The Shivering Short Story

To a large extent the notion of belonging is innately valued and fundamental to a person’s life. The concept of whether a person develops feelings of community or isolation is largely dependant on internal and external factors which collectively influence an individual’s physical space. This space can be composed of external factors such as a person’s physical environment, their outer relationships, society and internal factors such as cultural understanding and different states of being. The poetry anthology Immigrant Chronicle, composed by Peter Skryznecki, details different aspects of his experience of immigrating from post-war Poland to Australia. Specifically, the poems ‘Ancestors’ and ‘Feliks Skrzynecki’ explores how one’s understanding

The novel Signs Preceding the End of the World by Yuri Herrera brings to light many issues faced by immigrant women. The novel follows the young Makina in her quest to find and bring home her brother from what she imagines to be a mystical far away land. While the novel focuses on the challenges of immigration, the underlying meaning is much more complex. In Yuri Herrera’s Signs Preceding the End of the World, the common misconception that women cannot be the strong character in the novel is challenged. This is achieved by having the female protagonist, Makina, go on a quest to save her brother, be a vital individual in her community, and fight the misogynistic society she lives in.

An individual’s relationship with others and the places which surround them can have an effect on the individual’s sense of self-worth and their feelings of belonging. This notion is conveyed through the use of language techniques in both the set of poems “Feliks Skrzynecki”, “St Patrick’s College” and “Migrant Hostel” from Peter Skrzynecki’s anthology Immigrant Chronicles (1975) and the novel The Story of Tom Brennan (2005) composed by J.C. Burke.

Living in a different country that is limited with choices and freedom will make people want to leave. Immigrants want to have better lives, having more opportunities for the future. In the poem “Running to America”, Luis J. Rodriguez describes the imagery when immigrants are leaving and displays why immigrates have the courage to do it. Having hope and the strength to have no matter what the cost is, they will try to achieve to be in America. Having the image of “fingers curled through chain-link fences” (line 3) showing how imperfect the country is and how immigrates are trying to do something about it. Luis J. Rodriguez’s poem, “Running to America” repetition is the key factor to show the symbolism, irony, and imagery to immigrates struggles and

Cristina Henriquez’, The Book of Unknown Americans, folows the story of a family of immigants adjusting to their new life in the United States of America. The Rivera family finds themselves living within a comunity of other immigrants from all over South America also hoping to find a better life in a new country. This book explores the hardships and injustices each character faces while in their home country as well as withina foreign one, the United States. Themes of community, identity, globalization, and migration are prevalent throughout the book, but one that stood out most was belonging. In each chacters viewpoint, Henriquez explores their feelings of the yearning they have to belong in a community so different than the one that they are used to.

* 5) Consider the gender expectations of the Ozark community in which Ree lives. Does she succeed by abiding by traditional gender roles or by rejecting them? Both? Neither? Explain.

In the early 1980’s, a group of young siblings living in poverty tell an important story of the immigrant experience. Reyna Grande’s, The Distance Between Us, is a memoir written with the recurring appeal to the reader’s pathos. Grande uses the rhetorical strategy to keep the reader’s interest and to help them make more connections to the story. Grande’s use of pathos helps to show not only the importance of understanding the immigrant experience, but the importance of following your dreams.

Throughout life, every individual must face obstacles; some more difficult than others. In the story “The Trip” by Laila Lalami, poem “Exile” by Julia Alvarez, and article “Outlaw: My Life as an Undocumented Immigrant” by Jose Antonio Vargas, there is a main character who has to face many challenges because of the fact that they’re immigrants. In all three texts, it is evident that being an immigrant has many affects on their lives. However, this label and the obstacles that come with it didn’t stop each character from pushing forward.

Have you ever felt alone? Did you feel separated from the rest of society? As human beings, everyone has experienced this at some point in their lives. There are many factors to take into account when trying to figuring out why people seem to feel so marginalized or alienated. A group of people who feel they are marginalized is immigrants. The experience of entering a new and unknown country is difficult and can make the experience a struggle for different reasons. One reason is the lack of feeling welcomed by the residents of that country. The biggest decision immigrants face, when entering a new country, is whether they will be able to hold on to their own culture and heritage or if they will adaptor the new culture they are being exposed to. Books tell a story and often time authors decided to incorporate their own experiences into their novels. Two of these authors are Cynthia Ozick and Henry Roth, both of whom have touched upon the “Jewish American Experience.” Ozick created characters who handled the events from The Shawl in different ways throughout Rosa. Henry Roth incorporates his childhood experiences and inner thoughts in Call It Sleep through the eyes of (name of main character), the main character.

