Adolescent Literature on the Theme of Immigration

My annotated bibliography will focus specifically on the theme of immigration. The main goal of the bibliography is that students would better understand and consequently empathize with the experiences and difficulties that many immigrants face before, during, and after arriving in a new country. My focal point will consider present day immigration, as well as immigration throughout history, including varying perspectives and issues related to the general topic. The targeted audience would be adolescents, including both ESL and non-ESL students from the ages of 12-18 years.

The reason that I chose immigration as my bibliography's theme correlates to the fact that a large number of students (especially in urban settings) are both immigrants and non-immigrants. Consequently, I thought it was appropriate to have books that featured immigration, illustrating the hardships and struggles that immigrants endure in both their homelands and newly adopted countries. Such a theme will be relevant to ESL students, many of whom them have experienced similar stories and accounts. However, most importantly, I believe that non-immigrant students will receive a comprehensive understanding and beneficial perspective from such texts. Often times, non-immigrant students cannot empathize with students who have emigrated from other countries; they only see the evident differences represented in shallow observations. It is easy to highlight differences when language, food, clothing, and beliefs are distinctive; books that focus on immigration will better draw attention to the similarities that make all individuals a part of the human race. Hence, such books will allow immigrant students to feel appreciated and non-immigrant students to have a better understanding, resulting in better treatment of immigrant or ESL students. In addition, it is important to provide students with a complete understanding of the many issues and diverse perspectives centered around immigration today. Students need to be critical thinkers, able to analyze different information and views from a variety of sources. Such abilities will allow for students to become responsible and active participants or citizens of the United States, as well as empathetic and understanding individuals in the human race.

This bibliography will be beneficial for fellow teachers and educators due to its diverse representation of topics and texts. For example, the texts include a variety of nationalities and ethnicities, events, time periods, and perspectives. In addition the variety of text types is also broad, including informational/expository texts, non-fiction and fictional narratives, grapic novels, digital stories, and poetical texts.Students will also benefit from the varying degrees of text reading levels. The graphic novels are also advantageous for ELLs or struggling readers, students who might be turned off by printed narratives. Educators will have a wide variety of texts to aid students in their ability to understand and relate to immigrants’ experiences. In addition, the practical application recommendations for each text will provide educators with the knowledge of how to pair texts, emphasize specific themes and topics, and choose different activities or literacies which students can utilize.



Text: Home of the Brave

Reference:
Applegate, K. (2007). Home of the brave. New York: Feiwel & Friends.

Summary: This poetical narrative written in free-verse is the main character, Kek’s, personal account as a Sudanese refugee. He must deal with his own guilt concerning the fact that he is alive, as well as navigate his new life in Minnesota. Kek’s story is often humorous, highlighting the differences between the United States and Sudan. In addition, his story is one of sadness; he can’t help but remember his deceased father and brother, along with the dislocation from his mother and native country. The book also emphasizes Kek’s struggles and transitions upon entering an American school, including students’ reactions to Kek, displaying both the kindness and cruelty shown by fellow clasmates.

Rationale for selection: I selected this book as it is written in free verse, giving the book a poetical quality that would be attractive to students who didn’t want to read a heavy narrative. The book also emphasizes the residing internal scars that many immigrant students must overcome while simultaneously traversing unique issues in their new environments. Moreover, the book highlights the reactions of non-immigrant students, helping readers to realize the power of both kindness and cruelty. Such examples would help students empathize with the unique issues and struggles that many immigrant students face upon arriving in a new country. Students can also make text to self connection, realizing their own abilities to help make a difference. Many immigrants are hesitant to share their backgrounds with fellow students; hence, books such as Home of the Brave are valuable as they provide an exclusive insight into the probable backgrounds of many immigrant students.

Practical Application: This book is an excellent text for a variety of different teaching opportunities. Teachers could potentially use this text in a poetry unit, exploring the topic of immigration. Teachers could also use this text to discuss issues of immigration, such as factors of guilt, dislocation, and identity. In addition, teachers could speak with students about the way in which Kek is treated by his fellow classmates; such a discussion would also involve the topic of racism, which Kek experienced in his ESL classroom. Also, conversations about different cultures would be beneficial for the study of immigration; students could make a list of Sudanese cultural traits vs. American cultural traits; revealing the difficult acclimation Kek faced. Such a discussion could lead into topics of culture, including the way in which culture affects food choices, transportation, beliefs, values, music choices, clothing choices...etc.

