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Sample Student final exam answers 2016
(2018 final exam assignment) Part 1: Essays: dominant culture overview |
LITR 4340
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Greg Bellomy
The Mirror from the Outside
One of the most redeeming qualities of literature is its
capacity to challenge readers’ beliefs about the world and to enhance their
perspective, which is otherwise tragically limited to first-person experience.
While not all literature is preoccupied with challenging prevailing thought
patterns or attitudes, narratives which center upon the outsider’s experience of
dominant society routinely critique practices and norms that readers may have
otherwise taken for granted. Within contemporary American literature, these
views of American society from the outside can be divided into two groups:
minority and immigrant literature.
Although categorizing works of
literature is somewhat limiting and unjust (particularly in how the process
overly simplifies individual texts), there is some utility in this application
towards contemporary American texts. Labeling a piece of literature based on its
narrative perspective provides a lens for readers to examine how a narrative
generally reflects on the dominant culture. In this sense, the distinction
between the two narratives retains importance, though it admittedly lacks the
ability to be applied universally (as will be illustrated later). Despite their
Venn diagram-like tendency to overlap (as being from an outsider’s point of
view), immigrant and minority narratives diverge with regards to how the
dominant culture reflects on them; as such, minority narratives are often
regarded as being unfortunate histories or realities, but immigrant narratives
are more generally identified as being intrinsic to American identity. Whether
this owes more to the commonality of history (most Americans descend from
immigrants one way or another) and experience or how Americans generally prefer
to view themselves is unclear, but there are certainly strong and legitimate
arguments to be made for both cases.
While both immigrants and minorities
share a cultural status as being outsiders, another way that they can be
distinguished through the freedom of choice; the person who immigrates makes a
conscious and physical effort to interact with the dominant society, while
minorities are not afforded the same degree of choice. From the historical
perspective this ought to be considered self-evident; Native Americans were
pushed off their land by European settlers until almost all of it was gone (see:
Manifest Destiny), and the ancestors of most black Americans were imported into
the United States as slaves. Additionally, both Native Americans and black
Americans have had traditionally less access to and representation in the
American government and economy (plainly visible through Jim Crow laws and the
Department of the Interior). To this point, the Native American and African
American narratives that we have read generally illustrate the lack of choice
and power. In Leslie Marmon Silko’s “the Man to Send Rain Clouds,” the priest
exemplifies the indifference of the dominant culture to the will and belief of
the people; he wants to say the last rites for the old man, even if they are not
wanted. In “Gussuk,” Robert seems to be depressed because of his lack of choices
and mobility. In “the Lesson,” the children accompany Miss Moore to FAO Schwartz
to look at a lot of toys that they have no hopes of being able to afford,
generally feeling insecure and alienated through a process which was intended to
teach something more positive.
As mentioned previously, the distinction
between minority and immigrant narratives is not always clean or possible to
make. The literature of immigrants from Africa and the Caribbean tends to
exemplify this overlap. This takes place because immigrants from these parts of
the world share racial and perhaps some ethnic likeness with minority groups,
but these perspectives also identify themselves as being immigrant in nature.
One of the best examples of this was in “How to Date a Browngirl,” by Junot
Diaz; where the narrator, a high-school aged male with amorous intent,
juxtaposes his own identity against the expectations and generalizations that
are placed upon it from the outside world. Another author who challenges the
distinction between immigrant and minority narratives is Paule Marshall. In
“Poets in the Kitchen,” the women whom she credits as being her inspiration were
both minorities and immigrants; their shared experience found life in the forms
of idiomatic, yet poetic expressions. While some might mistakenly disregard the
words and wisdom of old ladies as being less than poetic, the truth is that this
collective identification through speech serves one of the most ancient
narrative and poetic functions, which is the establishment of group identity.
