Excerpts of other sample answers for Essay 1 assignment

In this class we have had the opportunity to study literature from American immigrants with a variety of origins.  These immigrants, and the stories they tell, allow us to learn more about our own culture, and its multicultural aspects.  We are able to defamiliarize ourselves with our own society and view it from the perspective of the new arrival.  In this way, we can learn more about ourselves.  One of the most obvious lessons relates to how we deal with others, with people whom we perceive to be different than ourselves.  When we see immigrants relating stories of abuse and prejudice, such as in Silver Pavements, Golden Roofs, or In the Land of the Free, we cannot help but question whether our approaches to difference are effective.  

            The minority narrative also provides a gauge of our society’s reaction to difference.  While the immigrant narrative seems, generally, to be laced with hope, the minority narrative paints a grimmer picture.  In the minority narrative we can view America as an exclusive classist society driven by money.  This can be seen clearly in The Lesson. 

In this class we have considered literature to be from essentially one of three categories:  literature from the dominant culture; literature from minority cultures; and literature from immigrants.  There are other options, other points of view that might be interesting to study, or at least consider.  One example might be the literature of exiles or refugees.  These authors are, in the terms that we’ve studied in this course, neither fish nor fowl.  They are not properly immigrants, as they are not seeking to become part of the American culture or to experience the American dream.  Neither are they exactly minorities in the terms we’ve discussed, as they choose to come to America, (though often with weighty motivation.)  Unlike minorities, which consider themselves part of America, even if the relationship is strained or dysfunctional, exiles and refugees consider themselves part of their homeland, just temporarily displaced.  The literature of Haitian (Children of the Sea,) and Cuban exiles is one example.  This may also provide parallels with the Jews, who have often considered themselves not nationless, but rather exiled.  (The repatriation of the modern state of Israel would seem to support that idea.) 

             Another model which might be used is that of the colonist.  Colonists, unlike immigrants, are not seeking to join an established culture or society, but instead to found one.  While these colonists may eventually become minorities, (such as the French colonists in Canada,) their initial attempt to form a new society is often voluntary, and they are thus distinguished from the minorities we have studied in this course.  I say their participation is often voluntary, because in some instances it is not.  The penal colonies of Georgia, Louisiana and Australia could hold examples of involuntary colonists.  Additionally, colonists generally exist in isolation, with no pre-existing culture to dominate them or to absorb them.  The story of the Pilgrims would be the archetypical example of the colonist narrative. 

While minority literature, as well as the other literature’s mentioned above, are valuable as counterpoints in the study of immigrant literature, I’m not sure if they are worth the required investment of class time.  Perhaps one way to approach this is to introduce the idea of immigrant literature in the beginning of the course, and then counterpoint it with minority, refugee, and colonial literature after the midterm, allowing the students to explore these areas individually.  This would allow a minimum of class time to be spent on non-immigrant literatures while simultaneously presenting an opportunity for students to do further research outside of class. 

Another way to add to the multi-cultural aspect of this course and similar courses might be to study immigrant literature from places other than the United States.  Argentina, Australia, and Canada are all nations of immigrants, in much the same way as the United States.  Witnessing their dominant cultures, through the eyes of their immigrants, might also provide further clues to the identity of our own shadowy dominant culture. [BS]

  . . . Not all assimilation appears to be negative from the standpoint of the one benefiting from it. True, there is not a “one size fits all” narrative for immigrants, therefore the model or yardstick for describing multicultural American literature and culture would have to vary from one immigrant group to the other, but compared to what some immigrants left behind, anything in America, or wherever they land, must be better than what they formerly had. What made America attractive in Hunting Mr. Heartbreak, p. 348, was the opportunity the whistle seller had to be an entrepreneur. This did not bode well with the narrators’ thoughts about him, “I badly wanted to know why he seemed so happy. To escape from the Soviet Union, only to find yourself hawking plastic toys on a cold Manhattan street corner…but  the bird whistle man didn’t seem ground down at all…still, he had a trade of sorts…” The whistle seller must have been content with what he was doing no matter how degrading it looked to outsiders. I am sure when he came to New York, he saw it as a beautiful, free place in the land of opportunity. When the pilgrims went to Holland, they saw it as a beautiful and abundant city “flowing with an abundance of wealth and riches,” (p. 16) but they, as well as the whistle seller soon fell into poverty. The fact that the Pilgrims had their faith in God and patience to believe that there were better days to come, that, as it may have also been for the whistle seller, helped them to make the best of a seemingly bad situation. . . . [MC]

