https://padlet.com/edwarm0601/qmmgeigbbeyq Immigration en-us 2020-02-18 14:02:51 UTC 2026-01-11 09:40:05 UTC hello@padlet.com edwarm0601 https://padlet.com/edwarm0601/qmmgeigbbeyq/wish/446812123 "[The Shimerdas] hated Krajiek, but they clung to him because he was the only human being with whom they could talk" (18).

When the Shimerdas arrived in America, Mr. Krajiek was the only person with whom they could communicate. Consequently, Mr. Krajiek used the Shimerdas' dependence on him to coerce them. ]]> 2020-02-18 14:28:07 UTC https://padlet.com/edwarm0601/qmmgeigbbeyq/wish/446812123 edwarm0601 https://padlet.com/edwarm0601/qmmgeigbbeyq/wish/446814809 “‘So it's the Norwegians now, is it? I thought this was Americy’" (87).

One summer, Ántonia was working and drove a grain wagon. Out in the fields one evening, Ántonia and her coworkers were resting when a poor man stumbled across them. He was disheveled and  dressed in ragged clothes, his face unshaved and his toes sticking out of his shoes. He began talking, and he asked where to find beer. Ántonia instructed the man that the Bohemians had beer, and the Norwegians didn’t. The man then replied, “‘So it's the Norwegians now, is it? I thought this was Americy’" (87). His statement is emblematic of the changing immigration patterns of the time, and the influx of diverse ethnicities amongst immigrants.]]> 2020-02-18 14:31:30 UTC https://padlet.com/edwarm0601/qmmgeigbbeyq/wish/446814809 edwarm0601 https://padlet.com/edwarm0601/qmmgeigbbeyq/wish/446816916 "All foreigners were ignorant people who couldn't speak English" (98).

A common assumption about immigrants is that they can't speak English and are ignorant. This assumption is rooted in truth; many immigrants can't speak English. However, being unable to speak English is not an indicator of intelligence. English is not a superior language, yet American culture makes it out to be one. ]]> 2020-02-18 14:34:19 UTC https://padlet.com/edwarm0601/qmmgeigbbeyq/wish/446816916 scheir0094 https://padlet.com/edwarm0601/qmmgeigbbeyq/wish/446819694 “The older the girls, who helped break up the wild sod, learned so much from life, from poverty, from their mothers and grandmothers; they had all, like Ántonia, been early awakened and made observant by coming at a tender age from an old country to a new” (Cather 96).

Before attending work in the city, these immigrant girls would do the work of men in the fields at home.  They learned quickly that they had no other option than to work because otherwise times at home would be more difficult. The girls who would work on the farms before working in town seemed to be more aware and prepared for hard work in their future lives.  ]]> 2020-02-18 14:37:47 UTC https://padlet.com/edwarm0601/qmmgeigbbeyq/wish/446819694 edwarm0601 https://padlet.com/edwarm0601/qmmgeigbbeyq/wish/447165980 Erika Lee explains in her Washington Post article how xenophobia has become tradition in America. She discusses presidential xenophobia, both in the present day and in the 18th century. She also explains the history of American xenophobia, starting in 1840s and ending in the present day.]]> 2020-02-19 00:32:24 UTC https://padlet.com/edwarm0601/qmmgeigbbeyq/wish/447165980 edwarm0601 https://padlet.com/edwarm0601/qmmgeigbbeyq/wish/447167128 According to Erika Lee, Xenophobia and anti-immigrant sentiments are born from fear. Americans fear outsiders, and always have. And yet, nearly all Americans are descendent from outsiders; Americans fear what—and who—is different.]]> 2020-02-19 00:35:41 UTC https://padlet.com/edwarm0601/qmmgeigbbeyq/wish/447167128 edwarm0601 https://padlet.com/edwarm0601/qmmgeigbbeyq/wish/447398618 "'I never made anything to him with my eyes. I can't help it if he hangs around, and I can't order him off. It ain't my prairie'" (83).