Narratives by people who come from
Central and South America can also defy strict labeling as being explicitly
based in minority or immigrant experience; some of them exhibit traits which are
inherent to each type. In the Distance
between Us, Reyna Grande talks about the poverty which she hoped to escape,
the father whom she hoped to accompany to the United States, as well as the
conflicting local and federal government attitudes regarding their treatment and
legal status. Nash Candelaria’s “El Patron” also mixes elements of these two
literary perspectives. It exhibits the divergence between the older generation’s
values regarding military service and the younger generation’s need to make a
positive impact in the world. In this case, Tito represents a level of
acculturation which approaches that of model immigrants in that he attends
college, but on the other hand, his aversion to signing up for Selective Service
(on principles clearly associated with his education and acculturation) mirrors
the idea of resistance. Even though Tito’s resistance is not specifically based
on his sense of identity in the story, one must also question how his identity
(as an Hispanic) might enhance the danger of his decision to abstain from
service. While this does not necessarily place Tito in our prevailing concept of
what is a minority, anti-war activists have long been a political minority in
American history (the years of peace get harder to find). Here, though, we have
at least established the idea that resistance is not necessarily limited to
minority status based upon race, gender, ethnicity, or religion.
Returning to the concept of identity
establishment as a narrative function, the genre of American Immigrant
Literature contains astounding breadth. The experiences contained within this
group vary in terms of original culture (which informs the habits and norms of
the narrator) and the degree of acculturation that has already taken place
(often dictated in terms of generations). The confluence of these two factors
creates a broad spectrum of possibilities that can only be compounded when
individual attitudes, propensities, and proclivities are added into the
equation.
Despite this variety of perspectives, there exists in
American Immigrant Literature a unifying principle, an “American Dream,” which
compels people to pursue a better life in the United States. The original
American Dream was a preoccupation of the first English Settlers on the North
American continent. William Bradford’s Of
Plymouth Plantation gives readers insights into how some of America’s first
European settlers viewed themselves and the world in which they lived.
Primarily, these first American Settlers fled from England in hopes of removing
themselves from the corrupting influences back home, chief among them
Anglicanism. Perhaps because of their religious preoccupation, these Puritans
saw themselves as being a (then) present parallel to the Hebrews who left
slavery in Egypt, in search of a Promised Land.
Ironically, the North American continent was not the
first place where the Puritans went in search of a better life. Before crossing
the Atlantic Ocean, these people first made a much shorter voyage across the
North Sea, to the Netherlands. Bradford’s description of their time in the
Netherlands suggests that circumstances were quite pleasant. Perhaps things were
altogether too pleasant, because the children of these Puritans were beginning
to assimilate to the dominant Dutch culture. From this, readers can infer that
it was not, in fact, the pursuit of religious freedom (or purity) that these
settlers were fleeing; rather, Bradford’s party fled the European continent
because they were afraid of losing their own cultural identity.
The fact that maintaining cultural identity was probably
the primary motivator for moving to the Americas sheds a lot of light on the
prevailing strength of what we call America’s dominant culture today. Many of
the markers that identified the dominant culture during Bradford’s day are still
present in the American ethos. The Protestant work ethic, which prizes the value
of hard work, comes directly from this set of people. Intrinsically linked to
the value of hard work is the underlying principle of commercial agency through
free trade. Returning to the self-referred identity of being “Puritan,” these
people also celebrated the aesthetic values of cleanliness and sterility. These
traits, which identify the dominant culture, become markers to which later
immigrant groups later begin to identify with and assimilate.
The differences in individual perspectives, though, lead
to a wide range of interpretations of what the “American Dream” means. In the
excerpt from “Woman of Peace, Child of War,” Le Ly Hayslip only wanted a
peaceful life, away from the carnage and horrors of war. Lali, of Nicholasa
Mohr’s “the English Lesson,” sees the American Dream as an opportunity to
experience life in a less restrictive gender role. For the Ihedigbo family, the
American Dream primarily meant having a space to support and nurture the family.
For Thien, of J. Christine Moon Ko’s “What Color Would You Like, Ma’am?” the
American Dream was a summer of video games and basketball with his friends. For
Thien’s family, as well as the Chang family of “In the American Society,” the
American Dream was to send the youngest generation to school and to fund it with
the family business. This concept of social advancement through education meshes
well with the ethos and needs of the existing dominant culture, which typifies
some aspects of the idea of “model immigrants”.
