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2019 Midterm2
(assignment) |
LITR 4340
 American Immigrant Literature Model Assignments |
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Arielle Spiller
Breadcrumbs
Have you ever gone on a scholastic
treasure hunt? That is how it feels to me to consult model assignments from
previous semesters. You might find
some nuggets of quality information to help you build your essay. You
might follow the breadcrumbs of an
analysis of a referenced work back to its source and use it to develop your own
ideas further. Or you might dive down a rabbit hole of other students’ ideas
that serve to distract you from your own point. All three things occurred to me
as I studied for Midterm 2. A few cohesive threads wove several assignments
together, and it is one such thread that I will address in this essay: the
American dream.
Zach Thomas’ Midterm 2 essay “The
‘Un-American’ American Dream” from the 2016 class asserts that the American
Dream is not a one-definition, cookie-cutter, simplistic concept. It can look
and feel different depending on the perspective used to define it. For example,
to me, it can be a simplified cliché with no real meaning – probably because I
am already living it. Thomas pointed out how in
El Patron, the American Dream looks
different even between generations of the same culture.
Kimberly Loza, in her 2016 Research
Report Starter “The Border Culture” identifies the struggle faced by many
immigrants searching for the American Dream: “They chose to come to the US in
order achieve the American Dream that they want so bad but, they have to also go
through the exploitation however, want to hold onto their own heritage in order
to remain true to their selves.” She is speaking of Mexican-Americans, with whom
she actually identifies ethnically. The experience of belonging both to a
minority and the dominant culture shaped much of her input into the research
paper.
I also found threads of the American
Dream in Gregory Bellomy’s Web Highlights essay from 2018, in his study of “How
to Date a Browngirl”. Without stating it explicitly, the narrator is assured of
his ability/liberty to date whichever kind of girl he likes, as long as he pays
attention to the different guidelines or rules necessary to woo each different
class. This is its own kind of pursuit of happiness; he has the confident right
to date anyone as long as she does not find out about his government cheese or
past afro.
For me though, the most valuable parts of Bellomy’s essay were his introduction and conclusion. He discusses the application of literary criticism to the exercise of Model Assignments, and truthfully helped me to appreciate them more. “When I think about why the experience of literary criticism has value, it is not so much from being correct, or even having an original opinion about a work. Instead, the bulk of the value found in the literary critical experience exists in reading the reflections of others.”
This was a nugget that I needed to find. Suddenly, my
understanding of the Socratic method of teaching came rushing back in. Learning
is no longer accomplished by the regurgitation of what a teacher tells a
student; learning requires a broader conversation now, one that current and
future students can speak to, and one that informs our thoughts and opinions.
Once I followed this breadcrumb back to my previous learning here at UHCL, I was
able to much more fully understand and appreciate the Model Assignments portion
of our midterm.
