Hyphenated American Position Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Hyphenated American Position Paper - Essay ExampleIn this way, the Irish-American has found a hyphenated identity through reply to American perceptions of his (or her) Irishness. The grim nature of nineteenth- and early twentieth-century perceptions of Irish-Americans can be examined through a look at Nasts 1871 cartoon, reproduced below Two particular signifiers of Irish-American stereotype be present in this picture. The character holds a bottle in one hand and a gun in the other. The bottle signifies Irish drunkenness, and the gun, violence. These stereotypes are so strongly ingrained that even a Korean-born man like myself can look at these signifiers and interpret them in the way intended by the artist. Further, the theme on the bottle - Gun Powder, Uncle Sams - signifies that the Irish-Americans support their less than respectable habits with the resources of their new land. Nast also addressed Irish females in a series of cartoons about a servant named Brigid. The actual car toons are difficult to locate, but a description can be found of her in Bronwen Walters Outsiders Inside as a unhandy Irish maid. (63) These characteristics were among Americas first popular perceptions of the Irish-American. The Irish-American had much to contend with in building an identity. ... The narrator of the song applies for a job and is told, No Irish need apply, and the pursual occurs I couldnt stand it longer, so a hoult sic of him I took, And I gave him such a welting as hed get at Donnybrook. He hollered, Millia murther, and to get away did try, And swore hed never write again, No Irish need apply. He made a big apology, I bid him thin sic good-bye, Saying Whin sic next you neediness a bating sic write, No Irish need apply. (Poole, 1862) In this stanza, the narrator reclaims ownership of the violence stereotype, but turns it into an expression of pride. The final line signifies the narrators willingness to stand up for his identity. In reclaiming this identity, he al so reclaims the stereotype of the Irish-American as violent. He seems to intend an act of physical violence to be read as strength and pride alternatively of the byproduct of laziness associated with the trait in the Nast cartoons. This reclaiming continued long past the 1860s. Over a century later, Irish author Frank McCourt responded to these cartoons in his 1997 melodious The Irish and How They Got That Way. His responses are not verbal but theatrical, as his actors perform Brigid jokes WOMAN 1Mrs. Van Wick said to Brigid, Look at the dust on this sideboard I can write my name in it WOMAN 2 Lord above, Missus, isnt it a great thing to have an education (McCourt, 1997) In performance, as viewable on the original cast recording, the actress portraying the mistress speaks in a high-class accent. The actress portraying Brigid, by contrast, speaks in a alto brogue and rolls her eyes at the punchline. This action serves as a commentary on the ridiculousness of the joke