HUM 281W

HUM 281W
Summer 2021
1
Exam #1: “Coming Over”
Due Saturday, June 19, by 2:00 p.m. (CDT)
Prompt: our course anthology, Immigrant Voices, consists of three different but related
parts or headings: “Coming Over,” “Being Here,” and “Going Back.” Obviously, we read
and discussed short stories under the first head—“Coming Over”—which focuses on the
complexities and/or contradictions of emigration.
For Exam #1, please write a 4- to 6-paragraph response that discusses the specific ways
in which two of the following three short stories represent the concept or notion of
“coming over”: (select exactly two)
Ø “Absence” by Daniel Alarcón
Ø “Mother the Big” by Parochista Khakpour
Ø “The Bees, Part 1” by Aleksander Hemon
When considering the complexities, ambiguities, and contradictions of migration and
resettlement in the United States, we must consider two important processes—emigration
and immigration. Though both processes are inextricable, for this exam, please make sure
to focus primarily on emigration. That said, I’m well aware that you’ll want to include
the immigration experience, that is, resettlement and assimilation in your response.
However, when discussing the complexities and contradictions of assimilation, please
always keep in mind how the selected stories represent the tension between cultural
preservation and cultural assimilation. Stated differently, “cultural preservation” is a key
aspect of the emigration process, that is, it begs the question of what gets left behind, as it
were, and what remains (or is preserved).
According to the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), emigration signifies “the action of
migrating or departing out of a particular place or set of surroundings.” It also means “the
departure of persons from one country, usually their native land, to settle permanently in
another” (OED). Please discuss how the selected two short stories represent or
imaginatively depict the complexities, ambiguities, or contradictions (i.e., the difficulties,
obstacles, and successes [or partial failures]) of migrating to the United States with
special attention to the term/concept emigration, that is, “coming over.” What does
“coming over” mean to particular characters? Under what conditions are they “coming
over” to the U.S.? Is it entirely under one’s own choice, will, or volition? Or, are there
historical or political conditions or circumstances shaping or determining their emigration
from the homeland? Are these so-called “push factors” both personal and geopolitical?
How so? What things get carried over, literally and figuratively, when emigrating from
one’s homeland into a new country, culture, and society? What constitutes the
“unhomely”? When and where does it emerge or occur? There are other avenues to
explore, but these questions will certainly help you get started.
As always, please make sure to incorporate textual passages with explication in support
of your claims and observations. Exam responses that do not incorporate textual evidence
with explication risk earning a letter grade D or F. I strongly suggest that you include two
key passages per paragraph, but at least one direct quote per paragraph. This will HUM 281W
Summer 2021
2
guarantee that you stay focused on textual evidence when making a case for your
interpretation of the texts. Lastly, though four paragraphs is the minimum number of
paragraphs for the exam, I strongly suggest that you write a 5- or a 6-paragraph response
in order to thoroughly explicate key passages from both texts.
Lastly, your response is NOT an essay. Rather, you are offering a “paragraph response”
that need not include a well-developed intro paragraph (with extended “set up” or
“attention grabber” before transitioning into the thesis statement). You might, however,
want to include a thesis statement (or central argument or point) at the start of the
response so that I clearly understand the focus of your analysis from the outset. Also,
because you are NOT producing an essay, there is no need to waste time with a
conclusion paragraph. As they say in the movie industry, “Cut to the chase!” or, as Darth
Vader so eloquently puts it in The Return of the Jedi, “you may dispense with the
pleasantries,” so please stay focused and “on schedule” when drafting your response.
Vader link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oeOmilysl54. Enjoy!
Formatting Instructions:
• Times New Roman, 12-point font
• Double spaced and align text left
• MLA in-text citations required (and penalized if not correctly formatted or simply
missing)
• No Works Cited page
• Include name, course number, and due date at the upper left-hand corner of your
exam response document
• Lastly, I DON’T WANT TO READ ROUGH DRAFTS! I expect students to
submit well-written responses that demonstrate thoughtful revisions and attention
to grammatical and punctuation details.
• I will deduct points from the total score if any of the above points are not met.
Submission Instructions:
1. Please submit the final draft of your exam response no later than Saturday, June
19, by 2:00 p.m. (CDT).
2. Please send the final draft of your exam response as an attachment (Word) to
Edward.Avila@mnsu.edu by the due date and time.
3. Late submission policy: 10% deduction per hour submitted late. No exceptions.
You have ample time to complete the exam, which is a timed exam, by the way,
so I will strictly enforce the late submission policy.
4. I will manually upload all exam responses to Turnitin to scan for plagiarism. Any
exam response identified as committing plagiarism will automatically earn 0
points toward Exam #1. Please email me if you have any questions or concerns
related to plagiarism, especially the use of in-text citations.
5. Your exam response is considered officially submitted only after you received
confirmation of receipt via email. Please be on the lookout for my confirmation
email.