21G.043J | Fall 2013 | Undergraduate

Introduction to Asian American Studies: Literature, Culture, and Historical Experience

Assignments

Paper 1: Unpacking Stereotypes - Due session 4 - 1250 words

Personal narrative is an important genre in Asian American literature and history. In this class we will read and discuss excerpts from a range of memoirs, life histories, and other personal narratives. Your first assignment is to write a short personal narrative reflecting on your own childhood and adolescent experiences, and your experiences as a student at MIT. Specifically, you should reflect on those experiences that shaped your understanding of the term “Asian American,” and on how this understanding changed (or didn’t change) after you arrived at MIT.

Paper Assignment 1

Paper 2: Debating “The Chinese Question” - Due session 12 - 2500 words

In 1883 Wong Chin Foo (1847–1898) invited the infamous “Sandlotter” Denis Kearney (1847–1907) to a public debate on the Chinese Question.* Based upon your reading of the assigned historical primary sources, compare and contrast the viewpoints articulated by Wong Chin Foo and Denis Kearney on the “Chinese Question.”

Readings for the Assignment:

Selection from Seligman, Scott D. The First Chinese American: The Remarkable Life of Wong Chin Foo. Hong Kong University Press_,_ 2013. Pages xxi-xxvi, 111-117,149-153, 319-320, 323-325.

Paper Assignment 2

Chinatown Scavenger Hunt - Due session 16

Scavenger Hunt Assignment

Paper 3 (Draft) - Due session 19 - 2250 words

This paper will be revised and resubmitted. A separate grade will be assigned for each submission.

In 2012, the Pew Research Center issued a report on “The Rise of Asian Americans,” claiming that: “Asian Americans are the highest-income, best-educated and fastest-growing racial group in the United States.” This report received much attention in the press, but was sharply criticized by many Asian American organizations and commentators, who contended that the report was inaccurate and one-sided, and that it furthermore perpetuated the model minority myth, contributing to the formation of Asian Americans as an “invisible” or “forgotten minority.” Based on your reading of this report (the original 2012 report and the updated 2013 version) and its critiques, do you believe that the model minority stereotype is, on balance, beneficial or detrimental to Asian Americans?

Final Draft: The Pros and Cons of the Model Minority Stereotype - Due multiple sessions

Paper Assignment 3

Thesis Presentations - Due session 23

Students will present on the thesis of their third and final paper.

Paper 3 (Revision) - Due session 26

To prepare for your Chinatown scavenger hunt:

  • Briefly scan through the Boston section (page 1494 on) of the International Chinese Business Directory of 1913.
  • What types of businesses do you see listed? What types of business names?
  • Then visit Chinatown and observe with your own eyes!
  • What parts of historic Chinatown exist today? What has disappeared?

Directions

  • Use the provided checklist (see below) and find each listed located (or the location where a business used to be). In cases where the site no longer exists, note in the check list what survives.
  • Find something that interests you. Collect an item (for example, a menu, flyer, or commemorative penny[!]), or take a photograph (a written description or drawing is also fine).
  • Select one “free choice” items that is listed at the bottom of check list. Please write a one sentence description of what it is.
  • You may go in a group and discuss your findings. However, each student must submit an original write-up.
  • Feel free to enter public buildings or businesses, but no interior photography please. You may ask people for directions, but no “interviewing” of residents, please. Out of respect for the community.

Submission Instructions

Copy the list below. Check off each item as you find it. For “free choice” items at the bottom of the list, please write a one sentence description. Upload as a PDF.

List for Chinatown Scavenger Hunt

Find the following sites and buildings (or evidence of the old buildings if they no longer exist in the location):

