Paper 2 Rough Draft

Okay so here is my draft. It's more of an in depth outline really, I find it easier to get my thoughts down this way and edit this until I'm pretty comfortable with it then I turn it into a flowing piece and purely focus on language edits etc.

Note I am answering question 2.

My questions for you are: Am I stretching too much? Sara really wants material goods but even when she does have them (ex: scene at the freshman dance) she is not accepted. Can I argue that Sara was special and bypassed the material stage or that she combined the two stages (material acceptance followed by intellectual acceptance?) Any other ideas/points I can make?

Thanks,
Adam

I. Introduction:
• Turn to the 20th century brought with it the desire for material goods
• Whether or not you had the opportunity to be accepted depended on wealth
• The demands of native-born white American society required acceptable appearance, “proper values” and intelligence
o Immigrants arrived having none of this and only when each requirement was carefully fulfilled was the immigrant accepted into white America
• In order to have new representation for all newly arrived immigrants many had to blaze the trail.
• New representation required: acceptance by white America through possession of material goods and only then could that individual prove himself/his people mentally
Thesis: In order to change representations of newly-arrived immigrants many tenured immigrants had to assimilate themselves into white-American society using a two step approach: first gain physical acceptance based on outward appearance and possessions and follow with intellectual stimulation
(The point I am trying to make but can’t seem to find the right wording: new immigrants as a whole could not be accepted until a significant number of individuals proved themselves “worthy” in white-American society. In order to do this an immigrant must first assimilate himself through material goods such as clothing, makeup, jewelry, furniture, etc. Only then will white-Americans give that individual the opportunity to prove himself intellectually)
II. Body:
Paragraph A: American society changes to one that strongly values material wealth which is evident through appearance.
o Piess: New production of cosmetics p372
o Piess: Built a national consumption base by “convinc[ing] women that being ‘painted’ was not only respectable but a requirement of womanhood. “ p373
o Men had to be well groomed, in fancy clothing
o Success: “by 1900 the use of face powerder seems to have become more common among urban middle-class women. . . even the subtle application of rouge an d eyebrow pencil, if concealed wasd deemed acceptable” p373
• Make the point that urban middle class was the primary goal of all immigrants even if a more extreme goal was reached urban middle class is part of the path of “rags to riches” therefore styles of urban middle class filter through immigrant communities and individuals trying to assimilate.

Paragraph B: Immigrants seen as “the other” (Barthes) and therefore pushed aside and ignored (I will argue that Barthes does not believe that “the other” does physically exist but rather their lack of existence falls in the “out of sight out of mind” realm of non-existence)
o Results in discrimination/excommunication of immigrants through un-required yet intentional separation between white-America and new-America
o This excommunication elevates white-America to the level where it has the ability to either take-in or further push away Immigrants
o Citable Evidence: Introduction, Foreward and early chapters of Yezierska’s “Bread Givers”
• Point that the Smolinsky’s community is identical to all other immigrant communities; it is a literal relocation of a (in this case) Russian village

Paragraph C: Breaking free of this “ghetto” first requires an entrance into a society of consumption and material wealth.
o No one in white-America needs/wants to associate/work with someone who looks/acts like an immigrant
o Include description of “immigrant” stereotype (Chapter 1, Yezierska description of clothing/apartment p6.
o Immigrant’s desire to assimilate can be helped by the beauty culture (material goods): Piess: “Beauty culture promised self-transformation that was both internal and external, an idea that resonated powerfully in American middle-class culture” p375

(Expendable?)Paragraph D: Beauty culture valued skin complexion as opposed to bone structure or physical features,
o this allowed immigrants one of their only short cuts, light creams and powders would make their complexion acceptable, there was little to no discussion of the differences in their physical features.
o Masha with powders and make up
o Sara, first make up purchase, to fit in with girls at her job/when she becomes a teacher.
Paragraph E: Slowly those immigrants who gave into the beauty/material culture became respected enough by white-America so that the individual could begin to prove himself through intellect.
Rest of Essay:
o Sara gains enough respect from her appearance by her classmates and is then given the opportunity to prove herself intellectually, her mother knows she’s made it just by her appearance when she comes to visit after college.
o Material goods very important to sara (her own space end of book 2)