LITR 5731 Seminar American Multicultural Literature: Immigrant UHCL summer 2006 sample student midterm answers: web review

To begin with, since immigrants have chosen to come to migrate to a new country for an opportunity, their narratives are of hope and success. Immigrants are a wide range of ethnic groups: Chinese Americans, Japanese Americans, Irish Americans etc. These ethnic groups learn to assimilate to the new culture and way of life because they are aware they can go home if they please. They arrived in the new country for a chance that was not available to them in their mother country. Immigrants claim that they will return to their mother country after they have saved some money. Most of them do not return because they get accustomed to living in their new surroundings. In Mohr’s “The English Lesson” William Colon states that “‘I am working here now, living with my mother and family…I study Basic English por que…because my ambition is to learn to speak and read English very good. To get a better job’”(IA 23). William has learned to assimilate to the dominant culture by learning the language. He knows he will have a better opportunity if he spoke English. William learning English, in a way, makes him leave his old culture behind. Yes, he will still be speaking Spanish, but that will slowly fade away through his children, then his grandchildren. In the story, “In the Land of the Free,” Hom Hing is willing to abide by the rules of the government when asked to hand over his son. Hom Hing knows that he is a business owner because he was given that opportunity by the country he is now living in. His assimilation causes him to accept the rules and follow them. Hom Hing tells his wife in Chinese “‘Tis the law…’”(IA 5). Hom Hing knew he had to give up his child to the customs officer. He had faith that he would have his son returned to him in a timely matter, but it was not as easy as Hom Hing believed it would be. Yet, he had to take that chance on a country that had taken a chance on him. Immigrants seem to have patience with the dominant culture. They seem to believe that their willingness to abide by the rules will eventually land them ahead. [RO]

My interest in this piece came when I read their definition of the immigrant versus the minority. The words that caught my attention the most were the words “hope” and “patience.” This student mentioned both in the immigrant definition but not the minority. I, too, once made the mistake of mentioning that the hope in immigrant literature was more prominent than in the minority. The one thing I have learned is that hope is in both stories, but in different forms. This student chose to use Hom Hing as an example of hope and patince. I agree that Hom Hing approaches the American officers with much patience, but also with much hope that his son will be returned to him. What we don’t see is that Hom Hing hopes are strong and fully based on faith in the “American Dream,” but are then dashed when his son’s assimilation is shown. On the other hand, in minority literature you see the hope grow stronger as their situation grows more desolate. But one idea that I had not considered is that the immigrants are showing true patience. They are not reacting in a rash, explosive manner that many of us would react with today. Hom Hing is showing grace and perseverance in his actions, and eventually he does get his son back. In modern America today, we are used to throwing our own voices around to get what we want, and this student showed that it is not always the proper course, but that patience can truly be a virtue.

The “Give me your tired, your poor” statement at Ellis Island named the kind of foreigners that America wanted, the tired, the poor, the huddled masses, the wretched refuse (I find that a bit harsh, but why question history), etc., but it did not say what it wanted to do for them once they got here, other than leave the lamp on to make sure they got through the golden door. Was that enough, just to make sure they got in? What was to happen to the people once they got inside, and the golden door was closed behind them?

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 to Date Brown Girls” by Junot Diaz shows that, granted, there may be liberties that you can take once you are in a certain society, crossing the lines of interracial dating was taboo, and still is in some circles. The African American community used to have a saying, “if you can’t use their comb, don’t bring them home,” meaning if a person doesn’t have the same kinky hair as you do, the same oily hair that you do, then you should not get involved with them on a romantic level. . . . [MC]

I loved the brashness of this essay. We have become so politically correct in our day and age that we forget to ask the questions that really hit home. MC hit on the dire questions of immigrant literature. Too many times we see the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island as American symbols, but we forget that their origins are based on immigration. We proudly boast that we welcome all who need a home and are here to help the desperate, but at what cost? MC is correct in pointing out that we open the door, but to what? The immigrants are then greeted by discrimination, poverty, hatred, and bias. They are promised the Promised Land but are delivered to slums and ghettos. Then, MC delivers the idea that once you are here there is only one way to see if you fit and that is to try to be one of the Dominant Culture. MC is very correct in that there is no way ever to really become apart of it if you aren’t already. If you are not one of the dominant culture, then the only way to fit into other cultures is to try it on and see if it fits. I thought MC’s ideas were fresh and blunt.

People in the United States are free to make those choices; express those choices; and even change their minds. Those are rights given to all citizens by law. The dominant culture gets to hold those laws up as an example of equality. However, what is frequently overlooked is the enormous power of societal norms on an individual. For those in the dominant culture, the view is great. For those outside looking in, the view is entirely different. The literature of immigrants and minorities brings the pressure of these “norms” to light. The literature is basically a history of society. JS indicated in a 2002 midterm that immigrant and minority literature helps educate those who do not study immigration from a sociological perspective understand the issues on a broad scale. Very few statements hold more truth. A poem such as Patricia Smith’s “Blonde White Women” is far easier to read than a sociology text, yet it captures almost every stage of the immigrant narrative despite being written from a minority perspective. The poem is the epitome of the intertwining of immigrant versus minority assimilation and resistance to the dominant culture. [RH]

If I could have copy and pasted this person’s entire essay, I would have. I loved that their essay focused on the idea of choice. In the first paragraph, RH wrote that every immigrant and minority had a choice: assimilate or not. The idea that either group really had a choice blew my mind. We get so wrapped up in the idea that immigrants have to assimilate that we forget the beauty of immigrating to America is that you have a choice. Too many times we make snide remarks to those who are new in our country that they should “learn to speak English if they are going to live here” and “if they move here they should stop complaining and get used to it or go home.” But the reason immigrants come is to enjoy to the freedom and the “American Dream” of free will and most importantly choice. I had forgotten during this course that choice is always an option. The social contract we have created says that immigrants have to assimilate, but our laws say they have another option, and that is to choose to remain close to who they are and their heritage. What a wonderful idea?