"Carved in Silence"

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that the documentary film, "Carved in Silence," indicates how poorly America treated Chinese immigrants and how desperately these people wanted to live and work in America. The author points out that the film uses interviews of survivors of Angel Island, workers on the island, and modern-day reenactments to depict the plight of the Chinese immigrants who were forced to stay on Angel Island until their immigration papers were either approved or disapproved. The paper stresses the immeasurable historical value of this documentary, which should be a part of every American history class, because today Angel Island is a California State Park, and most visitors have no idea what really happened there.

From the Paper:

"The documentary is short, only 45 minutes or so, but it presents a vast amount of information in that short time. The interviews of people who stayed on Angel Island are quite compelling, but the documentary also uses modern day footage as historic recreations of what life was like on the island, from what the detainees ate, to how they wiled away the long, isolated hours. Some played games, some read, and some wrote poetry, which they carved into the wooden walls of the stark barracks. Many of these poems, "carved in silence," remain in the barracks today, and there is a concerted effort to save them for posterity and for Angel Island visitors to understand and view. The documentary ends with a review of what happened to immigrants after the Exclusion Act was lifted by Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1942, and how Chinese still distrust Americans because of these early practices."

More papers on "Carved in Silence":

• Film Review # 65366 : "Film Adaptation: Identity in "Silence of the Lambs"
• Essay # 70293 : "Silence in Counseling"
• Essay # 74268 : "Silence and Religion"

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