Concerning limitations, it must be remembered that Kek is one immigrant’s story; he does not represent the complete “immigrant experience”. It would be good to expose students to a number of different texts with a variety of different immigrants from different countries and backgrounds. Also, as this text is written for younger adolescent students; it would most likely appeal to younger students. Older adolescents might find higher-level texts, such as the autobiography, God Grew Tired of Us by John Baul to be attractive. This book also features a young Sudanese man who faced struggles similar to Kek in both the Sudan and United States.



Text: Excerpts from the movie Spanglish.

Reference:
Ansell, J. (Producer) & Brooks, J. (Director). (2004). Spanglish [Motion Picture]. United States: Columbia TriStar.

Summary: The movie Spanglish is created in a narrative form, portrayed through the college acceptance letter that one of the main characters is writing. The letter portrays the fictional story of a Mexican immigrant mother and daughter, working for a wealthy white family in California. The movie highlights cultural differences, as well as the responsibility of language translation placed on the young daughter. In addition, the video highlights the differences between 1st and 2nd generation immigrants, illustrating the residing disagreements which result. The mother desires the best for her daughter, but not at the expense of her cultural identity; the daughter desires to “fit in” without being defined or “held back” by her Mexican heritage. It is only through life experiences that the young daughter comes to realize and appreciate the immense sacrifices that her mother has made for her.

Rationale for selection: Excerpts from this DVD would be an entertaining and informative illustration of the pressures faced by two generations of immigrants. In addition, the movie is valuable, as it provides an often underrepresented perspective of Mexican immigrants. As many Hispanic immigrants have been poorly depicted, this movie offers a personalized and positive perspective, allowing students an often overlooked view of the struggles and disrespect that many immigrants, especially Mexican immigrants, are confronted with. This movie would also be helpful for struggling readers who need a visual aid or foundation of knowledge before further exploring more difficult texts. The movie is also engaging, certain to hook the attention of adolescent students who can relate to the teenage main character.

Practical Application: The movie, Spanglish, would be an excellent resource for numerous teaching applications. Firstly, this movie could provide valuable discussion opportunities related to “English –Only” comments or beliefs. The movie does an excellent job of highlighting the main character’s struggles to learn English while working and caring for her daughter; a difficult feat. Students could analyze the different views concerning this debate, using their critical literacy skills to make educated points and considerations. Secondly, this text could be paired with the book, Immigration: Rich Diversity or Social Burden? to discuss present immigration policies, including the issue of illegal immigration related to Mexican immigrants. In addition, students should be able to use their knowledge about immigration throughout America’s history to think about present-day immigration issues. Thirdly, Spanglish could be used by educators to explore the conflicting beliefs held by immigrant parents vs. immigrant children; students can relate to parents’ desires to maintain their cultural identity, as well as children’s desires to “fit in” with American culture. As this is a significant issue that immigrants face upon arrival in a new country, it is important for students to be able to empathize with both beliefs and views on assimilation.

Concerning limitations, it is important to realize that Spanglish only represents one immigration story; clearly one would not want this to be the only text used for immigration education. Also, this movie does not depict the many controversies or issues related to illegal immigration; it would be important to provide students’ with individuals’ concerns surrounding illegal immigration. As was mentioned above, the book, Immigration: Rich Diversity or Social Burden? would be a valuable supplementary text for students to view the numerous perspectives related to illegal immigration and government policies.


Text:http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/immigration/index.htm

Reference:
Scholastic Inc. (2010). Stories of yesterday and today immigration. Retrieved from: http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/immigration/index.htm .

Summary: This website provides first-hand oral and written accounts of past and present-day immigrant children. In addition, the website provides the ability for students to publish or previously published immigrants’ stories on the website (authentic writing opportunity). Moreover, the website features fun activities to further explore immigration in the classroom, including a specific Asian-American section, in which students can click on an Asian country to learn the number of immigrants in America from that country. The website also includes an interactive tour of Ellis Island, exploration of the “little known” Angel Island, graphs and charts on immigration throughout America’s history, and booklists on immigration sectioned into grade levels.

Rationale for selection: This website is especially beneficial in that it provides a wealth of resources/ information on the topic of immigration related to the past and present. For example, the website provides first-hand accounts of immigrant children and teenagers, depicting engaging stories and experiences. The accounts are easily accessible, as well as interesting and relevant for students. In addition, the website provides numerous visuals, including historical pictures, graphs, and charts, all allowing for increased comprehension by ELLs or struggling readers. Also, the oral histories of present-day immigrants would be advantageous for struggling readers who could simultaneously read and listen to an account.

