The voice in Chang’s piece engages the reader and makes his arguments hard to disagree with. As an Asian-American, Chang puts a personal voice into the piece, which makes it almost feel like a story. “Over 100 years ago, an American myth misled many of my ancestors.” (Chang, 513) He also structures the piece in such a way that he pokes fun at the media using an almost ironic tone. “First, it lumps all Asian-Americans into one monolithic homogenous yellow skinned mass.” (Chang, 515) Many of the strategies he uses to put himself in the piece are the words like, “us”. “The Model Minority myth introduces us as an ethnic minority…” (Chang, 514) “Our”: “national magazines have trumpeted our ‘remarkable, ever-mounting achievements’ (Newsweek, Dec. 6, 1982).” (Chang, 514) and “my”: “American myth misled many of my ancestors.”(Chang, 513) This makes it sound more natural and the reader will easily to connect to the writing. Having known that the author has had a personal experience around the subject gives the reader a feeling of security that in turn, makes…
Struggles of Asian American Many different minorities go through some kind of struggles when living in a country that is so diverse, such as America. Whether that struggles is good or bad we learn from those experience and try to make our life the best we can. People judge others no matter what race or color that person is. The article “Growing up Asian American” written by C.N. Le and published on January 22, 2006 talks about how difficult it can be for Asian American to grow up in America. Asian American struggle to fit in with other ethnicity at a young age, and as they get older they find their roots to fit in. As Asian American got older they learn to appreciate all the challenges that they went through, because of those challenges…
The Struggle of Second Generation Acculturation and Assimilation The graphic novel American Born Chinese (2006), by Gene Luen Yang, is a very modern and influential piece of work that can be compared to the short indie film Two Lies (1990), directed and written by Pamela Tom, which had preceded the novel by 16 years. These two different forms of work, both utilizing their ability to teach the audience, are used as powerful venues for the topic of identity crisis among the Asian people in a majority European American world. In the film, we have Mei and her family who are all having some trouble adjusting to their lives in Southern California but more specifically we have Mei and her trouble to understand her mother 's cause and intent for having undergone double eye-lid surgery. In ABC, we have our protagonist, Jin, who is having trouble fitting into his new school in San Francisco since he is one of the very few Asian admitted to the school. Another time line in the novel is the story of the monkey king who does anything to get rid of the fact that he is a monkey in order to fit into society. The third is the story of Danny, a European American who has trouble and often becomes embarrassed with his hyperbolic Chinese cousin, Chin-Kee. This character is first introduced by saying "Harro Amellica!" while Jin 's father, carrying giant Chinese take out container says "I 'll put your luggage into your room, Chin-Kee" (48). All three of these time line show our characters having some sort of shame or embarrassment to the fact that their own image or background is different from those around them.…
Throughout history, interracial relations have had a big impact within the Asian American community. There was an increase in the number of interracial relationships, particularly between Asian women and American soldiers as they served overseas in Asian countries and spent time in military bases. The War Brides Act of 1945 allowed U.S servicemen to bring their alien brides and families to the U.S. following World War II. In 1947, an amendment made it possible for U.S. soldiers to bring their Japanese and Korean wives. After those enactments, thousands of women from Korea, Japan, China, Vietnam, and the Philippines came to the U.S. as war brides. Often these women were looked down upon, were seen as “tainted”, and were shunned from their communities.…
Life as an Immigrant Beginning in the late 19th century and continuing to the early 20th century, many Chinese families struggled to gain social, economic, and educational stature in both China and the United States. In the book, A Transnational History of a Chinese Family, by Haiming Liu, we learn about the Chang family rooted in Kaiping County, China, who unlike many typical Chinese families’ exemplified hard-work and strong cultural values allowing them to pursue an exceptional Chinese-American lifestyle. Even with immigration laws preventing Chinese laborers and citizens to enter unless maintaining merchant status, Yitang and Sam Chang managed to sponsor approximately 40 relatives to the states with their businesses in herbalist medicine and asparagus farming. Though the Chang’s encountered many of the hardships typical of Chinese families for the time, they relied on their outstanding work ethic so that their families would always be supported, receive the best possible education, and preserve family and kinship relationships to get them through the tough times and long periods of separation.…
The Joy Luck Club, by the Chinese-American author Amy Tan, deals with many different themes. However, the idea from this novel that piqued my interest the most was how the story dealt with the language and cultural barriers that exist between generations in families that have immigrated to the United States. The book deals with four Chinese women who moved to the United States in hopes of finding better lives for their children, and it deals with each of their daughters who have grown up in America, yet were raised by their mothers' traditional Chinese cultural standards. The Joy Luck Club alternates back and forth each chapter, with one of the mothers telling an anecdote of her past and next one of the daughters speaking from her point of…
