...Crossing with the Virgin Can you imagine being confined in a world that has you taken for granted and full of mental abuse? Crossing the Mexican border is a journey and new beginning for many undocumented workers. In their eyes it’s a path for many privileges and opportunities. They feel as if all the hardship and struggles they face will just fade away. The narratives of Crossing with the Virgin portray conflicts that occur for undocumented workers crossing the Mexican border. For many illegal immigrants I personally feel that finding a stable job will be difficult, they will be taken advantage of, and eventually they will either be incarcerated or be deported back to their country. Dago is a man that lives in the city of Mexico with his wife and two daughters. Both he and his wife Elena own two beautiful houses. Dago works at a Levi Strauss’s Mexico division as an executive while his wife is a manager of a computer equipment company. Dago and his wife enjoyed the life they were living and were satisfied with everything that has happened in their lives. But, one day Dago was informed by his boss that the company he was working for was closing. Life for Dago went completely downhill from this point on. Dago was forced to move to his other house and eventually had to sell that house due to financial problems. His wife wanted a divorce and Dago had no choice but to cross the border. Dago arrived in Nebraska and expected an enhanced lifestyle but, things just got worse for Dago...
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...Stella Vallik Christianshavns Gymnasium November 2012 Analytical Essay Jean Kwok: Where The Gods Fly Imagine permanently moving to a country where the language, the culture... everything is foreign to you. This is the reality of most immigrant parents, who try to raise their children safely in a foreign country, where strong influences can strip a person of their cultural identity. This is the exact situation we are dragged into, in the short story 'Where The Gods Fly' written by Jean Kwok. Here we meet a Chinese mother's unwelcoming approach, towards her daughter's passion for the arts of ballet. The story is told by a first person narrator, from a mothers perspective. Her, her husband and her daughter migrated from China when her daughter, Pearl, was still a child. We notice - while reading the story - that the narrator shifts in the grammatical tense, which is what structures the plot of the story. In the present narrative tense, we find the mother in some sort of religious state of mind where she prays to certain gods and spirits, for example: “Ah, Amitabha, Buddha of great compassion, I whisper...” (P. 1, L. 24). While she finds herself in this state, she is reminded of their, her family's, life since they moved from China to America, these parts of the story are, obviously, told in the past tense. The story begins in the present tense, as a sort of exposition. We are introduced to the narrator's situation, the main conflict of the story: she wants to take her daughter...
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...and particularly the North American continent, saw more than just land. The West was a sacred place where magic, hallowed, and even treacherous experiences were possible. This idea that possibilities existed in the West that did not exist elsewhere motivated millions to leave the Old World for the new and redefine themselves in a Western landscape of unlimited possibilities. What is the West? These early settlers, religionists, and explorers to the West came to the shores of the Atlantic seaboard unsure of what to expect from the new landscape they encountered. By leaving their homes and coming to a new land to make a new life, these immigrants breached a frontier. Frontiers are not solidified lines of demarcation; instead, they are indistinct and shifting perceptions that divide what is “us” from what is not yet “us.” As immigrants traveled west they increased the distance from their old, comfortable lives, and with each...
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...Mukherjee and the American Immigrant: Reimaging the Nation in a Global Context Leah Rang University of Tennessee - Knoxville, lrang@utk.edu Recommended Citation Rang, Leah, "Bharati Mukherjee and the American Immigrant: Reimaging the Nation in a Global Context. " Master's Thesis, University of Tennessee, 2010. http://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_gradthes/655 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at Trace: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. It has been accepted for inclusion in Masters Theses by an authorized administrator of Trace: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. For more information, please contact trace@utk.edu. To the Graduate Council: I am submitting herewith a thesis written by Leah Rang entitled "Bharati Mukherjee and the American Immigrant: Reimaging the Nation in a Global Context." I have examined the final electronic copy of this thesis for form and content and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts, with a major in English. Urmila Seshagiri, Major Professor We have read this thesis and recommend its acceptance: Lisi Schoenbach, Bill Hardwig Accepted for the Council: Carolyn R. Hodges Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School (Original signatures are on file with official student records.) To the Graduate Council: I am submitting herewith a thesis written by Leah Rang entitled ―Bharati Mukherjee and the American Immigrant: Reimagining the Nation...
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...Introduction In this essay, I will discuss my experience of interviewing a family and constructing a genogram guided by their narrative. For this task, I purposely chose a family that is very different from my family of origin in terms of their cultural heritage. I will reflect on differences and similarities between our families as well as my prejudices and hypothesis that I inevitably constructed before and during the process. To identify this family, I had to approach some colleagues proposing to them to participate in the interview. Fortunately, one of them introduced me to her friend. Francesca had an interest in psychology, and since she was free and not much committed, I did welcome her with a cup of coffee to share more about the interview. After I formally introduced myself to her, I laid down to her the framework of the interview, and she agreed to participate with her husband, Matteo. Family context The family I interviewed comes from Italy, but they moved to the UK 3 years ago. I noticed that knowing these few details I was already constructing hypothesis based on stereotypes. I was dreading the interview because I was expecting to have difficulty in stopping them talking since I was concerned about getting enough information to construct the genogram. I also hypothesized whether being new to the UK makes them consider participating in projects like mine to increase a sense of belonging. Another hypothesis where I imagined them to have very firmly attachments to...
