Part 1. Web Review

All of the following samples are outstanding or interesting in some way, but they are organized roughly in some combination of descending order of quality and alphabetical order, with the usual judgment calls that are necessary when distinguishing among good entries. Samples with ellipses ( . . . ) indicate partial or abridged selections. Authors are identified by initials within brackets at the ends of selections.

(copy of midterm exam 2006)

In reviewing the Model Assignments on the course website, I found some excellent arguments made concerning immigrant/minority literature being representative of the immigrant or minority experience in America.  Immigration usually takes place when one is oppressed in some form or fashion and views America as a place to obtain the “American Dream,” just as the original immigrants came to America to escape political or religious prosecution.  One student put this view into context very well in a previous midterm with the following statement:  “The goal of early immigrants is very similar to the goal of immigrants crossing over today.  In fact, the immigrant narrative has become the “American Dream” – the thing every American wants to reach for (objective 1: story of immigration as a fundamental narrative of American lit. and culture).  Splashed across billboards and t.v. screens we are told to “be the best we can be”, “reach for the stars”, and be a little more “like Mike” – the idea being to better our station in life, make it rich, be known, on top of the world, and thus be free of worry [GH].”  However, some immigrants, even those willing to do everything possible to assimilate to the American culture, move from one nightmare to the other, the “American Nightmare.”  I found one student’s insight into Anzia Yezierska’s Soap and Water to be right on.  “The narrator cannot reconcile her feelings of disappointment at the injustice that has been thrust upon her, and believes the American Dream has become the American Nightmare [JH].”  The narrator has every right in this instance to feel that she has been done an injustice.

     In reviewing the Model Assignments, I also encountered interesting information on the minority experience.  Chrystos, representative of a true minority, the American Indian, utilizes strong, forceful phrases in her works to exemplify the injustices done to the group of people that she identifies with.  One student that had interesting insight into this idea stated that “American Indians have fought hard to remain independent of the ‘immigrant culture’ or American dream.  In Chrystos’ “I Have Not Signed a Treaty with the United States Government,” the author tells us that America is not [her] dream and that the U.S. should leave.  Some groups of American Indians have remained strong in numbers and traditions and have chosen not to assimilate into the American culture [KM].”  I can relate to this clinging to tradition and culture because these people were systematically taken over by the first early immigrants, our ancestors.

      The Hispanic or Caribbean experience puts them somewhere in the middle between immigrant and minority status.  As one former student so aptly states, “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 to the Indians when the Europeans came in [MG].”  These historical and sociological elements that are a part of the Hispanic experience put them into a unique category all their own.

     In reviewing these Model Assignments, I found that much of what previous students concluded in reference to immigrants, minorities, and those in-between coincides with what I have learned and how I feel about these groups.  I did, of course, learn some new information that was obtained from out of class resources, and I found this information very interesting.  However, I would of course want to check the accuracy of this information for myself.  The immigrant or minority narrative is a wonderful tool that could be utilized positively by those interested in closing the gap of discrimination on the basis of race or color.  One of the most poignant phrases I encountered while reviewing the Model Assignments emphasizes the importance of immigrant and minority literature of any kind:  “Across the ages, storytelling has survived as the mode of discourse for the history of the world’s peoples. The Immigrant Narrative, synonymous with the American Dream Narrative, is, by its very nature, an extension of the time-honored tradition of storytelling, a blend of the literary and the cultural as a means of defining who we were, who we are, and who we become [YH].”  [TC]

In reviewing midterms and projects from previous semesters, there were several that caught my attention.  In this essay I will highlight three items that were of particular interest to me, either because they built on a concept brought up in class, or because they made me think in a new direction.  I will share what I learned from two Midterms (one from 2002 and one from 2003) and from a 2003 research project.

In a LITR 4333 Midterm in 2002, JS contrasts the hopefulness felt by immigrants to the anger felt by minority people in the United States.  Specifically, JS uses “I Have Not Signed a Treaty with the United States Government,” “Blonde White Women,” and an essay by James Baldwin to illustrate the overwhelming anger that pours out of many minority narratives.  When I read those same texts for class, I understood the ambivalence of the narrators, but I don’t think I had considered that in each narrative the tone is actually more angry than ambivalent.  There doesn’t seem to be much appreciation for America in the above mentioned examples, only resentment.  I was surprised at my own ignorance regarding the tone that these minority writers employed.  Perhaps I simply don’t want to consciously acknowledge that minority groups may still, in 2006, have something to be angry about.  Although we talked about the more comfortable ideas that “all men are created equal” and “let’s all just get along” in class, I didn’t realize that I may be taking that mentality myself until I read JS’ midterm.  I hope that with this realization, I can take a more honest look at minority texts in the future. 

