Thursday, 12 June 2008: Web highlight (midterms from summer 2006): Sandy Murphy 

Introduction:

This assignment required that I select passages from the midterm model assignments submitted by students during the Summer 2006 Immigrant Literature class.

The purpose of this assignment is two-fold.

• The first purpose of this assignment is to provide a broader perspective of the subject matter through additional student viewpoints.
• The second purpose of this assignment is to provide a sample, or framework, to facilitate the completion of the midterm exam.

To complete this assignment, I read the instructions in the syllabus carefully and then read several of the model assignments posted on the course web-site. Many of the submissions were extraordinarily well done. It was difficult to limit my selections. I would encourage all students to take the time to read some of the model midterm assignments as they have time.

Please note that the midterm exam is comprised of two distinct parts. The first part is a web review of previous submissions and the second part is a long essay.

Sample Web Review

Sample by Daniel Robinson

The first mid-term I looked at is Complete Essay Sample 1 from the 5733 class of 2004.  The writer sets up a great beginning image of the United States as a city on a hill, creating the driving image of the American Dream.  Then the writer decides to take a different tack and write about the similarities rather than the differences between the stories.  The take on “Soap and Water” is interesting in discussing how it is not education or hard work that propels the protagonist into the American Dream but a connection with another person.  I think the argument is mostly sound, but this other person (Miss Van Ness) is only met because the protagonist had gone to school, and so otherwise, it probably would not have happened.  Next, the writer tackles “Children of the Sea,” but there are several problems.  The writer does continue to point out similarities, basically that the American Dream is either non-existent or too difficult to attain.  But there is a problem with this section, and that is suggesting that the narrator’s time at sea means “that there is no American Dream.”  I very much disagree with the idea that not making it to America signifies the American Nightmare.  It signifies the dangers and failures of Haiti, not America.  The writer does do a nice job of wrapping up the essay at the end (though not nearly as clearly as it should have been), by tying the pieces to “El Patrón” and the relationship that education has to all three types of narratives.  The writer admits that “[e]ducation can be a bridge, or a rung on a ladder,” but then makes connections between the pieces to show that education is not everything that it is purported to be.  I might disagree with the writer, but he/she ably points out the similarities in the struggle as seen in all of the selected texts.

            Next, I studied Keri Duggan’s Text-Objective Discussion from 4333 Spring 2006.  This discussion focused on Jen’s “In the American Society.”  In the first part, Duggan takes a look at how the Chang family adapts quickly to America, thus allowing them to run a successful business.  Next, she takes a look at the role of gender in the assimilation process and concludes that women have an easier time.  She gives several strong examples to back up her assertion, first discussing the father’s difficulty at work by running it in a Chinese model rather than American, then Mrs. Chang’s interest in joining the country club, and finally contrasting the experiences that Mr. And Mrs. Chang have at Mrs. Lardner’s party.  I strongly agree with her in looking at this gender dichotomy and its effect on a group.  She also nicely points out that through all of the experiences, both Mr. and Mrs. Chang are able to look back to their Chinese roots as a way of supporting themselves psychologically in difficult times.  I think that it would have been nice to point out that this is only done by the first-generation parents but not the second-generation daughters.  Still, she makes a clear and understandable argument.

            Finally, I have to say that I was very impressed with Peggy Johnson’s poetry presentation of Villanueva’s “Haciendo Apenas La Recoleccion.”  In her analysis, she writes about the conflict between assimilating into America and the racism that the narrator faces in America, thus creating an identity somewhere in between.  This can be seen in the subject matter of the poem.  Johnson says that the narrator of the poem is unlike the assimilated immigrant, whose “early struggles [are] long forgotten as he resides instead in the shadow of his future, not of his past.”  The narrator is, instead, tied to his past.  She has a wonderful last line to her analysis where she talks about how Villanueva is able to cling to his past, but does so in a way that he is not captive to it.  Not only is Johnson’s analysis impressive, but I also loved how she wrote Villanueva himself and actually got back responses!  That is just too cool!  His discussion of the title is very enlightening and not something that I ever would have seen.

