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2016 Midterm2 (assignment) Index to Sample Student Midterm2 Answers Part 3. Research Report Starts |
LITR 4340
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Jennifer Robles
Rocking the
Boat with Fresh Off the
Boat: An Examination into Asian Immigrancy
America is said to be the land of immigrants and a place for opportunities for
all people. Ironically, immigrants and minorities are often underrepresented in
popular culture and media. No group knows this better than Asian American
immigrants. Until recently, there has only been one, short-lived television
series featuring an Asian family in 1995.Twenty years later, a second television
show has finally emerged, Fresh Off the
Boat. This sitcom is based off of Eddie Huang’s autobiography of the same
title: Fresh Off the Boat: A Memoir
and allows the audience a peek into what is to be an Asian immigrant family
trying to follow the American dream while navigating through the dominant
culture. The show so closely parallels the immigrant narrative that people who
have never even attempted to understand immigrants can get a sense of what that
entails.
Asians now makes up approximately %5.6 of the
U.S. population. According to Census Bureau data, Asians are now the fastest
growing of the three major ethnic groups in America, with a 56 percent growth
from 2000 to 2013. So what has kept this major group out of the media spotlight?
In order to understand, one must take a look at what constitutes a “model
minority.” ......
True to model minority fashion, Asian immigrants may take on the more
“don’t-rock-the-boat” archetype, choosing to subtly blend into the dominant
culture rather than take the minority trait of demanding representation. This is
what makes Fresh Off the Boat so
unique, it breaks away from the “don’t-rock-the-boat” motif and demands that the
dominant culture take notice of the Asian immigrant plight.
