Immigration

Description

Using the four articles, “To Sir with Love” by Braithwaite, “White Teeth” by Zadie Smith, “Montreal 1962” by Shauna Singh Baldwin, and “The Interesting Life of Olaudah Equiano” by Olaudah Equiano, create a detailed description of the thesis and the purpose of the paper. Explain how the articles developed that thesis and how they connect. I will provide an outline but it does need to be explained more and the thesis needs to show more of what I am arguing for and my purpose. Also the articles needs to be explained more with an analysis with a deeper connection/purpose. Please refer back to the outline. Outline: Thesis: Millions of people move to a new country every year. Whether they are refugees, or migrants who are constantly moving to reshape their life and hoping to have a better one. The Penguin Book of Migration Literature consist of several series of migrants telling their stories. It has stories about departures, arrivals, generations, and returns of many immigration experiences. Some were successful while some were not. The pieces I choose to examine are “To Sir with Love” by Braithwaite, “White Teeth” by Zadie Smith, “Montreal 1962” by Shauna Singh Baldwin, and “The Interesting Life of Olaudah Equiano” by Olaudah Equiano. All four pieces speaks about their experience migrating to another place, and how their race affected them. “To Sir with Love” by E.R. Braithwaite: Braithwaite was a Guyanese Born British American write and teacher. Since Guyana was rule by the British, everything he did growing up was done “The British Way.” Braithwaite assumed that since he was raised that way, this would make him British. However, later Braithwaite moved to London where he had an interview but was faced racial discrimination against his skin color. Although he was overqualified for the job opportunity, and had the experience and knowledge, the job turned him down because he was Black.     “White Teeth” by Zadie Smith: Irie Jones, is a young British 15 year old girl which a Jamaican descent. She feels like an outcast due to her dark complexion and physical features. “The girl had weight; bug tits, big butt, big hips, big thighs, big teeth. She was 182 pounds and had thirteen pounds in her savings account. She knew she was the target audience.” (Page 229) Irie feels uncomfortable in her own skin due to being overweight and having dark skin. This is because most of the other girls she went to school, did not look like her and society embraces the “thinner girls”. Most of the other girls are skinny and white. “Montreal 1962” by Shauna Singh Baldwin: Shauna Singh Baldwin is a piece about an Indian man and a woman who is in a new country in need of money and a job. The man is offered a job that could potentially feed many families in India. However, the employers ask the man to cut his hair off and remove his turban which is against his culture. “You must be reborn white-skinned and clean-shaven”. His wife refused to allow this to happen and decides she will work to provide for her family. “The Interesting Life of Olaudah Equiano” by Olaudah Equiano: This piece depicts the struggle, the confusion, and the anger of an African slave. Equiano was kidnapped from his family and home at an incredibly young age. He was treated as a property and was sold several times. Slaves were rejected from society and were no ones. This article was able to show what many Africans were forced to go through. They were forced to leave their family and into enslavement to work for people they did not know. Conclusion: In all four pieces I choose, it showed how their race or physical appearance affected them from having a better life.