Pages from the Past Curriculum Materials -

"Bloomington Rolled up Welcome Mat for Early Chinese Laundrymen"

by Christine Konopasek (English), and Patrick Lawler (Social Studies), Normal Community High School
Materials
“Bloomington Rolled Up Welcome Mat for Early Chinese Laundrymen,” Pantagraph, Aug. 17, 2011.

Primary Documents (for optional activities)
“Excited Chinamen,” Pantagraph, Weekly Leader, Jan. 25, 1894
“A New Feature,” Pantagraph, Aug. 22, 1892
“Our Chinese Schools,” Pantagraph, Sept. 3, 1888
“Little Brown Men,” The Bulletin, Feb. 7, 1883

Supplementary Material:
Chinese Exclusion Act (PDF)
Glossary of Terms :
derogatory – adj. tending to lessen the merit or reputation of a person or thing; disparaging; belittling
malicious – adj – full of, characterized by, or showing malice, spiteful; vicious; wrongful
instigator – n. a person who urges or provokes some action; a person who provokes another
imposition – n. the laying on of something as a burden or obligation; a burdensome task or duty
xenophobic – adj. unreasonable fearful of or hating anyone or anything foreign or strange
revenue – n. the income of a government from taxation or other sources used for payment of public expenses
jabbers – v. to talk or utter rapidly, indistinctly, incoherently, or nonsensically; chatter
endemic – adj.  natural to or characteristic of a specific people or place; native
mirage – n. an optical phenomenon; something illusionary, without substance or reality; an illusion
Procedure
(25 minutes or longer, can be broken into multiple days)
Pre-reading Activity 
Students will begin by analyzing the picture that accompanies the article and are encouraged to make inferences based on what they see.

Focus Activity
After a few minutes are given to analyze and discuss the picture, students will be given 5-7 minutes to read the article and annotate in the margins.  Depending on the ability levels of students (or the class) the “easy read” version of the article with synonyms for challenging words may be used.

Activities (choose any combination)
Activity 1:  Read “Excited Chinamen” and “A New Feature” and compare the different impressions of the Chinese immigrants.  Facilitate discussion, focusing on WHY different beliefs existed.  In “A New Feature” a more negative depiction is presented, and in “Excited Chinamen,” the immigrants are viewed in a better light.

Activity 2: Read “Little Brown Men” and have students annotate for the prejudices/bias within the article. 

Activity 3:  Introduce the concept of assimilation.  Have students brainstorm some modern examples of assimilation in the real world, particularly in schools today.  Give students 5-7 minutes to read the article “Our Chinese Schools” and list the ways that schools encouraged the assimilation of the Chinese.

Activity 4:  Read  “Bloomington Rolled Up Welcome Mat for Early Chinese Laundrymen” (paragraphs 6 and 7).  Using the prompt, in the voice of a Chinese immigrant, write a letter home telling your family about your experiences in America.  Be selective and aware of your audience.  Consider all articles mentioned as background information for this prompt.
Download procedure (PDF)

Materials

Pre-Reading Activity

Analyze the picture below.  Students are encouraged to make inferences based on what they see.

Focus Activity: Bill Kemp's Pantagraph Article
Activity 1:
Read “Excited Chinamen” and “A New Feature” and compare the different impressions of the Chinese immigrants.  Facilitate discussion, focusing on WHY different beliefs existed.  In “A New Feature” a more negative depiction is presented, and in “Excited Chinamen,” the immigrants are viewed in a better light. Use chart to facilitate comparison

Activity 2:

Read “Little Brown Men” and have students annotate for the prejudices/bias within the article

Activity 3

Introduce the concept of assimilation. Have students brainstorm some modern examples of assimilation in the real world, particularly in schools today.  Give students 5-7 minutes to read the article “Our Chinese Schools” and list the ways that schools encouraged the assimilation of the Chinese.

Activity 4

Using the prompt given to the right, write a letter home telling your family about your experiences in America in the voice of a Chinese immigrant. Be selective and aware of your audience. Consider all articles mentioned as background information for this prompt
  • Social Studies link: Can tie to the Chinese experience in America/immigration
  • English link: "When the Emperor Was Divine” - Use the father’s letters home as a discussion point.  Have students work with peers after letters are written and black out all sensitive information, as what would have been done at the time.

Standards:

Illinois State Standards
16.A.5a  Analyze historical and contemporary developments using methods of historical inquiry (pose questions, collect and analyze data, make and support inferences with evidence, report findings).

NCSS (National Council for Social Studies)
Culture & Cultural Diversity (Thematic Standard)
•    have learners interpret patterns of behavior as reflecting values and attitudes, which contribute to or pose obstacles to cross-cultural understanding

Individual Development & Identity (Thematic Standard)
•    help learners to appreciate and describe the influence of cultures, past and present, upon the daily lives of individuals
•    help learners understand how individual perceptions develop, vary, and can lead to conflict
Power, Authority, & Governance (Thematic Standard)
•    challenge learners to apply concepts such as power, role, status, justice, democratic values, and influence to the examination of persistent issues and social problems;

Global Connections (Thematic Standard)
•    help learners to explain conditions and motivations that contribute to conflict, cooperation, and interdependence among groups, societies, and nations
Civic Ideals & Practices (Thematic Standard)
•    facilitate learner efforts to locate, access, analyze, organize, synthesize, evaluate, and apply information about selected public issues—identifying, describing, and evaluating multiple points of view and taking reasoned positions on such issues

Common Core Standards
CCSS.ELA LITERACY.RI.9-10.1
Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.

CCSS.ELA LITERACY.RI.9-10.6
Determine an author’s point of view or purpose in a text and analyze how an author uses rhetoric to advance that point of view or purpose

CCSS ELA LITERACY. RI 9-10.7
Analyze various accounts of a subject told in different mediums, determining which details are emphasized in each account.

CCSS.ELA LITERACY. W.9-10.3
Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, well-chosen details, and well-structured event sequences.

NCHE Vital Themes & Narratives
Patterns of social  & political interaction