Cherie Correa

Topics that Opened My Eyes

            In all honesty, I did not come into this class knowing very much on the topics of immigrant and minority literature. I had a little exposure in Contemporary Literature during the spring 2006 semester, but, in retrospect, I believe I could not truly understand the immigrant/minority characteristics of some of those novels until the end of this class. I did not have any classes in my undergraduate degree that would complement this one either, so I actually learned a great deal during this class. Seeing as I had no academic background in the topics we covered, I enrolled in the class because of personal interests. As you know, my husband is from an immigrant family, so when that commonality was combined with my interests in the stories from my Contemporary Literature class, I can truthfully say the only thing I was expecting to gain from this class was exposure to the different kinds of literature. However, I know I gained much more than I was expecting.

            One of the ways that I gained more knowledge than I was expecting to was through the research postings. The freedom that was given when writing the research postings allowed my personal interests to determine what I learned throughout the project; that was the best part. By pursuing an area of personal interest, the research actually triggers more interest in the topic. I found that while I was researching reasons for assimilation trends associated with Nicaraguan and Mexican immigrants, the more I discovered, the more I wanted to know. One research topic led to another, and, ultimately, I gained insight that I was not even trying to find. My research topic led to the realization that the dominant culture is not unbiased like I thought it might be. I learned that I do not think I agree completely with the dominant culture’s views about assimilation, which was a bit of self discovery that surprised me.

            The “dominant culture” is one of several topics that I was not familiar with upon entering this class. However, I immediately became interested when the topic was mentioned during one of our first stories, “Soap and Water,” written by Anzia Yezierska. In reference to Objective 4, identifying signs of the dominant culture, I was appalled by Miss Whiteside, who represented the power and potential harshness of the dominant culture. Withholding the narrator’s diploma because of her personal appearance and then insulting the narrator by saying, “Soap and water are cheap. Anyone can be clean,” had a dramatic impact on how interested I became in the topic of the dominant culture (VA 105). I find it intriguing that the American people have divided themselves, and one of the only options the immigrants have in order to succeed is to assimilate to blend in with the dominant culture. This topic will be focused on a great deal during the second essay, but there is much more that I learned throughout this class.

            A second topic of interest that I learned a substantial amount about is the connection between the American Dream, described in Objective 1, and the immigrant narrative, which I discussed in my mid-term, as well. “The English Lesson,” once again, is a perfect example because almost everyone in the class was trying to learn English in order to be better or advance in society. Narratives like this one taught me how hopeful many immigrants are when pursuing the American Dream. I think hope is essential to succeed when one is trying to find/keep a job, take care of his/her self/family, and learn a new language all at the same time. I had thought that immigrant narratives would be full of nothing but turmoil, hardship, and hopelessness, but characters like William and Lali show that hoping to be better is still possible for immigrants, even though it may be rather difficult.

            As previously mentioned in the mid-term, referencing Objective 3, I have also learned the similarities and differences between immigrant and minority literature, which is a concept I was not familiar with before this class. I found the historical background concerning why immigrants tend to want to assimilate and minorities do not extremely interesting. In regard to this topic, I found Toni Cade Bambara’s “The Lesson” to be particularly insightful because it showed that even though many people in the minority groups do not want to assimilate, they still may experience negative feelings associated with not belonging. For example, when the narrator is about to enter the toy store, she expresses her negative feelings as best as she can, “But I feel funny, shame” (IA 149).She can not explain why she feels shame because she feels she has every right to go in, but she seems to have a sense of not belonging. This showed how powerful aspects of the minority cultures can be; the feeling of being an outsider is sometimes so powerful that even a child senses it. This story makes it easier to identify with the feelings of people from minority groups.

            One of the final issues that I learned about during this course, which was also connected to Objective 3, was how Mexican American and Afro-Caribbean literature show how people from these groups are often caught between having immigrant and minority characteristics.  Once I understood the differences between the terms immigrant and minority, I wondered where Mexican Americans would fall, and some of the works we read made me realize how they are caught between both worlds. For instance, in “Haciendo Apenas la Recoleccion,” written by Tino Villanueva, minority characteristics are shown when he mentions having a past of which he cannot rid himself. However, immigrant characteristics are also shown when his long journey with his family is described.