As a young teenager, Lena Lingard worked out on the prairies, driving cattle. As she did so, an older, married man named Mr. Benson took a penchant to her. He hung around Lena while she worked, much to the chagrin of his wife, Mary. Lena was uninterested in Mr. Benson, but was unable to avoid him. Nevertheless, the town placed Mr. Benson's infidelity entirely upon Lena's shoulders.]]> 2020-02-19 14:03:40 UTC https://padlet.com/edwarm0601/qmmgeigbbeyq/wish/447398618 edwarm0601 https://padlet.com/edwarm0601/qmmgeigbbeyq/wish/447400465 "Krajiek was their only interpreter, and could tell them anything he chose" (13).

The Shimerdas had no choice but to believe whatever Mr. Krajiek told them. He was their sole interpreter, and he became the only outside voice that mattered. ]]> 2020-02-19 14:06:08 UTC https://padlet.com/edwarm0601/qmmgeigbbeyq/wish/447400465 edwarm0601 https://padlet.com/edwarm0601/qmmgeigbbeyq/wish/447402775 "It seemed to me how wonderful that she [Lena] should have got on so well in the world. Certainly she had no one but herself to thank for it" (128).

When Lena grew up, she left Black Hawk and moved to the big city. There she made a name for herself and started up a tailoring shop. She is a success story of the American dream, and exemplifies what immigrants—like the Shimerdas—hoped to achieve.]]> 2020-02-19 14:09:38 UTC https://padlet.com/edwarm0601/qmmgeigbbeyq/wish/447402775 edwarm0601 https://padlet.com/edwarm0601/qmmgeigbbeyq/wish/447724070 Most states provide worker’s compensation to undocumented immigrants. However, some states take advantage of undocumented immigrants by criminalizing filing for worker’s compensation under false identification. This criminalization takes advantage of the injured, similarly to how Mr. Krajiek took advantage of the Shimerdas.]]> 2020-02-19 20:55:18 UTC https://padlet.com/edwarm0601/qmmgeigbbeyq/wish/447724070 edwarm0601 https://padlet.com/edwarm0601/qmmgeigbbeyq/wish/447726086 Illiteracy among immigrants is a weakness that many exploit. Not only as Mr. Krajiek did to the Shimerdas in the late 1800s, people continue to exploit immigrants today, wielding the immigrants' illiteracy as a weapon.]]> 2020-02-19 20:58:32 UTC https://padlet.com/edwarm0601/qmmgeigbbeyq/wish/447726086 scheir0094 https://padlet.com/edwarm0601/qmmgeigbbeyq/wish/450080509 “Once he [a passenger on the train] sat down to chat, he told us [Jimmy and Jake] that in the immigrant car ahead there was a family from ‘across the water’ whose destination was the same as ours.  ‘They can’t any of them speak English, except one little girl’” (Cather 6).

When Jimmy, the narrator, began talking to a passenger on the train, he began realizing people, such as the Shimerdas, come to America and travel far in order to try to make money. Although, no one knew English, the Shimerdas knew that someone would eventually learn in their family and there was better job opportunities in America than their home country.]]> 2020-02-25 14:13:31 UTC https://padlet.com/edwarm0601/qmmgeigbbeyq/wish/450080509 edwarm0601 https://padlet.com/edwarm0601/qmmgeigbbeyq/wish/450735382 Gabby Resnick compares the modern education system in America to the American Dream. She questions whether or not the American Dream is worthwhile, and if devoting a life to working overtime for the chance at success later on is worth it. ]]> 2020-02-26 14:09:03 UTC https://padlet.com/edwarm0601/qmmgeigbbeyq/wish/450735382 scheir0094 https://padlet.com/edwarm0601/qmmgeigbbeyq/wish/450747921 “‘‘America big country; much money, much land for my [Ántonia’s papa] boys, much husband for my girls” ... ‘[Ántonia’s papa] not want to come, nev-er!...But my mama, she want Ambrosch for to be rich, with many cattle”’ (Cather 45).

