The Struggle for Communication in Gish Jen’s “Who’s Irish” Gish Jen’s “Who’s Irish?” tells the story of a Chinese immigrant grandmother who has a hard time adjusting to life in America. The story primarily focuses on the difficulties in communication between family relationships. The different lifestyle her daughter’s family lives is quite different from the household she raised in China. Throughout the story‚ the narrator voices her opinion on different morals and values her daughter’s family
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Sachi Shah Who’s Right? Me or Mom Gish Jen’s “Who’s Irish?” shows a cultural and generational gap between the narrator and her daughter. Each culture is different around the world‚ and poses some differences‚ yet are similar in many ways. People‚ around the world‚ live as the way they should according to their societies. What is the definition of family in this day and age? A group who are blood related. Family is a set of individuals who take care of each other‚ and live under one roof. Jen
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By Sandy English 19 January 2000 Who’s Irish? ‚ by Gish Jen‚ Alfred A. Knopf‚ New York‚ 1999‚ 208 pp.‚ $22.00 Gish Jen has published two well-received novels‚ Typical American (1992) and Mona in the Promised Land (1997)‚ both of which deal with the entry of Chinese immigrants or their families into American life. Who’s Irish? is her first book of short stories. It deals with much the same material‚ and the quality of the eight stories is uneven; two are quite satisfying‚ the rest less so. “Birthmates”
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Assimilation: Gish Jen Assimilation is defined as people of different backgrounds coming to see themselves as part of a larger national family. Vast numbers of people from all over the world migrate to America to seek opportunity and happiness in a new nation. The immigrants often come with few possessions‚ little money‚ and a lack of basic knowledge of the language and culture. But these crafty humans manage to pave their way and thrive in their new environment. The mother from the short narrative
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In Gish Shen’s short story‚ “Who’s Irish?”‚ the author uses characterization to show how the narrator of the story‚ a hardworking and traditional Chinese grandmother‚ encounters many troubles due to her strong Chinese traditions that are incompatible with American traditions. It is traditional in Chinese culture to be hardworking and motivated. The grandmother in this short story overcame an unbelievably difficult obstacle: “When I came to this country‚ I have no money and do not speak English
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Summary The story “Who’s Irish” by Gish Jen is a short story about an elderly Chinese grandmother living with her daughters family in America‚ trying to help raise their child Sophia. She struggles watching Sophie grow up in a culture so distant from the way she raised her daughter‚ and even further from how she was raised herself. She does not fit into the western culture‚ and seems to find flaws and lack of moral everywhere‚ especially in her daughter’s husband John‚ who is between jobs and seem
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the car. Gish Jen’s father left China for the United States to work on a project preparing for a hypothetical invasion of the Chinese mainland in 1945. The new Chinese Communist government prohibited him from returning. Jen grew up in Yonkers‚ New York and was born in 1955. They were the only Chinese family in the area. Children would often taunt Gish and her family. They then moved to Scarsdale. “Jen acquired the nickname ‘Gish‚’ which became the basis of her pen name‚ Gish Jen‚ while
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“Who’s Irish” by Gish Jen is a short story about a Chinese grandmother living in America. The grandmother lives with her granddaughter Sophie‚ her daughter Natalie‚ and her unemployed‚ Irish son-in-law John. She describes Sophie as “wild (105)”‚ and blames her Irish side. She claims: “She is not like any Chinese girl I ever saw (106)”. The grandmother babysits Sophie during the day and believes she should be spanked‚ even though Natalie and John oppose it. Sophie continues to misbehave and the
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The Irish emigrated from Ireland to America at two separate times‚ during the 1700’s and again in the 1800’s. During the 1700’s the Irish that emigrated were the Ulster Irish‚ these were mostly Protestant and mostly from the northern part of Ireland. This group of Irish was originally from Scotland which was under English rule. In 1533 when Henry VIII separated from the Catholic Church‚ he enacted penal laws - laws directed against Catholics. Catholic owned land was seized and given to the English
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Since their development in the 1920’s‚ character tests have aided in the process of determining whether or not individuals are well suited for particular jobs. Today‚ the tests are divided into four distinct categories: personality‚ interests‚ skills‚ and values. Upon examination‚ a composite score of these tests revealed my character is best suited for a career in biological studies‚ as determined by the top twenty career choices provided by My Plan. These included titles such as Animal Scientist
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