Essay 2
Nick Pleva
3-7-11
English 99
Cummins
Compare and contrast
In the essay” The Struggle to Be an All-American Girl” along with the short story Children as enemies, Chinese immigration into the United States is expressed in detail. In the essay “The Struggle to be an All-American Girl,” there is a young girl who comes to America and has to find her place in American society. She has to conform as she becomes older to the Chinese ways of life, which were quite different than the America. On the other hand, Children as enemies demonstrates a family who came to America because they wanted their children to grow up into American culture. The only problem presented was that their grandparents, who lived with them, did not approve at all. Both of these passages tell two different stories, but contain many similarities.
To begin, I would like to express similarities. In both stories they were forced to go through Chinese school in America, something neither of them agreed or took a liking to. In “The Struggle to be an All-American Girl,” the girl had to go to school every day at 5 o’clock. Her mother was very determined to make sure that she knew the language, and most importantly learned the heritage of her native land. In children as enemies story, Matt only had to go to school on weekends, which was way more convenient. Matt never wanted to go saying “I’ve no need for that crap,” but was forced to. His interests were painting, so the only thing he learned about when he went was what he was interested in. The similarity is that both would rather go through traditional American schools, rather the Chinese schools.
Secondly, another parallel in both on the stories was the comparison between the two families. In both families, they were divided in the house between what languages each spoke. For instance, in Wong’s story the girl and her brother spoke English while their parents spoke Chinese. The mother would try repeatedly to speak English, but would continuously
3-7-11
English 99
Cummins
Compare and contrast
In the essay” The Struggle to Be an All-American Girl” along with the short story Children as enemies, Chinese immigration into the United States is expressed in detail. In the essay “The Struggle to be an All-American Girl,” there is a young girl who comes to America and has to find her place in American society. She has to conform as she becomes older to the Chinese ways of life, which were quite different than the America. On the other hand, Children as enemies demonstrates a family who came to America because they wanted their children to grow up into American culture. The only problem presented was that their grandparents, who lived with them, did not approve at all. Both of these passages tell two different stories, but contain many similarities.
To begin, I would like to express similarities. In both stories they were forced to go through Chinese school in America, something neither of them agreed or took a liking to. In “The Struggle to be an All-American Girl,” the girl had to go to school every day at 5 o’clock. Her mother was very determined to make sure that she knew the language, and most importantly learned the heritage of her native land. In children as enemies story, Matt only had to go to school on weekends, which was way more convenient. Matt never wanted to go saying “I’ve no need for that crap,” but was forced to. His interests were painting, so the only thing he learned about when he went was what he was interested in. The similarity is that both would rather go through traditional American schools, rather the Chinese schools.
Secondly, another parallel in both on the stories was the comparison between the two families. In both families, they were divided in the house between what languages each spoke. For instance, in Wong’s story the girl and her brother spoke English while their parents spoke Chinese. The mother would try repeatedly to speak English, but would continuously