Question

document 1:
ot all of us are gangsters\
i write to you with sorrow in my heart. ten years have passed since i left our village in guangdong to seek fortune in the golden mountain. i remember your hopeful words when i boarded the ship — that through hard work and patience, i might bring honor and prosperity to our family. and for a time, i believed it. i dug tunnels through the sierra nevada for the central pacific railroad, earning one dollar a day and surviving on rice and dried fish. when the railroad was complete, i found work washing clothes and cooking for miners. i never complained, never quarreled, and sent what little i could back home.
but in recent years, everything has changed. the newspapers call us \coolies,\ and mobs shout for us to leave. white men accuse us of stealing their jobs, though they refused to take the work we did. our laundries and homes have been burned, our people beaten and driven from towns like truckee and los angeles. we are forbidden to testify in court, and now congress has passed the chinese exclusion act. for ten years, no chinese laborer may enter this country, and those already here cannot become citizens.
my papers mean nothing. i am treated as a pest, though my hands built the tracks their trains run upon. i wish only to live quietly and earn an honest wage. yet even children mock us in the streets, pulling their eyes to slant them and shouting \chinaman go home!\ i cannot return — i have no home there now — and i am not welcome here.
america promised liberty and equality, but those words do not seem meant for men like me. i wonder if someday, our children or theirs will see a better america — one that judges not by color but by character. until then, i endure in silence and hope that the dream which brought me here has not died entirely.
learning target
→i can analyze the challenges chinese immigrants faced in the early 19th century and evaluate the chinese exclusion act
o: who created this document, and when? what type of document is this?
type here
p: what was the point to this reading? what do you think his goal is?
type here
v: what does this account tell us about the treatment of chinese immigrants?
type here
l: what bias does the author have? whose perspectives are left out? is this source and document reliable and trustworthy?
type here

Explanation:

• O: The document was created by a Chinese immigrant who left Guangdong for the US (referred to as the "Golden Mountain") around the time the Chinese Exclusion Act was relevant (late 19th century). It is a personal letter.
• P: The point of the reading is to share the hardships and unjust treatment Chinese immigrants faced. The goal is likely to express the author's sorrow, frustration, and hope for a more just future, and to make readers understand the immigrant experience.
• V: The account tells us that Chinese immigrants faced discrimination (called names like "coolies"), violence (laundries and homes burned, people beaten), job - related accusations (stealing jobs they were doing while locals refused), legal restrictions (can't testify in court, Chinese Exclusion Act), and social mockery (children mocking in the streets).
• L: The author has a bias in favor of Chinese immigrants, showing their hard - work (built railroads, did menial jobs) and humanity. The perspectives left out might be those of the white Americans who were hostile (their reasons beyond just job - stealing accusations, maybe economic fears, racism ingrained in society). The source (a personal letter) is somewhat reliable as a first - hand account of the author's experiences, but it is one - sided (only the immigrant's view).

Answer:

• O: A Chinese immigrant (likely late 19th century). It is a personal letter.
• P: To share hardships and hopes. Goal: Express emotions and gain understanding.
• V: Discrimination, violence, legal/social restrictions.
• L: Bias for immigrants. Perspectives of hostile whites left out. Source: somewhat reliable (first - hand but one - sided).