The Boy Into The Mud

Signs Preceding the End of the World is an insider’s look at the mind and journey of an illegal immigrant. A Mexican young woman crossing the border story is what challenges the ethics of readers. The main character in Signs Preceding the End of the World is Makina. “Makina is in charge of a small Mexican town’s telephone. A reliable, messenger, she knows how to keep a secret and when to keep her mouth shut. She is dangerous when threatened, quick to defend herself against lecherous fools, and unafraid of speaking truth to power” (Long). Makina is just like an ordinary person. She is no different from an average American. Makina has a job and harmless when not threatened. Americans act as if immigrants are so beneath them. Immigrants are hard workers, just like Americans. Immigrants want better lives for themselves and their families, just like Americans. Americans and immigrants are not the only ones who want these things. People all around the world want what is best for everyone they know. Most people will do whatever it takes to get to what they need; even if it is in life threatening conditions. Signs Preceding the End of the World challenges our ethics by placing the reader in the mind of an illegal immigrant, allowing the reader to know the true feelings and experience of the immigrant.

Who is Dayani Cristal? (Silver, 2013) dives into the background of what happens when immigrants die on their journey to the United States, and further emphasizes how the “illegal” identities construct migration as a criminal act. This film looks far beyond the perspective of being an undocumented immigrant and illegally crossing the border, and more towards a dangerous journey focused around family and values. To further emphasize a more personal anecdote of an immigrant coming to the United States, the film uses an immigrant named Yohan Sandres-Martinez as its focal point. By using Yohan, a real person with struggles and showing the negative results of the immigration, such as Yohan’s death. Who is Dayani Cristal? humanizes immigrants in

The author shows similarities between the narrator and his more skeptical colleague in an attempt to highlight the narrator’s thoughts. His thoughts show that his caustic colleague is very critical in describing the immigrant mother as a “bugger” and the daughter as a “pimply-faced bitch”. (pg. 55) The story then ends with a sense of hope for the young girl as she returns to school.

Immigration is a very dangerous and risky journey. Everyday immigrants try so hard to make it to the United States. This journey involves parents trying to support kids back home, families trying to start over, or kids trying to get to their mom; but some do not make it through this hardship. Those individuals, who make it, try like never before to support themselves and the family they needed to leave behind. Enrique’s Journey by Sonia Nazario is a well written novel that uses many pathos, logos, and ethos examples. Each one of them is used effectively because of the way students are persuaded in believing there true. Elements from the quotes can reveal that Sonia is knowledgeable and

Many immigrants are forced to leave their homes because of violence. Estevan and Esperanza are talking to Taylor when they come across the topic of their child, Ismene. “She was taken in a raid in their neighborhood in which Esperanza’s brother

    As pointed out, Sonia Nazario’s main purpose of writing Enrique’s is to crackdown and ultimately publicise the hardships immigrants face on their perilous journey.  She provides real life examples and first hand experiences of the beatings, rape, robberies, and so much more migrants face reaching their mothers that left them when they were young.  All in all, she seems to disagree with the brutality these kids receive and writes “Enrique’s Journey” to hopefully change this issue.

Immigrants have the continuous struggle of trying to adapt to a country's language and customs. Tan portrays this struggle throughout the wordless novel; the businessman tries to communicate with other people using symbols and drawings in a sketch pad. Another scene that displays the language barrier struggle immigrants go through was when he first arrived. He was being asked questions in a language he didn’t know and was randomly examined by a doctor; this scene reminds viewers of immigrants landing in Ellis Island for the first time and being examined for potential illnesses. When immigrants move to a different country they need to be careful about what they write or say, anything can be taken out of context based on a country’s history. Post September 11, 2001, after the Trade Center incident that Americans would never forget there was a target placed on any civilian who showed Muslim culture customs, such as clothing or headwear. Events and headlines in the news contradict the ideology portrayed in Tan’s wordless novel; however the story starts to take a sudden

These immigrant children did not choose to come to America, they came with their parents. Most of these American are trying to make a good life for themselves. In the first person account “Amy’s Story” Amy, an undocumented Taiwanese immigrant, tells of her struggles to make a life for herself in the United States. When Amy is fifteen, she discovers that “California Proposition 187 took away access to public services, including driver's licenses, from undocumented immigrants.” Later, as she struggles to find a job, she is told by her attorney that marrying an American citizen is “the easiest way to become legal in this country.” Despite her many challenges, she writes about how despite everything [her] family has experienced in this country, [she] would not choose to be anywhere else” (“Amy’s Story”).

She describes the immigrants feelings towards America as “beating their hearts out at your gates for a breath of understanding.” Arriving in America, she expects everything to finally fall in place and she believes that she will finally get to fulfill her dreams and forefathers dreams by living “in the golden land of opportunity.” In the beginning, her tone is eager and faithful because she was determined to show America what she was capable of doing and how strong she was as a newcomer.

In that jail it was nothing to see a woman brought in all beat up. In some cases, the only charge was “resisting arrest”. A Puerto Rican sister was brought in one night. She had been so badly beaten by the police that the matron on duty didn’t want to admit her. “I don’t want her dying on my shift,” she kept

For thousands of years, waves of immigrants continue joining the developed countries in the world, bringing with them the unique cultures, languages, and ideas. Over time, those unique values might be faded away with each generation because of the new culture exposition. The second-generation immigrants experience a cultural conflict between that of their parents and that of host society. Most of them are unable to preserve and empower their origin cultures. Many differences between the first-generation and the second-generation immigrants arise. Through the analysis of the mother in “Death of a Young Son by Drowning” and the Das family in “Interpreter of Maladies”, I would like to demonstrate the differences between the first-generation immigrants, who travel from other countries, and the second-generation immigrants, who were born and raised on the immigrated land. These differences include the purpose of being in the foreign land, the connections to their homelands, society’s view, and the culture differences.

She argues how she was treated differently for being the only daughter in her Mexican family. She executed her argument well with the support of self-experiences of events in her life.

I sat in my chair with a mug of tea nestled in my hands. The missionary ladies had all left for their homes, which left me with silence around the house. The sweet aroma of tea relaxed my taut body. It had been a long day - too long.

In Lucy, Jamaica Kincaid explores the disillusionment faced by the eponymous character upon immigrating to the United States. The novel's style of narration allows Lucy’s thoughts and emotions to remain hidden. Despite this intense privacy, Lucy's disillusionment is clear. She had hoped that moving around the globe would solve her problems but she still struggles with homesickness and her relationship with her mother. Her move is disappointing. The erasure poem And Coldest also engages disillusionment. The poem suggests the speaker has become disillusioned by observing the world, and indicates their plan to be “shut tight.” The poem inspired me to consider the causes of Lucy’s disillusionment, and her failure to address her own emotions. As a recent immigrant, the causes of Lucy’s disillusionment are somewhat obvious. More enigmatic is her self-avoidant, “shut tight” attitude. In this paper, I argue that Lucy’s disillusionment causes her to avoid the discomfort that comes with self-reflection.

Aunty Uju, who is burdened with task of getting a job and raising a son alone, feels the need to change her personality, mentality, and appearance for a smoother immigrant experience; but Adichie highlights the abandonment of identity resulting from