The Circuit After reading the circuit by Francisco Jimenez, it talks about the struggles of an immigrant, and the obstacles they have to overcome. I can’t really relate because I never had to move from place to place, and have to deal with a new language. Even though I have always wanted to travel and move to a different country. But over the last year I’ve moved from Atlanta to Douglas, and having to adapt to new cultures, types of people, and just the new vibes was really different. Back in elementary school I had a friend named Johnny and he was an immigrant. I feel like he could relate to this story a lot more since he didn’t really know English and his family heavily struggled financially. It was difficult for teachers even trying to
Islas, Arturo. From Migrant Souls. American Mosaic: Multicultural Readings in Context. Eds. Gabriele Rico, Barbara Roche and Sandra Mano. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co. 1995. 483-491.
America is a land filled with immigrants coming from different corners of the worlds, all in hopes of finding a better life in the country. However, No one had an easy transition from his or her home country to this foreign land. Not every race thrived the same way—some were luckier than others, while some have faced enormous obstacles in settling down and being part of the American society. Many people have suffered
In the book Spare Parts by Joshua Davis, there is various ways I can relate to the characters and their experiences. I come from an immigrant family and can relate to how my parents came here looking for better opportunities, how kids are crossed here illegally at a young age, and how illegal immigrants go on about their lives with a constant fear of deportation.
In a country full of inequities and discriminations, numerous books were written to depict our unjust societies. One of the many books is an autobiography by Richard Wright. In Black Boy, Wright shares these many life-changing experiences he faced, which include the discovery of racism at a young age, the fights he put up against discriminations and hunger, and finally his decision of moving Northward to a purported better society. Through these experiences which eventually led him to success, Wright tells his readers the cause and effect of racism, and hunger. In a way, the novel The Tortilla Curtain by T.C Boyle illustrates similar experiences. In this book, the lives of two wealthy American citizens and two illegal immigrants collided. Delaney and Kyra were whites living in a pleasurable home, with the constant worry that Mexicans would disturb their peaceful, gated community. Candido and America, on the other hand, came to America to seek job opportunities and a home but ended up camping at a canyon, struggling even for cheapest form of life. They were prevented from any kind of opportunities because they were Mexicans. The differences between the skin colors of these two couples created the hugest gap between the two races. Despite the difficulties American and Candido went through, they never reached success like Wright did. However, something which links these two illegal immigrants and this African American together is their determination to strive for food and a better future. For discouraged minorities struggling in a society plagued with racism, their will to escape poverty often becomes their only motivation to survive, but can also acts as the push they need toward success.
Immigration is a large aspect of American history. In the book Breaking Through by Francisco Jimenez, we are able to see the struggles of one Hispanic boy immigrating to the United States from Mexico. Many of the people in the community that Francisco lived in didn’t really accept Hispanic people. It was really depressing that he would make friends, go over to their house and their parents wouldn’t let him come over again, simply because he was Hispanic. In Diversity Matters the text states, “Unique stresses created by the process of immigration to another country and discrimination faced in the new country can create psychological distress for many immigrants” (Spradlin 126). During this time in America, there was still a lot of discrimination going on not only with Hispanics, but other minority races like African Americans. This really goes to show how far our country has come over the years. There is still a long way to go, but I think that if people are more educated and aware of the discrimination people face on a daily basis they will be more open-minded. The United States is becoming more open to diversity, but first we will look at the struggles of one Hispanic boy growing up here illegally in Breaking Through.
The most obvious and one of the most difficult walls to climb was the language. First generation immigrants rarely became fluent in English and more often than not learned so little that they were entrapped in a society of working in very menial jobs and job conditions. Jobs ranging from sweatshops, dirty factories, shipyards, and railroads are prime examples of the conditions they were forced to live and work in. Fae Ng described the difficulty very well by taking a look at her mother’s job in the clothing factory and Leon’s Job on the ships. They had very little advancement in the work force because they couldn’t communicate well enough that they actually had skills. Trials in the work place helped the immigrants impress upon their children the importance of education.
