Literature of Diaspora
Description
We’ve been looking at how, throughout history, many groups of people have experienced hardships of famine, war, or economic troubles. The hardships have forced many people to leave their homes and flee into other parts of the world. In cases of war and slavery, some people have been taken as slaves to other lands. (Daniel is an example of someone who was dislocated due to war and enslavement). The dislocation and resettlement of people in new lands is called a “Diaspora” (Greek = “to scatter”). As we mentioned, a true diaspora is usually traumatic and compulsory. Sometimes, people who have experienced a diaspora write about their experiences; often the writers are the sons and daughters of the newly-displaced immigrants who experience the hardships of trying to fit into a new place. The written accounts by these people who have experienced a diaspora have been categorized by scholars into a collection of texts (a body of literature) called “The Literature of Diaspora.” We read Lan Samantha Chang who writes about the problems of first-generation of immigrants. On the cover of her anthology, we see a cormorant. This is what the cover looks like:Cormorant is on the cover of Chang.docx In China, fishermen use cormorants to fish with. They tie a rope around the cormorant and let the bird swim under water to catch fish. The fishermen pull the birds back to them. Note the ring around the bird’s neck. The ring is to keep the bird from swallowing the fish. The fisherman takes the fish out of the bird’s mouth and uses the fish to feed his family. Referring to Lan Samantha Chang’s “Eve of the Spirit Festival” and Hunger, explain how the picture of the cormorant is perfect for the cover of Chang’s book entitled Hunger. Find four or five scenes from the stories to support your claim. Write a full draft, 1700 words, MLA format. You will receive full credit for posting a 1700-word draft; it is a quantitative score. If you receive full credit, it doesn’t mean your draft is perfect or doesn’t need revision; it just means you wrote a full draft. After your group members have read and commented on your draft, you’ll revise it. I will assess the finished draft for quality (a qualitative score).
