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Sample Student final exam answers 2018 |
LITR 4340
 American Immigrant Literature Model Assignments |
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Tammy Tran
Metaphors for the Dominant
Culture
“Whites” is an umbrella term used to categorize diverse
groups of people whose ancestors generally emigrated from Europe. Similar to
other races, White people are usually packed into one box and have their share
of stereotypes. Three of many other fellow students decided to unpack the
generalization in order to complicate the commonly used umbrella term.
Interestingly, Zack Thomas’ “Invisible Majority” essay, Dorothy Noyes’ “What is
“White” and Why?” research report, and Jennifer Robles’ “Iceberg Domination”
essay explore this topic with the help of metaphors, including paint (brushes),
boxes, and icebergs. These comparisons help illustrate the complexity of the
dominant culture.
Thomas’s use of paint in his introductory paragraph
immediately caught my attention. He compares immigrants to bright, bold colors
(as opposed to the plain style of the dominant culture) because there are marked
characteristics that immigrants bring to the U.S. However, when these bright
colors are applied, they become dulled out because of the thick, white paint
already on the canvas. Thomas explains, “This white paint, while intriguing and
seemingly-absent, caused the dark colors to run less deep. In fact, it sets the
trajectory of the portrait and where it will end up” (para. 1). The white paint
is supposed to be a metaphor for the dominant culture, because they dominate the
land when immigrants arrive to the U.S. Thomas suggests that in order to
understand the immigrant narrative, one must understand the various groups that
make up the dominant culture that influences these narratives. Distinguishing
the various strokes of white paint that make up the background of the painting
then becomes the metaphorical focus of his essay.
Noyes uses paint strokes in a different way and nearer
the end of the paper. Exploring the concept of Whiteness, Noyes introduces song
lyrics that complicate the label of “White” by stating, “The broad brush of
labeling is evident in this song as the rapper shows us that though dominant,
the Caucasian race is also misunderstood and equally discriminated against”
(para. 7). She briefly uses the metaphor of a broad brush stroke in order to
characterize what people tend to do with labels. Noyes combats the act of
putting diverse people into boxes by researching the dominant culture’s various
groups. In fact, Noyes declares, “Unlike all the descriptive choices given on
the census forms, the box I check on all of those forms simply reads ‘White’”
(para. 1). She suggests that the census forms put everyone of European descent
in a single box as opposed to the plethora of diverse characteristics available
to check off in social categories other than race. Despite the sporadic usage,
Noyes chooses these metaphors in order to better illustrate the concern of
hastily overgeneralizing diverse groups of people.
Utilizing the dual meaning of “White,” Robles applies
the metaphor of an iceberg to complicate the dominant culture’s image. Robles
explains, “This image of the dominant culture is definitely the tiny tip of the
iceberg we can all clearly see, but does not touch on the magnitude of the
dominant culture’s elusive presence hidden beneath the surface” (para. 1). She
states that most people know about the tip of the iceberg that they can see, but
there are hidden characteristics that are not generally discussed. Robles
explores the formation of the iceberg through the dominant culture's history,
namely its waves of immigration. Through this investigation, she identifies what
the iceberg’s concealed piece consists of, including the enslaved people that
create wealth for the dominant culture and the economic distinctions among
Whites. People do not realize how slavery in history economically affects the
dominant culture; some are left richer and some still poorer. Robles’ iceberg
becomes a tool to see the entirety of the dominant culture.
It is truly fascinating how the students’ metaphors
encourage them to add more depth to their arguments. Thomas’ use of paint
fittingly describes the interaction of immigrations and the dominant culture,
setting the scene for his information on the dominant culture. Noyes’ use of
brush strokes and boxes help emphasize the nature of generalization and its
injustice to the diversity within the dominant culture. Robles’ use of the
iceberg maintains the reader’s attention throughout the paper and digs deeper
into the unseen parts of the dominant culture. In short, metaphors allow writers
to make thoughtful and profound arguments, not to mention encouraging them to
shoot for the stars. Metaphorically.
