Themes:
Use of literature for a political agenda
Model Minority
Social Political Conflict
Dual Identity
Internment
Cultural Nationalism
Identity
Antiassimilation
Multiculturalism
1.) List at least seven (but no more than ten) major ideas or concepts you are taking away from Unit I and Unit II (taken together-i.e., seven total, not seven per unit). Identify each entry with a keyword or key phrase, and then briefly characterize it in one or two sentences.
(b) Assign a numbered priority ranking to each major idea, from most important to least important, according to your best understanding of this history. Write a brief justification of your rankings-one or two paragraphs should be sufficient. (The numbers can be added to the list from
(c). In grading, I'll be more interested in the quality of your justification than in the rankings themselves.)
(d) Of the four ideas you've identified as most important, pick two to write about in depth. In roughly 200-400 words each, describe the idea/concept, how it appears in the readings (stick to one good example, or at most two if you want to make a clear contrast), and the differences and continuities in its significance in the two historical periods corresponding to Units I and II.
2.) Select a passage that particularly struck you, from I Hotel, No-No Boy, or Homebase. Identify and describe it, and try to explain what you find most interesting and meaningful about it. You might choose this passage because it illustrates one of the themes from Part One that you personally care about (as long as it isn't an example you already wrote about). Or, if you prefer, you might instead choose your passage because it addresses a different question that's important to you, or because you want to explain what's beautiful or profound in it. Your task, in roughly 300-600 words, is to get your reader to understand what you think is worthy of attention in this passage, and to persuade your reader to find it as significant as you do. In grading, I'll consider both your effectiveness in explaining what you see in the text, and your persuasiveness in convincing me that this is something meaningful. This prompt is deliberately openended, because it is meant to measure your ability, on the basis of what you've learned so far, to decide for yourself what in this literature is deserving of your attention.