2019 Midterm2 (assignment) Sample Midterm2 Answers Part 1: Essays on Immigrants, Minorities, and New World Immigrants

LITR 4340     American Immigrant Literature  Model Assignments

Jasmine Choate

Learning from the Perspective of Immigrants and Minorities

Prior to this course, I honestly would not have been able to mention one characteristic of either the American Immigrant of Minority Narrative. I had not found myself coming across either of these at all. Which is strange considering I am a literature major. Yet, I’m able to recognize that the understanding of these two narratives is incredibly important and beneficial. The closest I’ve come to reading anything of the sort, would be a book titled “Houston, we have A Problema” by Gwendolyn Zepeda that I read for a Humanities course. However, it was not until this course, that I even realized the entire novel was a part of the Immigrant narrative because of her parents and family structure. As well as a part of the Minority narrative since she struggled with being a minority woman in the workplace and in her relationship with a White man. Yet learning through the perspectives in these stories, I’ve found myself more confident in distinguishing the two. Some of the biggest characteristics within American Immigrant Literature that we’ve discussed so far are the concepts of choice, assimilation, and the model minority. These cultural topics help us distinguish the Immigrant and Minority Identities within Literature.

The major difference that sets apart immigrants from minorities is the driving power of choice to come to America. Immigrants have made the decision to leave behind their native lands in hopes of a better life. This is where the phrase “The American Dream” comes into play. Whether they are trying to escape poverty and an unfair government, or simply wanting to find work or an education, they are looking for something new, better, and beneficial to themselves and their family. One example of the choice to chase the American dream comes from Soap and Water by Anzia Yezierska. “Going to college seemed as impossible for me, at that time, as for an ignorant Russian shop-girl to attempt to write poetry in English…The ideal of going to college was like the birth of a new religion in my soul.” [15-16] By first acknowledging how much of an impossible concept pursuing an education was for her, we are able to see what would motivate her to chase after the opportunity, as an immigrant. Something that a lot of us Americans take for granted, an education, is something that was so powerful and moving that it felt almost spiritual to the narrator to think about attending college.

Another example of the opportunity that immigrants choose to work for is from What Color Would You Like, Ma’am? By J. Christine Moon Ko, when she introduces Thien as the young boy responsible for achieving the American Dream for his entire family. “After all, he would be a college student soon, and every single member of family counted on his future successes. They would all dream and talk about him becoming Dr. Thien Nguyen.” [4] This is another common story within immigrants. Where the parents come here in hopes of finding a better life for their young children in the land that is known for being full of opportunity. Thien was able to recognize the entire reason as to why his family works so hard in their nail salon as a way to ensure that he can become successful later on in life, which in turn would make them proud with what they have all accomplished as a familial unit in a foreign country.

For Minorities, their situation in America is different. They have had to come face to face with the dominant culture even though they did not want to. They also experience a much harsher sense of exploitation and rejection because of the fact that they usually resist assimilation of the culture that they were forced into. The American Dream they experience almost immediately turns into a nightmare void of freedom and opportunity. We see this within The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, The African by Olaudah Equiano. “I now saw myself deprived of all chance of returning to my native country…and I even wished for my former slavery in preference to my present situation, which was filled with horrors of every kind” [2.18]. After being kidnapped in his youth alongside his sister, we witness what the author was feeling when being ripped away from their native land and forced into slavery and cruel punishment. In describing his situation as depriving him from returning home, we see the disparity that came along with him being brought to America against his will. There was no sense of hope, determination, or opportunity within these chapters, as there is within the immigrant narratives.

