Twenty Years at Hull-House
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
• Jane Addams was a pioneer during the Progressive Era. She as a settlement social worker,
author, and leader in the women suffrage movement.
• She helped turn America to issues of concern to mothers, such as the needs of children, local
public health, and world peace. She said that if women were to be responsible for cleaning
up their communities and making them better places to live, they needed to be able to vote
to do so effectively. Addams became a role model for middle-class women who volunteered
to uplift their communities.
• Hull House became, at its inception in 1889, "a community of university women" whose main
purpose was to provide social and educational opportunities for working class immigrants.
The Hull house held classes in literature, history, domestic activities, and many other
activities.
• Settlement Houses hoped to get rich and poor members of a society working together and
interacting as an interdependent community.
• In 1892, Addams published her thoughts on what has been described as "the three R's" of
the settlement house movement: residence, research, and reform. These involved "[c]lose
cooperation with the neighborhood people, scientific study of the causes of poverty and
dependence, communication of [these] facts to the public, and persistent pressure for
[legislative and social] reform…”
“Problems of Poverty” and “Immigrants and Their Children”
• Who are the settlement house workers? Who volunteers time and
money?
• List similarities between “Problems of Poverty” and The Jungle.
Consider what issues present themselves in both texts. Cite specific
examples.
• Compare and contrast the author’s tone in “Problems of Poverty” and
“Immigrants and Their Children.” Is the language formal or informal?
How do the examples or stories influence our understanding of the
tone? What stands out?
• What modern programs remind you of Settlement Houses or Hull
House? What programs did our government implement to deal with
issues of poverty or class distinction on a larger scale?
• What problems can you identify in terms of the settlement workers
beliefs or actions? How/Why were these individuals criticized?
English 2307: Week Five
*Tuesday
Mrs. Spring Fragrance: “Introduction” and “Mrs.
Spring Fragrance” to “The Inferior Woman”
(Pages 17-41)
ESSAY 1 REVISION
Revision:
• What final questions do you have about the paper?
• Take five minutes to read through your paper. You can pick
any section you like. Feel free to make corrections directly on
the page.
•
•
•
•
•
Check your spelling
Did you Underline or Italicize The Jungle?
Did you provide proper intext citation? (Sinclair 43-44).
Fix or rewrite confusing sentences.
Analyze quotes or ideas into more detail
• Blackboard submission Instructions were sent out via email.
Where there any problems? *Watch BB demonstration.
Mrs. Spring Fragrance and
Other Writings
• Author: Sui Sin Far (Edith Maude Eaton)
• Far’s work is considered the first expression of the Chinese experience in the United
States and Canada and the first fiction in English by an Asian North American
• Sui Sin Far was “one of the first to speak for Asian American sensibility that was
neither Asian nor white American”
• Read excerpt from page 6 aloud
Background:
• Born in England in 1865
• Chinese mother and English father gave her a great insight into the global struggle
during this time. The parent’s interracial relationship was taboo during this time.
• In 1872, the family migrated to North America to New York and then Montreal, a
city in Quebec, Canada
Publishing Information:
•
•
•
Mrs. Spring Fragrance had a modest initial run of twenty-five hundred copies in 1912
It was not reprinted
The original edition was divided into two sections: “Mrs. Spring Fragrance” and “Tales of
Chinese Children”
Key Terms
1.
Eurasian: A Eurasian is a person of mixed Asian and European ancestry.
2.
Chinese Exclusion Act: The Chinese Exclusion Act was a United States federal
law signed by President Chester A. Arthur on May 6, 1882. It was one of the
most significant restrictions on free immigration in US history, prohibiting all
immigration of Chinese laborers. Furthermore, The Exclusion Act barred almost
all Chinese individuals from entering this country. It was the first time that the
U.S. had ever barred a group on the basis of race or nationality. It was succeeded
by additional laws, each draconian in its restrictions. Together, they meant that
many Chinese and Chinese Americans could not have families in America because
their wives and children were prohibited from entering the country.
3.
“Yellow Peril”: Yellow Peril was a color metaphor for race, namely the theory
that East Asian peoples—Chinese and Japanese—were a mortal danger to the
rest of the world. There was an emphasis on the number of Asian people
versus the rest of the world, especially with immigration and migration.
Key Terms
1.
China Town: A Chinatown is historically any ethnic enclave of Chinese or Han
people outside China and Taiwan. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist
throughout the world, including the Americas, Europe, Africa, Australasia and
Asia.
2.
Bachelor Societies: The so-called bachelor society was made up of men who
were bachelors only in the sense that they were here, because of the laws, by
themselves. They all had wives and children in China who could not join them
here. This lasted well into the early '60s. As late as the '70s, you still could find
the old Toishan uncles who were still living in little apartments, some of them
six or seven in an apartment where they had been for 20, 30 or 40 years from
the days when they first came over-and, trapped by time.
3.
Miscegenation: marriage or cohabitation between two people from different
racial groups; sexual relations between two people from different racial
backgrounds that results in the conception of a mixed-race child
How Should We Read Far’s
Style, Theme, and Content?
