Lara Bazzi

HON 1000
James Buccellato
8 December 2014

Essay 2 Evaluative Statement

For this essay, students were asked to write a narrative essay about a character that
immigrated to an American city. Given a certain time period, evidence had to be found that
would back up the characters story. This included documents such as the Ford Manual, Detroit
Free Press articles, and qualified books. In the end, the character had to have a certain goal in
mind that would determine either his/her success or failure. I told the story of Farah, a young girl
who is left in charge of taking care of her sick mother after her father passes away. In search of a
better life for herself and her mother, Farah sets on a journey to Detroit, Michigan with the help
of her uncle. When she arrives, she finds a job at a Laundromat and is able to help her sick
mother. Farahs story is one of partial assimilation and depicts the troubles immigrants had in
adjusting to an all new city with a whole different culture. When asked to choose a specific
ethnicity to write about, I chose to write about Lebanese Americans because I am Lebanese
American myself. When I was six years old, I immigrated here to Dearborn, Michigan with my
mother in 2002. This story personally connects to me because I have experienced the troubles of
immigration and adjusting to the American society.
Through this essay, I was able to learn more about Detroit during this time period and the
wave of immigrants it received. Many of them moved here to earn a job at the Henry Ford
automobile factory. Women, however, were not able to work there until later in the 20th century.
Therefore, many women resorted to lower paying jobs such as the Laundromat or any jobs
dealing with sewing, cleaning, and housekeeping. The fact that women were still not able to

Lara Bazzi
HON 1000
James Buccellato
8 December 2014

work in large factories at the time highlights the discrimination that was still evident during this
time period. Women were, and still are, looked upon as inferior to the male race which results in
lower job wages as well as social discrimination. In addition, I was able to see just how much
economic benefits the city received from the arrival of immigrants. All these jobs entering the
cities, and especially Detroit, resulted in economic prosperity. Immigrants, however, suffered
through living, working, and social conditions since they were also discriminated against.
I chose to include this essay in my portfolio because of the high quality of research done.
This was not a narrative essay in which the student could just throw a story together and write it
out. Instead, students were required to have a certain number of sources in order to back up their
characters story. As seen in the essay above, the works cited page is a mixture of different
sources that contribute to my characters journey. For example, to address Farahs job, I searched
for job ads in the Detroit Free Press and found one for the Laundromat. Another reason I chose
this essay was my personal relationship to the story of immigration. This helped me to connect to
the story and produce a high quality essay in the end.
This story not only taught me more about the Lebanese American society, it also
showed me the struggles of ongoing discrimination. Even after all these years, racial differences
still continue to stir trouble for anyone who just looks different. This motivates me, as an Arab
American woman, to finish school and earn my degree in pharmacy. Racism should not get in
the way of our dreams as we strive for the goal of complete assimilation.