What Cultural Themes Teach Us About Diversity?
With the reoccurring themes of being torn between two cultures, writing against stereotypes, and racial tensions have surfaced for authors throughout this course, so what do these stories about the struggles of coming to America to find a place amidst two cultures teach us about diversity?
A sample thesis (which you are free to use) might be:
• Minority writers: A, B, and C, write against stereotypes, cross-cultural issues, and the importance of diversity in America.
• Minority writers through their shares stories about being torn between two cultures and being impacted by stereotypes and highlight the importance of celebrating diversity as seen in the writings of A, B, and C.
Remember that a theme in a piece of fiction is its view about life and how people behave. We might ask ourselves: what do the characters, action, plot, setting and story problems in this piece show us?
Answer in a five-paragraph APA essay format with quotes, proper in-text citations, and references.
Be sure to include the following in your assignment submission:
• Write a formal, 5-paragraph essay in APA format, including a cover page, in response to this question. Base your answer on your own observations and support your assertions quoting from your assigned readings.
• Review the assigned readings from the Asian American Literature sections. Highlight quotes, summarize, or paraphrase from this week's readings and be sure to include an in-text citation in proper APA format (Author, year, p. X).
• We should include three quotes from our readings. When we discuss literature, it is all about the words before us. They are ours to consider and reflect on. So, you will want to make a strong assertion and prove it, or support it, by quoting from the readings. Include three quotes in our essay.
• Create a strong thesis for your essay. A thesis states shares the Author, Title of the piece being explored, and a strong assertion, and ideally will share key discussion points.
• Be sure to include an APA reference page. For complete instructions on APA, see your college Online Library, which you can access through the Resources tab.
AUTHORS:
Edith Maude Eaton
Eaton's work, her "realistic and detailed stories and essays provide insight into the lives of Asian Americans during the most virulently anti-Asian period of U. S. History"(Bryant, 2010, p 347). Let's think about these words as we read hers this week. What a mission she was on during this turbulent time. So how will this inform her writing?
Winnifred Eaton (Onoto Watanna)
She was "the first Asian-American novelist," and was one of eleven siblings (Bryant, 2010, p. 358). She published her first writings at the age of fourteen, and devoted her life to her novels that spoke out against oriental stereotypes.
Hisaye Yamamoto
He was an essayist, poet, and short story writer whose work received accolades for its "skillful 'deployment of multiple consciousness, double plots, and ironic voice'".
Amy Ruth Tan
Amy, best known for her first book, The Joy Luck Club, became a force in the writing community as she offered a unique perspective as a Chinese American and a voice that spoke out about "generational and cultural conflict within families, particularly among women" (Bryant, 2010, p. 397). "The mother's stories (in The Joy Luck Club) reveal immense hardships met and overcome in China, their determination to make new lives and raid 'perfect American' daughters, that the reality of life in the American differs greatly from their dreams" (p. 398).
Maxine Hong Kingston
Maxine established herself as a major literary voice with the publication of her first book, The Woman Warrior: Memoir of a Girlhood Among Ghosts (Bryant, 2010, p. 383).