I also got a small revelation about myself and my perceptions when I read a 2003 Midterm by GH.  In this essay, GH discusses assimilation and how immigrants are accepted into the dominant culture.  At one point, he relays a story that was told to him by a frustrated co-worker: “Just the other day a fellow officer when telling me about a guest who had perturbed him made sure he mentioned that he ‘smelled funny’ and that he ‘sounded like he only knew three words of English.’”  After I read this I realized, “I do this!”  I don’t think of myself as feeling or thinking this way.  After all, two of my best friends came from Mexico.  I am constantly amazed by their strength and tenacity.  Both women came to an unfamiliar culture, learned to fluently speak a new language, and stayed to raise a family in a foreign land.  In fact, I truly admire them.  However, when it comes to strangers, I am much less accommodating.  When a “foreigner” frustrates me, usually at a drive through window or over the telephone, I get just like the guy mentioned above.  My attitude becomes one of “learn to speak the language.”  This essay made me see how unfair I’ve been.  I will probably still get frustrated, but hopefully will be a little more tolerant in my judgment of immigrants and remember that I’m the one who has it easy. 

The final Web Review that I will mention made the greatest impact on me.  I read a 2003 Research Project by Kathy Martin called “Chinese Immigration Through Angel Island.”  It is about the treatment Chinese immigrants received upon their arrival at Angel Island off of America’s western coast.  To me, this essay was very moving.  I had not heard of Angel Island before and was ignorant of the Chinese immigrants’ plight.  A couple of things occurred to me after reading this report.  The first is that the work situation for the Chinese immigrants at the time may be similar to that of Mexican immigrants today.  According to Kathy, “the Chinese came to the United States…due to the constant demand for labor.”  The demand wasn’t in the white-collar, high rise office buildings, however.  Instead, the Chinese immigrants were employed in “construction, manufacturing, mining, and farming.  They also were employed as launderers, cooks, servants, and gardeners.”  Just like many of today’s Mexican laborers, the Chinese people came for work and ended up doing the most menial tasks that wealthy Americans were too proud to do.  This idea led to another one that I hope I never forget.  We are so lucky to be born in America.  However, we must remember that we are here by chance.  We could have easily been born in China or Mexico and we might have found ourselves just as hungry for opportunity as American immigrants often are.  We commonly treat immigrants with much less respect than they deserve, as illustrated by this essay about Angel Island.  But who are we to deny happiness or prosperity to others just because we happened to be born in America?

I am glad that I got a chance to review these three submissions.  I expected to learn something about Immigrant texts, but came away learning even more about myself. [BF]

When reviewing past student midterms from a 2003 course group, a particular word, "kaleidoscope," caught my attention.  The following excerpt is from (JS), "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."  This is a nice analogy to the concept of study for Immigrant and minority literature.  It also solidifies my sentiments regarding the various readings and presentations for this journey of learning.  I perceive the excerpt to be an indication of the sensitivity of American culture to discuss the wrinkles that the country is still ironing out, and may always be.  American culture, in general, is often reluctant to a "bright light" review or discussion of American immigrant and minority issues.  Immigrant and minority literature readings awaken a sense of the struggles, dreams and imperfections preempting assimilation.  A kaleidoscope is "multifaceted," which infers that American culture continues to change and evolve.  The transition of the immigrant from old world to new world is the foundation of society.  However, the dominant white culture represents only one of the many colors of American culture as seen through a "Kaleidoscope." Light must transcend before all of the colors are appreciated;  Otherwise, the experiences of immigrant and minorities are lost in a dark tunnel and progress is hindered.

I was also attracted to a sample student research project, written by Regina Richardson, which addressed Maxine Hong Kingston's The Woman Warrior.  Richardson's reference to the Chinese-American woman hindered by ghostly images was interesting because not only are immigrant issues addressed, but also issues of old world gender assignments and how they affect second generation immigrant assimilation.  The essay referred to Kingston's perceived non-fictional struggle to overcome old world ideals, while experiencing feelings of minority discontent imposed on her by a mother’s reluctance to let go of old world Chinese beliefs.  The old world gender roles are an obstacle towards a seamless assimilation into American life for Kingston.  Richardson describes this with, "Kingston who is a Chinese-American woman has individuality, but she lacks an identity.  Therefore, Kingston must choose an Old World Chinese identity or a New World American identity."  I was enlightened by this essay because, before her American dream can materialize, a daughter is trapped between her mother's cherished Chinese culture thinking.  One also strives to overcome her minority predicament in her struggle to assimilate and model herself after a modern American working woman.  I recall from the narrative that Kingston also faced discrimination from bosses who berated her.  This creates a major identity crisis for Kingston, and her reference to self and others as “ghost”, implies that she is in an in-between and under-developed state.  How can one reject the teaching of a mother, even though there is a vivid difference between Chinese born and American born individuals, even within the intimacy of family?  Richardson addresses this question with a critical excerpt from Rosetta Haynes who writes, "It is the dynamics of mother/daughter interactions which play a fundamental role in forming their sense of self and the narrative form through which she represents her life story."  Eventually, Kingston could be identified with successful immigrant assimilation, but the fact that, "she wraps her American success around her like a shawl," eludes that she still lives with the fear of protecting her own identity in an environment where her gender is undermined by old world and her color is an obstacle in new world.  This is "a person born within two cultures," assimilating with ghost-like or obscure progression who constantly strives to right the wrongs of her old world tradition.