Model immigrants are best understood as
those whose people whose cultural values most closely align with the prevailing
or dominant culture. As our America’s society and economy have changed, so has
the concept of what constitutes a model immigrant. Until recently, one of the
primary modern immigrant traits was the entrepreneurial spirit, which is
probably the oldest and most constant American value. As new economic realities
have emerged, the model immigrant status has shifted from an emphasis on
commerce towards the belief in education as a means for betterment, which also
matches with our cultural attitude regarding its importance. In the modern
economy, this attitude seems to be a formula for success, since most high-paying
jobs require a degree or some other (usually higher) certification. While the
model immigrant status seems to ensure a higher probability of success in
attaining the American Dream, the narratives of these experiences generally
feature some degree of embarrassment associated with incomplete assimilation. In
“the Cooked Seed,” Anchee Min has the pains of learning about dormitory life
whilst learning to speak English. The Chang family had to deal with an
overbearing and drunken host, along with labor law issues at their pancake
house. The Ihedigbo family were embarrassed by their grandmother’s urinating in
the parking lot and had to buy deodorant for their “Nigerian smell.” The fear of
inadequate acculturation belies an attitude which is almost completely opposite
to minority narratives, particularly in how authors see themselves in relation
to the dominant culture.
It is important to note that immigrant
experiences of the United States’ dominant culture seem almost as diverse as the
individuals who come to our country. South Asian immigrants, as an example, are
people who originally lived in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh or Nepal. Although
the list of countries seems quite small on paper, a geographical analysis
demonstrates that South Asia comprises a vast expanse of land, stretching across
half a continent. Within this stretch of land, there is a diversity of
languages, religions, and class identities that many Americans have
traditionally taken for granted.
The diversity of South Asian people and
their experiences emerge in their immigrant narratives and Tahira Naqvi’s “Thank
God for the Jews” provides several good examples of this. The story features a
Pakistani couple who live in New Jersey. They are expecting a visit from a
friend who will bring his mother, presently visiting from Pakistan. The need to
show hospitality inspires a hunt for halal meat, which turns out to be
impossible to find before the planned meeting. As a sort of compromise, the
couple settles on using kosher meat as a substitute because these slaughter
rituals essentially accomplish the same thing. They recognized that, besides
bleeding out the slaughtered animal, both these processes involve the invocation
of God, the primary differences being the name and blessing that each one uses.
The beauty of allowing this substitution is in the recognition that both Islam
and Judaism are worshipping the same God, only with different names. This
contrasts with the conflict between the practitioners of these two religions in
Israel and Palestine shown by the televisions in the story; in this sense, the
United States represented a new space to the author, where religions can coexist
in peace.
Not only can the US represent a space with less rigidly
defined religious identities, but the same is true about class (or caste). In
the excerpt that we read from Monsoon
Diary, Shoba Narayan goes on a mission with her friend to replace some dead
goldfish. The taxi driver whom they hailed for their voyage, Gopi, was also from
Karala, like Shoba. Sensing that it was ridiculous that these girls should spend
twenty Dollars on a trip to buy three Dollar fish, Gopi brings the two girls to
his home and offers some goldfish from his own tank. Additionally, he and his
wife offer a feast to the two girls, the memory of which Shoba treasures. From
the narrative, readers can infer that Gopi and Shoba were probably from
different castes of society. Shoba’s recent experiences and her interaction in
New York, USA, combined to create new identities for herself and Gopi; instead
of being people from different castes, they were simply two people sharing a
cultural identity.
The excerpt from
Monsoon Diary and “Thank God for the Jews” also demonstrate something like
cultural resistance. In the latter story, the observance of religious tradition
is the dominant force that moves the story. While religion and culture are not
the same thing, they both are intrinsic to the individual’s conception of their
identity. More importantly within the story, though, is the fact that the couple
are preparing for a visit for their friend’s mother from Lahore. Their anxiety
about judgment and gossip (assumed to take place back in Pakistan) drives the
need to show that they are keeping the home traditions alive. Similarly,
although she seemed fundamentally changed by her experiences in the United
States, the author’s bio states that she opted to wed in the traditional Indian
manner, in an arranged marriage to a member of her Brahmin caste.