• What are your initial impressions of the book?
• Style:
• If you read Far too literally, you miss the irony, subtle nuances,
humor, and exaggeration of the author’s faults
• Themes and Content:
*Many themes Sui Sin Far’s writing introduced a hundred years
ago continue to be relevant today.
• Need for interracial understanding and self-affirmation. Can you
give me an example from the text?
• Balancing of individual and community needs
• Clash between tradition and change in the immigration experience.
Look at pages 17-28? How does this idea come up?
• “Between-worlds” plight of the racially or culturally mixed person.
Where do we see this idea developed?
“Mrs. Spring Fragrance”
Discussion
• Narration: Who tells us the story? What is the POV of the story? Is this
effective? Or not?
• Irony: A literary technique of indicating, as through character or plot
development, an intention or attitude opposite to that which is
actually stated. The difference between appearance and reality.
• Dramatic Irony: A situation in which a reader knows more than the
speakers or characters about either the outcome of events or a
discrepancy between a meaning intended by a speaker and that
recognized by the reader. Look at page 17 & 18-19.
• Humor: The quality of a literary or informative work that makes the
character and/or situations seem funny, amusing, or ludicrous. Look at
page 28.
• Exaggeration or Hyperbole: A figure of speech in which something is
stated more strongly than is logically warranted. Look at page 21.
HOMEWORK DUE THURSDAY
READING:
• Mrs. Spring Fragrance: “The Wisdom of the New” to
“Her Chinese Husband” (Pages 42-83)
WRITING:
• HQ7
• This homework will be different depending on your
grouping. Make sure that you read through
instructions and complete the homework assigned to
you.
English 2307: Week Five
*Thursday
Mrs. Spring Fragrance: “The Wisdom of
the New” to “Her Chinese Husband”
(Pages 42-83)
Homework Due Today
• Choose one of the following themes and discuss the idea in
relation to the story you were assigned. You might want to
consider the following questions: How does the theme impact the
setting, characters, or plot? Does the theme negatively or
positively impact the actions of the characters? You should pull out
direct moments or quotes from the text to help support your
argument. You can also discuss how Far’s use of humor, dramatic
irony, and exaggeration develop these themes.
1.
2.
3.
4.
Need for interracial understanding and self-affirmation.
Balancing of individual and community needs
Clash between tradition and change in the immigration experience.
Caught “Between-worlds” plight of the racially or culturally mixed
person.
CHINESE CARTOONS
Group Work Instructions
Divide into the following groups:
Group 1: Sergio, Ali, Phillip, and AJ
Group 2: Dominique, Kaylin, and Hayley B.
Group 3: Michael, Koseh, Ashley, and Dylan
Group 4: Haley H., Abigail, and Raelyn
Group 5: Bilal, Dee, and Randy
Group 6: Clayton, Eleazar, Taylor M., and MacKenzie
Group 7: Andrew, Joan, Lindsay, and Liz
Group 8: Drew, Abby, and Taylor W.
**Consider the following questions as a group. Everyone should be talking
and sharing answers. The individual in red should record answers for the
group on a separate piece of paper.
Small Group Discussion
Consider the following questions
as a group. Record your answers:
Need for interracial
1. Describe the main characters
understanding and selfin the story. What
characteristics make them
affirmation.
unique?
Balancing of individual and 2. What happened in the story?
community needs
Create a BRIEF timeline.
3. Take turns sharing the themes
Clash between tradition
you discussed in HQ7.
and change in the
Highlight your most important
point or idea. Share this aloud.
immigration experience.
Don’t write this down.
Caught “Between-worlds”
4. As a group, decide what
plight of the racially or
theme was most important to
your story. Provide a short
culturally mixed person.
explanation.
Common Themes:
•
•
•
•
Large Group Discussion
1. “It’s Wavering Image” (Page 61-66)
• What happened in the story?
• According to the group consensus, what was the most
important theme from the story?
2. “The Story of One White Woman Who Married a
Chinese” (66-77)
• What happened in the story?
• According to the group consensus, what was the most
important theme from the story?
3. “Her Chinese Husband” (78-81)
• What happened in the story?
• According to the group consensus, what was the most
important theme from the story?
“Wisdom of the New”
*(Page 42-61)
1. Describe the relationship between Wou Sankwei,
Mrs. Dean, and Adah Charlton.
2. Describe their relationship from Pau Lin’s
perspective. How/Why is her perspective skewed?
3. Where does the relationship between the white
women and Pau Lin “go wrong?” Pick a moment.
4. What does “Wisdom of the New” mean to Mrs.
Dean, Adah Charlton, and Wou Sankwei?
5. What does “Wisdom of the New” mean to Pau Lin?
6. Why does Pau Lin commit filicide? How should we
understand or comprehend this act?
HOMEWORK DUE TUESDAY
READING:
•Mrs. Spring Fragrance: “The
Americanizing of Pau Tsu” to “The
Sing Song Woman” (Pages 83-128);
RWAL Chapter 8
WRITING:
•HQ8