On review of a Summer 1999 collection of student works, I was drawn to an essay by Melissa Clark.  I read and was delighted by Willa Cather's, The Professor's House, and was curious on how her other works, Neighbor Rosicky, 0 Pioneers!, and My Antonia  fit into the immigrant concept.  A particular passage by Clark alludes to the desires and dreams of immigrant landownership in America.  Clark writes, "This desire for land ownership is not greedy or materialistic on his part, however. In fact, while Rosicky does grow to see owning and being part of the land as an integral part of the American Dream, the material gains which are usually envisioned to go along with it are not important to him. As Doctor Burleigh reflects after visiting Rosicky, the Rosickys never got ahead much; maybe you couldn't enjoy your life and put it into the bank, too" (236).  As is the case with many immigrants, their journey to America originally finds them in big cities such as New York or Los Angeles where travel across sea and borders generally occur.  This story was attention-grabbing because American rural life resulted in "binding the family even closer to the soil."  When so many African American minorities migrated from rural areas, where they felt prohibited from an experience of independence and opportunity, Cather's character moves from the big city to a rural landscape to experience same.  This narrative of "urban-rural conflict in America," constitutes the vivid variation and expectations of immigrant narratives.  Clark further writes, "Land ownership brings a sense of belonging, purpose, and individuality to the life of an immigrant or to any person in search of the American Dream."  In contrast to some of the other immigrant stories of “fitting” into society, such as, In the American Society, by Gish Jen, when Ms. Chang desired to gain membership to the country club, Clark's essay reveals another side of the coin by describing immigrants who are drawn to a simpler, less materialistic landscape.  They appreciate the land and enjoy the simple fruits of their labor in a more intimate family setting where they can still maintain their cultural identity, yet feel they have achieved a successful assimilation, because they have also maintained their independence.  This essay has encouraged me to re-think the Professor's experience as compared to that of an immigrant. He too felt a manifest destiny in his journey to the vastness of the Mesa Verde where he escaped societal boundaries to find himself. This creates an awesome sense of duality, as experienced by so many immigrants in our readings.  Is it the individualism, the acceptance or fitting in, the soil, rural or city life that motivates their dreams of American life?  The narratives reveal that it is a varying assortment of adaptation. [PJ]

The passages that were reviewed were excerpts from Spring 2001, Spring 2002 and Fall 2003 midterms on Immigrant Literature.  These passages were chosen because they were interesting. The passages explained the differences between the minority narrative and the immigrant narrative.  These students grasped the idea of how the two narratives differ and defined them. 

Immigrants were described as having choice and assimilating by SK. The excerpt chosen briefly makes statements that describe perfectly the Immigrant 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… immigrants have a better opportunity to assimilate [SK 2001]

KM from 2003 midterm, also, touches on the idea of the immigrant’s opportunity by referring to “The English Lesson.”  KM states,

the ones who chose to come to America, usually tell stories about their searches for a better way of life.  This can be seen in Nicholasa Mohr’s narrative, “The English Lesson.”  In the story, Mrs. Hamma is teaching English to a night class of immigrants.  When asked to tell their story of why they want to learn English, one student responds, “I study Basic English por que…because my ambition is to learn to speak and read English very good.  To get a better job.  Y—y también, to help my mother y familia…Y do better, that’s all.” [KM 2003]

The minority experience was defined by AP from 2002 midterm.  The minority experience and how it differs from the immigrant experience. AP uses quotes from the Classic Slave Narratives as well as the essay “The Lesson.” AP states,

The minority experience of leaving the Old World and entering the New World is very different. For the minority the Old World is the place that they want to be. Instead of willingly coming to the New World, they are forced. This brings about feelings of shock and resistance. They experience exploitation and discrimination. These feeling are most evident in The Classic Slave Narratives. The author talks about being "carried" on board and "handled and tossed up". The narrator continues to talk about being in a world of bad spirits where their appearance and language was different and frightening. Also in "The Lesson"(IA) the minority students showed resistance to the lesson they were being taught. These feelings of shock, resistance, exploitation and discrimination can also be shared in the immigrant narrative. . . . [AP 2002]

AP does a great job in pulling out the important factors in defining a minority narrative.