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...failure, yet he challenged himself and transformed from a young Mexican American to a genuine man. However Rodriguez remembers his own experience being a minority, questioning his own value and self as he grew older. Through his narrative we are able to see his core obstacle of learning to become the ideal American. Rodriquez consistently...
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...Drown Drown, the compilation of ten short stories written by Junot Diaz narrates the experience of Hispanic Latino teenagers with different themes and from one part of life to another. He pictured the world of Drown as a rough, violent, poor and seemingly hopeless experiences. The compilation of stories narrated by Yunior tells his stories from different points of view of life. The events and experiences mentioned in this novel by Diaz are what most Hispanic teenagers go through. As the novel begins with “The fact that I am writing you in English already falsifies what I wanted to tell you.” (Drown). This epigraph in beginning by Gustavo Perez Firmat gives a clue of focusing Hispanic community. After reading the whole book my question is this book merely story telling or autobiographical? This question came to my mind by relating Diaz’s interview in Colbert’s show. Stephen Colbert, the host of show when asked him how he came to America, Diaz answered that his father first came to New York, settled here and called them over. Diaz also mentioned that he saw his dad the first time as he was away from family and once they landed to America his father took them to New Jersey which was weird according to Diaz. Same scenario was somewhat presented in beginning of Drown but through Yunior- the narrator. Diaz used the specific words and some symbols which the reader can almost feel the story as if it is real. Diaz, who was born in Santo Domingo in Dominican Republic and migrated...
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...Immigrants and Native Americans in the United States have always experienced stereotypes from people outside of their culture due to ignorance and lack of empathy. Sherman Alexie and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie use personal narrative to depict how one can easily stereotype and fit a person into a certain category. Ultimately, broadening one's view and understanding that humans innately have the same basic wants and need can eliminate stereotypes. To start, Sherman Alexie depicts the rough and depression lifestyle Native Americans have to endure living on a reservation. Using a first person perspective Alexie starts by writing how the system on a reservation is broken. He depicts this by writing “ When I spelled all the words right, she crumpled...
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...Roen−Glau−Maid: The McGraw−Hill Guide: Writing for College, Writing for Life, 2/e II. Using What You’ve Learned to Share Information The McGraw-Hill Guide: Writing for College, Writing for Life, Second Edition 4. Writing to Share Experience © The McGraw−Hill Companies, 2011 13 Reading, Inquiry, and Research ■ PART 2 | Using What You Have Learned to Share Information 57 TANYA BARRIENTOS Se Habla Español MEMOIR he man on the other end of the phone line is 1 Tanya Maria telling me the classes I’ve called about are firstBarrientos has rate: native speakers in charge, no more than six stuwritten for the dents per group. Philadelphia “Conbersaychunal,” he says, allowing the fat vow- 2 Inquirer for more than els of his accented English to collide with the sawedtwenty years. off consonants. I tell him that will be fi ne, that I’m familiar with 3 Barrientos was born in Guatethe conversational setup, and yes, I’ve studied a bit mala and raised of Spanish in the past. He asks for my name and I in El Paso, Texas. Her first novel, Frontera Street, was supply it, rolling the double r in Barrientos like a pro. published in 2002, and her second, That’s when I hear the silent snag, the momentary Family Resemblance, was pubhesitation I’ve come to expect at this part of the exlished in 2003. Her column “Unchange. Should I go into it again? Should I explain, conventional Wisdom” runs every the way I have to half a dozen others, that I am Guaweek in the Inquirer...
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...I joined the union because I wanted to feel powerful. As a black girl from Eastern Kentucky I have never felt powerful as I moved through the world. Like the rest of black and brown America, I had been watching as our justice system failed time and again to protect my community. The death of Trayvon Martin and the birth of Black Lives Matter ushered in a time of anger, frustration, and fear in my life. The experience of watching my disabled brother be arrested while sitting in a parking lot because the officer thought he “looked suspicious” affirmed a narrative that I had no agency over what happened in my life or community. The fight for justice, equal treatment, courage, and influence are all fights that the union takes on every day. As a union member, I saw black and brown people taking charge and demanding change. People of color, especially women, made...
