Covintree is a graduate of Randolph-Macon Women's College with a degree in English. In this essay, Covintree discusses the immigrant experience as expressed through Yezierska's short story.

First published in 1922, Anzia Yezierska's short story "America and I" touches on many of the issues and themes common in all her work, including the struggle of the immigrant to be a part of the promise of America. This is the story of a young female narrator who comes to America with a dream and a desire to make something of herself. She has many expectations of what she will be able to become when she arrives, but instead she is immediately introduced to the base reality of America and its treatment of the immigrant community. This is a story of the struggle of assimilation, of the challenges faced by an outsider trying to become part of the mainstream culture...