NAME ADDRESS DESCRIPTION YOUR OBSERVATIONS
Ping On Alley Off Beach St. Est. 1870s, earliest Chinese settlement  
Shanghai Printing Co. 16 Oxford St. Chinese and English language printer  
Sun Sun Co. 18 Oxford St. Chinese grocery store  
Hong Far Low 36-38 Harrison Ave. Est. 1875, first Chinese restaurant  
International Ladies Garment Workers Union 31 Harrison Ave. In 1936, female garment workers went on 2 month strike  
New England Chinese Women’s Association 2 Tyler St. Est. 1942 for China relief, networking and social service organization.  
Old Community bulletin board Oxford Street / Beach St. Est. 1890s for posting news, events, and jobs openings  
Yee Wah Laundry 59 BeachSt. Chinese hand laundry  
Wong Family Benevolent Association 70 Beach St. Gathering space for members of Wong family  
Lee Family Association 10 Tyler St. Gathering space for members of Lee family (cont.)  
Ruby Foo’s Den 6 Hudson St. Est. 1929, first Chinese restaurant catering to non-Chinese  
Hip Yeng Chong Co. 49 Hudson St. Chinese import / export store  
Maryknoll Sisters of St. Dominic 79 Tyler St. Est. 1911, members known for their professional service in China  
Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association 90 Tyler St. Est. 1882, regulates local business and represents Chinese  
Denison House 93 Tyler St. Est. 1892, work training organization for immigrant women  
Home of Rose Lok Next to Denison House, Oak Street side Born 1912, first Chinese American woman to pilot solo  

Free Choice List

Pick one and take notes. What do you think it is? What purpose it served in the community?

  • Community mural
  • Chinese laundry or dry cleaner
  • Chinese herbal medicine shop
  • Chinese grocery market
  • Evidence of traditional Chinese popular religiouspractices(analtar for example)
  • Something indicative of New Migration
  • What else can you find?

Bonus: can anyone find the site of the old communal oven?

While you are more than welcome to talk to people if you are lost or wish to purchase something, please refrain from “interviewing” people or asking them about personal experiences. Our class is not authorized for human subject research. Out of respect for the community, no interior photography please.

Prompt

Personal narrative is an important genre in Asian American literature and history. In this class we will read and discuss excerpts from a range of memoirs, life histories, and other personal narratives. Your first assignment is to write a short personal narrative reflecting on your own childhood and adolescent experiences, and your experiences as a student at MIT. Specifically, you should reflect on those experiences that shaped your understanding of the term “Asian American,” and on how this understanding changed (or didn’t change) after you arrived at MIT.*

Begin by considering the term “Asian American.” Who are Asian Americans? What are some of the stereotypes associated with this label? Next, think about the particular regional/historical context that shaped your ideas. Where did you learn these ideas – parents, media, teachers, school, peer groups? Which influences have been the most important in shaping your ideas? In light of your reflections, grapple with the question of whether or not your thinking about these stereotypes has changed during your time at MIT, as you entered a new environment and met new people? Support your ideas with specific details and/or examples from your personal experiences and observations.

In order to do this assignment well, you will probably need to write much more than 1250 words, and then cut back as you revise your draft. Remember, we don’t want random jottings, but a carefully considered narrative that traces the trajectory of your thinking. As you write this essay, it will be useful to think about how the memoirists we have read thus far shaped their life stories—how did they structure their narratives and what details did they choose to highlight? What message did they attempt to convey through their life narratives? In what way might you use their narratives as a model? Writing the draft of this essay will help you discover the central message you would like to communicate about your experiences.

This essay is an exercise in crafting personal narrative, a genre of writing that is generally useful in various academic or professional contexts, including application essays, personal professional statements, and business message development. This paper does not require a thesis. Instead, focus on telling a clear story. Work on crafting a structured and fluid narrative, with a clear narrative thread, developing your voice as a writer, establishing a clear point of view, and “finding something to say.” (On this challenge see Clark, Dorie. “Discover Your Personal Narrative.” Harvard Business Review. June 28, 2013.)

*Please note that this assignment does not necessarily assume that you consider yourself “Asian American” or any other ethnicity. It does presume, however, that you have entered this class with certain ideas about “Asian Americans” in relation to other American ethnic groups.

Checklist

  • In this paper, both the message and the delivery are important.
  • Above all, it is important to make this paper interesting. Have you grabbed the reader’s attention in the first paragraph? Do you sustain it?
  • Have you said something original? Or have you merely repeated common knowledge, or what you have read? Is the paper coherent?
  • Is there a clear narrative thread for the reader to follow?
  • By the end of the paper, have you effectively communicated “what you have to say”?
  • Does your concluding paragraph tie up all loose ends and leaves the reader with a strong impression, or does the paper simply end?
  • Proofread your paper: are there grammatical, spelling, formatting or other errors that distract the reader and give an unprofessional impression of the writer? Are your sentences well structured and clear?

