View Content #6558
| Contentid | 6558 |
|---|---|
| Content Type | 1 |
| Title | Suggestions for American Immigrant Literature |
| Body | Here are some suggestions from TESL-L users for good literature about immigration to America or by immigrants: For general collections of immigrant stories, good sources are: 1. American Mosaic: The Immigrant Experience in the Words of Those Who Lived It, J. Morrison and C.F. Zabusky. E.P. Dutton, 1980. 2. The Life Stories of {Undistinguished} Americans as Told by Themselves, Hamilton Holt, ed., first published in 1906, reprinted in 1990 by Routledge, NY. 3. New Americans: An Oral History, Al Santoli, Viking Penguin, 1988. This book has a wonderful oral history about a man (father of the author) who was born in a poverty-stricken village in Italy, came to the U.S. with his family, fought in WWII, earned a degree on the GI Bill, and eventually worked as an engineer on the NASA program that landed Americans on the moon. For collections of immigrants stories and oral histories specific to a particular immigrant/ethic group, search under the name of the ethnic group. Examples are: 1. Mexican: Between the Lines: Letters Between Undocumented Mexican and Central American Immigrants and Their Families and Friends, Larry Siems (ed., transl), Ecco Press, 1992. 2. Mexican. Mexican Voices/American Dreams: An Oral History of Mexican Immigration to the United States. Marily P. Davis, ed., Henry Holt, 1990. 3. Italian. The Immigrants Speak: Italian Americans Tell Their Story, Salvatore j. LaGumina, ed., Center for Migration Studies, 1979. Memoirs are a good source of readings. Here are some examples. 1. Mexican: Living Up the Street. Gary Soto. Dell, 1985. 2. Italian: Crossing Ocean Parkway: Readings by an Italian American Daughter, Marianna De Marco Torgovnick, University of Chicago Press, 1994. 3. Chinese. China Men and Woman Warrior both by Maxine Hong Kingston. A poetic recounting of her immigrant parents and grandparents. 4. Chinese: Paper Son: One Man's Story. Tung Pok China with Winifred C. Chin, Temple University Press, 2000. 5. Chinese. Tea That Burns: A Family Memoir of Chinatown, Bruce Edward Hall, The Free Press, 1998. 6. Chinese. Fifth Chinese Daughter. Jade Snow Wong, University of Washington Press, 1945. 7. Chinese. The Rice Room: Growing Up Chinese-American - from Number Two Son to Rock'n'Roll. Ben Fong-Torres, Hyperion, 1994. Finally, there are some great interviews that are accessible via your public library's on-line database of magazine and newsletter articles. Examples: 1. Mexican. interview of Mario Molina, Nobel-prize winning scientist interviewed in www.teacher.scholastic.com, October 6, 1998. Molina and Sherwood Rowland won the Nobel for discovering the effects of CFCs on the protective ozone layer surrounding the Earth. 2. Mexican. interview with musician Carlos Santana, in which he discusses his life on the streets in Mexico, discovering music, his humanitarian work, Steve Heilig, Whole Earth Summer 2000, p. 72 3. Italian. Interview with film director Martin Scorsese in Martin Scorsese: A Journey. Mary Pat Kelly, Thunder's Mouth Press, 1991. He discusses his boyhood struggle to decide if he become a priest or a filmmaker. 4. Chinese. Yo-Yo Ma, cellist, from David Blum's Quintet:Five Journeys Toward Musical Fulfillment. Cornell University Press, 1988. Ma describes being caught between two cultures. There are also some unusual sources of readings for ESL students. For example, most of the Chinese immigrants to the U.S. in the late 19th and early 20th century were interned at Angel Island off the coast of San Francisco (similar to Ellis Island). Many of the immigrants wrote poetry on the wall which thankfully has been preserved. Liudi, X. Re: [TESL-L] American Immigrant Literature. Teachers of English as a Second Language List (TESL-L@LISTSERV.CUNY.EDU, 12 May 2007). More suggestions to come in next week's InterCom. |
| Source | TESL-L |
| Inputdate | 2007-08-05 11:34:53 |
| Lastmodifieddate | 2007-08-05 11:34:53 |
| Expdate | Not set |
| Publishdate | 2007-08-06 00:00:00 |
| Displaydate | Not set |
| Active | 1 |
| Emailed | 1 |
| Isarchived | 1 |