 . . . We have discussed how the Immigrant Narrative was in essence creating the American Dream or was the American dream. In Asian American Narratives, we saw another American Dream theme that becomes evident apart from freedom and economical power. In several narratives United States represented “the land of the law and not men” you can especially see the importance of this in Kingston’s The Women Warrior.  The reader can sense narrator’s sadness and anger for being a girl because in China “girls are raised for others” and have no significance. She proudly wraps her American Shawl because it does not matter if she was born a girl because the law runs this country and not the men. The fact is that the law does not allow tradition to rule and gives the author room to breathe and not feel inferior because she has rights in the US as a girl. As the reader you realize that you have actually taken this for granted, being born a girl in this country does not make you insignificant, you do not have families pointing at you and gossiping that you only have girls. You have equal value in family life and in the law. This is an illumination of the Immigrant Narrative since we fail to see it unless it is pointed out. This is why the Immigrant Narrative is so valuable because it allows us to realize certain things that we are oblivious to. . . .

Whether the American Dream is achieved or not is not the point, what is important is that Immigrant Narrative allows a collective identity to form focusing on an American life that is becoming. The following quote is from JS from a previous semester “The Immigrant Narrative provides a valuable way to investigate American multicultural studies and literature. Like a kaleidoscope, the Immigrant Narrative offers us a multifaceted, colorful picture of what it means to become an American. A kaleidoscope needs to be held up to a bright light in order to get the clearest view. Similarly, the story of America’s people needs the illumination that the Immigrant Narrative can give.” . . .

I have a hard time accepting only one literary model to study multiculturalism. We did discuss the challenges of having too many models. Main question was “Is there a way to unify discussion of America's multiple ethnic groups while respecting their uniqueness and difference? So that a larger common understanding is being built rather than the "little bit of this, little bit of that" that inevitably results from taking turns? And we nominated “the immigrant narrative as long as the model remains flexible and adaptable even to the extent of being a "negative model" as in the case of minority groups.” My question than becomes how can one form or reach a large common understanding when there is only one model? And does not this create a generalization we so much try to stay away from? Plus who can guarantee the flexibility and the adaptability of the model? I think because of my cultural background I have a tendency to question one angle on subjects or single approaches to problems because I believe all is multifaceted and that only one model might narrow the vision. This would be my critique however it is not to shut down the model but perhaps to incorporate a comparative narrative model where all is encompassed however I realize the very challenge this brings to the table as well, subject matter might be too large to apply. Having said that, maybe a critical American literary theory class can offer different angles necessary to a student. I have been reading a book that is called “From Puritanism to Postmodernism” a history of American Literature. Obviously it has more of a historical context but at least allowed me and introduced me to critical literary theory which I am afraid I was not familiar with. Reviewing some critical literary theories, I was able to understand the context of this class and immigration’s relation to literature.

I also do understand the necessity of one model since it actually does provide a model to work with or to start of from, with a focus rather than being overwhelmed with too many angles. This class provided me with a certain model to review American Literature and for that I am grateful. Subject matter was insightful and allowed me to question myself. It was easy for me to criticize (this is not positive or negative, simply meaning critically analyze) the dominant culture here because it is a group that I do not believe I am a part of. On the other hand as an active participant of another dominant culture, it gave me a starting perspective to work from. [DY]

 . . . [T]his structural framework of critical analysis allows us to view American Literature as an ever-growing tapestry. That tapestry is shiny and worn smooth at the center but is rough and colorful at the edges as various minorities continue to chase the American dream. Because of the growth of the tapestry, each new immigrant thread eventually, inches proportionately toward the center and the dominant culture. Minorities’ strands are by natures rougher because they were not prepared for the journey willingly or psychologically That lack of choice infuses minority strands with anger, resentment, regret, grief, and shame: all elements that contribute to a rough, highly textured, sometimes uncomfortable literary fabric. Immigrant strands remain colorful, but smooth because they eased into the journey toward the dream willingly.