Formatting and Submission

Your paper should be written in Times New Roman, twelve-point font and double-spaced. You must use page numbers.

Please indicate at the top of the first page: your name, the subject number, date, total word count for this paper.

Please submit as a PDF.

Prompt

In 1883 Wong Chin Foo (1847–1898) invited the infamous “Sandlotter” Denis Kearney (1847-1907) to a public debate on the Chinese Question.* Wong Chin Foo was an immigrant from Shandong, China who was educated in the US and became a pioneering Chinese American journalist and orator. A naturalized American citizen and a founder of the Chinese Equal Rights League, Wong was one of the most outspoken opponents of labor leader, Denis Kearney, a notorious demagogue who rallied crowds with the slogan “The Chinese Must Go.” When Kearney initially refused to debate with him, Wong famously challenged him to a duel, wittily offering the Irishman his choice of “chopsticks, Irish potatoes, or Krupp guns.” In the end, Kearney did agree to debate Wong, creating a great sensation in the press. The two men faced each other on October 18, 1887 in the offices of the New York World.

Essay Assignment

Based upon your reading of historical primary sources (both course materials and sources identified through independent research), compare and contrast the viewpoints articulated by Wong Chin Foo and Denis Kearney on the “Chinese Question.” To analyze these viewpoints, which they articulated in multiple venues, you will need to carefully consider the following key questions: How does each use the concept of rights to support his position? What role do ideas of racial difference play in their arguments? what about the notion of universal values? How do they differ in their understandings of what it means to be an American?

How you answer these questions will help you figure out your thesis, which you should state by the end of the first paragraph or beginning of the second paragraph. This thesis should reflect your own viewpoint; it will lend focus and direction to your argument. In the body of the paper you will elaborate upon your answers to these questions. A comparative analysis also requires that you establish clear grounds for comparison. To do this you will need to contextualize Wong’s and Kearney’s arguments by showing how they relate to the broader debate on the Chinese Question from the time, using the historical primary sources available on Stellar. Make sure to quote or paraphrase specific statements on both sides (pro and con) of the issue; cite all such specific references to sources. Overall, your analysis should show how arguments on the Chinese Question went beyond purely economic issues to touch upon cultural, religious, political and ethical issues as well. Finally, with reference to Scott Seligman’s work, and based on your own reading of the primary sources, explain why the press declared Wong the “winner” of the October 18, 1887 debate. (If you want to, you can make this point part of your conclusion paragraph.)

Appendix: (This 500 words will be included in the overall 2500-word word count.)

The body of your paper will be followed by an Appendix: give a 250-word description of an original source you identified for Wong Chin Foo and another 250-word description of an original source you identified for Denis Kearney or the Workingmen’s Party of California. Tell us what the source is, when it was written, who wrote it, and for what purpose and intended audience. Also tell us how you found the source (through what search method) and how you evaluated the reliability of this source (using guidelines provided on our class lib-guides page). Please include links or scans of your primary sources. You may find this worksheet (PDF) prepared by the National Records and Archives Administration helpful. 
 

Important Points to Remember

  • This paper is essentially an exercise in expository writing, but it will also help you hone skills basic to research reports, especially in conducting and documenting original research using historical primary sources.
  • Address your paper to a general audience with no background in Asian American history.
  • Your paper must have a clear and compelling thesis.
  • Your paper must have proper citations throughout. Please use footnotes following the Chicago Manual of Style humanities conventions. Your paper should also include a bibliography.
     

In Writing This Paper You Should:

  • Demonstrate that you understand arguments on the Chinese Question, both pro and con.
  • Demonstrate that you understand multiple dimensions of the Chinese Question, beyond economic issues.
  • Demonstrate your ability to use primary sources as evidence in academic writing.
  • Demonstrate your ability to analyze texts, with specific attention to the writer’s rhetorical aims.
  • Write an effective comparative analysis.

