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Index
to Sample Student final exam answers 2016 |
LITR 4340
 American Immigrant Literature Model Assignments |
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Amber Boone
Historical Insights on the Dominant Culture
While reviewing model assignments from past terms, I came across many
that were wonderful and very well-written. However, the three that I chose are
the ones in which I found something unique: their prose, organization, and
clarity of information with good cohesiveness. They are entitled: “Chinese
Americans” by Sarah Gonzalez, “Evolving Through Time: The American Immigrant” by
Cassandra Rea, and “America’s Dominant Culture: a Creation made by our Nation’s
Founders,” which is also by Sarah Gonzalez. All three of these pieces add to the
immigrant, minority, and dominant culture narrative.
All three of these narratives offer interesting introductions, but I
particularly like what Cassandra Rea says in the beginning of her piece
“Evolving Through Time,” when she writes about the American Dream. She says,
“Even from the very beginning, English Immigrant settlers as well as others
after them have shown the yearning to achieve something more, to be free of
their native land and becoming something new. It was the American Dream before
it was titled the American Dream.” I feel as though this sentiment truly
encapsulates what many who immigrate here search for, and hope to find when they
come to America. Despite our differences, there is a uniform sense of hope for a
chance at something better.
As all three essays I examined were part of the final assignment (one of
which being a final research report), each writer had a good deal of information
to cover. However, I found the essays to flow quite smoothly, and each one
maintained a solid, cohesive flow of information throughout. In “Chinese
Americans,” Gonzalez focuses on the model minority, particularly Chinese
Americans. She begins with explaining why this topic interested her, continued
with what she learned, accompanied by research, and she explained each quote she
used very clearly. I found her comments on immigration laws to be quite
interesting, as it provided me with information I was not previously aware of.
In “Evolving Through Time” and “America’s Dominant Culture,” both Cassandra Rea
and Sarah Gonzalez each take on a large topic: a focus on the founding and
establishment of the dominant culture, along with notes on how later immigrants
and minorities feel when faced with this culture and the process of
assimilation. However, each writer chose a main focal point, and effectively
explained a large amount of information. Gonzalez focused on the dominant
culture, and thenceforth expanded upon that culture with regards to other
assimilating, while Rea took a more chronological approach to immigration as a
whole, and subsequently focused on each particular group of immigrants and
minorities specifically. Together, I learned a lot from these essays, and it was
educational to see such good use of form.
These essays also offer interesting perspectives on the information they
present, some of which I agree with, and others which are simply useful. Rea, in
her essay, pointed out that the Puritans’ shift from a sense of community to one
of individualism “sets the stage for the creation of the Founding Fathers”
(Rea). I found this insight to be quite useful, and it led to do some research
on this, helping me to tie this factor in with the Puritan Work Ethic, the rise
of capitalism, and the value of meritocracy within the dominant culture.
Gonzalez, in “Chinese Americans” offers a very clear and useful example of
values that are classical examples regarding model minorities. She writes, “The
Chinese values emphasize hard work, family cohesion, patience and view education
as a functional means for social mobility. These values are passed down from
generation to generation and cause Chinese students to feel pressure to do well
in school for their parents” (Gonzalez). Though she is writing about Chinese
Americans, these values hold true for defining many model minorities in general,
and it also led me to question more about the dominant culture, and how
difficult assimilation can sometimes be as evidenced by how hard one must work
to become successful in such a society. In her other piece entitled “America’s
Dominant Culture,” her examination of the Puritans coming to America in relation
to the Jewish Exodus was quite informative. Her points on this topic are very
concise, but her research is indeed thorough. I particularly found her analysis
on the subjugation of Native Americans at the hands of the Puritan settlers to
be very striking. She writes, “The Pilgrims saw no wrong in overtaking the
Native Americans’ land because they modeled themselves after the Jews who were
chosen by God to overtake the Promised Land” (Gonzalez). This is a very good
comparison, and it lends credence to the status of many minorities in relation
to the dominant culture, the latter of which has clearly suppressed the prior
for reasons that transcend logic.
All three of these Model Assignment essays are very useful upon doing
research concerning American Immigrant literature. I like how each writer takes
a different perspective, and how they each painted their story in their own way,
since it is impossible to cover everything about the material. However, their
essays were very cohesive, informative, and flowed quite well. They gave just
the right amount of information, and moved seamlessly between topics. I hope
that others find these essays useful in the future as well.