All the students seem to grasp the concepts that are taught in the class.  These students are able to differentiate the minority group from the immigrant group.  They all touched on many key words like, “assimilation,” “resistance,” “opportunity,” and “discrimination.” It is difficult to attempt to not repeat what other students have written in past assignments for the minority or immigrant literature class because everyone seems to be on the same page.  These excerpts chosen prove that the students understand what is being taught and the clues to look for in narratives to place them in the correct categories. [RO]

Reviewing past mid-term exams was extremely helpful in preparing for the 2006 mid-term.  It made me realize this rather daunting task was, indeed, manageable.  I decided to randomly choose a mid-term from each of the three years, 2002, 2003 and 2004. 

            From 2002 I chose the mid-term by [JS].  JS begins the paper with an opening that presents what subject will be explored.  She immediately relates that, “American immigrants historically come to America to escape economic or political difficulties,” to preface her observations on The English Lesson and The Making of a Writer:  From the Poets in the Kitchen. She points out that Marshall was a second-generation immigrant participating in the “kitchen” sessions that were so therapeutic to the first generation immigrants.  She also points out that minorities, “. . . do not demonstrate the same hopeful attitudes,” as their immigrant counterparts.  She continues to perceive that the minorities represented in The Man to Send Rain Clouds, incorporate the Christian holy water into the funeral, but have a differing reason than what is Christian correct.  She also relates the anger and guilt that James Baldwin feels over his conflicting feelings as a minority man who has “made it,” that drives him to curse out loud in his old friend’s house.  Finally, something I had not considered, she speaks of the silence that both essays, Silent Dancing and Hunger in Memory have in common.

            The essay from 2003, by [GH], is an interesting one.  She points out that reasons for immigrating to the United States are the same for immigrants today as it was 200 years ago, for attaining the American Dream.  She relates that acceptance into American culture has to do with how quickly assimilation is made.  She uses the term, “ethnocentrism,” to describe the ideas of the dominant culture.  GH uses personal experience at her job to illustrate the prejudice that can be directed at persons who are not proficient in speaking English.  She says that to achieve the American Dream you can not be marked as “other” who resists assimilation.  GH argues that “forced assimilation” is what makes minority stories different.  The dominant culture does not take into account the different rules and beliefs of minorities.  She states that, “To assimilate would be to agree with the dominant culture’s view of superiority and so they must resist . . . to assimilate does not mean to be better.”  GH describes those that fall in between the immigrant and minority story as “Ambivalent Minority” who have traits of both groups.  She ascertains that Mexican Americans and Afro-Caribbeans have similar narratives in that both groups “want to hold onto a part of the past.”   She importantly points out that,  “. . .these groups often live double lives, and double cultures . . .” unwilling to let go of their defining culture.  I have to agree with GH when she points out that, “By looking at these narratives through fiction, poetry and non-fiction it becomes easier for discussion.  We are shaped by our past and present . . .” Good paper, I bet she made an “A.”

            The third and final paper I reviewed, came from the mid-terms submitted in the year 2004.  [YH] begins by stating that “The Immigrant Narrative is, by its very nature, an extension of the time-honored tradition of storytelling . . .” as an introduction.  He begins with examining Soap and Water where the young Jewish immigrant suffers much humiliation by not appearing as one of the dominant culture.  He goes on to state that this story is a narrative, “. . . as it combines the quest of the individual (Romanticism) with the sociological elements of social mobility, class discrimination and exploitation.”  YH goes on the examine The English Lesson as a “microcosm of America.”  He also reveals that he feels that Mrs. Hamma, as a third generation immigrant, represents the “narrative to completion.” YH finishes the examination of this story with the observation that, “. . . the immigrant experience is not without risk and will often involve some kind of loss, sacrifice even, before anything is gained.”   He then ties this loss and gain to the Polish professor who must overcome language barriers to succeed in attaining the dream.  YH changes subjects to the minority narrative of Native American and Afro-Americans.  He observes that, “. . . one person’s dream rapidly dissolves into another’s nightmare.”   YH states that in American Horse, the self righteousness of the dominant culture does not take the “. . . emotional attachments and dynamics within the family itself,” into consideration.  He observes that liberty is only given to those that assimilate and adopt lifestyles of the dominant culture.  Also examined was Baldwin’s No Name in the Street and the guilt he feels as well as alienation from his minority brothers.  YH briefly touches on the “in between” narrative of the Mexican Americans and Afro Caribbeans without examining any specific narratives.  The conclusion includes the statement, “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.” [JLS]