Immigration is a heavy topic to address, but the authors of these articles have a way of putting a human face to these stories that help make the article more personal and understandable. In the article “In Trek North, First Lure Is Mexico’s Other Line,” the author talks about the story of an immigrant woman who lost her leg while on her way to America. The author begins to explain that the immigrant woman was trying to find work in America so she could support her four year old daughter back home. Archibold, author of “In Trek North, First Lure Is Mexico’s Other Line,” says, “[the woman] made it to Mexico and onto the train. But after it departed there were cries of “Migra!” — the immigration police — and a scramble that sent her tumbling under the train,” (Archibold 36.) The woman lost her leg, but all she could think about was staying alive for her four year old daughter. This story that archibold plants in the reader’s mind lets the reader understand the reason for why immigrants are so resilient into coming to America. The author for “The Heartache of an Immigrant Family” did the same thing as archibold. Sonia Nazario, author of “The Heartache of an Immigrant Family,” began to tell the story of Lourdes and her children. Sonia explains that, “Lourdes Pineda was the single mother of a 5-year-old

Before introducing any major events, or analysis, it’s important to note that this autobiographical work was only made possible with the aid of written documentation, and tales passed on from the family and the community. This is imperative because a great portion of the piece focuses on events that Edwidge didn’t experience first-hand, so she heavily stresses on the details being re-surfaced through friends and family to complete a holistic emigration story. Family history and the involvement of cherishing family moments is often an overlooked form of communication, but without this, this and many other important minority stories would have never been complied in a way where we can now discuss them in a culturally-reflective academic setting, like this course.

When adapting to a new culture, many find it hard to assimilate into their new world while still holding on to their past life. Finding yourself in a new place with a new language and unfamiliar faces is challenging for immigrants. Jhumpa Lahiri, an immigrant herself, sheds some light on the Indian culture in her book, Interpreter of Maladies. She conveys many challenges that immigrants face when moving away from their homeland in a myriad of short stories. These short stories introduce similar themes of immigration and adaptation through different experiences. Two of Lahiri’s short stories, “A Temporary Matter” and “Mrs. Sens”, do a great job in showing similar challenges of cultural differences in two different ways. They introduce characters

Lj Smith, the author of the Vampire Diaries, wrote, “...but right now everything looks strange to me, as if I don’t belong here. It is me that is out of place, and the worst thing is that I feel there’s somewhere that I do belong, but I just can’t find it.” In 2016 65.3 million people are refugees around the world that are displaced throughout the United Nations. These people now have to adjust to a new life, in a new country, and a new “home.” Although some might believe that newcomers, immigrants, and refugees adjust and adapt to culture easily, Lahiri illustrates through Interpreter of Maladies the difficulties and issues men and women experience when adjusting to a place and culture where they do not feel at ease.

The arrival of immigrants into developed nations has been a common trend for centuries, but so has the wave of resentment from natives of the land towards those who are migrants. Adichie illustries this migrant struggle through Americanah, which explores the hardships migrants must face with trying to be accepted into the new society. With her portrayal of the immigrant tendency to assimilate, Adichie skillfully highlights the pain associated with losing essential parts of one’s true identity.

Approximately one million immigrants migrate per year to the United States, and the US is not the only country that takes in immigrants. The immigrants joining American culture and society - or any culture for the matter - leave their old lives behind and assimilate to the social and political norms of the culture. In The Thing Around Your Neck by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, the collection of stories have characters facing the reality of immigrating to a country that is not their home. While the stories are fictional, there is a sense of autobiography in Adichie’s work - going through similar situations as her characters do. The stories are about characters being a local of Africa, facing the common themes of oppression, assimilation, and reality. Written in 2009, The Thing Around Your Neck has a more modern setting that immigrants in 2017 could be facing now. Throughout the text, Adichie shows how immigrants are marginalized when attempting to join American culture and society.