interesting model of the American Dream concept, starting his own business after a few years in the country, so I'd like to learn more about what motivated him to come to America and how he chose his profession and self-employment from there.

Conclusion

I suppose from the amount of information I have for the research journal that it is a viable option and could prove to be quite interesting.  I know I would learn a lot about my husband's family and heritage, and I think that would be something fun to share with my son as he gets older.

My question for you: Is focusing strictly on Filipino American Immigrants/Literature going to be too narrow a topic for my research journal?  (I think with what I've read so far that the history alone could take a while to work through, let alone the modern immigrant literature.)

I look forward to getting your input and have a great weekend!

Thank you,

Cristel Ruiz

********** 

Dear Cristel,

I think the Filipino American subject will be plenty, though it's conceivable you would find opportunities to compare-contrast with other east Asian subjects as helpful--but, as I said in my last message, you may find virtually as many parallels with other former Spanish colonies.

You could consider doing the history before the author for the sake of context.

Not to dismiss the Option 1 possibility too abruptly, but the subject matter doesn't sound very immigrant so far. Defend if you like.

Your genealogy note in relation to your son is interesting. What background is Cristel before she became a Ruiz? Makes me wonder, too, about having a Hispanic surname that turns out to be East Asian or Pacific Island. Is it worth explaining? How much do Filipinos feel a historical kinship with other former Spanish colonies? (Sorry to keep obsessing about this. There's a Portuguese colony at Goa in India that may raise similar issues.)

  Julie Sahmel

Dr. White,

As we discussed in your office, I plan to explore the effects of the assimilation process on identity achievement in American immigrants.  I will briefly summarize Erikson's theory of identity achievement in the human developmental process and then analyze the texts to discern special problems encountered by the characters as they negotiate this stage of development.  I will also use some of the work of sociologist, James Semones, and Richard Rodriguez's autobiography to reinforce my observations of the fictional characters.  As of now, I am planning to use the following texts in addition to literary criticism and the social science theory-based works:

        Hunger of Memory, Richard Rodriguez

        Monkey Bridge, Lan Cao

        How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents, Julia Alvarez.

According to Erikson, all adolescents/young adults experience a crisis as they develop identities apart from that of their parents.

It seems that ethnic American folks encounter a greater degree of psychological stress as they traverse this stage of development because they often feel that they must choose one culture over another.  I plan to identify some of the specific stressors found in the above texts and to examine how the authors manipulate literary conventions to capture the plight of the ethnic American young adult.

I think you answered most of my questions in our meeting the other day, but I welcome any advice you might have for me in this project.  Again, I find myself writing to you from my work e-mail address.  I copied my home address above for your convenience as you reply.

Julie Sahmel

******************

Dear Julie,

The proposal reads well. My main advice may ultimately be unnecessary depending on how you develop things, but you may want to involve the literary angles earlier, even if they're not fully involved until later. As the proposal stands, they're a bit of an afterthought. One approach may be to relate the crisis of adolescence to conflicts of a kind that literature typically represents, then fall back on psychology as an explanation that helps us comprehend the literature more fully. Continue to consult as you like.

Terri St. John

I’d like to take the opportunity for a different type of assignment and submit a journal on Cuban Immigrants. Two definite sources will be Frank Rodriguez, who immigrated to the U. S. in 1954 and the book, Next Year in Havana, by Gustavo Perez Firmat (an exile’s perspective). I also have two tentative sources, Black Cuban, Black American, by Evilio Grillo, that appears to be very relevant to the class (based on the title), although I’ve not seen the book yet; and a web article on “Cubans in Miami” that I consider appropriate material since there is such a large concentration of Cubans in that city.

If my tentative sources don’t work out, what do you think about me including information on Colin Powell? I am open to the idea of presenting information on immigrants other than Cubans but I would like to stick with the Caribbean region. If you don’t think he would be appropriate, do you have any other suggestions that might add some diversity to my journal?

****

Dear Terry,

Wouldn't the Grillo book provide adequate diversity issues? Anyway, I'd avoid drawing in Colin Powell because that does, as you note, expand the journal to the Caribbean, which I think might dull its edge.

