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Sample Student final exam answers 2019 (2019 final exam assignment) Part 3: Model Research Reports |
LITR 4340
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Aundrea Montalvo
14 May 2019
Cuba, My Cuba
On behalf of my partial Cuban bloodline,
unfortunately I don’t have a lot of personal experiences to base upon the
arrival of my family and Cuban history that ties in with the struggles that was
endured in the early years on Cuban land. However, after reading some of the
in-class stories, learning more about the struggles and assimilations Cubans had
to go through intrigued me. What challenges did they face to gain their freedom?
How did the new land and their people treat Cubans upon their arrival? Were they
able to assimilate once here or continue to keep the Cuban traditions alive? How
long did Cuban families have to wait on the government list for approval to
leave the country? Also comparing how my Mexican heritage has dominated the
Cuban heritage.
I began my research by looking at the history of Cuba and found out that Fidel
Castro and his family ran Cuba and the military for nearly sixty years.
It wasn’t until April 2018, when Cuba started to see the light at the end of the
tunnel. “On
April 19, 2018, the 86-year-old Raúl Castro will step down and Miguel
Díaz-Canel, his handpicked successor, will become president and head of state.”
(Blakemore pg.1). Many Cubans anticipated that he wasn’t going to run the
country for so long. Once things were getting out of control and Cuba lost the
product trade with the U.S.A., Cubans tried to leave the country.
In continuing my research on Cuban assimilation, I found an article written by
Allison Eck on research that was done by Rachel Pohl. Rachel had the privilege
to interview Cubans that were living in Miami,
ranging from the ages of eighteen to thirty. She also was able to get a little
bit of information and feedback on their new lifestyle. “For
many of the men and women who left Cuba during the Revolution, life in America
was far better than back home. In Cuba, only American tourist markets were
stocked, while the shelves in the Cuban markets were empty. Life in Florida
afforded a higher standard of living, even if their new pleasures were seldom
and scarce. The drastic changes applied to their lifestyle altered the face of
feminism.” (Eck pg. 1).
While becoming
familiar with the New World Immigrants in class and talking about color code we
saw that the people from Cuba were more welcomed than the people from Haiti.
People from Cuba had the European background of fair skin and light hair, and
the people from Haiti looked African. People from Puerto Rico were also
welcomed. As a result of their complexion in the story “Silent Dancing” written
by Judith Ortiz Cofer, Judith mentions that her father was mistaken for Cuban.
“You Cuban?” one man had asked my father, pointing at his name tag on the navy
uniform – even though my father had the fair skin and light brown hair of his
northern Spanish background, and the name Ortiz is common in Puerto Rico as
Johnson is in the United States.” (Cofer pg. 180)
When
discovering how bad things were getting in Cuba and people wanting to leave,
there was a wait list that Cubans had to sign up for their approval to leave. In
the story “Visitors” written by a Cuban – American writer, Oscar Hijuelos, he
mentions how bad the Cuban family wanted to flee the country and the wait list
they have been put on. “I have the address of the place where you must write for
the sponsorship papers. We’ve already put our name on the government waiting
list. When our name reaches the top of the list we’ll be able to go.” (Hijuelos
pg. 316). However, things have changed since 2013. According to Politics Beta,
Cubans can now come and go as they please. They are also allowed to stay
overseas for approximately two years, and eleven months before losing residency
in their home, but they still have to ask for a visa before going overseas.
Being that
America is mostly controlled by the dominant culture and the “American Dream”,
in my personal household I didn’t see much of Cuba’s influence. Like mentioned
in the beginning of this essay, my bloodline is half Cuban, leaving the other
half to be Mexican. Having a mother born in Mexico, a Spaniard grandfather and a
Mexican Indian grandmother, the culture that dominated in my grandparents’
household was the Mexican culture. Once my father and mother were married and
moved to Houston, both being from down south, the culture that was influenced in
my household growing up was the Mexican culture. However, now thinking back, I
have noticed how my immediate and extended family have started to lean more to
the dominant culture. Rice, beans, and tortillas slowly stopped appearing at the
dinner table and pork chops with green bean and mashed potatoes slowly made
their way to the usual household menu.
Not knowing
much about my father’s Cuban side of the family, it is easily seen that the
American dominant culture has been very influential to my family. Not
celebrating any of the Cuban traditions such as the holidays like “Dia de los
Trabajadores” the Cuban Labor Day, which is celebrated on the first of May
(Barth Pg. 1). Along with the Christmas celebration with no gift known as “Noche
Buena” where “The
traditional meal is a whole suckling pig prepared in a backyard oven, and the
party is huge. Families get together, friends pop over, and even neighbors and
co-workers are invited. As a result, Christmas Day is more about recovery than
festivities.” (Culture Trip pg. 1). Although my family continues to believe in
the Mexican folk tale legends, such as La Llorona (The Weeping Woman) and El
Chamuco (another term for the devil), and play the Mexican game of Loteria
during family gatherings. For the most part my family has assimilated with the
traditional American Holidays and American ways rather than sticking with the
Cuban and Mexican heritage traditions.
After learning
more about the struggle Cubans went through and looking more into their history
and traditions, it allowed me to find out more of who my family really is. Even
though the Mexican culture dominated my family and the American culture has
slowly taken over, it has helped me appreciate the nation we live in and the
freedom my family on both side struggled to gain. From either crossing an ocean
or crossing a border, both side faced challenges to make sure their future
generation would be free.
Work Cited
“7 Tradtions Only Cubans Can Understand”
Culture Trip. Web. 13 May 2019.
https://theculturetrip.com/caribbean/cuba/articles/7-traditions-only-cubans-can-understand/
Barth, Sarah. “National Holidays in Cuba”.
Newsmax 27 May 2015. Web. 13 May 2019.
https://www.newsmax.com/t/newsmax/article/647079?keywords=cuba-national-holidays&year=2015&month=05&date=27&id=647079
Blakemore, Erin. “How the Castro Family Dominated Cuba
for Nearly 60 Years”. History April 18,
2018. Web. 9 April 2018.
https://www.history.com/news/cuba-after-castro-miguel-diaz-canel
Eck, Allison. “Rachel Pohl ’11 Studies Assimilation pf
Cuban-Americans”. Hamilton July 2, 2009.
Web. 9 April 2019.
https://www.hamilton.edu/news/story/rachel-pohl-11-studies-assimilation-of-cuban-americans
Hijuelos, Oscar. “Visitors”.
Imagining America: Stories from the
promise land 1965.
Ortiz Cofer, Judith. “Silent
Dancing”. Visions of America
NY. 1993.
