Jan Wong starts out as a naïve, nineteen year old, Canadian student who is displeased with the capitalistic nature of her surroundings. It was the early seventies and to the author, she was experiencing a cultural revolution all her own. Opposition to the Vietnam War was strongly prevalent, the notion of feminism was beginning to arise, and there was a strong desire against conformity of any nature. The author grew up middle class to second generation Chinese citizens and was fueled by bourgeois guilt, and by a feeling of separation from her roots. “Curiosity about my ancestry made me feel ashamed that I couldn’t speak Chinese and knew so little about China” (14). After devouring every morsel of information that she could, she firmly believed Mao and his “comrades” were the only people who had a legit shot at establishing a utopic society. It was official. Jan Wong was going to Beijing.…
After two weeks of reading and , they called me down to the dining room. “What and began telling me about their own struggles in China. To this day, I remember their stories about growing up in a culture in which they were sent to the countryside at 18 years old, a time when most westerners began their college education. Indefinitely assigned to manual labor, my parents worked through harsh conditions:…
7. Leah learns about the traditional Chinese village. Describe its appearance and Jade and Grandfather’s house. (pages 26-27, 30-31, 38)…
He tells us about his struggle on his love life, he cannot bring his wife from china nor marry an American women .Also how the rest of the cultures are treated much nicer than the Chinese.…
Huang Liu‑hung: a later official who wrote more on the district in his manual on local administration; he is important because he included materials that Feng might have considered too bad to put in his public documentation…
In both stories there is an outsider. In the Applewhites it is E.D because she likes being organized and the others do not. In The Sound of music it is Maria because she loves being creative and the rest of the family does not. The outsiders work with the families to change them for the better. Them helping the family does relate to the theme of the story. The theme is: family is forever. The two outsiders love their families so much and want to help them as much as they can. The families accept that and love them no matter what. In Surviving the Applewhites E.D. helps her family get organized and get the play done, and Maria helps the Von Trapps be more creative.…
I think the author use flashback technique in her story. She write some scene which takes the narrative in time from the current point in the story. The readers understand that the author write about Old China, because she describe some traditions. Women in that time have not the rights, the main character could not say her opinion for her husband, father, brothers. Women can only do what the men order them. But in the old China women and men have different rights. Men can command the women, men more dominate at that time. Also, they have choice to study or marry. In addition, them government or parents give a field.…
Within the novel, Uncle Chinh has been portrayed as an epitome of communism. Duong Thu Huong constructed this character as a dependable figure with an unfriendly nature. “He was intoxicated with himself. His satisfaction was that of a creeping parasitic vine.” (Hang, page 26). The author establishes her opinion towards Uncle Chinh’s eagerness for power through the diction within the phrase “intoxicated” and “parasitic vine”, providing her criticism towards his nature. His contribution towards the communist ideologies helped him move towards a higher position in the party, which was linked towards his characterized greedy nature. The moneyless and classless movement of communism is advertised in the hypocrisy of the communist ideology in relation to Uncle Chinh’s actions of greed. His totalitarianism is represented in the way he manipulates his sister, Que. “You realize that you’re sabotaging my authority.” (Huong 32). In order to represent the hypocrisy of Uncle Chinh, Duong Thu Huong promoted the relationship between Uncle Chinh and Que as a relationship similar to an authority figure and a peasant struggling to thrive in the 20th century North Vietnamese communist government. Uncle Chinh’s aggressive tone of voice was a technique used by the Huong to represent his magnitude of dominance over Que, creating their hierarchal relationship. The author’s uses diction by representing Uncle Chinh’s craving for power in the phrase “my authority.” The…
2. The author used a fictitious paragraph, to tell us how she thought it would be to live in common housing in China. She talks of how she would, “ I’d wander into their kitchens in the late afternoon and sit around sipping green tea and chatting in Chinese about their lives.” The author uses this to show, the reader what her ideal situation would be, living with people of a different culture under the same rough. This scenario is not what happened, the other occupants of the home would barely acknowledge the writer, let alone speak to her. This was useful in showing the reader what she wanted her living experience to be. The other ways the writer…
The Song Dynasty did bring about an industrial revolution, due to highly advanced technology in the fields of diverse agriculture, iron-working, and printing. As a result of this industrial revolution, populations increased rapidly as people began to move to the cities because of economic opportunities and the advanced government for its time. The industrial revolution is an “economic development characterized by replacing animal and human power with mechanical power, mass production and the creation of an entrepreneurial and a working class.” These three categories; mass production, entrepreneurship and inanimate power were all actualized during the Song Dynasty. For example the production of iron and steel led to its many uses, “ranging from…