A very tentative suggestion would be sports, especially baseball. When I was a boy, Luis Tiant was a black Cuban American who pitched for the Indians, Red Sox, and other teams, and I recall him presenting some difficulties as to his identity. Was he "a black" or was he "hispanic?" Anyway, major league baseball is increasingly Latin American, so you may find some discussion of the issues there--wish I could help more, but I haven't kept up with baseball since I was a lad. Boxing has also been a major Cuban sport.

One question may be how much the Cuban race structure reflects or differs from that of the USA. Since Cubans tend to have a very high opinion of Cuban culture as the "most Spanish" of the Latin American nations, does this European identification affect racial identities there?

Not sure how much help I'm being, as you've asked a tough question, but up to that problem your proposal looks perfectly good. Did you consider involving the case of Eliano? That posed a lot of issues as to whether Cuban Americans would obey American laws or be hung up forever on the homeland.

Robin Stone

Dr. White,

    For my research project I wish to do option 2--the journal. In trying to find a topic for this journal, I have been struck by the immigration that has touched my own life that I really never thought of until now. My father is a 4th generation immigrant from France. On my mother's side, we are about 12th generation immigrants from Europe and Germany as well as 1/8th American Indian. Now my daughter has married a 1st generation Mexican immigrant and I live in a neighborhood in which there are very few non-immigrants. On top of that, my religion is Messianic. I think that covers most of the groups we have covered in class and a few we are going to be covering. :)

I never thought about this until this course and that has really made an impression on me. I see something really awesome here. Can you guide me in finding a topic that will expound on the diversity that is around me?

Thanks,

Robin

*****

Dear Robin,

Yes, I like the sound of this and want you to stay with it, but like you I find myself wondering what form it should take. First, I think you could write something like you have here for an introduction, trying to get across this sense of immigrant identity which most long-term immigrants have buried in us but waiting to be awakened or acknowledged. Then you could survey some of the various immigrant elements you see in your background and in your neighborhood, possibly with a quest to find out what they have in common and what in difference. For French immigrants, Crevecoeur comes to mind. Thoreau was also of French descent, though pretty well assimilated by the time of the Concord Circle.

German immigration is waiting to be worked up--I think that "German" is the most common shared nationality among Americans, but what consciousness do we have of German-American Immigrant Literature? (Not much--my guess is that Germans and English are close enough that the assimilation process doesn't take long, but there are some conflicts between the New England culture and the German Americans early on in New England and the Midwest.)

"Messianic" I don't know. Does that mean Messianic Judaism? Anyway, explain at will and relate to immigration.

Anyway, there's plenty of material to be researched. Two challenges will be to keep your research at least somewhat literary as well as cultural, and to work toward some unifying mergings of the information you gather.

*************

Dear Dr. White,

As we spoke of earlier, I am changing my proposal for my project.

I would still like to do the journal, but I would like to focus on the assimilation of the Jewish people and the effect it is having on their religion. The assimilation process has been slower with them due to their religion and language, but it seems that assimilation is wearing both down at last. From Orthodox to Reform to the loss of the common Biblical Hebrew seems to be the course of the finality of assimilation for the culture.

I am wondering, should I go into an overall explanation of the culture and religion to set up the full effect of the assimilation or should I primarily focus on the religious assimilation? With the length of the journal option, I would have enough leeway to work the full angle. Would I be able to narrow my focus later if I feel I need to?

Any feedback will be appreciated.

**************

Dear Robin,

Not to dodge your final question regarding the focus, but it sounds as though you'll just have to figure that out as you go along. However, the content of the question leads me to wonder in turn if you can find some research that defines somewhat the relationship between religion and ethnic identity. Did we already note that the Jencks article I copied for class describes how religion is the most enduring element? That may be a start. But you could search the Social Sciences Index with keywords like religion and ethnicity (then possibly narrow down to Jewish ethnicity).

Just to keep the subject matter "literary," I wonder if any of our poems have dealt with this issue? I'm sure there's some literature on the subject somewhere.

It's interesting how--as the class mentioned in contrast to standard Protestant Christianity--"Jewishness" can simultaneously or independently mean the religion and / or the ethnicity.

Some literature, I bet, would feature a character fearing the loss of ethnicity and beginning to restore it via religious service or observance.

Sorry not to be more specific-- Will post these addenda to webpage--