Practical Application: This website provides numerous instructional opportunities related to immigration and issues from the past and present. Firstly, students could individually explore and report on one immigrant’s story, presenting the information that he or she learned. Students could then compare and contrast issues and experiences related to immigration from both present-day and historical accounts. Secondly, students could interview an immigrant that they personally know with the intent to publish the oral history on the website, providing an authentic first-hand account of immigration for students. Thirdly, students could explore charts and graphs on immigration throughout history, as well as create their own chart or graph based on classroom ancestry immigration survey results. Students often forget that their own ancestors were most likely immigrants to the United States; such realizations allow students to better explore the idea of “who is an American, and who belongs?” In addition, such an opportunity allows students to investigate why immigration from specific countries spikes or drops based on world events. Such a discussion would be important for students to understand the many reasons for immigration, including such historical events, as the potato famine, Bosnian war, and religious intolerance throughout history.

Concerning limitations, one would need to keep in mind that students must have access to a computer and internet to use the resources on this website. Consequently, the teacher would need to provide classroom time to explore such a text; one could not assume that all students had internet access at their homes. In addition, educators would need to ensure that students knew how to navigate the website; some students may be unfamiliar with multimodal literacy. Concerning representation of different individuals, the only criticism I would have is the lack of a Mexican or Hispanic immigrant. The website did not appear to have any stories of Hispanic immigrants. However, besides this apparent exclusion, all other nationalities and ethnicities are represented.


Text: The Arrival

Reference:
Tan, S. (1997). The arrival. New York: Arthur A. Levine Books.


Summary: This wordless graphic novel uses pictures to depict a man’s arrival in a new country, including the problems and issues which he encounters. The book portrays the new country through the eyes of the man, illustrating a fascinating and bewildering world without the use of text. It is up to the reader/audience to make meaning of the different objects, issues, and dilemmas that the immigrant comes across. The world which is depicted in the book will appear just as bewildering to the audience as it does to the immigrant, providing a real-life immigration experience for the reader.

Rationale for selection: I selected this text due to its beautiful portrayal of an immigration experience in which the audience is placed into the main character’s shoes. Students are able to literally become the immigrant, experiencing the same emotions and bewilderment felt by many immigrants. For example, the only language represented in the book is invented, intended to cause the audience parallel feelings of puzzlement. In addition, the food, transportation, money, and pets all appear alien and unrecognizable, forcing the reader to attempt to make sense of a completely foreign world. I also chose this book because it is a graphic novel and will benefit struggling readers or ELL students who have difficulty with printed text. Overall, all students, regardless of literacy abilities would enjoy and comprehend the storyline.

Practical Applications: This book allows for several teaching applications related to the topic of immigration. Firstly, this book would provide an excellent opportunity for students to experience the life of an immigrant, allowing for thoughtful reflections on specific struggles experienced by immigrants. This book would also be excellent when paired with Home of the Brave, a book which also highlights cultural differences, such as confusion about washing machines vs. dish washers. It is easy to overlook adjustments that many immigrants must make when arriving in a new country and culture; The Arrival exposes students to these often overlooked struggles and transitions that immigrants are faced with. Secondly, this book would be excellent in the context of immigration throughout history; the text illustrates the embarrassing medical exams immigrants were faced with upon arrival at Ellis and Angel Island. The Arrival highlights this historical event, showing scary tools and unfamiliar symbols representing medical acceptance or rejection. Students would be able to empathize with the fear that immigrants would have felt upon such an embarrassing exam. Overall, The Arrival is an excellent book for discussion on numerous issues and topics related to immigration. It is such a detailed book that students could spend hours reading and studying the book, utilizing critical visual literacy skills for analysis.

Concerning limitations, it is important to provide students with guidance before, during, or after reading The Arrival. Although The Arrival is a wordless graphic novel, it can still be difficult to comprehend (intentionally so). Although this was the point of the author, one would not want students to miss the main message of the book due to their giving up on the story. Hence, it would be important to prepare students for this book before actually handing the book out for reading purposes. It would also be important to discuss the book with students while they were reading it; providing insightful discussions and conversation points. Also, educators may want to teach or familiarize students with the visual critical literacy, explaining to students how to analyze visuals for information.
Concerning individuals represented, the book did not include any African characters. Other ethnicities and nationalities were apparent, such as individuals from India, as well as Asian and Caucasian characters. However, the first flap of the book does show hundreds of different illustrated “snapshots” of immigrants, in which all ethnicities (including Africans) are included. Students could view these snapshots to get a full understanding or representation of the many individuals of different ethnicities and nationalities who have emigrated from their homelands to the United States.


