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Midterm2 (2013 midterm2 assignment) Sample Student Midterm Answers 2013 #1: Essays on New World Immigrants |
LITR 4333
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Sarah Gonzalez
New World Immigrants; their Similarities and Differences
The
narratives that we have read in the second half of this course have been a
delight to read. They describe how the New World Immigrants (Hispanic and
Afro-Caribbean) combines immigrant and minority narratives. The New World
immigrant voluntarily immigrates but often with past historical experience of
involuntary contact and exploitation by the USA and other First-World nations.
The narratives from earlier in the semester have been immigrant narratives from
the “Old World” on the other side of the planet.
Asian-American and European-American immigration both involve making a
big journey from the “Old World” to “the New World”. These two worlds are in
completely opposite hemispheres. One distinction is that “Old World” immigrants
have the mind set of “you can’t go back” and this encourages them to commit and
assimilate to the American system and values. New World Immigrants on the other
hand differ because New World countries are closer to the United States which
allows them to go back and forth frequently and with more ease. This can produce
dividing loyalties or cause a resistance to assimilation. Another difference is
that New World immigrants already have migration in their backgrounds and may
have more foreknowledge about the United States as a result of its involvement
with other nations of Central and South America and Caribbean.
Sandra
Cisneros’s Barbie-Q had qualities of
both the immigrant and minority identities. In my first Midterm exam, I
described minorities as being denied opportunities and also creating an identity
more or less separate from the mainstream. The two Mexican girls are playing
with a Barbie which is seen as a symbol of the vanilla white America. This shows
that they have assimilated to some of the dominant culture. However, their
Barbies are different of those of the dominant culture because they are
disfigured, tattered and of a far less quality. The two Mexican girls do not
express animosity towards the dominant culture. Like the New World immigrant,
the Mexican girls seem to stay loyal to their culture because they do not see
the need to have perfect expensive dolls when the ones they already possess are
good enough to still play with. The Mexican girls are still able to play the
same thing as the dominant culture does. “Every time the same story”(252). The
girls all play make-believe is universal. This
narrative has characteristics of acculturation which is the cultural
modification of an individual, group, or people by adapting to or borrowing
traits from another culture. The Mexican girls have adopted such an American
thing as the Barbie but on their own terms and representing a large part of the
Mexican culture. This narrative had some similarities to that of Toni Cade
Bambara’s The Lesson. In both
narratives the children do not allow their disadvantages to prevent them from
having fun. They cannot afford expensive toys but they find ways to still have
fun with what little they do have. I can relate to this narrative because all my
life I have done what these two Mexican girls described. I would go to the flea
market with my family and shop for things that we could not afford to buy from
stores. When my sisters and I were little we would ask our parents for a variety
of toys and they were of course used or damaged but were cheap. On one of our
visits, I was ecstatic when my mom bought me an easy bake oven from the flea
market because all of my friends had gotten one for Christmas and I finally felt
that I was no longer unequal to them. I felt joy in thinking that I could have
nice things too.
Another
narrative that came close to home for me was Gary Soto’s
Like Mexicans. The narrator describes
how all his life he has been told to marry a Mexican girl. I grew up in a very
similar way. My parents saw Mexican boys as the only logical and acceptable fit
for me and it was not only preposterous but unheard of to think that Mexicans
would want to marry into a different race. Their explanation was that Mexicans
are different and have a distinct identity. The narrator in
Like Mexicans is in a difficult
situation because he has fallen in love with a Japanese girl and he has fears
about their cultural differences and what his family’s opinion is. His
grandmother constantly would tell him to not marry an “Okie” because they do not
possess the same virtues as a Mexican girl. Furthermore, a Mexican girl acts
like a woman in her husband’s home and knows how to cook. All of his fears are
vanquished after he meets her parents because he sees that there are
similarities between Mexicans and Japanese. One characteristic of the immigrant
identity in the narrative is that of the American dream. The narrator and his
friend both share the dream of one day getting married, getting a job and buying
a car and house in the future. This is the classic immigrant American dream. The
narrator assimilates because he plans on attending college which is an attempt
to mobilize oneself and progress. Coming to this country to better oneself is
another characteristic of immigrants. An example of the minority identity in
Like Mexicans is shown when the
narrator is pointing out the Mexican girls in front of Penneys. “I pointed with
my chin when a girl with eyebrows arched into black rainbows ambled by. “She’s
cute,” Scott said about a girl with yellow hair and a mouthful of gum” (pg.302).
These Mexican girls have distinctive physical markers that set them apart from
the other girls. The narrator grows up and falls in love with a girl that he
never expect to want to marry and it causes him to worry and fear such an
important decision. This is relevant to objective three of the course which is
that Mexican American immigrant experiences and identities relative to the USA
are unique in ways that may make them more ambivalent regarding assimilation to
the dominant American culture.