The conflicts between South Asian immigrants’ parent
culture and the one to which they move is also prevalent in popular culture. One
of the most popular movies that exhibits this conflict is
Bend It Like Beckham (2002). In this
film, the main character is torn between her familial and social identities.
Jess’s familial identity requires that she adopt a more submissive role as a
female, but her social (and sporting) role requires the exact opposite, an
aggressive and assertive persona. A more recent film,
Meet the Patels (2014), also
demonstrates a conflict between cultural forces. In this movie, the main
character, Ravi, assents to participating in his family’s arranged marriage
network. By the end of the film, Ravi winds up with his original girlfriend,
Audrey, who is an American and not a part of the network. As a sort of
compromise, she decides to adopt a more traditional Indian role and ingratiates
herself to the Patel family.
Whether these conflicts result from more of a resistance
to the dominant culture or a people’s affinity for their own backgrounds is
unclear. In some instances of these books and films that we have looked at, the
conflict seems to stem from a need to appease parental interests. In others,
though, there seems to be a recognition of the strength of the culture which
South Asian immigrants bring to the United States. Western sentiments regarding
South Asian cultures seem to be equally dubious; there are countless historical
examples of xenophobic ignorance levelled towards people from the area, as well
as awestruck wonderment at the rich and ancient cultures of the region.
Regardless of Eurocentric attitudes, though, the diaspora of South Asian people
continue proliferating aspects of their culture (food and media) throughout the
Western world, increasing the rates of occidental exposure and participation.
The recent ascendancy of curry as the fast food of choice in England illustrates
how cultures continue to evolve because of global human movement and
communication.
The feature that distinguishes the minority narratives
from the immigrant ones is the concept of resistance, specifically opposed to
acculturation. In most of the texts that we have read this semester, the
immigrant narratives show people trying to find ways to assimilate into the
dominant culture, while the minority narratives often show a revulsion to this
force. In “American Horse,” for example, the Albertine fails to keep the Child
Protective Services officer from taking Buddy, but she was trying to keep him
away from the state. The refusal to let the priest administer the last rites in
“the Man to Send Rain Clouds” also represents a revulsion from the dominant
culture. Another aspect of resistance is in the subversion and reassignment of
meaning, as Silko’s characters do with the priest’s Holy Water, which maintains
respect for the Native Americans’ attitudes and worldview. These differences
return to the fundamentally divergent attitudes of what the dominant culture
(for immigrants, the “American Dream”) means for the beholder. From this brief
glimpse at minority narratives, it is easy to see how they contrast with the
experiences of model minorities, which seem much less adversarial and
exploitative by comparison.
In keeping with the concept of authors’
perspectives, the process of reading immigrant literature enhances and refreshes
our conceptions of dominant cultural norms. One of the richest examples of
cultural critique is in Child of War,
Woman of Peace. Le Ly Hayslip’s recollection of her first trip to the
grocery store illustrates the initial impressions of a cultural outsider. She
expresses genuine shock at the way women dress when they go into public. Le Ly
also describes the experience as being abundant with indistinguishable choices
(because everything is in a package) while it is absolutely devoid of smell.
Perhaps the strangest part of the experience for her was the concept of shopping
for an entire week’s worth of groceries, instead of merely buying what is to be
eaten over the ensuing hours. These sorts of experiences encourage readers to
imagine and even accept that the lifestyle we accept as commonplace is shocking
to many who see it for the first time.
As an aspiring high school teacher, I
appreciate literature’s power of expanding the reach of our perceptions and
experiences. In the humanitarian sense, the practice of reading the way that
other people see the world must be one of the best ways of enlivening and
evolving a person’s sociological imagination. Besides encouraging people to
imagine the thoughts and feelings of a person who has an outsider’s perspective
in our society, the process of reading immigrant and minority narratives also
inspires identification and understanding between members of different
backgrounds. In this age of social and political polarity, it seems important
that we find ways of reestablishing commonality among American people, and
literature can play a key role in that process.
