CUNY Lehman College Ethnic Identity and American Identity Essay

Son of italy= https://archive.org/details/pascaldangeloson00dang

The Fortunate Pilgrim = https://archive.org/details/fortunatepilgrim00puzo

Remember: You are writing 2 essays–choose 2 topics.

PART II: ESSAY QUESTIONS (50 points; 25 points each) You will write a total of two short essays for which you can discuss either Son of Italy or The Fortunate Pilgrim as the primary text and you can include other texts. You should write about 1-2 pages for each question. You will be uploading your file. Make it clear which questions you are answering by either using the number, or create a clear title. Don’t forget to create an effective introduction, body and conclusion. Include details, examples and quotations from the texts to support your analysis or discussion.

1. Since the beginning of the semester, we have been working on understanding “italianita.” How has your understanding grown? Describe your understanding of the concept at the very beginning of the semester, and what your understanding of it is now. Discuss what has helped you in your growth. Which texts, scenes, characters, or stories have helped you gain a better understanding? Include the readings, Discussion Boards, and any other material that you consulted.

2. As you recall from Week 2, Fred Gardaphè writes about the evolution of Italian American autobiography. On page 291, he writes: “immigrant autobiography documents a remaking of the Italian self into an American self.” While this statement could be challenged, it does remind us of that immigrants experience tensions between their ethnic identity and their American identity, as they sometimes move from “alienation to assimilation” (Tamburri, Gardaphe, Giordano). For this essay, discuss how D’Angelo or Puzo depicts these tensions. Do we see this “remaking” in Son of Italy or The Fortunate Pilgrim? Consider what is lost and gained in such a remaking.

3. The American Dream motivates immigrants to come to America and it is an important theme in immigrant literature, whether it’s embraced or challenged. In other words, it may be portrayed as reachable or as unreachable, or worse, as a nightmare. Discuss how either Pascal D’Angelo or Mario Puzo treats this theme. What is the author’s message about this theme? You may focus on only one character in the book and his/her view or experience of the American Dream.

4. Setting is very important in stories. You gained a better sense of what a tenement apartment looks like when you shared images from the past in order to understand the role such a setting plays in Puzo’s novel. Setting is also important in Son of Italy as well. For this question, write an essay that shows how important setting is to one of these stories. You may begin with a definition of setting (which includes place and time) and then provide a clear thesis statement that presents your view of setting and its relevance to the story. Make it clear what role setting plays in the story.

5. Scholarship on Italy’s history or on Italian American people sometimes provide us with a better understanding of the stories we have read. For this essay, discuss how a supplementary article, video, or website helped you understand either Son of Italy or The Fortunate Pilgrim. Try to connect the article to specific scenes or characters in the story and show these connections.

Remember: You are writing 2 essays–choose 2 topics.