For my engaging literature project, I attended the Pacific Ancient and Modern Language Association Conference. The conference was held at the Riverside Convention Center in downtown Riverside. The conference was well organized and catered to many different interests. There were many unique topics to choose from at every session.
The session that I chose to attend was on American Literature after 1865 I because I thought it would complement the literature that is discussed in Children’s Literature. There were three different speakers in this session. Daniel was examining the theme of counterfeit in American literature. Mary focused on the theme of realism in politics found in American Literature. Much of her research highlighted the Mugwump political activists. Eloise, the third speaker, studied racialization for her project. Eloise used the text of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain to look at racialization in American Literature. Eloise’s topic was very interesting to me because she focused a lot on children and post Civil War transracial adoption. She introduced the idea that foreign children coming to America are made to “become white”. She argued that whiteness could be determined by an individual’s color, property, and civilization.
The mediator of the session opened up the floor for discussion and questions after the speakers finished presenting their topics. During this time many people asked questions that encouraged the speakers to research different sources and events that related to their topics. I have never attended anything like the PAMLA Conference prior to this weekend. I enjoyed listening to the speaker’s arguments and thoughts about different themes in American literature.
The session that I chose to attend was on American Literature after 1865 I because I thought it would complement the literature that is discussed in Children’s Literature. There were three different speakers in this session. Daniel was examining the theme of counterfeit in American literature. Mary focused on the theme of realism in politics found in American Literature. Much of her research highlighted the Mugwump political activists. Eloise, the third speaker, studied racialization for her project. Eloise used the text of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain to look at racialization in American Literature. Eloise’s topic was very interesting to me because she focused a lot on children and post Civil War transracial adoption. She introduced the idea that foreign children coming to America are made to “become white”. She argued that whiteness could be determined by an individual’s color, property, and civilization.
The mediator of the session opened up the floor for discussion and questions after the speakers finished presenting their topics. During this time many people asked questions that encouraged the speakers to research different sources and events that related to their topics. I have never attended anything like the PAMLA Conference prior to this weekend. I enjoyed listening to the speaker’s arguments and thoughts about different themes in American literature.