For American immigrants, there is a sense of wanting to belong within the dominating culture so it is typical to blend in through customs, language, appearance, and ideals. This process, while giving up their native culture, is known as Assimilation. If they welcome characteristics of the dominant culture alongside their native one, it is called Acculturation. There are examples of both of these conversions within Sandals in the Snow by Dr. Rose Ihedigbo. An instance in where they family is showing assimilation is when they discuss what their more favorable dishes are, which happen to all be Americanized, not traditionally Nigerian. “James makes chicken wings, David makes lasagna, Nate makes rice and stew, and Onyii makes macaroni and cheese.” (171) This also shows another way the children were assimilating into American culture through their names while in high school. Rather than going by their Igbo names they found it easier to use more modern and western names, which seems like a typical thing to do during the impressionable years in high school. One example of Acculturation from this story is in regard to the way they were styling their daughter hair. “While some might have viewed the change as giving in to the hostile Western society that surrounded them, for Rose it was quite the opposite… she never felt the pressure to change her daughter’s Nigerian hairstyles.” (166) By changing her daughter’s schools she was admitting that there was something that had to be done for her daughter’s well-being in this dominating culture. Yet, she was not willing to give up what made her daughter a Nigerian displaying her pride in the hairstyle as well as her native culture.

When immigrants assimilate, and strive to achieve the expectations of the dominating cultures, they are referred to as a Model Minority. They display the characteristics of what America would consider an “ideal immigrant”. Meaning they are incredibly hard working, have or are obtaining some sort of education, are not problematic, and maintain a stable family unit. One example of a model minority that we have seen in this course is from The American Society by Gish Jen. “When my father took over the pancake house, it was to send my little sister Mona and me to college.” (158) In this story, the father is shown to be extremely hard working and determined to get his daughters into college to further their education. He takes a stressful job and is able to run a successful business from it. Granted his motivated work ethic pushes away some American employees, yet it is the immigrant workers who meet his expectations by going above and beyond at the restaurant. American Immigrants are fully aware of the opportunities they are able to come across here in America that they were not able to in their native lands. This pushes and motivates them to put in the extra work necessary to make everything worthwhile. Giving up everything you know in your home land to go to a foreign one is a tough decision to make, yet millions choose to do so in hopes of a better life.

Though there is a clear distinction between the Immigrant and Minority narratives that we have come across in this course, there are instances where we see characteristics of both within a text. One work that this occurs in is The Cooked Seed by Anchee Min. In this text, the narrator is discussing the struggles and issues of slavery with her minority roommate, Takisha. From the narrator’s perspective, America has become a place where she finds luxury and is able to work towards her goals of education. However, Takisha makes it known that she struggles with coming to terms with what had been done to her ancestors when they were slaves; “her ancestors were sold, beaten, hanged, and burned when they tempted to escape.” (213) The narrator was able to relate with Takisha because of what she had personally experienced and escaped back in her native land. “I knew what it was like to be owned. In fact, I dint’ know what it was like not to be owned.” The one difference between their hardships is that Takisha’s ancestors experienced all of the torment and cruelties here within America. For the narrator, America was her freedom and way out of that suffering, leading them to have different outlooks and perspectives on the US as a whole.

Expanding into literature from New World immigrants gives us a deeper insight into Immigrant narratives because the lines are not as distinct. The voices of New World Immigrants take bits and pieces of both the immigrant and minority experiences and shape them into an identity that is all their own. Essentially, the New World immigrants are more aware of the impact of dominant culture on their process of assimilation because they experience similar treatment that minorities do. For example, in the poem “Immigrants” by Pat Mora, the narrator describes what it feels like for immigrants to come into this foreign country and have to raise children in a more American fashion while trying to keep some of their native roots. “speak to them in thick English, hallo, babee, hallo, whisper in Spanish or Polish when the babies sleep…” [7-10]. The fear of their children not having the chance to succeed in this new life, because of their skin tone is what drives them to assimilate into dominant culture through popular trends and learning English. However, the deep roots of their native country, which is geographically closer than the Old-World immigrants, keeps them bonded to their own culture.