One tragic event in China, which was the Tiananmen square massacre sparked the curiosity of Grace specially for the safety of Chun-mei during that event. For the first time in her life she asked a question to Kevin her adoptive dad about Chun-mei. An example is a scene that happened in the book, ”What about Chun-mei?” I asked. “I’m sure she’s alright,too.” our eyes met briefly. I look away. It was the first time I had said the name Chun-mei without anger. Because of this tragic event, it was the very first time Grace thought about the safety of her mother Chun-mei. It also sparked her interest on what is happening in China even though she hated her cultural heritage when she was a child. A few years have passed, Grace started to learn how to speak and write Mandarin with the help of Mr. Frank. After years of learning she started to appreciate the idea of being able to speak in another language Grace quoted that “Many times, I basked in the sense of superiority it gave me.” (Ting Xing Ye 121). Grace starts to appreciate the beauty and benefit of speaking Mandarin even though she abominated her culture when she was a child. She starts to feel superior of being able to speak Chinese since she is the only person in Milford that can speak it. Grace hated the idea of stereotyping other Asians saying they're all the same and she classifies all of them are different,…
In this story, Wang Lung’s life gives detailed examples of the hardships and struggles of living in a lower social class. Then, as the story progresses, the novel tells of the luxuries and customs of being wealthy. Many people can relate to this novel because it shows what life was a wealthy man and as a poor man. Nowadays, people in third world countries or are just common laborers…
The point of view focuses on the grandmother. The story begins by talking about her background. It is arranged in chronological order. First, the narrator¡¦s granddaughter is introduced and then her family background. The narrator describes herself as ¡§fierce¡¨. Everyone is afraid of her. Her daughter is somewhat like her mom at least she is also ¡§fierce¡¨ because she is a bank vice president, but her granddaughter is wild, not like her daughter or herself. In the grandmother¡¦s opinion, if her granddaughter Sophie does not act like other Chinese girls, she is wild. In other words, the narrator seems to think people coming from a different culture are weird. After that, the narrator talked about her son-in-law. She thought she did not understand him because he could neither find a job nor look after Sophie. Grandmother said,¡¨Plain boiled food, plain boiled thinking. Even his name is plain boiled: John¡¨ (206). At this point, she somewhat despised her son-in-law, John. He is a white person who can speak English. There is no way he can not find a job. Besides, the grandmother always felt the culture gap. ¡§In China, we talk about whether we have difficulty or no difficulty. We talk about whether life is bitter or not bitter. In America, all day long, people talk about creative¡¨ (208). She did not understand why the ex-babysitter let Sophie get naked and run around. Creativity did not mean anything to her. There was no such a word in Chinese. In addition, she told her daughter ¡§We do…
The Tang dynasty is one of the most spectacular dynasties of Imperial China. It saw its founding in 618 by the Li family and knew, thereafter a majestic expansion and an extremely diverse growth and development for almost the rest 200 years. From these developments, the abundance of poetry is particularly distinguishable, as it was an era of intellectual, artistic and literal productivity. Since poetry occupied a paramount position, it was also a reflection of the singular conditions of the Dynasty, the way people lived during that period of time, and most of all the way of thinking and their ideologies philosophies and doctrines. Therefore, those poems highlights the essence of Confucianism and Daoism, two major schools…
Suyuan had to make the hard decision to leave her twin babies on the side of the road in hopes some kind stranger would take them in, that way she would not have to see them die. Suyuan searches for her babies all through her life in America, sending multitudes of letters; they finally get in touch with her two months after she has died. Because her mother is not alive to meet her children, Jing Mei takes her place and the trip enables her to finally recognize her Chinese ancestry. The minute she enters China she "feels different" and can realize that she is "becoming Chinese" (306). At fifteen Jing Mei believed she was only as Chinese as her "Caucasian friends" (306). Yet her mother counters thoughts, telling her: "Once you are born Chinese, you cannot help but feel and think Chinese" (306). Once in China Jing Mei decides her mother was right and she "has never really known what it meant to be Chinese" (307). She has never understood her mother or her heritage. This trip is the connecting link to understanding her life. She begins to feel natural in China, thinking to herself on the train: "I am in China It feels right" (312). Jing Mei sees the landscape, the people, the histories, and the families in China and sees where her mother was speaking from all of those years. She knows a "little percent" of her mother know (15). It becomes "obvious" to Jing Mei to see what "part of [her] is Chinese"; it is "in her family, in her blood"…