Over the years, many people have been under the impression that the
             "America" of the twentieth century was a haven for "the tired" of the
             world. Indeed, many have accepted the historical propaganda surrounding
             the myth of Ellis Island, the old "cosmopolitan" New York, and the "simpler
             days" of life for those fresh off the boat.
             Unfortunately the actual lives of those "fortunate" enough to cross the
             ocean in hopes of making new lives on American shores was quite
             differentâ€"especially for European immigrants as a whole, and Jewish
             immigrants in specificâ€"a fact that the writer Anzia Yezierska demonstrates
             There is quite a bit of controversy surrounding the writing of
             twentieth century Anzia Yezierska. Although today, many consider Yezierska
             to be one of the greatest immigrant-genre writers of the twentieth century,
             many in previous years considered most of the merit of her work to be of
             historical, rather than literary value. Indeed, many critics have flatly
             stated that her writing was "not very good," (Ebest) a statement that, even
             her supporters echo, "Yezierska's partisans have responded by seeing her
             stories as fictionalized memoirs and by extolling her ability to document
             the immigrant woman's experience." (Ebest)
             Of course, the danger in using Yezierska's texts as "historical
             material" is significantâ€"after all, her daughter characterized her mother
             as being "incapable of telling the plain truth." (Henricksen, 255).
             Therefore, it is absolutely essential to keep in mind the "fiction" of the
             storyline, while absorbing the historical and social "essence" of the
             immigrant experience as communicated in Yezierska's writing.
             Mary Dearborn wrote of Yezierska in her work, Anzia Yezierska and the
             Making of an Ethnic American Self, "As a writer, Yezierska believed "her
             mission was to mediate between her culture and...