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...Daniela Escudero Eng-101 Prof. David Schleicher Narrative Essay 5/27/2014 Moving to America Transformed My Life In the past I came across many changes but leaving my country was the toughest change in my life. I had to learn how to live away from people I love and how to start a new life in a new country. Immigration is a life changing experience; learning a new language, adapting to the culture and lifestyle changes are all strenuous things that were thrown at me once I became a part of this country. Even though moving away from my family and friends was a difficult decision, it changed my live for a better. It taught me how to deal with change, how to become an independent and responsible person, and how to feel this country my home. I never imagined living in another country. I remember as it was yesterday when my mom said, “Daniela, I know you do not want to leave Colombia but I have to take you with me, you are my youngest child and I will not let you here” I started arguing with her, saying that how she could do that to me when I already had plans to start college and that I was happy in my country but at the end I gave up and decided to come to America. It was February 10th, 2010, when I left Colombia and was forced to leave my friends, my grandmother, my school, my language and culture to move to this big new country to start a new life. As I took my last look at my home, I remembered all the fun times I had with my mom and sister and friends...
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...Different country, different problems: examining the way immigrants from former USSR experience and cope with workplace aggression. In this qualitative study I analyze the way immigrant workers experience workplace aggression in Israeli companies, actions taken to deal with aggression and possible actions to be taken in future. Study participants were immigrant workers, emigrated from former USSR during last 23 years. Their narratives were analyzed for common topics. Data show that most participants did not take some actions to cope with aggression; however, some mentioned a few different ways. Two participants’ strategies were successful. Employer responses included indifference and various forms of retaliation. Most participants would allegedly act differently in future. Questions for future research are suggested. Table of Contents I. Introduction 4 II. Theoretical background 6 1. Workplace aggression 6 2. Types of workplace aggression. 7 3. Measuring Workplace aggression 8 4. Immigrants as victims of aggression 9 5. Immigrants form former USSR in Israel 11 6. Preventing and coping with workplace aggression 12 III. Method 14 VI. Findings and discussion 16 V. Summary and Conclusions 28 VI. Bibliography 30 VII. Appendix 35 I. Introduction Almost anyone who has ever worked has experienced workplace aggression in one form or another. Workplace aggression is something we do not like to talk about and something that a lot...
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...through analysis of various documents about the Japanese-Canadian internment. A variety of sources will be used, from books by victims of the internment to scholarly sources about the war between Canada and Japan. Two of the documents will then be thoroughly assessed, which will provide evidence to properly and reasonably answer the question. This date range of this study is from 1887 until the official government redress, which took place in the 1970s. The question will be answered through factual evidence of the internment, as well as narrative evidence describing other forms of political discrimination. B. Summary of Evidence Racism before Pearl Harbor • • Manzo Nagano, the first immigrant from Japan moved to Canada in 1877.1 In the 1920s, the Canadian Government limited the number of fishing licenses allowed for Japanese citizens.2 • In the Great Depression, the government of British Columbia denied logging licenses and the Japanese immigrants were only given a small amount of social assistance, when compared to the whites.3 • Until the late 1940s, Canadians of Japanese decent were not given the right to vote, even if Canadian-born.4 • The Japanese were not allowed to practice certain professions, including law and civil service. They were also restricted in terms of social assistance eligibility.5...
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...Name: |Date: | |Graded Assignment First Semester Final Exam Directions • Mark your answers to the multiple-choice questions on the answer sheet at the end of the multiple-choice section. Use a black or blue pen. • Remember to complete the submission information on every page you turn in. Multiple-Choice Questions (1 hour) Section 1 consists of selections from prose works and questions about their content, form, and style. Questions 1-10. Read the following passage, from "The Yellow Wallpaper," by Charlote Perkins Gilman (1899) carefully before you choose your answers. You may refer to the passage as often as necessary while answering the questions. It is very seldom that mere ordinary people like John and myself secure ancestral halls for the summer. A colonial mansion, a hereditary estate, I would say a haunted house and reach the height of romantic felicity—but that would be asking too much of fate! Still I will proudly declare that there is something queer about it. Else, why should it be let so cheaply? And why have stood so long untenanted? John laughs at me, of course, but one expects that in marriage. John is practical in the extreme. He has no patience with faith, an intense horror of superstition, and he scoffs openly at any talk of things not to be felt and seen and put down in figures. John is a physician, and perhaps—(I would not say it to a living soul, of course, but this is dead paper and a great relief to my mind)—perhaps...
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...important aspect of the entire nineteenth century. It not only changed the way Americans produced goods, it also changed how Americans ran their lives and what the focus of society became. Besides these outcomes of the industrialization period, along with an increase in technology and production, there were other important side effects. The most important side effect of the industrialization period and topic of my paper that was mentioned in all three textbooks, was it’s effect on the relationship between social classes. This topic is a very important section, imbedded throughout Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States, George Brown Tindall and David Emory Shi’s America: A Narrative History, and Paul Johnson’s A History of the American People. First we must take a look at the personal views of these authors before looking at how they each analyzed the topic. Zinn has a radical, Marxist interpretation of early US history in which he believes the entire history of the United States was based off of conflict. This includes racial conflict, gender conflict, and in our case, class conflict. Tindall and Shi have, as most history books do, a liberal interpretation of early US history in which they believe the history of the United States is based on consensus and agreement of core values among Americans. They believe the US has a good future because of the agreement on these values which include freedom, democracy, capitalism, and equal opportunities. Johnson has a conservative...
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