Before the death of Ántonia’s father, he told the family that it was necessary for his family to move. Like other immigrants he thought that coming to the United States and farming like other Americans would make them rich.  However, that was rarely the case, and the Shimerdas never did become rich.]]> 2020-02-26 14:24:57 UTC https://padlet.com/edwarm0601/qmmgeigbbeyq/wish/450747921 scheir0094 https://padlet.com/edwarm0601/qmmgeigbbeyq/wish/450752259 Throughout time, the melting pot has been a part of society.  Without having different mixes of cultures, America wouldn’t be the same.  America has been made of immigrants since the Colonial Age and continues to be a refuge and new way for many immigrants both past and present.]]> 2020-02-26 14:31:06 UTC https://padlet.com/edwarm0601/qmmgeigbbeyq/wish/450752259 scheir0094 https://padlet.com/edwarm0601/qmmgeigbbeyq/wish/451784401 During the time period 1880-1920, the time in which the Shimerdas immigrated to the US, millions of others were joining them in the journey. Approximately 20 million people immigrated to the United States, and they all faced the same problem as the Shimerdas, surviving with what little they had.]]> 2020-02-28 02:26:19 UTC https://padlet.com/edwarm0601/qmmgeigbbeyq/wish/451784401 scheir0094 https://padlet.com/edwarm0601/qmmgeigbbeyq/wish/451791255 “There were never were such people as the Shimerdas for wanting to give away everything they had. Even the mother was always offering me [Jimmy] things, though I knew she expected substantial presents in return” (Cather 23).

Although the Shimerdas had little to nothing due to just moving, they felt obligated to give when other people gave.  At times the Shimerdas seem to be constantly needing help to survive, but Jimmy’s family understands the fact they are just starting out on farming. ]]> 2020-02-28 02:53:31 UTC https://padlet.com/edwarm0601/qmmgeigbbeyq/wish/451791255 scheir0094 https://padlet.com/edwarm0601/qmmgeigbbeyq/wish/451792938 “Much as I liked Ántonia, I [Jimmy] hated a superior tone that she sometimes took with me. She was four years older than I, to be sure, and had seen more of the world; but I was a boy and she was a girl, and I resented her protecting manner” (Cather 24).

Ántonia’s personality is a combination of being vivacious and generous.  From time to time, however, Ántonia has the need to show she is older and has the authority over Jimmy in order to show him her controlling side.]]> 2020-02-28 02:59:55 UTC https://padlet.com/edwarm0601/qmmgeigbbeyq/wish/451792938 scheir0094 https://padlet.com/edwarm0601/qmmgeigbbeyq/wish/451794479 “‘He’s [Ántonia’s Brother Ambrosch] a worker, all right, mam, and he’s got some ketch-on about him; but he’s a mean one. Folks can be mean enough to get on in this world; and then ag’in they can be too mean’” (Cather 40).

This quote clearly defines Ambrosch.  Throughout the story, he was the controlling older brother who had to get the job even if it wasn’t in the nicest way.  He lied to neighbors, and when talking to neighbors, wasn’t the friendliest guy.  However, this figure watching over Ántonia shapes her to be who she is at the end of the novel.  Ambrosch’s presence in Ántonia’s younger years helped her experience the difficulties hard work brings. ]]> 2020-02-28 03:05:06 UTC https://padlet.com/edwarm0601/qmmgeigbbeyq/wish/451794479 scheir0094 https://padlet.com/edwarm0601/qmmgeigbbeyq/wish/451797848 “Well-set-up country girls had come to earn a living, and, in nearly every case, to help the father struggle out of debt, or to make it possible for the younger children of the family to go to school” (Cather 96).

As the girls would get hired out to different jobs in town, such as sewing or taking care of children, they realized it was necessary for them to work just as hard as they had worked on the farm because their family back at the farm needed all the money they could to live through the year.  ]]> 2020-02-28 03:17:25 UTC https://padlet.com/edwarm0601/qmmgeigbbeyq/wish/451797848 scheir0094 https://padlet.com/edwarm0601/qmmgeigbbeyq/wish/452955362 “Of all the nation’s metropolitan areas, New York City became its truest ‘melting pot’—a place where many different nationalities and ethnicities blended together” (Hillstrom 62).

