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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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 in
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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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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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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 presents a story of
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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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Jen’s “Who’s Irish?” Jen’s who’s Irish is a story of a Chinese family in America narrated by a sixty eight year old Chinese Immigrant Meanie. Speaking in “broken English” the grandmother is keen to narrate the events surrounding her daughter Natalie‚ her granddaughter‚ Sophie‚ and her son-in-law John who is also Irish. She does not agree with the American way of raising kids and wishes she could discipline Sophie the way a proper Chinese girl should be raised. The main focus is on how a woman’s granddaughter
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From this week’s readings I found the story “In the American society” by Gish Jen‚ especially appealing. The plot of the story focuses on a narration by a daughter about her first generation immigrant father struggling to keep the balance between his own cultural beliefs and American culture. The narration cleverly portrays the father‚ Ralph Cheng’s behavior within his own society and the American society. Based on this story‚ I believe that first generation Asian Americans faced a substantial challenge
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Gish Jen‚ the author of “The White Umbrella” informs the readers about a girl who is new to the country and is getting used to the new area. But she dreads of being like the girls in America and having an umbrella like others. Jen’s story gives a lesson/theme that explains to stop and be grateful for what already makes you happy by not wanting what you don’t need. The author conveys the theme with the title‚ setting‚ and actions. The title of the story “the White Umbrella” shows clues about what
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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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