Pauline Chapman

Web Review

LITR 4333, 2006 midterm

In order to please an American date, however, he must do away with some of the more unacceptable aspects of his culture in order to properly impress her.  He must remember to “clear the government cheese from the refrigerator” and “take down any embarrassing photos of [his] family in the campo.”  It is interesting that all of this evidence must be removed because, if he is lucky, he’ll get to bring her home to the Terrace, a place that seems to be an obvious ethnic enclave.  Walking the line between the Old World and the New can evidently be a difficult, if not precarious position.  (BF)

What I thought was interesting about this essay was the "unacceptable aspects of his culture."  The character knows exactly what is tolerated by each group, which parts of himself he should disguise.   It is characteristic of the New World immigrant that he can have so many identities.  As the student says, it is an obvious ethnic enclave, so it isn't as though the girls don't or won't know he's "ethnic."  What they may not know is how newly arrived he is from "the campo," or that his family is poor.

LITR 5733, 2004 midterm

In fact, immigrants were a group that my mind often relegated to the early twentieth century and before. After class discussions and readings I, naturally, reconsidered. But, I wondered why did I ever think that? One easy and quick answer might be the speed with which new immigrants are assimilated now. 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. Seventy-five years ago the scene was different.  (LE)

I connected with this passage because I too usually thought of immigrants as people from the 1800s, like my ancestors.  Friends and family who I talked to before the start of the course assumed the same thing.  At first I thought the course was excluding the earlier immigrants, but after understanding how the immigrant narrative can apply to any age, I can see that they weren't really excluded. We were merely using more contemporary examples of immigrant literature to represent immigrants across the ages. 

I disagree with the student that new immigrants are assimilated much quicker than before.  Some are, yes, if they've studied English in their home countries and are knowledgeable of American culture from TV, travel, and the Internet.  But there are still plenty of New World immigrants that this student is probably not even noticing because they blend in with other Hispanics.  Or, the other reason he isn't seeing them is because if they're unassimilated they aren't coming into contact much with him.  Also, the until recently the media referred more to "illegal aliens" than "immigrants."

LITR 4333, 2002 midterm

The cousin's attempts at assimilation end it failure.  She did not strike the precise balance between becoming an American and retaining her heritage, instead she veered in self-loathing.  Both her American lover and her Puerto Rican family scorn her.  In a sense the cousin experiences stage 3 (the exploitation and discrimination common to the immigrant and minority narratives) at the same time as she is experiencing stage 4(assimilation and a loss of ethnic identity).  In the end, the cousin literally experiences stage 5 (rediscovery of ethnic identity) when she is sent to Puerto Rico.

I liked this answer because of how the student recognized the cousin's "self-loathing."  I agree that the cousin did not find the best, balanced way to assimilate.  The cousin's behavior was not going to get her respect in either country.  She is exploited by the American man, who sees her as powerless, and she lost not only her ethnic identity, but also the respect of her family.  The student says the cousin rediscovers her ethnic identity when she is sent to Puerto Rico, but it is a forced rediscovery.  She returns there, not one of them, but an outsider, a "gringa."