Assigment #10

The literature is very important both in personal and professional aspects. Studying literature can be an enriching and revealing experience. The literature itself has a special beauty, which is enriched in large part by the language and the resources which are used to trigger those feelings in the viewer you goose bumps. Besides, literature is a form of expression that is a fundamental part all human beings, so it becomes part of our culture, this being an essential element in the development of the whole person and of course a professional. Moreover, the module of literature is important because enhance the language and the vocabulary; vocabulary not only in professional aspects, but also in personal aspects, as I told before. With these tools it is possible to express a rich way in the aspect of using the words without being repetitive or limited, this because lexicon is increasing in a significant way. 

Thanks to this module literature I feel more prepared to face the globalized world and often requires knowledge beyond banal things; this also gives me an overview addressing many aspects, for example, historical context of many important events in history that have some influence about what might happen today. Now I am able to concern of many things, including how the world was before, how people live in other parts of the world through literature 

The literature is very important because it helps to any person to escape the real world and at the same time reflect about his/her experiences, situations and ways of thinking. 

I think that even though I was not present 100% of the classes, I always tried to be a participant student, and I tried to share my ideas and opinions with my classmates and teacher, in order to learn in a better way. I realized that this module requires much more dedication, so the autonomous work required too much. Taking into account the above, I made ​​me a bit complicated spend all the time that it required because I often preferred to work on other things like thesis, rather than literature.

Despite the fact that I did not dedicated the appropriate time to work on literature, I have been improving my four skills, reading, writing, listening and speaking. Through the module I have had to read many books, texts and different documents related to American literature, to present different topics in front of my peers, to receive input from the teacher and my classmates, and I have had to write essays about various topics related to literature and its different periods.

I believe that it was a useful module for me as a pre-service teacher. Although, I think this might be more fruitful and this could have a better development if the module was taught in the fourth year of the program because in this semester we do not have enough time to devote to literature, and despite the importance it has, it is difficult to acquire knowledge in these conditions.

In my opinion, the teacher’s performance was appropriate to this module, and it was according to module requests. He was always alert to the students’s concerns, so from my point of view he was always looking to satisfy their professional needs. 

Finally, I believe that the methodologies which were incorporated to this module were the correct. The main problem, in my opinion, were the tasks and assignment given by the teacher to us, because as I said before we did not have enough time and sometimes I prefer to develop the assignment but I did not receive an appropriate feedback so it was difficult for me to know if I was in a correct way or if I was wrong. Probably a feedback could encourage our learning and it could generate a better students’ performance in next classes.

Assigment #9

American dream can be defined as equality of opportunity and freedom that allows all U.S. residents achieve their goals in life only with effort and determination. This idea first expressed in 1931 by the American historian James Truslow Also, it refers to that prosperity which depends on one's skills and work, not a destination dictated by rigid social hierarchy, although the meaning of the phrase has changed over the history of the United States. For some it is an opportunity to achieve more wealth than they could have in their home countries, for others it is the opportunity for their children to grow up with a good education and great opportunities, and finally, there are those who see it as the opportunity to be an individual without restrictions based on race, class, religion, etc.

On the other hand, The Frontier is the argument presented by historian Frederick Jackson Turner in 1893 that American democracy was created by the American frontier. It emphasized the results; particularly American democracy was the most important outcome, along with egalitarianism, lack of interest in high culture and violence. Besides, it was emphasized the preparation and the process of moving boundary the impact it had on pioneers going through the development. Turner created an evolutionary model who had been studied the evolution with a leading geologist Thomas Chamberlin Chrowder, the use of the time dimension of American history, and the geographical space of the land that became the United States.

Furthermore, multiculturalism is the first expression of cultural pluralism, which promotes non-discrimination on grounds of race or culture, celebration and recognition of cultural difference and the right to it. Multiculturalism is located within antisimilacionista philosophy of cultural pluralism is both a factual situation as a social organization proposal. Within the pluralist paradigm, the multiculturalism emerged as a model of public policy and as a philosophy and social thought to react to cultural uniformity in times of globalization. It is designed as an opposition to the tendency in modern societies towards unification and universal culture that celebrates and seeks to protect cultural diversity, while focusing on the frequent unequal relations of minorities compared to the majority cultures, 

Finally, it is important to mention that The salad bowl theory is based on people with different culture identities being incorporated in the same society. They can live together without any conflicts even though they have different aspects. For example, lettuce, tomatoes and onions can share the same bowl, and taste good together although they are not the same vegetables. What I mean is that Chinese, afro American, white people, etc. can live together and it is good with variations. So therefore, people with different cultures can in fact communicate, exchange, share and co-operate.

Assignment #8 (Quiz)

During many years The United States’ government has been seeking to generate a development for its society. The objective has been to improve the living conditions of its citizens through a capital increase and a supposed improvement in the legislation. In this work will be possible to know two of the many laws that have been implemented in this country.