New York City was significantly impacted by immigrants because of Ellis island. Immigrants had little to no money left, so they stayed where ever they first landed in America. This led to the biggest “melting pot” in the US because of the fact immigrants from all over came into Ellis Island.  This led to the blending of ethnicities and nationalities from all over the world.]]> 2020-03-02 14:14:34 UTC https://padlet.com/edwarm0601/qmmgeigbbeyq/wish/452955362 scheir0094 https://padlet.com/edwarm0601/qmmgeigbbeyq/wish/452958278 “As Oscar Handlin wrote, ‘Many a new arrival who thought simply to pause in the place where he had landed was entrapped and never escaped. Some had exhausted all their funds in coming and were already paupers when they came off the ship; these were unlikely ever to earn enough to take them away’” (Hillstrom 63).

Immigrants used up all resources they had. As soon as they came to America, they expected a well paying job, but that wasn’t the case.  Many people had no money and barely living off of the money they were getting from their job. Dreams typically never came true. ]]> 2020-03-02 14:18:37 UTC https://padlet.com/edwarm0601/qmmgeigbbeyq/wish/452958278 edwarm0601 https://padlet.com/edwarm0601/qmmgeigbbeyq/wish/452961936 “They [Immigrants] did not feel shy, burdened, or uncomfortable sharing this information because everyone was for the most part in the same situation, or empathized because they knew that they could be them at any moment” (Sepúlveda 150).

Sepúlveda was giving a presentation to parents of elementary schoolers, and many of them had questions about their cases. Some openly admitted to crimes, unashamed and unconcerned. Just as in My Ántonia, the immigrant community is tight-knit and emphathetic toward one another; if they do not have one another, then they have no one. ]]> 2020-03-02 14:23:53 UTC https://padlet.com/edwarm0601/qmmgeigbbeyq/wish/452961936 edwarm0601 https://padlet.com/edwarm0601/qmmgeigbbeyq/wish/452969117 “People . . . had waited years to ensure their kids got an American education, were accepted into an American university, and could live out the dream that they could not” (Sepúlveda 154).

Parents are willing to sacrifice everything for their children, and to see their children live better lives than they could. America is a beacon of hope to these parents, and if America can bestow upon their children the means to advance in the world, America is where their children must be.]]> 2020-03-02 14:31:47 UTC https://padlet.com/edwarm0601/qmmgeigbbeyq/wish/452969117 scheir0094 https://padlet.com/edwarm0601/qmmgeigbbeyq/wish/452969593 “Wherever immigrants decided to settle in America, their first priority was to find jobs. In many cases, ethnic groups were drawn to regions where the dominant industries could make use of skills and knowledge that the immigrants already possessed. In other words, immigrants who had worked as farmers, miners, textile-makers in Europe gravitated to regions of the United States where farming, mining, and textile jobs could be found” (Hillstrom 73).

Jobs were and still are significant in life.  Without a job, it is practically impossible to survive.  As people came to America in 1870-1920, they had to find jobs as soon as possible due to the fact they had used all of their resources trying to get there.  When they were looking for jobs, they went to jobs they knew they were skilled at.]]> 2020-03-02 14:32:16 UTC https://padlet.com/edwarm0601/qmmgeigbbeyq/wish/452969593 scheir0094 https://padlet.com/edwarm0601/qmmgeigbbeyq/wish/452974195  “Poverty, political repression, and religious persecution riddled Europe from the 1870s through World War I.  Meanwhile, America’s reputation as a nation of cheap land and stunning riches continued to grow. As one history of U.S. immigration commented, the peoples of Europe recognized that ‘in America there were still frontiers to explore, room to expand, new directions to try’” (Hillstrom 31).

The dream of America came to people’s thoughts because of the availability of land during this time.  Very few, however, actually succeeded in their dreams and made money off of hard work and effort.]]> 2020-03-02 14:37:36 UTC https://padlet.com/edwarm0601/qmmgeigbbeyq/wish/452974195 edwarm0601 https://padlet.com/edwarm0601/qmmgeigbbeyq/wish/454014949 “Lena was always knitting stockings for little brothers and sisters, and even the Norwegian women, who disapproved of her, admitted that she was a food daughter to her mother” (81).

