“Be as careful at the end as you are at the beginning and you will not ruin things.” (The Daodejing of Laozi, 64, p. 67)…
A world where a long pipe can become a murderous weapon, where each hit sounds like something made of glass has broken, and where coherence is rarely present.…
One of the traumatic experiences throughout Valentino Achak Deng’s journey from Sudan to Kenya is during the period where they are famished and they have to eat the raw meat. In Book 1 Chapter 15, 250 boys including Valentino stopped at a village to get some protection, rest and food. However a group of boys tried to steal food from the villagers and the group was chased out. They continue their journey with the minimum amount of food and supplies. Many of them complain about empty stomach and some are left to die on the roadside. Luckily, some soldiers offers them meat of an elephant. Most of the boys eat the raw meat because they are too hungry to wait for it to cook. In the morning, Deng does not wake up from his sleeping. Valentino feels very sad, so he remains silent for the majority of the journey.…
Finding one’s identity can be a strenuous task, seemingly impossible at times in a world where many people live dependently on others. Joy Kogawa, a proud Japanese Canadian and the author of the award winning novel Obasan and its bestselling sequel Emily Kato (formerly Itsuka), is no stranger to the constant search for identity and individuality that so many people across the globe find themselves struggling to obtain. The reader witnesses her constant strain to develop confidence and to find the courage to voice her opinions to others throughout her two semi-autobiographical novels. Using writing as a gateway to her memories, Kogawa paints vivid illustrations of the ruthless prejudices she…
"I am ashamed at how much time, resources, money, food, stuff, and energy I have wasted over the years, like storing my personal trash and possessions, as if they were more important than God, my family, and the people around me." ~ Jon Barnes…
“Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice and most of all, love of what you are doing.” This quote by Pele, a soccer player regarded as one of the best of all time, describes the determination that it took for Adeline to succeed and overcome her childhood. In the memoir, Chinese Cinderella by Adeline Yen Mah, the author writes about the support from Ye Ye, Aunt Baba, and also rising above her abusive childhood.…
In the book A Separate Piece by John Knowles, A group of teenage boys attend a selective boarding school in New Hampshire called Devon. Throughout the novel, the characters experience the prominent effects of World War II. From rotten apples to the disappearance of maids, the lives of boys at Devon were changing rapidly. Also, because most of the characters were on their way to turning 18, they are faced with the decision of whether to enlist or wait to be drafted.…
Her stepmother struck her hard in the face, her father whipped her multiple times, and her siblings blamed her for their mother’s death. Just wonder she felt, Adeline Yen Mah, with her horrid family, separation from her only loved ones; her aunt and single grandfather, and her genius mind that only her beloved Aunt Baba treasured. As it seems, this depressing novel, Chinese Cinderella, by Adeline Yen Mah, the one who lived through it all, was the most unfortunate girl in all of eastern China.…
He-Shen (和珅), the main character of the play Last Time, This Time, and Next Time…
The narrator in, “The Yellow Wallpaper,” suffers from depression, although her husband, who is a doctor, does not consider it an illness. Therefore, he keeps her on a strict rest cure. She is not allowed to do work of any form, not even care for her baby. All she allowed to do is rest in her room and breath in the air as prescribed by her husband. Because she spends most of her time in her room, she becomes obsessed with the yellow wallpaper in the room and it drives her to insanity. The lack of creative stimulation and relationships with others causes the narrator’s obsession with the yellow wallpaper which leads her to believe she is trapped behind bars in this yellow wallpaper.…
Tan identifies herself with the protagonist of the story sharing with the readers her mixed feelings and her relationship with her mother. After the death of Jing-mei's mother, she went to China with her father to meet her family and her twin sisters. Jing-mei met her family for the first time while arriving to China. Because of the family reunion, Jing-mei's father talks about her mother and the story about how she left her twin sisters behind. He also explained the power she put in to look for the twins, and how she never gave up. Therefore, Jing-mei realizes she is fulfilling her mother's dream; she is meeting up with her sisters after many years. When meeting with her sisters, she finally understands why her mother always said she had Chinese in her. Tan uses photographs as a symbolism, Jing-mei takes pictures of the family and later of her sister making her realize the three of them made her…
Suyuan’s inflated expectations and excessive pressure backfire, contributing to Jing-mei’s failure to achieve what she might have achieved if left to herself. Yet, at the same time, the disastrous piano recital also testifies to the power of Suyuan’s love for Jing-mei, and to her faith in her daughter’s ability. The immense energy that Suyuan devotes to the search for Jing-mei’s “inner prodigy”—cleaning for her piano teacher, saving up for a used piano—demonstrates that her motivations probably lie deeper than the promise of bragging rights at church each Sunday. Many years later, Jing-mei realizes…
The story takes place in china. The setting of this story is very important as it all revolts around the Chinese culture. One as a reader can be able to place oneself in the same situation and experience the feelings that are being presented in this story. The story is being told from a first person point of view. The narrator is Jing-Mei “June May” Woo. She is the 36-year old American born daughter of Suyuan a women who made the big decision which was to abandoned her twins, however she did it for love because at the time she thought she was going to die. June May is the one telling the story. We only know what the narrator thinks. We can only make inferences about the rest of the characters in the story by the way they behave. The narrator embarks an adventurous journey. Along the way she learns many things about her real roots she discovers things that she never knew before.…
Dostoevsky uses the engagement of Dunya and Luzhin to highlight their contrasting personalities and communicate that being devoted and helping others is more fulfilling in the long run than sole interest in personal gain. Avdotya Romanovna Raskolnikov, otherwise known as Dunya, is Raskolnikov’s sister who is extremely loyal to her family and willing to sacrifice a large portion of her own happiness for their sake. She continues to work in the abusive Svidrigailov family in order to send Raskolnikov to school, becoming the gossip of the town when Mr. Svidrigailov’s sexual intentions towards her come to light. Despite the rumors floating around and slandering her reputation, Dunya remains unaffected, finding strength in her knowledge of her own…
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"…