Text: The Four Immigrants Manga: A Japanese Experience in San Francisco, 1904-1924


Reference:
Kiyama, H., Schodt, F. (1999). The four immigrants manga; A Japanese experience in San Francisco. 1904-1924. Berkley, CA: Stone Bridge Press.

Summary: The Four Immigrants Manga: A Japanese Experience in San Francisco is the author, Henry Kiyama’s, graphical representation of his own immigrant experience. The story features four immigrant Japanese men during the early 1900’s, living in San Francisco. The four young men experience life as field workers and servants for wealthy landowners, all the while learning to navigate their new surroundings. The graphic novel also presents historical context as a backdrop for the early 1900’s, including the San Francisco earthquake, the World’s Fair, war, and prohibition, all of which the Japanese men experience and adjust to. Overall, the Japanese men present an endearing sense of humor and satirical irony throughout the book, providing an engaging and entertaining read about serious topics such as racial and class attitudes related to immigration. The authors also include extensive historical notes pertaining to happenings during the early 1900’s, providing students a comprehensive understanding to issues of immigration for Asians from 1904-1924.

Rationale for Selection: This book would be an excellent addition to an immigration text set or classroom library due to its engaging messages about immigration, as well as its historical accuracy pertaining to the early 1900’s. The book provides a focused insight into the plight of many Asian immigrants in California from 1904-1924. The book’s characters are humorous and engaging while still managing to highlight major racial prejudices during this time in history. Students will be able to empathize with the character’s struggles as immigrants while still learning detailed historical facts about that time period in relation to immigration. Also, as Japanese immigrants are young men, some probably still teenagers; adolescents should be able to relate to the characters who are attempting to figure out life. In addition, the book is a graphic novel, allowing ELLs and struggling readers visual scaffolding for comprehension. I purposely included a large number of graphic novels with the intention that ELLs and struggling readers would be able to participate in and comprehend the texts.

Practical Application: This book could be used for several teaching applications related to the study of immigration. Firstly, this book would be effective for discussing issues which are often interlinked with immigration, such as the topic of racism. The Four Immigrants Manga provides excellent examples of the intense racial prejudices which were rampant during the early 1900’s. Such a discussion could be extended to talk about the racism experienced by specific European nationalities during the 1900’s, as well as present-day issues of race related to immigration. Students could be asked to critically analyze the The Four Immigrants Manga as well as other texts to determine instances of overt and subvert acts of racism. Secondly, The Four Immigrants Manga could be used to explore Angel Island and specific immigration policies implemented during the 1900s which were intended to keep Asian immigrants out of the country. In other words, The Four Immigrants Manga provides an excellent historical context pertaining to Asian immigration during the early 1900’s, an area which is often looked over in textbooks. Thirdly, educators could use specific scenes from The Four Immigrants Manga to discuss the struggles which many immigrants face while attempting to survive in a new country. This is especially highlighted in the Japanese men’s interactions with their wealthy white employers. Cultural and language differences are plainly depicted, causing readers to empathize with the Japanese men’s confusions. Students could analyze the text to compile a list of the many misunderstandings and struggles that immigrants might face.

Concerning limitations, it should be pointed out that The Four Immigrants Manga is from the point of view of Japanese immigrants. Consequently, Caucasian individuals are typically represented in the book as mean and unsympathetic wealthy white employers. Also, other races are not represented; hence, it is should be remembered that this book cannot represent all immigrants’ experiences upon arriving in the United States. In addition, the book is mainly from a male perspective, with women represented as either wealthy employers or potential wives for the men.


Text: USA Today’s Debate: Voices and Perspectives: Immigration: Rich Diversity or Social Burden?

Reference:
Morrow, R. (2009). USA Today’s debate: Voices and perspectives: Immigration: Rich diversity or social burden? CT: Twenty-First Century Books.