Most of Lena’s late childhood and adolescence revolved around caring for her younger siblings and parents. She had to live selflessly, and amidst town gossip and criticism, Lena’s devotion to her family was irrefutable. ]]> 2020-03-03 23:12:59 UTC https://padlet.com/edwarm0601/qmmgeigbbeyq/wish/454014949 edwarm0601 https://padlet.com/edwarm0601/qmmgeigbbeyq/wish/454018333 “Banners bearing the day’s rallying cries—WE ARE HERE TO STAY; END DEPORTATIONS/END CRIMINALIZATION/END OUR PAIN!!!; TÚ, YO, TODOS SOMOS AMERICA [YOU, I, ALL ARE AMERICA]—covered the banisters and were otherwise hung in abundance” (Sepúlveda 160).

Sepúlveda was at a church where a rally was being held. The focus of the rally was this: immigrants are Americans. America is a land of immigrants, and those that have immigrated to the United States recently are no less American than those that immigrated 150 years ago. ]]> 2020-03-03 23:24:25 UTC https://padlet.com/edwarm0601/qmmgeigbbeyq/wish/454018333 edwarm0601 https://padlet.com/edwarm0601/qmmgeigbbeyq/wish/454020337 Sepúlveda was speaking with a man who was eligible for citizenship. The man told Sepúlveda, “‘I think back to persecutions throughout history and wonder just how many people would have been saved from exile, or torture, or death if they had sworn off their beliefs and identities? That’s how I view citizenship: an offer to give up myself in order to be given the rights of someone else. I don’t want to swear fealty to a nation that won’t take others like me. Think of African Americans and women suffragettes, who, until they were granted formal citizenship on their own terms, were treated like second-class citizens—I mean, 🤬, they still are. And that’s what I’d be if I became a citizen—second class—and that’s no citizenship at all” (Sepúlveda 163).

To this man, citizenship held more meaning than most American-born citizens even consider. Citizenship was a pledge to defend the United States at all costs, and sacrificing identity in order to become a part of the masses. To this man, the costs were too high; he'd rather live in fear of deportation than commit to a country with principles and morals he disagreed with. ]]> 2020-03-03 23:31:03 UTC https://padlet.com/edwarm0601/qmmgeigbbeyq/wish/454020337 edwarm0601 https://padlet.com/edwarm0601/qmmgeigbbeyq/wish/454022801 A typical anti-immigrant comment is for all immigrants to learn and only speak English because ‘this is America.’ However, the United States of America does not have an official language.]]> 2020-03-03 23:38:55 UTC https://padlet.com/edwarm0601/qmmgeigbbeyq/wish/454022801 scheir0094 https://padlet.com/edwarm0601/qmmgeigbbeyq/wish/455069680 Hired girls not only worked for families in the cities, but they also had jobs on farms, as servants, etc.  Hired girls had significant impacts on both their family and whomever they worked for because they provided for their family and the household/business man they worked for.  Not many girls were available for work, so whenever one became available, she would be hired soon after.]]> 2020-03-05 14:31:20 UTC https://padlet.com/edwarm0601/qmmgeigbbeyq/wish/455069680 edwarm0601 https://padlet.com/edwarm0601/qmmgeigbbeyq/wish/455506428 In her TED talk, Colleen Bies tells the story of her family, and explains how her parents' hardships have taught her ambition and drive. By observing what her parents went through to provide their family, Bies learned to always work hard and to strive for success. Lena behaves similarly to Bies; both women are highly ambitious, and their ambition can be credited to their family's hardship and immigration journeys. ]]> 2020-03-06 01:47:02 UTC https://padlet.com/edwarm0601/qmmgeigbbeyq/wish/455506428 scheir0094 https://padlet.com/edwarm0601/qmmgeigbbeyq/wish/455528566 Throughout the video, it explains the melting pot in America in through a song. The audience of this video is intended to be children. The creators of this video wanted to show children that America is made up of immigrants.]]> 2020-03-06 02:59:09 UTC https://padlet.com/edwarm0601/qmmgeigbbeyq/wish/455528566