Once we have agreed on a common framework of analysis, where do we go from here? At least two options present themselves. First, we might redefine the dominant culture because of the contributions of the continuing influx of immigrants taking their first steps toward assimilation or acculturation. In such a redefinition, the dominant culture would take on the patina of a well-worn fabric highly saturated with color, while the immigrant strands at the edge remain distinctly vibrant and textured. But what of the minority strand? Will they remain distinct throughout the continuing creation of the tapestry?

A second option: the dominant culture at the center of the tapestry, whose identity is that of negation as Thomas has said, will shun minority and immigrant strands unless they are willing to be bleached white by the unwavering gaze of economic agency, moral judgment and institutionalized authority. Will conformity be the method of assimilation?

The potential transformation of the minority culture into the dominant culture is another option that presents itself because of the new framework. Through education, economic leveling and intermarriage, minorities might transform their American Nightmare into their version of the American Dream. In doing so, they inevitably will change what we currently define as dominant culture. The strands of minority culture will surface less and less frequently as the tapestry grows larger and the tools of education and intermarriage introduce the strands into the mainstream. As Madeline C. wrote in her mid-term:

“One way to know if you have acclimated into, or are accepted by a particular society, is to try to date someone of that society and see if you will receive welcoming pats on the back, or stare down the barrel of a shotgun.”

How will we recognize dominant culture and literature in the future? I believe the Immigrant narrative is THE American narrative, and that the identifying characteristic of that narrative is transformation. To recognize the dominant culture and literature in the future, we must be able to identify the stages of change or transformation in the protagonist or the group she represents AND the characteristics of the group to which the protagonist aspires. Because the immigrant strands are continually added to the tapestry, the center of the tapestry changes, depending upon where the immigrant strands become attached. Therefore, the locus of the dominant culture and its literature will fluctuate. If the flow of immigrants ceases, the vibrant nature of the American Dream will become diluted and pale as the tellers of our stories and writers of literature inch toward the center of a cultural tapestry that never changes or renews itself. [SC]

The immigrant narrative is an important and defining aspect of American culture and literature. In order to gain a more accurate description of American culture any discussions about the culture and its literature must include an examination of the immigrant narrative. The immigrant and minority narratives gives us perceptivity into other cultures but also American culture through their point of view, which can lead to a clearer and more complete depiction. American literature and culture is not only a reflection of historical truths about this country’s values but a representation of the many different groups that help to shape and make up America as a whole.

The literature reveals that it is a very difficult occurrence for immigrants and minorities as well to attempt to become a part of the dominant culture. Their experiences are very similar in terms of how they choose to assimilate or resist the dominant cultures values and beliefs. In most cases those who resist are labeled as rebels and tend to be treated even more like an outsider or traitor.

The idea of resistance is a tendency often seen with American minority groups such as Native Americans and African Americans. The main aspect of the narratives that reveal a distinction amongst immigrants and minorities is the voluntary or involuntary status. This is prevalent largely in part to the initial contact made by those who we now call our American forefathers with minorities and the involuntary aspect of the social contract here in America. For example, Native Americans have a history of being conquered and displaced by settlers and African Americans were kidnapped, forced to immigrate and then enslaved here. . . . [RS]

Another minority immigrant narrative that dealt with a forced migration of the Native Americans was Erdrich’s, American Horse.  The dichotomy within this text fell between the characters of Buddy, Albertine, and Uncle Lawrence versus Officer Harmony.  All four of them were considered to be part of the same culture, yet the prior three related closely to the ambivalence felt by Baldwin and Diaz.  However, the latter shared assimilation attributes associated with Baldwin’s friend and Aldo Fabizi.  Baldwin’s piece fit nicely into the forced migration pattern similar to the Native American’s in that he represented the African American community, who immigrated north to the New York City area after the Civil War.  Forced migration due to political pressure was noted in Danticat’s, Children of the Sea.  An assumed economic drive might also be tied into this forced migration in the fact that usually political and economic pressures from a government tend to constrict the populace.  The feelings the main immigrant character had for America were vaguely hidden, however, it appeared his hopes were high for an assimilation closely related to Baldwin’s friend, Fabizi, and Uncle Lawrence.  Sui Sin Far’s, In the Land of the Free, closely resembled Danticat’s narrative.  However, it should be noted that this forced migration differed from the Native and African American narrative.  Chinese and Danticat’s would probably best be described as a forced choice immigration. . . . [JL]