The history of the Chinese community in the U.S. is very extensive and there are a multitude of documents that speak of it, which have relevant background for understanding many of the historical passages. One of the many documents is The Chinese Exclusion Act was a federal law of the United States signed by President Chester A. Arthur on May 6, 1882. It was one of the most important limitations of free immigration in U.S. history, prohibiting all Chinese labor immigration. The act followed revisions made in 1880 to the United States and China Burlingame Treaty of 1868, which allowed the U.S. reviews to suspend Chinese immigration. The act was originally scheduled for duration of 10 years, but it was renovated in 1892 and it was made permanent in 1902. It was finally repealed by the Magnuson Act December 17, 1943.

According to Galante (2203) the history of immigration to the United States and the contribution of immigrants and successive generations of American-born ethnic groups are important and essential factors in the history of the United States and the study of American social, economic, political, and cultural life. Between 1870 and 1900, for example, nearly 12 million immigrants arrived in the United States for a range of economic, political, and social reasons. Besides, a large number of Chinese immigrants arrived in the U.S., mostly on the West coast. By 1870, the Chinese were 8.6 % of the total population of California and constituted 25% of the labor force. Chinese immigrants arrived on U.S. coasts between the start of the California gold rush in 1849 and 1882, until the U.S. Congress enacted federal law in 1882 designed to prevent Chinese immigrants from entering or remaining in the U.S. Moreover, Galante (2003) exposed that

The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 was the first significant law that restricted immigration into the United States of an ethnic working group. It also was the first in a series of legislative, executive, and judicial acts by the U.S. Government in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries setting official immigration policies that many historians, scholars, and average citizens consider as racist. 

In addition, the Chinese Americans immigrants wrote a lot of Chinese American literature on nineteenth century, but those were written in Chinese. These Chinese-language writings have only recently been made available to be studied. These Chinese American authors wrote autobiographies as well as novels and poems, not only in Cantonese but also in Chinese and English. Some of these writers were Lin Yutang, novelist Yu Lihua, and Yung Wing, the first Chinese student to graduate from an American University, Yale.

On the other hand, The Sherman Antitrust Act was published on July 2, 1890; it was the first U.S. federal government measure to limit monopolies. The Act outlawed trusts, considering them restrictive for international trade. It was founded by U.S. Senator John Sherman of Ohio and approved by President Benjamin Harrison. 

The original text presented by Becker (2004) on his St. Olaf College’s page said in its first Section about Trusts, etc., in restraint of trade illegal; penalty: "Every contract or combination in the form of trust or otherwise, or conspiracy, in restraint of trade or commerce among the several states or with foreign nations, is declared illegal". 

Finally, The Sherman Act is a law that was penalized with the intention of curbing the monopoly of the steel and other industries characteristic of the era of industrial revolution. The standard does not penalize the figure of monopoly itself (ie, the exclusive control of a particular market), but rather that a business maintains and expands this situation at the expense of its competitors. It means, what is punished is the abuse of monopoly power. In short, what is sought is to protect competition to consumers’ benefits: more companies offer more products at lower prices, it is the reasoning. Title 15 of the United States Code outlines the role of the commerce and trade in the United States Code. Among the most notable laws is The Sherman Antitrust Act which can be found in: 15 U.S.C. ch. 1—Monopolies and Combinations in Restraint of Trade.

References

Galante (2003).The Chinese Exclusion Act (1882): Brief Overview. Lehigh University Retrieved on 20th June, 2013 from http://www.lehigh.edu/~ineng/VirtualAmericana/chineseimmigrationact.html
Becker, A. (2004) The Sherman Antitrust Act (1890). St. Olaf College. Retrieved on 20th June, 2013 from http://www.stolaf.edu/people/becker/antitrust/statutes/sherman.html#top

Assignment #6

Romanticism is a cultural and literary movement that took place in the first half of the nineteenth century, both in Europe and in America. This movement represents a total reaction; it was imposed by Neoclassicism reason, giving priority to feelings, emotions, fantasy and the ideal life. However, Realism emerged in Europe from 1850, when it was observed a progressive division between life and romantic mentality. It was generated a connection between reality and practicality of the bourgeoisie which conditioned the environment that will be seen with conformity or disagreement by the writers. Two important artistic movements were confronted and some of their literary features were exposed in a radical way, Romanticism and Realism in a drastic battle.

Firstly, the romantic mind is characterized by the desire for freedom, manifested in romantic man's struggle against absolutism rejecting the rules hitherto in force and desire to express freely. Secondly, it was observed an individualist romantic man who was showing a strong personality, for this reason he felt the center of the universe; Idealism is the engine of romantic man who seeks to fulfill unattainable desires which relate to the motherland, love or justice; and disappointment, caused by not being able to achieve those ideals into reality, causes evasion, and even suicide. Nonetheless, for realistic ideology, Liberalism prevailed as a political concept initiated by the Romantics, but it was possible to distinguish two aspects: moderate liberalism which was typical of the bourgeoisie; and progressive liberalism which was typical of most dynamic and restless sectors. Also, among the proletariat, which is emerging in parallel with industrialization, it was introduced revolutionary doctrines such as socialism, communism and anarchism.