This reminiscent piece hides nothing about the fact that acculturation, although very beneficial, is a difficult process to carry out in today’s society. Liu’s difficulties fitting in, however, helped him to become the person he is today. Liu’s word choice, figurative language, and personal experiences help him share his difficult coming-of-age story. Although America is a place where many different races and cultures come together, the question of whether its citizens will ever accept those of other races and cultures for who they are still…
The people who are the unhappiest in this world are those who care what others think of themselves. From American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang, Jin facial expressions would show him being worried and often thinking. Not caring what others may think of themselves is a choice someone should make to benefit. Before judging a person based on generalizations about a whole race, people need to understand every person is a unique individual. Some of the worst Asian American model minority myths include those that characterize Asian Americans as invariably exceptional students, those that claim that Asian American often become doctors, lawyers, engineers, and pharmacists, and those that say that Asian Americans have language barriers. Stereotypes…
Imagine having to adapt to an entirely new culture, already starting at a disadvantage of being misjudged. In Julie Otsuka’s When The Emperor Was Divine, the boundaries of culture and identity are tested as a Japanese immigrant family try to find their way through being viewed as the enemy of America in their own backyards. Cultural diffusion can lead to a loss of identity and change in moral compass.…
Identity Many may think that United States will be the land of opportunities and fairness. Several have spoken highly of America and excepted great freedom and righteous. Even many families had traveled far to be free in America and had left their countries for the better. Many have thought that they would never be treated as animals again. However, in the novel When the Emperor Was Divine by Julie Otsuka, her story took place during the World War 2. The novel shows how American has changed their attitudes towards the Japanese because of the war. Ostuka’s family was separated from each other under the American’s investigation due to that they are Japanese Americans. The Japanese Americans lost all of their rights over the suspicious…
In the book “Asian America Through the Lens”, Xing discussed that Asian American aesthetics is usually defined as “consciousness” or “sensitivity” by various filmmakers. He further elaborated that the reason for this is because filmmakers make films from their consciousness. Resulting from the idea of who they are and how they view themselves in the society. Some of the common themes I have seen in Asian American films are the emphasis in performing dance and song, traditional family values, and culture. In the film “Flower Drum Song”, the journey of Mei Li started when a traditional family of Sammy Fong ordered him a picture bride from Hong Kong. Sammy Fong has his eye already with Linda Low so he made his way to transfer…
American born Chinese by Yang consists of three different storylines which are focusing on people’s perspectives on race and identity differences . The first story was a “Monkey King”,…
When one is the child of first generation immigrants, they may not recognize the hardships which their parents had to endure to give them a good upbringing. This can lead to a plethora of different challenges, including leaving behind the parents’ ideals and traditions. For the mothers of the second-generation immigrants, this is disheartening to hear that their children are willing to get rid century old traditions to take on new ones. For the mothers in the novel, it is even more discouraging when their children push them away because it makes them feel undesirable and not needed. In the novel, The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka, the children of the first-generation Japanese immigrants choose between their Japanese and American identities through their schooling and the way they act when they are home.…
The free land is not free The author of “In the Land of Free”, Edith Maud Eaton, with pen name Sui Sin Far, was not a direct immigrant from Asia to the United States, but she portrayed the harsh treatment Asian immigrants faced upon entering in the U.S. in the late 1800s. Sui Sin Far, working as a journalist for Fly Lea, had exposed the extreme injustice done to Asian Americans in U.S. while she was living on the west coast of the United States. In addition, Sui Sin Far’s narration throughout “The Land of the Free” presents the truth about what was immigrant’s life behind America's dreams of fortune.…
The story Bone written by “Fae Myenne Ng” focuses on the struggle Leila and her family go through in San Francisco. Leila the narrator tells her family’s struggles in this country after they immigrated from china. Mah her mother and Leon her stepfather are hardworking immigrants who have battle to make it through life. I relate to her story in so many ways, my mother is also a very hardworking immigrant who has done everything to give my brothers and me a better future.…