Handout_under (1).pdf

2/19/2017

UNDER MY INVISIBLE UMBRELLA

Objectives

• Identify the themes of homecoming and identity within the Filipino-American context. • Show a deeper understanding of the personal and social issues the Filipino-Americans face.

By Laurel Fantauzzo, USA

The Author •

Laurel Fantauzzo grew up in California with a Filipina mother and an Italian American father. Her work has appeared in the New York Times, Esquire Philippines, and The Rumpus, among other venues. She has earned grants and residencies from Erasmus, Fulbright, and Hedgebrook. Her nonfiction book THE FIRST IMPULSE explores a love story and a mystery; it is forthcoming from Anvil Publishing in 2016. She teaches at Yale-NUS College and lives between Singapore and Quezon City, Philippines.

• Respond critically to the poem and articulate this response through a Philippine guide for balikbayans.

Activity

• In the essay, the writer observes how she is treated differently because of her whiteness. Complete the activity in the section Navigate on page 156 of the textbook.

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The Question

• How does the essay of Lauren Fantauzzo explore the experiences of reintegration as this relates to the stereotypes on whiteness?

Liminality?

• What does it mean to be Filipino-American? • It is being in between. • This is liminality.

White love?

• It can be roughly defined as the Filipinos’ love affair with the white man. • It began with the American occupation. • It continues up to today:  Long queue at the US embassy  Preference for the English language  Love for basketball  Tremendous hospitality for white foreigners

Searching for roots…

• The essay documents her woes and adventures as she struggles to reintegrate herself in her mother’s homeland while at the same time dealing with the discomfort she feels in her privileged position. • The essay profoundly explores her experience of being a balikbayan in a country she truly calls home but one that consistently reminded her of being different.

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Straight from the author…

This is a personal essay for The Manila Review on how I maneuver race and class privilege in the Philippines. It was very, very uncomfortable to write. As I hesitated and revised and pushed forward, I kept remembering this punch-in-thestomach quote by Peggy McIntosh. I didn’t use this particular quote in my essay, but perhaps I should have: “My schooling gave me no training in seeing myself as an oppressor, as an unfairly advantaged person, or as a participant in a damaged culture. I was taught to see myself as an individual whose moral state depended on her individual moral will.”

Fantauzzo’s theme

• The Filipino-American as a perspective • The concept of liminality • The existence of racial politics as embedded in the Filipino culture – the white love.

Evaluation

• In groups of five, create a brochure that will function as a Philippine guide for balikbayans. Entitled “Five Things A Balikbayan Needs To Do To Fit In”, your guide should highlight the unique Filipino characteristics that one can be proud of. Your output will be graded based on the Rubric on page 158 of the textbook.

Thank You!

For handouts, go to: http://jacs.weebly.com

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