Consider Yellow Birds (John Rollin Ridge) 1954 dime novel The Life and Adventures of Joaqun Murieta
and make an argument about how it reveals the role of culture in empire building. How does the
novel encourage or challenge what Said calls the idea of having an empire (11)? Imagine how a
reader in 1854 might have encountered it, how the novel might have guided the readers thinking
about the new state of California and different peoples claims to it. You might consider how Yellow
Bird addresses the MexicanAmerican war, law and crime, race, the hero and the antihero, the gold
rush, or other themes. Support your argument using evidence from the novel, two additional
readings from class, and at least two scholarly or archival sources of your own finding.

I HAVE ATTACHED THE TWO READING FROM CLASS, THEN YOU HAVE TO FIND TWO SCHOLARLY ARTICLES AS WELL.