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2019 Midterm2
(assignment) |
LITR 4340
 American Immigrant Literature Model Assignments |
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Ronni Abshier
Where Two Worlds Meet: The Minority and Immigrant experiences of New
World Immigrants
Throughout this course, its students have been subjected to literature from all
different types of immigrants, minorities, and immigrant-minority hybrids. While
some instances of the immigrant and minority story and experience are similar,
others are vastly different. For previous students such as Sarah Gonzales,
Breanna Runnels, Clark Omo, Anne Ngo, and Kimberly Loza, the differences and
similarities between the New World immigrant narrative and those narratives of
the minorities and immigrants that came before them, all comes down to how and
why they do or do not assimilate to the dominant culture.
The similarities between some New World immigrants and the traditional
immigrants to America are showcased in the way the two approach assimilation.
For Sarah Gonzales, in her essay “New
World Immigrants; their Similarities and Differences,” this is showcased
in Gary Soto’s “Like Mexicans.” Sarah explains that the ‘American Dream,’ or the
desire to excel and advance oneself towards self-sufficiency and comfortability,
was a main goal for the narrator and his friend, as they both wanted to get
married, get a job, and buy a car and a house in the future. In Breanna Runnels’
midterm essay titled “A Comparison of
All Types of Minorities and Immigrants,” she also describes a similarity
between the New and Old world immigrants by using Sandra Cisneros’ “Barbie-Q.”
In this piece, the little girls long for Barbie dolls which represent the
dominant white culture, showcasing their willingness to assimilate just as their
old world predecessors. In using this text, Breanna is able to illustrate the
willingness of New World immigrants from Mexico to assimilate to the dominant
culture, with varying degrees of success.
In his Web Review titled “Distinctions
and Blurred Lines: A Synthesis of Adversity and Superman,” Clark Omo states:
“these Immigrants face not only resistance from the dominant culture in terms of
acceptance, but also resistance from within themselves” which could not be truer
when it comes to the New World Immigrant’s struggles with assimilation.
Another interesting piece of Sandra Cisneros’ “Barbie-Q,” as pointed out by
Breanna Runnels, is the fact that the New World immigrants are able to embody
the characteristics of minorities as well due to a lack of assimilation. Because
the young girls’ Barbie dolls are burned and drenched, they are not the same as
the pristine, new Barbie dolls that the dominant culture would own. This
separation, as Runnels points out, could be an indicator of their status as a
minority, due to their inability to completely assimilate.
For Anne Ngo, in her essay “Blurring
the Boundaries,” the minority narrative for New World immigrants is seen
within Judith Ortiz Cofer’s “Silent Dancing.” In this story, she explains, the
mother’s outlook on things such as wanting to buy the products she was familiar
with, in stores with which she was familiar, feeling connected to the people
that lived in their tenement, or wanting to continue speaking, hearing, and
reading in Spanish, are all signs of the minority narrative as the mother is
actively rejecting the idea of assimilation and is unwilling, rather than
unable, to assimilate. This idea expanded on and emphasized by Kimberly Loza, in
her report “The Border Culture” when she states: “They chose to come to the US
in order achieve the American Dream that they want so bad” but they “want to
hold onto their own heritage in order to remain true to their selves.”
The difference between the New World immigrant narratives and those of the
immigrants of the old world are most easily showcased by looking at the
Afro-Caribbean immigrants. Breanna Runnels, for example, explains in her essay “A
Comparison of All Types of Minorities and Immigrants,” that because of
their appearance, which is similar to those descended from African slaves in
America, New World Afro-Caribbean immigrants may experience America differently
from those who immigrated in the old world, from European or similar countries.
Also differing from immigrants, according to Anne Ngo, are those who came to
America from Barbados - such as the families that Paule Marshall described in
his essay “The Making of a Writer: From the Poets in the Kitchen.” Anne
expresses in her essay “Blurring the Boundaries” that the women from Barbados’
longing to return to their home and often discussing their heritage shows a lack
of drive to assimilate to the dominant culture, meaning, as juxtaposed against
traditional narratives, the Afro-Caribbean people are less likely to want to
assimilate, regardless of their ability to successfully do so.
In each of these works, the writers were able to compare and contrast the
minority, immigrant, and New World immigrant experiences through careful
examination of the texts presented thus far in the semester. From the way they
view the world, to the way the world views them, each person’s experience in
this country is different, and worthy of study. Though the three groups and
numerous subgroups of inhabitants in this nation have many similarities and many
differences, it is apparent in Sarah Gonzales, Breanna Runnels, Clark Omo, Anne
Ngo, and Kimberly Loza’s works that each group of people is unique in its own
way.
