Immigration Reflection

Immigration Project Reflection


Olivia Pardo

I enjoyed reading my lit circles book a lot. Hello, America was more of story than a history book. I was definitely happy with my choice because this book kept me interested in the life of a young Jewish immigrant. It taught me a lot about what immigrants had to go through back then to start a life. I learned that they usually went through services that helped them find jobs and get in contact with people that would help them settle in. I didn't know this and I thought it was nice that people would go through a lot of trouble to help new immigrants. My book wasn't a really long book but I think some people needed more time to read the required amount of pages each lit circle meeting. The only thing I would add to the LC process is more time to complete the reading part of the assignment. I like blogging for the assignments but I like meeting in person better. I like it better in person because when everybody reads, we have better discussions about what's going on in the book. On the blogs it's hard to talk about things because we aren't talking in person. The only other problem with blogging was that my Internet wasn't working for a lot of the time and it would have been easier if I was filling out a DJ instead of having to get on the Internet. I like the format better of the the blog posts than the DJ though, it was so much better than filling out everything in the DJ.

My novel didn't really focus on the concentration camps that Elli and her mother had to go through. I wanted to make this the main idea in my painting to bring attention to it. I wanted to show them escaping the Czech Republic to come to America for a better life. I've never had to go through something as horrible as they went through, but I've moved around a lot all my life. Each move was made to get my family to someplace better, a bigger house, a better job, whatever was needed. Elli's family is like mine in this way because we both moved to someplace better. I feel like my painting turned out good because to me it tells my thoughts very well. I think that if I had put more detail into painting the barbed wire fence it would have looked better as if I had spent more time on it. I liked reflecting in this way more because it allowed me to be more creative in displaying my thoughts. I liked coming up with a way to show what I was thinking in a way besides writing. I learned to visualize my thoughts and I learned how to make them clearer and easier to understand.

Another part that I liked about this project was the in person interview. I think I liked this part because I knew the person I interviewed so it felt a lot more comfortable talking to her instead of a stranger. It was easy talking about her life and asking her questions. The in person interview was the only one that I actually enjoyed because all the others were somewhat boring. I think that we could have combined the interviews at least into just two because the questions could be put together and still make sense. The things I learned from doing an interview over the phone was that because the person can't see your face, your voice has to express your feelings to show that your excited, curious, or surprised. While doing an interview in person you have to use your voice and your body language to show that you're interested in the person's story. I never did an email interview but I guess you might want to comment on some of their answers instead of just saying thanks or not answering at all.

Talking to someone who had been through the immigration process helped me understand how an immigrant felt coming here and what things effected them. My person didn't really talk about the immigration process but more about adjusting to America. She also immigrated more recently so there wasn't a lot of problems and issues with legal things. Since I know my person very well, I want to put a lot of effort into my gift for her. I think also because we are close she will appreciate my gift more because she knows me. I'm happy I get to give her something in return for taking a long amount of time with me helping me with this project.

Hello, America #6

Quote #1: Elli: "Are you interested in the presidential campaign?"

Significance: It shows how Elli is adjusting to her life in America. By now she's been here a while, and she's becoming very familiar with America. She is involved in the presidential campaign, showing that she is part of the U.S now and she wants to see who will lead her country. She cares about America and wants to be a part of it.

Personal connection: I can connect because I feel like Elli does. When I am new too something, or I don't know much about it, I don't really care for it. Once I get used to it I start to become more involved, like Elli. I care about what is going to happen next, and how I can influence it.

Question #1: Are the presidential candidates in the book actual real ones from the past?

Quote #2: Elli: I want you to be proud of me, Papa!

Significance: This shows how Elli's life was back home. She obviously loved her dad a lot and wanted to come to America because it was her father's dream country. Every thing that she did in America was to help her family and try to make her dad proud. Even though her father's dead, Elli still wants to have the life in America that her father would've wanted her and her mother to have.

Character judgement, Elli's father: Elli's father must have been a very good person for Elli to try as hard she does to make him proud. He seems like he influenced Elli to dream big and work hard. From what Elli and her family have said about her father, she has a lot of his personality in her and it makes her a better person.

Question #2: Did the book ever say her father's name?

Hello, America #5

Quote #1 Elli: "Camp?" I ask, astonished.

Significance: This reminds Elli of how her life was back in her home country. When she was asked to be a counselor at summer camp she thought it meant a concentration camp. It shows how much the concentration camps effected her and her life. Elli doesn't know everything about America, which is why she thought America would actually even have concentration camps.

Personal connection: I can connect because Elli talked about how she felt like an outsider when she went to the summer camp and I felt that way when I first went to summer camp because a lot of other people had been there the summer before and they were all friends.

Question #1: Elli doesn't talk much about what happened in the concentration camps, do you think her experience was bad, or horrifying?

Quote #2, Elli's class: "Open it! Open it!"

Significance: This shows how people treat Elli in America. Her class of 1st graders all love her and gave her a gift at the end of the year. It shows that Elli is well liked by all and she is being welcomed in America. She is adjusting well to her new life.

Personal connection: At the end of 5th grade my class gave our teacher a gift too to show that we'd miss her when we left the school to go on to middle school. We didn't give her bowl
like Elli's class did but we still gave her a gift.
Question: Will Elli see her class again and will they remember her or forget about her?

Hello, America #4

Quote #1 Elli: "I... I didn't know. Where I come from... Czechoslovakia... in Czechoslovakia we hitch rides on the highway all the time."

Significance: This shows what Elli's life was like back in her home country. She learned a lesson in America to not take rides from strangers, something she thought she could do. Back in her home country she could get a ride from anyone without worrying about being in danger. She has to learn that in America you just can't do that.

Personal connection: I can connect to this because everybody has learned something new when they travel to different places. You always find out about things that you can do in your own home that you can't do in other places.

Question: Is Elli going to be as trusting now?

Quote #2: Roberto: "Are you a newcomer in this country?"

Significance: Roberto shows how people have treated Elli. Almost everybody has treated her with kindness and teaches her new things. Roberto seems to be interested a lot in Elli, it showed when he taught her how to play tennis and asked her out on a date. Everybody seems to be interested in Elli and it shows that she's having a good time making her life and getting more comfortable with America.

Character judgement: Roberto seems to be a nice guy. I think he's actually a little scared of Elli when he heard her make that speech because he didn't think she was actually smart. But then he asked her out for another date to talk and he seemed like he was saying goodbye which confused me because he seemed like he was a really interested in Elli,

Question: What happened to Roberto? He seemed really sad when he dropped Elli off...