Formatting and Submission:

  • Your paper should be written in Times New Roman, twelve-point font and double-spaced. You must use page numbers.
  • Please indicate at the top of the first page: your name, the subject number, total word count for this paper (inclusive of notes and bibliography).
  • Please submit as a PDF.
  • You will lose points if you are substantially (20 words) over or under the required word count.

*Kearney and his associates were known as “Sandlotters” because they conducted public speeches from the vacant sand lot near San Francisco City Hall, at times gathering thousands of listeners.

In 2012, the Pew Research Center issued a report on “The Rise of Asian Americans,” claiming that: “Asian Americans are the highest-income, best-educated and fastest-growing racial group in the United States. They are more satisfied than the general public with their lives, finances and the direction of the country, and they place more value than other Americans do on marriage, parenthood, hard work and career success…” This report received much attention in the press, but was sharply criticized by many Asian American organizations and commentators, who contended that the report was inaccurate and one-sided, and that it furthermore perpetuated the model minority myth, contributing to the formation of Asian Americans as an “invisible” or “forgotten minority.”

Essay Prompt

Based on your reading of this report (the original 2012 report and the updated 2013 version) and its critiques, do you believe that the model minority stereotype is, on balance, beneficial or detrimental to Asian Americans?

Make sure to address issues faced by underrepresented or socioeconomically disadvantaged Asian groups, as well as those of professional Asian Americans facing the “glass/bamboo ceiling.”

There is no independent research for this paper. All materials are provided. In addition, you can feel free to use any of the readings (weeks 1-13 inclusive), and the U.S. Census data that is provided for your reference. Use of Wikipedia, beyond checking dates and names, is not allowed for this paper. In contrast to Paper 2, which emphasized the use of primary sources, this paper assignment emphasizes the critical use of secondary sources.

This essay is an example of persuasive writing, and should include a strong thesis, articulating your own opinion on the subject,as well as a balanced treatment of both sides of the issue.

Helpful Hints

Remember that a thesis is not a simple yes/no opinion, a topic, a question, or a list. Aim for a thesis that addresses the “why” behind your answer to the prompt’s question. It can be helpful to think of a thesis as comprised of two parts: it should tell what you plan to argue and should also “telegraph” to the reader how you plan to support your claim. Your thesis can be one or two sentences long and it should appear at the end of your introductory paragraph. The body of the paper should be logically organized and include at least one counterargument. Each of your points should be supported by evidence. Your conclusion paragraph should not simply restate your main points, but instead consider the implications of your argument.

Your paper must have proper citations throughout. Please use in-text parenthetical citations following the Chicago Manual of Style conventions. Your paper should also include a bibliography.

In writing this paper you should:

  • Demonstrate an understanding of the model minority stereotype, its history and political usages.
  • Demonstrate an understanding of the critiques of the model minority stereotype and the political and/or ideological motivations of the critics (the recommended reading excerpted from Chan, Sucheng. Asian Americans: An Interpretative History. Twayne Publishers, 1991. ISBN-13: 9780805784374_._
  • Demonstrate an understanding of the socioeconomic and ethnic diversity of the Asian American population, and why disaggregating the “Asian American” and/or “Asian Pacific Islander” categories is important in considering issues such as those raised by the Pew Report.
  • Demonstrate a basic understanding of the history of Asian immigrants in this country (first wave versus second wave) and changes in US immigration policy relating to Asians, and show the relevance of this knowledge to an assessment of the model minority/invisible minority issue today.
  • Demonstrate an understanding of the glass ceiling, or “bamboo ceiling” for Asian Americans.
  • Demonstrate an ability to write a persuasive essay, to effectively communicate your position with appropriate use of evidence and reference to relevant secondary literature.

Formatting and Submission

  • Your paper should be written in Times New Roman, twelve-point font and double-spaced. You must use page numbers.
  • Please indicate at the top of the first page: your name, the subject number, total word count for this paper (excluding bibliography).
  • Please submit as a PDF.
  • There is a three-point penalty per day for late papers.
  • Points will also be deducted for papers that are significantly over the word count limit.

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