  During my mid-term I explored my attitudes about immigrants before I took the class and in that moment. I revealed that I didn’t really know that much about immigration beyond the buzz on the streets. I wrote “I came into the course without any thought to the similarities or differences between the immigrant and minority experience.” After I read that I wished I had a chance to go back and qualify, explain what I meant. I also tried to briefly evaluate why I had the attitude that I did towards immigrant and minority experience, and literature, but was unable to pin it down. What’s really frightening to realize is that I think I tended to imagine that immigrants could come and easily slip across the dominant culture’s border to become part of invisible America. I guess that puts me in a rather unfavorable light, but if a true learning curve is what I’m supposed to share, then that’s a good start.

I want to disagree with myself. I also wrote “if you want to catch an immigrant family in the raw, you gotta act quickly.  As technology and society speed up it seems the pace of assimilation follows along.”  While I do believe that technology has increased the pace of assimilation (mostly in urban areas), I don’t think immigrants are as here-today-gone-tomorrow as I thought. In Gish Jen’s story In the American Society despite the father and mother’s business and application to the country club, they are not so quickly assimilated. At the end of the story it is evident that the two daughters are more assimilated when the father tells them “you girls are good swimmers, not like me.” He is referring to more than just swimming in water. He is referencing their ability to swim in society.

Another distinction that I was failed to make until recently is that of the American Dream versus the American Nightmare.  [EI] from the summer 2004 class sums up the difference between the two:

While immigrants are typically shown to have come to America by choice in order to pursue a goal, attain freedom or riches, or better their life in some other way (The American Dream), minorities are portrayed as people who have been forced to come to America (African-Americans) or people whose land has been taken over by Americans (Native-Americans, Mexican-Americans).  This forced immigration is sometimes called The American Nightmare, and narratives focusing on this nightmare take on themes of oppression and discrimination, rather than themes of opportunity and hope that can be seen in immigrant narratives. 

The narratives that we’ve studied aren’t difficult to identify as either Nightmare or Dream. One, The English Lesson by Nicholas Mohr, contains both experiences within the same story. The teacher, Mrs. Susan Hamma, begins by admonishing the students “this is, after all, a democracy, and we have a democratic class; fairness for all!” When a student, Diego Torres, from Santo Domingo asserts his wish to not give up his country “for nothing” the teacher tells the class “[this] is what America is all about! We may not agree with you, but we defend your right to an opinion” and then gives him a “polite light clap” Torres is not happy about being in America and he shares his feelings. It isn’t only the dominant culture; the other immigrants too are disapproving. The teacher is firmly entrenched in the dominant culture and can afford to talk from both sides of her mouth, while the students who are in the middle of their effort to assimilate can only disapprove. Mohr cleverly shows the reader the subtle attitudes of the dominant culture through Hamma’s attitudes towards the students of differing ethnic backgrounds. Her favor is reserved for a Pole, of European descent, who “was always neatly dressed in a business suit, with a shirt and tie, and carried a briefcase.” He was formerly a professor in Poland and is quite obviously the student who will be able to assimilate into the dominant culture the most readily.  Even within the same room, all starting with the same language differences, we are made aware of the vast differences between the immigrant experiences. [LE]

“Ain’t That America”

            In my mid-term exam, I maintained that the American nightmare could be seen and appreciated with in most of the American Dream writings

In using the class readings to “criticize as well as celebrate the immigrant or American Dream narrative” (class syllabus) we can identify the presence of both the America Dream narrative as well as the American Nightmare narrative. I argue that these are not mutually exclusive and can be found in both the immigrant and minority texts read in class. A quote on the class website asserts, “…their stories often seem to have more differences than similarities.” I disagree. … We can also observe why immigrant and minority narratives are important and how they may affect readers.