Pat
Mora’s Immigrants,
is a very interesting poem. The immigrant parents are putting their babies
to sleep with the dream that America will like their children because they are
embedded the American culture so much into them. The poem talks about wrapping
the babies with the American flag, feeding them typical American food and
immersing them in everything that is American. The parents only speak in their
native tongue at night when they are sure that they will not be heard by their
child. This is assimilation to the highest degree. The parents seem to want
their children to have no exposure to their immigrant identity. This could be
out of fear that they be rejected or treated unequal in the U.S. The parents are
making their best effort to provide a better life for their children. In this
modern day, children that know more than one language are thought to be at an
advantage. Coming from a different culture and background is no longer perceived
in a negative way and when immigrant parents do not nurture their children in
both their native and the American culture, it only deprives the child of
something good. I have many friends and even relatives who have Mexican parents
and were never taught to speak or understand Spanish. It just seems like a waste
of something useful that could come in handy in the future. If there is one
negative aspect of assimilation it is that after a certain number of
generations, some of the immigrant cultural characteristics and identities are
lost.
Judith
Ortiz Cofer’s Silent Dancing, is a
fascinating narrative because it demonstrates how New World immigrants, like
Mexican Americans or Puerto Ricans, express more ambivalence about whether to
give up earlier identity. The parents in this narrative have different attitudes
toward assimilation. In Silent Dancing,
the father in particular wants his family to assimilate to the dominant culture
and is determined to get them out of the barrio. The mother on the other hand,
only found comfort in “El Building” after having to leave Puerto Rico. In the
building she heard her language, heard the salsa music and smelled the strong
aromas from that of Puerto Rico. She made frequent trips to “La Bodega” store
because there she was not violating her husband’s orders to not fraternize with
their neighbors. The family did suffer discrimination from the dominant culture,
especially when trying to find a home. “It seems that Father had learned some
painful lessons about prejudice while searching for an apartment in Paterson.
Not until years later did I hear how much resistance he had encountered with
landlords who were panicking at the influx of Latinos into a neighborhood that
had been Jewish for a couple of generations” (pg180).
The father would get turned away for being thought of as Cuban. His
greatest wish was to move away from the barrio, this was the only thing his
money could not buy. Moving away from the barrio was also the mother’s greatest
fear. This is one way that the U.S. history of racial discrimination and
exclusion has affected New World Immigrants. Having money is not enough when a
person is discriminated against for being an immigrant. The family in this
narrative immigrated to the United States because of economic pressures. They
were discriminated against in spite of the father being in the Navy and even up
until they were economically stable.
Martin
Espada’s Coca-Cola and Coco Frio, is
similar to Silent Dancing in terms of
assimilation. In Silent Dancing the
children are encouraged by their father to assimilate and steers them away from
their Puerto Rican culture. The children however, cannot completely forget their
roots and still crave it in many ways. Similarly, the “fat boy” in
Coca-Cola and Coco Frio goes on his
first visit to Puerto Rico and is disappointed when his relatives try to give
him Coke instead of a coconut. “The boy titled the green shell overhead and
drooled coconut milk down his chin; suddenly, Puerto Rico was not Coca-Cola or
Brooklyn, and neither was he.” The boy is Puerto Rican at heart. He has become
bored with things from America and he marvels over how Puerto Ricans have
adopted a very American thing such as Coke and would rather drink that than a
delicious natural coconut. It is ironic that the boy traveled to visit Puerto
Rico expecting to fill his craving for what all it offers and instead is met
with things of America.
The most impressive New World Immigrant narrative that I have read so far in this course is Edwidge Danticat’s Children of the Sea. This narrative was astonishing for its brutality and really captivates one for the struggles that people in other parts of the world have to endure. After reading this narrative I thought to myself, “Does this sort of thing actually happen to people?” The whole ordeal is horrifying and depressing. It really opened my eyes to what people from other parts of the world try to escape from in order to have the freedom and opportunities that Americans have. The narrative takes place in Haiti, the most African of New World nations. The army has taken over and is torturing civilians by making mothers and fathers sleep with their children. They are also beating and killing whoever they please. In the narrative a girl and a boy who are in love are separated because of the harsh conditions that Haiti is in. The boy is on a leaky ship that is doomed to sink. The girl along with her family must escape from their home and find refuge elsewhere. Everyone is suffering and there only hope is to find refuge elsewhere. The girl and her family fit the minority role in their country and the boy fits the immigrant role because he is traveling to Miami to escape the suffering and hopelessness of the future of Haiti. The boy however, is relinquishing his love in his journey to the United States. American immigration authorities repel those from Haiti the most systematically. Most people that come from the Caribbean immigrate to the United States for economic opportunities, which fits the immigrant narrative.
