Summary Of What Kind Of Asian Are You
Alex Dang
“What Kind Of Asian Are You”
The theme of this poem is not only about Asians/being Asian, but also the idea of stereotypicality, the way people are judged based solely on their appearance, background, religion and culture, and the things they like/dislike. The poet describes how, as an Asian, he is expected to be the most Asian-like things such as a math genius, even though he may not necessarily be that way. The poem goes on to talk about the things that are implied, rather than said, like when the poet describes the use of the word “chink”. This poem uses onomatopoeias, like the words “chink” and “zip”. Metaphors are also used, like when he says “the boys who looked like me on TV were the broken words of my mother and father stage-diving off of my tongue”. The same line, “the boys who looked like me on TV were the broken words of my mother and …show more content…
In society I feel like we are quite judgemental, and most of our judgement is first based off of appearances, which race obviously plays a big part of. Easy example would be the ones in the poem, like kung fu expert, chink, and zipperhead. When he began to describe “all the things you don't want to hear”, it felt to me like he was sort of throwing the insults back at whoever said them. I really liked when he illustrated all the meanings and feelings behind the insults, like when he talks about where the word chink comes from and also when he says “every time you confuse me with some other nationality I might share similar features to, it’s stripping away my individuality”. I really liked the ending as well because not only does it end on a note that leaves the audience stunned, but also when he lists all the different things he feels (“I still feel Chinese/Vietnamese/American”) because it shows how there's always more to a person than only what they appear to be
“What Kind Of Asian Are You”
The theme of this poem is not only about Asians/being Asian, but also the idea of stereotypicality, the way people are judged based solely on their appearance, background, religion and culture, and the things they like/dislike. The poet describes how, as an Asian, he is expected to be the most Asian-like things such as a math genius, even though he may not necessarily be that way. The poem goes on to talk about the things that are implied, rather than said, like when the poet describes the use of the word “chink”. This poem uses onomatopoeias, like the words “chink” and “zip”. Metaphors are also used, like when he says “the boys who looked like me on TV were the broken words of my mother and father stage-diving off of my tongue”. The same line, “the boys who looked like me on TV were the broken words of my mother and …show more content…
In society I feel like we are quite judgemental, and most of our judgement is first based off of appearances, which race obviously plays a big part of. Easy example would be the ones in the poem, like kung fu expert, chink, and zipperhead. When he began to describe “all the things you don't want to hear”, it felt to me like he was sort of throwing the insults back at whoever said them. I really liked when he illustrated all the meanings and feelings behind the insults, like when he talks about where the word chink comes from and also when he says “every time you confuse me with some other nationality I might share similar features to, it’s stripping away my individuality”. I really liked the ending as well because not only does it end on a note that leaves the audience stunned, but also when he lists all the different things he feels (“I still feel Chinese/Vietnamese/American”) because it shows how there's always more to a person than only what they appear to be