            Both the American Dream and Nightmare are demonstrated in both minority and immigrant texts and the immigrant and minority narratives are a reaction against and the construction of the American Dream.   As YH maintains,

What becomes apparent is that the story of America is one of voluntary and involuntary participation in a dream that instills wonder and hope along with anger and despair. In exploring the differences between the narratives, we learn of the nation’s rich, diverse, and sometimes tragic history. As new narratives unfold, it will be interesting to discover how much has changed and if the Dream remains as elusive as ever. [YH]

Immigrant and minority narratives are both a construction of and a reaction against the American Dream. The narratives are not just the story of America but they are also the story of the American Dream.  The American Dream is not one thing that is set in stone and is the same experience for everybody. The narratives help us to illustrate and define the American Dream and Nightmare and to demonstrate the rich heritage of what now makes up America. . . . [JH]

 . . . Asian American immigrants . . . are often viewed as “ideal” immigrants for a number of reasons.  Firstly, they come to the country already quite well-educated and sometimes wealthy (it’s a long, expensive plane ride to get here, after all, which a poor person could not afford, unlike crossing the Mexican border, for instance).  Perhaps because of the formal, ritualized culture of their homeland, they become obedient, respectful, hard workers.  The Indians and Pakistanis usually speak English fluently when they arrive.  Other Asians, such a Japanese or Chinese, also speak English upon arrival, but their assimilation is not quite as seamless as that of the Indians  because their speech is characterized by heavy Asian rather than somewhat-British-sounding accents (from having been colonized by England) which appeal to the dominant culture more.  The Asian literature was my favorite, hands down.  Their writing could seem stronger due to their immersion in the English language and the classics of British literature in the educational systems of India. . . .

          Considering where to go from here, after such a discovery of marvelous stories and helpful conceptual frameworks, I wonder, in term of teaching possibilities, how I can help the Latinas/Hispanic females I teach to see other options besides having as many babies as their young bodies will allow?  Whether meek and mild (humilde), or bold and racy (like la prima), the adolescent Hispanics girls can’t wait to have babies.  “Ms?“ they ask me, “Why don’t you have a baby? You’d be in a better mood. You’d be happier.  Don’t you like babies?“ with absolutely no care for the fact that I have no husband, no house of my own, no great savings, not to mention other goals I want to pursue first.  This may stimulate a discussion about what else babies are besides being “cute,” but I don’t think that’s enough.  I do not want them to become part of the underclass. 

            I’ve also been wondering how I could use the conceptual framework of this course in the readings I do with my students, which are often by minorities or immigrants.  This backdrop may be too elaborate and complicated, but I could reduce it in scale.  Mainly, I want to start using organizing themes to present literature and not just jump from one story to the next, willy-nilly.

            Also, how can I discuss this subject matter with family members without causing an argument or full-scale war?  How to encourage my own relatives to regard immigrants or minorities with respectful reverence?  My family members are not likely to read the beautiful tales of immigrants and minorities so that they might realize through the personalizing, individualizing narratives that these are great, smart, interesting, funny, feeling people, too.  How can I help people-- who are not graduate students, but adolescents or poorly-educated adults-- to see people of different cultures as deserving of attention and care, humans with thoughts and feelings similar to their own and powerful traditions, valuable in their own right, which need not be melted down to make them worthy of respect.  It pains and confuses me to have at least one relative who believes immigrants are filthy, with bad manners, like “savage and brutish men…little otherwise than wild beasts” (Plymouth 26), an aunt who uses four-letter words and gets red in the face when she talks of how the part of town where she grew up is turning into Little Mexico with signs all in Spanish.  The trouble is poverty and lack of education, not Spanish. 

            The place or direction to go from here in terms of research is to read more immigrant literature (I’m reading the complete Hunting Heartbreak now and want to read Monkey Bridge) and continue to seek answers to intriguing questions such as:  are the less than 1% of the nation’s population who purportedly who hold 95% of the nation’s wealth truly WASPS and, therefore, can we safely assume they are descendants of the Puritans with their subtly exclusionist legacy? [AP]