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Sample Student final exam answers 2019 |
LITR 4340
 American Immigrant Literature Model Assignments |
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Lauren Kruse
Dominant Culture: How Did We Get Here?
Throughout this course we have explored what it means to be an immigrant and
minority in American culture, both through the assigned literature and class
discussions. The differences
between them could be (perhaps overly) simplified to; their willingness (or lack
thereof) to travel to America, and their willingness (or lack thereof) to
assimilate to the dominant culture. While
I had a fair understanding of the dominant culture, in a general sense, as the
course delved into the history and characteristics of the dominant culture, it
became apparent that this classification can be confusing and complex at times.
As I read the model assignments on the course site, I soon found that I was not
alone in my findings. While it
might be easy to assume that the characteristics of the dominant culture are
entirely distinct from the immigrant and minority narratives, there are many
ways in which these three groups resemble each other quite closely/ The
following essays by Dylan Putt, Adam Glasgow and Anne Ngo each explore the
features that not only make the dominant culture unique, but also the areas in
which it is similar to the immigrant and minority narratives.
In his essay Whitewashing, Dylan Putt
explores the dominant culture, how it became known as “white” culture and also
how they have had such an impact on immigrant cultures—through pressures to
assimilate and outright subjugation, thereby “whitewashing” any incoming
cultures. Beginning with the
Pilgrims’ resistance to any assimilation, both in Holland and America, Putt
notes that “the United States’ [dominant culture] would have, and continues to
have, a mentality that those who come into our country should assimilate to our
way of life, our culture, and bring in only as much diversity as doesn’t
interfere with these things.” Putt also notes that it was through the success of
the dominant culture’s efforts that many immigrants viewed America as a place to
be desired. By the end of his
essay, Putt acknowledges progress made by Anglo-European cultures, as they have
turned away from their dominating tendencies and begun to embrace others more
openly, as a glimmer of hope for the future of the dominant culture in America.
When referring to the characteristics of the dominant culture, Adam Glasgow
writes of the “plain style,” established by the Puritans in his essay
The Roots of America's Dominant Culture
and Those Who Choose to Join it. This blandness—of clothing, food, etc.—has
remained present in American culture, and is one of the more visible identifying
factors of the dominant culture.
Though Glasgow also refers to the pressure to assimilate to the dominant culture
placed on immigrants, he refers to it in a more positive light than Putt.
Touting the success of the Founding Fathers in having laid the foundation
for a government that protects the “unalienable rights” of its citizens (though
he also refers to how history has demonstrated the dominant culture’s failings
in this aspect), Glasgow claims, “The dominant culture seems to offer the
opportunity to work hard and be rewarded for it; an offer that most other
countries don't seem to make.”
While both Putt and Glasgow refer to the Pilgrims as the original immigrants to
America, Anne Ngo draws a firm distinction between the Pilgrims and later
immigrants in her essay, There is Always
Something We Can Relate to.
While the immigrant narrative dictates that there be an effort to assimilate to
the dominant culture, Ngo reminds, “the Pilgrims intended to establish
their culture and beliefs in America,
refusing to assimilate to the Native American culture that was present in
America. This was the start of America’s current dominant culture,” (Italics
added). Ngo does however refer to the willingness of later European immigrants
to intermarry, thereby assimilating to one another, as stated in Crevecour’s
Letter From an American Farmer.
However, Ngo reiterates the dominant culture’s expectation that
immigrants assimilate to them while hinting at its troubled past with peoples of
differing races, “the first and second waves of immigration encourages and
expects those who arrive to America to assimilate to them, but only from those
of European descendent.” In
referring to J.D. Vance’s Hillbilly
Elegy, Ngo also manages to draw a comparison between the immigrant narrative
and members of the dominant culture.
While there are many indications of how the dominant culture could be
identified—plain style, the dominant forces in American history and those who
seem unwilling to change with incoming cultures and styles—the ever-changing
dynamics of society make any concrete definitions impossible.
Though Putt, Glasgow and Ngo identified ways in which the dominant
culture stood apart from the immigrants, there were also places in which their
stories seemed similar. I do
feel that I am more aware of the features of the dominant culture, in an
academic sense, yet I am also evermore aware of the similarities between the
various groups, and of how the barriers we think are firm are actually quite
permeable. Yes, the dominant
culture has a history of an unwillingness to change, yet it has in fact changed
quite a bit over the years, and as communities continue to be more connected,
across city, state and country borders, it is exciting to see how the dominant
culture will grow in its appreciation of differing cultures.