In the field of literature, poetry is the genre that best suits romantic ideals. The first manifestations of romantic poetry are narrative, so collect legends, historical events and stories imagined by the author. The romantic drama is also very important because it pretended to touch the audiences with melodramatic stories about mystery. Besides, the protagonist appeared who is outside the law or does not accept the rules of society: the beggar, the pirate, the executioner, the Cossack, the defendant, etc. It began to use poetry with metrical forms, verse and prose, and there is a break in theater rules in the three units (time, place and action), the appreciation for the nightlife, scary, the emergence of a violent nature unleashed, related to the exalted romantic feeling.

Nevertheless, the novel was the literary genre cultivated by realist authors. It allowed them to speak accurately about complete parts of the life of their characters as well as recreate the spaces for which these were developing. In addition, it was developing a rigorous observation and reproduction of reality, a theme centered on daily life. It is often possible to read a critic with social or moral intention on the problems that reality presents. It began to see the objectivity as an ideal of the novelist, but sometimes it goes through judgments and personal observations. Moreover, it uses a sober prose, sometimes carefully, sometimes familiar. The dialogues are adapted to the characteristics of the character, and the use of indirect free style (a mixture of direct and indirect speech), this in order to reproduce the thoughts or feelings of the characters within the discourse of the narrator, so the reader is introduced into the heart of the characters.

As a conclusion, according to what was said by Carter (1954) cited by Campbell the basic axiom of the realistic view of morality was that there could be no moralizing in the novel. The morality of the realists was built upon what appears a paradox morality with an abhorrence of moralizing. Their ethical beliefs called, first of all, for a negative response of scheme of moral behavior imposed, from without, upon the characters of fiction and their actions. Nevertheless, Romanticism increased the achievements of what it perceived as heroic individualists and artists, whose pioneering examples would make higher society.






References:

CAMPBELL, D. (2013) "Realism in American Literature, 1860-1890." Literary Movements. Dept. of English, Washington State University. Retrieved May 25, 2013 from http://public.wsu.edu/~campbelld/amlit/realism.htm

Wikipedia Foundation, Inc (2013). Realism (arts). Retrieved May 26, 2013 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Realism_(arts)#cite_note-15

Wikipedia Foundation, Inc (2013). Romanticism. Retrieved May 26, 2013 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romanticism

Assignment #5

 

America has always been a nation of immigrants. The displacement of people from their place of origin to other places, areas or countries, immigration has existed as long as humans. These displacements or changes occur for many different reasons: foraging, settlement of new lands, forced relocation of slaves, exodus of ethnic or religious minorities harassed by violence, horror of wars, political causes and so on.

Many groups and individuals have migrated involuntarily. From the fifteenth century to the first half of the nineteenth century, millions of Africans, often captured by other African peoples, were arrested, taken from their land and sold into slavery in distant countries. First were sent to Portugal and then to other European countries, it reaching east to as far away as India and west to the United States, South America.

The development of the Industrial Revolution gave origin to the greater migration process at the whole story but it is taking new forms: the rural exodus (The Great European Migration between 1800 and 1950) which involved thousands of millions of farmers around the world. It originated an uncontrolled and excessive growth of large cities. Besides, it is estimated that international migration will increase throughout the nineteenth century and these are one of the most reliable indicators of globalization of the world system. Additionally, the 49% of international migrants in 2005 were women, being also more numerous than men in developed countries.

Migratory movements generated a series of demographic, economic and sociological consequences, both in places of origin and destination. In places (countries, regions, cities) of origin, the most visible benefits are the financial contribution received by the families of migrants, the decline in unemployment by reducing the working age population (which is what usually migrate) and reducing social tensions. The negative consequences can be, among others, lack of balance which are produced in the demographic structure by reducing young people, both male and female (depending on country), and increased aging rate, the interest to invest in technology, education , health and basic infrastructure, and the rupture of the family in case of individual migrations.

On the other hand, in the places of destination, some of the most important positive consequences were: increasing young population and birth control, the contribution of manpower in order to sustain economic development, the social security income, and cultural enrichment. Negative effects include the social integration, conflicts, social tensions caused by xenophobic and racist attitudes; and the increased of illegal immigration.

During the nineteenth century until the Depression of the thirties of the twentieth century it was migrated more than 60 million Europeans. In a first immigrant’s wave, they departed for the United States and Canada European countries in central and northern Europe: UK, Germany, Ireland, Sweden, and Norway. In the last third of the nineteenth century Europeans were united (the southern and eastern Europe, particularly Italy, Spain, Portugal, Poland and the Russian Empire). They expanded the immigration space also covering central and South America: mainly Argentina and Brazil.

The beginnings of industrialization in North America, a continent practically uninhabited, offered multiple investment opportunities and working to the people of central and northern Europe, primarily affected by the processes of industrialization. When at the end of the century South America was integrated into the international trading system, specializing in the export of agricultural products, the job offer was extended and brought to the people of southern Europe, which at that time began the process of modernization economic.