American Culture 314/History 378
History of Asian Americans in the U.S.
Angel Island Paper Guidelines
Angel Island Paper (15%) Due Wednesday, February 8, at the beginning of lecture
4 pages. Use one or more poems in Island as a basis to create a historical character who spent time in Angel Island. Draw upon readings, lectures and discussion to reconstruct what your subject’s life might have been like. Why did they leave their homeland? What was their image of America before they came? How did their experience in Angel Island change their perspective? What did they do after they left Angel Island (if ever)? The best papers will be those that construct a creative narrative that is also a plausible account solidly backed up by historical research.
Format
- Cover Sheet: title of paper, name, section
- Four pages in length—1 inch margins, 12 pt font, double-spaced
- Proper citations—either parenthetical (Chan, 24) or footnotes
- First person or third person perspective
Objectives
- Demonstrate a thorough engagement with the assigned readings, lectures, and discussion sections
- Understand the historical significance of the poetry in Island
- Using the “evidence” of the poetry and knowledge of historical events during the time, construct a historical character whose life reflects the impact of larger historical context.
Guidelines and Suggestions
Make sure that you address the following basics as specifically and evocatively as possible in your paper:
- Who is your character?
- Where is your character presently? From where did your character travel from?
- When is your character writing? When was he/she at Angel Island?
- Why did he/she leave the homeland?
- What did they do before, during, and after their time in Angel Island?
- How did their experience in Angel Island change their perspective? What was their image of America before they came?
The plausibility of the account is central to this project. Use your creativity to create a narrative of an Angel Island immigrant’s experience from his/her perspective, but think carefully about whether or not an immigrant laborer would win the lottery, become president, or fly in a plane over the Pacific at this point in time. Use citations whenever you are using or drawing upon information from the books or lectures.