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American literature has many ethnic groups
Multicultural literature
Multicultural literature
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During the course of this class, I have had the opportunity to read literature from authors who come from different backgrounds and places in the world. Some of the stories and poetry we read were straight forward while others were confusing and sometimes required a second look. But one thing is clear, it changed the way I think about literature in a few ways that I wasn’t expecting. Three works in particular stand out in my mind. “ I Wont Let You Go” by Rabindranath Tagore, “To New York” by Leopold Senghor, and Pedro Peramo by Juan Rulfo all had an impact on my thinking for similar yet different reasons. They all incorporate their cultural backgrounds into their work through the setting of their pieces. They also compose their pieces in a way that makes you want to research their history to find the deeper meaning. Finally, a couple of the authors write about things they are emotionally connected to. Some of the examples we will look at, really opened my eyes to going beyond a superficial understanding of literature.
In “To New York”, Senghor talks about the importance of black culture in New York and how cultures need to intermingle and work together in order to create a stronger society. He recognized that Harlem, a city within a city, was somehow alienated because of white cultural dominance in New York City. He felt that Harlem had many things that offered a positive contribution to the cultural unity of the city that were going unnoticed because of the ongoing Civil Rights struggles of that time period. Instead of pushing the message of revolt or fighting back, Senghor wanted people to recognize the importance of diversity and embrace their black cultural heritage, which was a functional part of New York city ...
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...elieve in, I was still able to keep an open mind to those concepts because there is a larger group of people in this world where those beliefs are preached every day. Even though I have a superficial understanding of the Catholic religion, I learned a lot about how different cultures can take that religion and add their specific beliefs onto it, without making it universally accepted as a practice.
To me, its always interesting to see how sometimes, people from different cultures and across different continents can be writing about the same issues regarding people and life. It probably sounds simple, but sometimes language and culture create barriers to those who don’t take the time to look for a way to understand it. It is through that breakdown that people can miss out on a lot of the common understandings that they have and only focus on their differences.
Cultural diversity is an important element. Often times we acknowledge cultural diversity but we don’t quite understand it simply because we do not live it. With this novel, readers can understand cultural
“The New Negro” as described by Alain Locke is seeking social justice, however he is doing so in a way different from the various forms of resistance that preceded him. Locke describes a shift from radicalism in the fight for social justice to a need to build a relationship between races. The “New Negro” has come to the realization that assimilation into American culture is not a viable answer; therefore he has decided to build his own culture in collaboration with American culture. The construction of this culture became known as The New Negro Movement or The Harlem Renaissance. This was the attempt by the black community to birth for themselves a status quo in which they were no longer defined by their oppressors’ views.
Before this quarter started I was fairly confident that I had what it took to ace English 101. After the first paper, I realized I was mistaken. Throughout this quarter I have had numerous problems with my writing that proved I needed to do a little more studying to help take my writing to the college level. Although I did not fail any of my papers, there was plenty of room for improvement. All the areas I needed to improve on are all areas that I think every English 101 student should know. I believe that every student at the college level should know how to cite sources correctly, know how to use good transitions, and know how to properly elaborate their examples.
In one semester of English 101 I have learned so many things about writing. I used to believe that writing was just putting words on paper, but have since learned that writing is much more than that, I now understand that writing is a way of exploring my mind and of making connections with other writers and readers. Over the course of the semester I have been learning to write in a way that uses the skills of reflection, critical thinking, and much more. I have used these skills to compose two academic essays that I am submitting in a portfolio to determine my final grade in English 101. In order to have a passing final grade my essays need to display skills I have learned in the course that are required by the Portfolio Assessment Rubric or
The purpose of the English 250 course was to help students like myself realize the importance of all aspects of WOVE in their daily lives and future careers. In addition to writing papers, we practiced slideshow presentations, discussion panels, web design, and professional emails. The assignments and in-class activities for English 250 formed me into a skilled communicator in the WOVE areas of visual and oral communication, and I plan to continue practicing these skills through the communication that is necessary for future leadership opportunities.
In Harlem, New York the “New Negro” was born by various intellectuals, artists, musicians, and writers who celebrated cultural creativity and nobility throughout the African-American community. A span of ideas on what it meant to be African-American influenced many people to partake in art, music, and writing. During the 1920’s, the endless innovation made Harlem the “Mecca” for African-American civilization. Contributors and leaders recognized this as a resurrection of identity and spirituality which created, the “Harlem Renaissance.” Although the Harlem Renaissance shaped the African-American community substantially, there was still dispute. White Americans weren’t educated about African-American culture, segregation kept both races from coming together, and discrimination within the black community made light-skinned people suppose they were superior to dark-skinned people. When daylight transformed to nightlife, white people wanted to partake in the fun which usually brought along immense opportunities for writers and musicians.