After reading The Book of the Unknown Americans, I realized how difficult immigrating to the United States can be. I am an immigrant also, so just reading the story makes me relate to many problems immigrants experience relocating to a different country. Immigrants often face many issues and difficulties, but for some it is all worth it, but for others there comes a point in time where they have to go back to their hometown. Alma and Arturo Rivera came to the United States to better their life, but also so that Maribel could attend a special education school. While Arturo had a job things had gone well for the family, but once Arturo lost the job and passed away the two of them had to go back because they felt that that was the best option for them. Reading this book made me realize how strong an individual has to be to leave their own country and relocate somewhere else not knowing if this will better your life or cause one to suffer.
When you look at someone, you see a person, but sometimes, you forget that that person has a story. I learned that when I watched the film, I Learn America. When I first watched the movie, I saw students that have come to America. They have come to an international school in New York to learn English. As the film goes on, you see that each of the students that they focus on have struggles that they have/had to overcome to come or stay in America. Before, I did not realize how much they had to go through in order to come to the United States. As educators, we have to get to know our students. We have to understand their lives and their backgrounds and create a good teacher-student relationship and help students build a “home away from home”.
Affected by my family, my background, and everything around me, I was born in a family who is the first generation to get here. My grandmother, and my parents, along with some other relatives, moved here in search of better opportunities, like those from other countries for the same idea. They started out fresh but had a hard time to get started, when I was little, I assumed it had to be somewhat easy, but for people who do not know English it is like starting from scratch, but they did well, they’ve made it.
Immigration and labor unions are one of the biggest parts of United States history in my opinion. The abolishing of slavery led to immigration and freedom in America for foreigners and equality would shortly follow. Strangers in the Land helps me realize the struggle that immigrants and foreigners had to go through to become a citizen of the United States. They had to fight hard to earn their freedom and rights as a citizen. Immigrants and foreigners have a different experience in America than someone who is American and born in the United States. I think this book was a great eye opener to the struggle immigrants had to go through. It has made me earn a whole new respect for them and I look at them differently now, but in a good way. I would use this book as a reference to someone who is still not sure about having immigrants and foreigners in the United
The subject of this paper is Liz, a 52-year old, 1.5 generation female immigrant from Hong Kong. What this means is that she immigrated to the United States when she was a child, around 7-years old (Feliciano Lec. 1/4/2016). As a child of a family that consists of five siblings and two parents that did not speak any English prior to immigrating, the focus of this paper will be on the legal processes that the family went through to become legal immigrants and the various factors that aided in her path towards assimilation.
“You are in America, speak English.” As a young child hearing these words, it did not only confuse me but it also made me question my belonging in a foreign country. As a child I struggled with my self-image; Not being Hispanic enough because of my physical appearance and not being welcomed enough in the community I have tried so hard to integrate myself with. Being an immigrant with immigrant parents forces you to view life differently. It drives you to work harder or to change the status quo for the preconceived notion someone else created on a mass of people. Coming to America filled me with anxiety, excitement, and even an unexpected wave of fear.
Immigrants' lives become very difficult when they move to a new country. They are often discriminated against due to their race and/ or nationality. This problem occurs many times throughout Dragonwings, a book by Laurence Yep. In his book, the Chinese characters who immigrate to America face many challenges in their new lives. They are thought of as inferior, have to endure many hardships, and become lonely due to the fact that they must leave the majority of their families in China. In this book, the immigrants face multiple difficulties and challenges in the new world they know as the Land of the Golden Mountain.
When my mother arrived in Paterson, she hated it and thought it was so ugly and even cried to go back to Mexico. After six months my mother was able to go back to Mexico to get her green card, which showed that she was a legal citizen of America. My mother’s main priority was about making sure to go to school and get an education. She was able to go to Kennedy High School but hated it since she only spoke Spanish and couldn’t understand anything. The only thing she was able to truly excel in was in Mathematics which she really loved. She was able to have classes taught to her in Spanish as she got accustomed to English. For my mother, learning English was the hardest thing she ever had to and it was very stressful for her learning English in high school. When my mother came to America she had dreamed of having a better life, becoming a teacher, being able to study, be reunited with her parents but she realized she wouldn’t be able to have that dream
Despite the ultimate dream, new comers faced obstacles and hardships upon arrival. They came to America usually not knowing the language, they usually did not know anyone already living here, and did not have a place to stay in the beginning. Upon finding lodging, many had to live in small rooms, sharing them with other people. The majority also worked under tough conditions; they en...