Summary: This book offers a comprehensive look at the issues of immigration, providing statistics, views, and policies related to the arguments often elicited concerning immigration. The author, Morrow, highlights the fact that some individuals view immigrants as “the foundation of America”, providing rich diversity, and helping the US economy, while others view immigrants as hurting the economy, raising crime rates, stealing jobs, and becoming dependent leeches on the US government. Through statistics, debates pieces, newspaper clippings, and historical facts about immigration, Morrow provides a well-rounded understanding on many issues related to immigration. Students can explore the US’s policies about immigration, including recent restrictions due to the September 11th attacks. Overall, this book provides a wealth of knowledge concerning the many issues and views about immigration from the past and present day.

Rationale for Selection: This book provides an in-depth understanding on the many issues related to immigration, providing students with numerous perspectives on different immigration topics. Combined with their reading of other texts, such as The Arrival and The Four Immigrants Manga, students should be able to analyze and synthesize the presented information to come to educated understandings about immigration. In addition, Immigration: Rich Diversity or Social Burden? is an excellent book in its ability to present immigration information in an adolescent-friendly manner; there are also numerous documents and statistics which provide students with a complete understanding without overwhelming them.

Practical Applications: This book could be used for several teaching applications related to the study of immigration. Firstly, the book could be used to teach students’ critical literacy skills; students could compile the most commonly cited arguments related to immigration, as well as the depicted struggles that immigrants face as a result of perspectives and resulting policies. Students could also be encouraged to pay attention to first-hand or personal accounts of immigration, such as Home of the Brave when analyzing arguments, using a number of texts to synthesize information from. Secondly, students could be encouraged to compare and contrast present-day issues of immigration with past issues, determining whether or not much has changed concerning people’s arguments or views on these topics.

Concerning limitations, it would be especially important for students to be exposed to first-hand, personal accounts of immigration in conjuncture to reading Immigration: Rich diversity or Social Burden?. Students should be aware of the policies, statistics and arguments related to immigration, but not to the neglect of true-life accounts. Expository texts, such as Immigration: Rich Diversity or Social Burden? can be used to highlight the many issues and struggles that immigrants face related to public policy and strongly-held beliefs. Teachers can help students realize the many struggles that immigrants face, many of which are situated at the government level, such as in The Four Immigrants Manga. As the educator however, it is important to facilitate discussions, not to dictate the beliefs which must be adopted by the students. It will be important to allow students to see all perspectives of the immigration issue, aiding students in their analysis and synthesis of such a controversial topic.


Text: http://oaklandnorth.net/2009/11/12/immigrant-and-refugee-youth-make-illustrated-stories-about-their-lives/

Reference:
Mongeau, L. (2009). Teens create graphic novels depicting their immigration and refugee experiences. Oakland North. Retrieved from: http://oaklandnorth.net/2009/11/12/immigrant-and-refugee-youth-make-illustrated-stories-about-their-lives/

Summary: This website depicts the work of refugee students at Oakland International High School. The students drew visuals in the form of graphic novels depicting their lives and struggles as immigrants. The short graphic novels are powerful, as they are created by real immigrant adolescent students from a variety of different countries. Some of the students whose work is depicted are from countries including, Russia, Mexico, Eritrea, and Thailand. As learning the English language can be a difficult feat for immigrant students, the creation of graphic novels can substantially help students’ express their experiences and lives as immigrant students without the sole dependence on written text.

Rationale for Selection: I believe that this website is especially advantageous for a unit on immigration, as it allows students to see fellow adolescents who have experienced immigration and life in a new country. The depicted students are easy to relate to, as their work feels genuine and heartfelt; students should be able to empathize with the refugee students’ experiences, such as one girl who hadn’t seen her father in 10 years. I also believe that this website would be powerful for any ELL students in the classroom. Such graphic novels might provide other ELLs’ ideas for their own expressions through visuals; it might also make ELLs feel more comfortable to know that there are other students who have experienced similar situations and events as them. In addition, the website is user-friendly, providing comprehension scaffolding for struggling readers through the graphic depictions.

Practical Application: Teachers could use this text to talk about the difficulties that many immigrants face upon arrival in the United States due to language and cultural differences. Teachers could also make the point that just because someone does not express him or herself strongly orally, does not mean that he or she does not have anything worth saying. This is clearly depicted in the graphic stories which the students created; their visuals speak largely for the emotions and events which they are attempting to convey. In addition, ESL teachers could use the website as a model for students’ own creation of graphic novels depicting their immigrant experiences or life stories.

Concerning limitations, this website is clearly not a comprehensive resource concerning immigration; one would want to use other texts and resources when exposing students to the website. Also, the website solely focuses on present-day immigrant experiences; it does not provide any historical facts or immigrant experiences.