For New-World Immigrants, being close to their native land makes assimilation all the much more difficult for them. By being able to visit back and forth, they are experiencing both cultures and allowing that to shape their identities. This is especially true for children of immigrants that are more familiar with American culture but still have the opportunity to learn about their roots through first hand experiences. Like in the poem, “Coca-Cola and Coco Frio” by Martin Espada, the narrator describes the young boy visiting family in Puerto Rico and trying a coco frio for the first time. “The boy tilted the green shell overhead and drooled coconut milk down his chin; suddenly, Puerto Rico was not Coca-Cola or Brooklyn, and neither was he.” [18-21] The boy was initially bored with the idea of drinking Coca-Cola while in Puerto Rico as he had been used to the sugar from Brooklyn. However, after trying the coco frio, he wondered how the natives were willingly choosing the sugary soda over the coconuts grown right there in the country. His experience visiting Puerto Rico and trying the coco frio created a separation between him and Brooklyn but built a bond between him and his roots.

We see a more detailed example of this within “To Dah-Duh, In Memoriam” by Paule Marshall, when the young narrator from New York has the opportunity to visit her grandmother in Barbados. Initially there is a sense of hesitation, as her mother had not been back for 15 years, but the familial bond was so strong, that the reconnection was instantaneous. The narrator quickly builds a relationship with her grandmother as they each share bits and pieces of stories of their homes. The narrator shocks her “Dah-duh” with the descriptions of her home life in America, including her love of popular culture and how she interacts in fights with “white girls” despite the consequences that may come from it. “For long moments afterwards Da-duh starred at me as if I were a creature from Mars.” (373) In return, the Grandmother showed her the wonders of Barbados with pride as she constantly asked the young narrator; “Tell me, have you got anything like these in that place where you were born?” (372) The back and forth of these two different cultures intermingling is shaping the young narrator in a way that differs from other children born in America to old-world immigrants. Being able to experience their culture first hand creates a sense of pride that makes fully assimilating into the dominant culture much less necessary.

For New World immigrants, the way that American treats them differs from Old-World immigrants. They leave their country and come by choice to America only to be treated as wrongfully and unfairly as minorities. Whether this be because of the color of their skin, like Dominicans, or because of historical conflicts with their native land like Haitians. One example we see in “How to Date a Brown Girl, Black Girl, White Girl, or Halfie” by Junot Diaz is from the perspective of a teenage male narrator describing the typical occurrences of dating girls from other cultures. “Black people, she will say, treat me real bad. That’s why I don’t like them. You’ll wonder how she feels about Dominicans. Don’t ask.” (278) In this scenario with a “halfie” girl, the narrator acknowledges the stigma that black people, as minorities, face and which is usually associated with Dominicans because of their darker skin tone. The girl never outright mentions the discrimination against Dominicans but by the narrator’s instant reaction to not ask, we can tell that it is something that has occurred to him and therefore molded how he views her and the situation.

 Due to the fact that New-World immigrants come from countries of close proximity to America, there tends to be a lot of historical context that has to be taken into consideration when analyzing the immigrant and minority experiences that blend together in their narratives. An example of this mistreatment would be the Haitians being discriminated against in America because of the tension of the two countries. In “Children of The Sea” by Edwidge Danticat, one of the narrators is describing an instance in which a Haitian man was being treated differently than the Cuban immigrants, even though they are both known to be considered “black” because of their dark skin-tone. “The man said he was once on a boat with a group of Cubans…When the Coast Guard came for them, they took the Cubans to Miami and sent him back to Haiti.” (101) All the people on that boat were in search of the same opportunities as other immigrants, but because of the stigma and oppression that Haiti receives, the Haitian man is refused by America and sent back.

As a student, I almost immediately try to find a way to relate to whatever type of narrative I’m studying, in order to build a stronger connection and gain a deeper impact from it in the end. For this class, my connection is the experiences my mother has had to go through as an American Immigrant. My mother prides herself in where she comes from but is even more proud of how hard she has worked to get where she is today. Reading from the perspective of American Immigrants opened a door of curiosity to find a deeper understanding of immigrants and their hardships. As an American citizen, I think I can be a little ignorant to the obstacles that others have had to face in order to be here in America, and be able to achieve great things by bettering themselves. The literature this course is exposing me to is opening my eyes to the cultures, struggles, and perspectives of people that I had not had the pleasure of learning from before.