            Overall, the pieces showed interesting takes on the different texts studied in class with good understanding and insight from both undergraduate and graduate students.  The variety of texts allowed the students to look at a limited set of ideas in a wide range of points of view.

Long Essay Selections:

Sample from Carrie Arnett

“For Liberty and Justice for all.”  These simple words may call to mind a myriad of promising meanings, such as freedom, choice, opportunity, and hope.  Lady Liberty herself, as we first discussed in class, seems to be the monument of monuments.  Within her arms, she holds close to her the ideas that many immigrants hold close to them as they enter America, with hopes and dreams of creating for themselves, and their families, a better tomorrow.  When I entered this class, I too shared these same ideas and thoughts, associated with the “American Dream.”  However, as the class progressed, I soon learned that the words “For Liberty and Justice for all” do not ring the same for everyone.  While some immigrants enter America in search for opportunity, minority groups such as African Americans, entered in chains.  Within the minority narrative, minorities like African Americans and Native Americans usually do not find opportunity, but instead find exploitation and marginalization.  Since social contracts between the two are different, attitudes and feelings about assimilation may differ.  Rather than the American Dream (the hopes of a better tomorrow) minority groups are usually faced with the American Nightmare, leaving them questioning “Liberty” and “Justice” for WHO?  Often minorities will speak of limited opportunities, which is one effect of the color code.

As the color code brands people either black and white, we must not forget the shades of grey that exists in the American culture.  Often intertwined and confused about their own culture, lies a group that does not have a definite place in either the immigrant or the minority narrative.  Certain groups, such as Mexican Americans and Afro-Caribbeans may not align specifically with one group, but instead have mixed characteristics of both.  Nevertheless, all three narratives, the immigrant, the minority, and the “in between” groups, experience sacrifice and hardships throughout their own journeys.  Before taking this course, I found myself walking on egg shells when the topic of immigration arose.  The issue of immigration can be an extremely sensitive topic and many questions often go unanswered.  Who is an immigrant?  Who are the minorities?  What about these groups of immigrants, and where do they exactly fit?  Where can the American public search for these answers?  By reading the stories offered by immigrants and minorities, we have the opportunity to gain a better understanding of the issues that surround immigration

Ms. Arnett goes on to connect her theme to one of the stories we read for today….

Another story where the immigrant narrative can be seen is “In the Land of the Free” by Sui Sin Far.  In contrary to the title, the story centers on the disappointment of two Chinese immigrants, whose son is taken away by customs when the mother first enters America.  In the opening scene of the story, Lae Choo, the mother, is literally leaving the Old World, the first stage of the immigrant narrative, to be with her husband who is already working in America.  Her vision of the American dream is evident as she states in the opening lines to her child, “There is thy home for years to come.  It is very beautiful and thou wilt be very happy there” (IA 3).  Lae Choo envisions America as a place of golden opportunity, one where her husband will gain financially.  This too is seen when she tells her young child, “there is where thy father is making a fortune for thee” (3).  Lae Choo clearly thinks of America as a place where she will be able to better provide for her son.  However, her American dream is short lived.  After her first few steps on American soil, her life is turned upside down when she is introduced to the legal side of America.  This nightmare marks stage three of the immigrant narrative, for she is in shock that America would take a child away from its mother.  Soon after, the family is taken advantage of by the white lawyer who preys on the family’s desperate situation.  The family is deficient in understanding the American government and is manipulated by the white lawyer, who exploits them.  However, the dilemma that the family faces in getting back their child is mild compared to the crisis that is at hand when he is returned.  The child has been living with the dominant culture and has already assimilated, placing him in stage four on the immigrant narrative.  Since he was such a young child when he was taken, he does not even remember his mother; and as a result, he tells her to “Go ‘way” (11).  This concept seems to be a recurring theme within many stories in immigrant literature.  In order for the family to reconnect, all members must find a way to balance both cultures within their lives.