Bass, Randal. “Borders as Barriers: Otherness and Difference.” Bordrtext: Cultural Reading for Contemporary Writers. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1999. 205-210
Throughout the semester I have learned an astounding amount of information. The English 101 curriculum has not only taught me how to write in general, but also taught me a variety of ways to get my point across to the reader. Before I took English 101 I was an average writer at best, but now that I am taking a class that focuses on writing strategies I feel that I have been able to improve as a writer. During the course we were taught how to write an informative essay as well as how to write a persuasive essay. The type of writing that this class has taught me will most definitely help me with future classes as well as my future in the real world. Throughout the English 101 course I have been able to improve as a writer by composing essays
The image of African-American’s changed from rural, uneducated “peasants” to urban, sophisticated, cosmopolites. Literature and poetry are abounded. Jazz music and the clubs where it was performed at became social “hotspots”. Harlem is the epitome of the “New Negro”. However, things weren’t as sunny as they appeared.
Most of our children want to grow up in a peaceful community where they can live their lives and become successful adults” (“Your City”). Because this area has been subject to consistent historic change, its past is rocky, which accurately mirrors the struggle of the African American people. In order to achieve a better understanding of both the African American community and its cultural hub, it is essential to know the area’s unique cultural history. From Renaissance to riots, drug wars, violence and poverty, Harlem’s history as the cultural epicenter of America’s Black community may shed some light on the evolution of its current culture, people and stereotypes. In the 1920s, Harlem, New York had reached a cultural peak; “it became the most famous and influential black American ghetto” (Weisbrot).
To truly understand multicultural literature, one must first try to understand the cultural background of the author. In the case of this piece, we are examining the Chinese culture and Jen’s experiences which shaped her writing. Gish Jen is a second-generation American. Her parents immigrated separately in the 1940’s. Her mother came to America to go to graduate school and her father came as part of the war efforts during World War II. With the rise of Communism in China, both were forced to remain here and ended up building a life together and raising their 5 children as Americans. Because they came in the second of three “waves” of Chinese Immigration, their reasons for coming and the process of assimilating into the American way of life was very different than other Chinese immigrants.
Literature reflects communities because in communities there are people of all nationalities with different values, morals, beliefs and custom cultures. Literature is used to describe how people in communities communicate, live, feel, and see differently. The content in the short story “Shiloh” by Bobbie Ann Mason noted examples of how literature uses langu...
Looking back over the course of the semester, I feel that I learned many new and interesting uses for technology within the classroom – both for classrooms that have a lot of technology and for classrooms that are limited with technology. For the majority of the class, we utilized William Kists’ book The Socially Networked Classroom: Teaching in the New Media Age (2010), which provided multiple modes of instruction that both utilized and/or created technology. One of the first things that I remember, and consequently that stuck with me through the course’s entirety, is that individuals must treat everything as a text. Even a garden is a text. The statement made me change the way that I traditionally viewed Language Arts both as a student and as a teacher, as I very narrowly saw literature and works of the like as texts only; however, by considering nearly anything as a text, one can analyze, study, and even expand his/her knowledge. Kist (2010) states that society is “experiencing a vast transformation of the way we “read” and “write,” and a broadening of the way we conceptualize “literacy” (p. 2). In order to begin to experience and learn with the modern classroom and technologically advanced students, individuals must begin to see new things as literature and analyze those things in a similar manner.
Julia Alvarez was an example of how a Latina writer identified herself in a new culture outside of her comfort zone. She, as a Dominican Diaspora, had to reinvent herself as she migrated into a new scenario. Her assimilation into the United States culture allowed her to understand and relate to the reader’s needs and points of interests. After all the effort, Alvarez kept in mind that she could not comfort to all the reality that she lived in, so she re-reinvented herself all over again to process her thoughts and beliefs into her life. She put her perspective on her writing so that the new wave of readers, even if they did not understand, could relate in some way and appreciate the differences. The sole purpose of her writings was for everyone to change their perspective from “walk to the other side of the street in order to avoid sharing the same sidewalk” to “I do not know them, but I do not avoid them because I do not know them”. She instilled in her reader’s mind how ordinary events were viewed differently through other cultures’ eyes. Her story Snow was a great example of how she portrayed her technique.
I will be analyzing culture portrayed in two texts: “Brick Lane” by Monica Ali, about a woman’s life in a village of Pakistan moving to a Western society in London with her new husband and “I, Too, Sing America” by Langston Hughes about black peoples’ rights differing to those of white peoples’