Assignment Question
ANTHRO. requires that you complete an ethnographic paper on the life and experiences of an immigrant to the United States. This paper should be 8-10 pages in length and follow either APA or Chicago style in terms of citation and format. DO NOT use personal names when describing the person you’ve spoken to, we don’t do this in anthropology, so refer to the person as “the interviewee.” It is required that you interview one, but no more that TWO immigrants for this paper.
You should focus on the following:
PART ONE OF THE PAPER:
Describe the person by key demographics (age, ethnicity, marital status, education, gender, etc.) Describe their immigrant journey. Was it safe? Is the person “documented”, did the person come by themselves? With family? Were they sponsored, and by who? Did they leave their homeland because of danger? Like ethnic cleansing or environmental destruction or war/famine? Or because they just wanted to come for economic or other social reasons. Put this person’s immigration story within the context of their community. Did they arrive and are they still connected to an immigrant community. Is that community isolated? How has integration and assimilation gone (for them and their community). In this part of the paper, I would include most of your research as well.
For instance, I’d include a brief history of the group in their own nation, as well as a history of the immigration history of the group to the U.S. For instance, Haitians will have a different experience then the Irish, who will have a different experience than different Latin peoples from Central and South American than Hungarians, etc.
PART TWO OF THE PAPER:
The actual interview. PART THREE OF THE PAPER: Your Conclusions. – Did the person(s) you interviewed have a typical or atypical experience? Based on their family and community’s overall experience immigrating to the United States. Possible questions to ask (You can have your own – these are just suggestions) Tell me about your experience What was it like for you and your family to immigrate Did you face any problems? What were they? Do you feel connected to the U.S. or still connected to your previous home What do you like/enjoy the most about living in the U.S. What do you dislike/like least about living in the U.S. Do you have/take care of children and/or elderly family members Do you feel assimilated? Are you/your community trying to assimilate Would you/Do you ever go back “home” to visit and would you stay What language to you speak at home? English?