Sample essay from Gordon Lewis

… Some ideas are so obvious, you are surprised that the idea has not previously been presented to you.  The link presented was to the Wikipedia article identifying American people by ethnic or national origin.  Seeing the list of the 110 categories of immigrants and aboriginal Americans visually reinforces the well known statement that we are a nation of immigrants.  Thus it follows, we would, by definition, also be a nation of substantial immigrant literature, particularly the literature of the first three or four generations, until the family is totally americanized.  Thus the statement of Objective 1, that the immigrant narrative is a fundamental story-line of American culture, should be a given once you acknowledge the basic premise that the country is a nation of immigrants.

The transition to the Crevecoeur reading, “Letters from an American Farmer”, which I read years ago and have not thought of for years, complements the introduction to the course by the definition of an American.  “It (America) is not composed, as in Europe, of great lords who possess every thing and of a herd of people who have nothing.  . . . The rich and the poor are not so far removed from each others as they are in Europe. . . .whence came all these people? They are mixture of English, Scotch, Irish, French, Dutch, Germans, and Swedes.  From this promiscuous breed, that race now called Americans have arisen . . . that strange mixture of blood, which you will find in no other country. . . . Here individuals of all nations are melted into a new race of men” (Letter III).  Herein the concept of America as a melting pot of nationalities was born and is internationally the concept that is held of what Americans are.  This concept is an integral part of Objective Two of the course and the idea of the assimilation of the immigrant population to the dominant culture has played and replayed itself throughout the history of the nation.  Indeed, the “Model Minority” identified in objective two is applied to immigrant groups who appear to effortlessly assimilate economically, educationally, socially and culturally into the dominant culture.  Originally, the dominant culture represented those Northern European cultures identified by Crevecoeur, but as the years have gone by, the definition has been expanded to include all of those immigrants who have successfully assimilated.

The implied social contract of the immigrant became that since the immigrant voluntarily came to America, they agreed to assimilate, work hard and become successful and educate their children so that subsequent generations would be even better assimilated.  As can be seen in the literature, although this model may be ideal, there were frequently problems that developed that interfered in individual cases.  In general, however, the myth of the immigrant story is that with hard work, the protestant work ethic of the dominant majority, all can have the opportunity to succeed.

In fact, life is messy and very seldom neatly follows any particular outline.  This complexity is reflected in the immigrant narrative.  The American Dream is reflected in several of our readings, including, “In the American Society”, by Gish Jen.  In this narrative, the family quickly succeeds and the father owns a pancake house that is successful and the mother is a manager at a supermarket and has a car.  Later the family becomes affluent enough that the mother leaves her position and considers joining the country club.  The parents plan to send their children to college.  However, all is not peaches and cream, and the story also documents the father’s resistance to assimilation.  This resistance, identified as Stage 3 in Objective Two of our course, is also part of the minority narrative which is both multilayered and multifaceted.  In this narrative, the father resists adapting to American business practices which damages his business and the mother’s plans for country club membership are dashed by both the prejudice against a Chinese family and the father’s unwillingness to conform to social niceties. (IA 158-171)

As I noted earlier it was difficult to limit my selections. I selected these because they referenced stories we had read up to this point. I would urge each student to read Diane Palmer’s midterm essay as well as the essay by Kristen Bird.

Conclusion:

I found this assignment to be very helpful in clarifying the objectives and the structure of this class. When I first looked at all the information on the syllabus, I was overwhelmed. I had trouble understanding how it all fit together and what I could do to make it cohere.

Reading the sample midterms was extraordinarily helpful. These model assignments helped me to understand how to fit all the objectives and stages of the immigrant narrative together in a coherent way, and they offered additional perspective and insights into the reading matter that had quite honestly escaped my attention.

I am looking forward to seeing how this class addresses these questions.