2006-2007: The End

It's so important to me to reflect often. And what's amazing is that every time I do, my thoughts travel to something new. It's refreshing, and it calms me down. Therefore, I was especially relieved to have the oppurtunity to do so in class the other day. I was having a busy, non-stop day, and by the time class came around I was losing stamina. So, again, thank you, Grace, for such a day-saving assignment!

The year has been drastically different than my freshman. Listening to everyone else's thoughts in class reminded me very much of my experiences before, and for those who were worried about forming strong friendships or making future decisions, in my mind I wanted to tell them that it was all going to be okay. With respect to Patrick's comment about family, I, too, have grown much closer to my parents and my younger brother, as well as my close friends from home. I don't know what it is about this year, but when I think about it, I have really grown into myself this. What makes me most content is the I really feel independent, and assured with regards to my morals, my abilities, my goals, and my actions. I used to come up with a lot of excuses, reasons why I didn't achieve what I wanted to, or why I wasn't where I wanted to be. I suppose I learned to confront what I wanted, and to be proactive about it. This also brings me to reflect upon the importance of initiating my own thoughts, and forming my own opinions. I realized that I don't gain anything from just reading material and memorizing it. That doesn't work my brain at all. So, slowly, I began to question what I was reading. How did I feel? Did I agree? What did I want to know more about? In a way, I felt like I was learning how to learn. And when you apply yourself to what you're learning, it is a much more enriching experience. And this doesn't just apply to academic information. It has to do with your surroundings, and being aware of what is going on. If I'm tired and my head hurts all the time, medicine is a painkiller, not a cure. Why was I tired? Was I eating enough? Was I eating right? Preventative action.

As this year has progressed, I have definitely learned to form my own ideas and opinions, and to stick by them. What else is truly ours other than our thoughts and ideas?

Lit. Analysis Paragraph

Both stories highlight the coming of age of the protagonists. Forced to enter American society as Asian Americans, being the first generation of their family in America, both ultimately battle the stereotypes that are concomitant with living in a white society. By analyzing both journeys of the protagonists from American Born Chinese and American Son, several similarities between the two arise, despite their drastically disparate endings. Though it seems that the two could be friends, having dealt with Asian stereotypes, experiencing the need to fit into society, and ultimately deciding their futures via a turning point, the resulting fate that both characters choose are on opposite ends of the spectrum.

Lit. Analysis Topic

1) Comparing and contrasting the coming of age as well as the portrayal of in the protagonists of American Son and American Born Chinese.
2) comparing and contrasting supporting characters of Tomas and Wei-Chen
3) Comparing and Contrasting the articles surrounding American Born Chinese and Woman Warrior
4) Comparing and contrasting "white privilege" with american son
5) comparing and contrasting "white privilege" with ABC

American Son - A Coming of Age Story

Tomas's crude response to Gabe's innocent question, in which he beat Gabe into the asphalt, spurs Gabe's coming of age. It seems an effort to escape Tomas's condascending eye and his mother's suffocating meekness, but in addition marks the beginning of Gabe's identity development. I think Roley devotes a large portion of the story to Gabe's journey with Stone because during that time he learns about his cultural and social identity, as well as social stratifications in California.

Portrayed as a Mexican gangster, Gabe is strongly aware of how Tomas is perceived when they are in the Producer's mansion selling Johan. Pretending to be tough when he is not, putting up a rude front in an effort to be taken seriously, and pretty much flipping out on Gabe when Gabe asks if he is crying, Tomas utilizes the unfortunate events of his past as an excuse to act on his rage and anguish. Realizing that he is following in Tomas's footsteps, whether intentionally or not, Gabe acknowledges that he indeed does not want to be like Tomas when he is older. This is the first significant turning point in his coming of age. Instead of knowing who he wants to be, he only knows who he does not want to be like.

During his journey with Stone, he confronts a plethora of situations that force him to evaluate his cultural identity. Though he looks Mexican and Asian at the same time, at certain points he hopes to look Mexican, in an effort to fit in. At other points, he hopes to look more Asian, in an effort not be regarded as a Mexican, for several negative implications Stone mentions. And at other times he hopes to just look completely White, as to not draw attention to himself in a diner filled with White people. At one point, he hopes his Oldsmobile does not convey it's gangster past, and at another point he uses his gangster experience to belittle the two small town Mexicans he encounters.

Stone repeatedly mentions the crappy conditions of L.A., claiming that in his area no crime exists. Gabe first becomes aware of the disparity in living conditions between his home and this place, where his mother has to sleep in the back of the house to avoid drive by shootings. It seems that by mentioning these differences, Gabe is meant to hear about them because he is meant to live a healthier life than Tomas's. His exposure to to these differences and the realizations they arise surrounding his own life fuel his personal development and growth into the person he wants to be.

American Born Chinese - First 20 pages

Gene Luen Yang pokes fun at Chinese culture in his first image, where the Gods and Goddesses are wining and dining. However, though lighthearted throughout, an serious tone underlines the first 20 pages of his story as well, reminding the audience about his central theme. Established once the Monkey King is confronted by the guard at the dinner party, he first realizes discrimination when the guard points out that he cannot enter because he is a monkey. The first reason the guard poses, which is that the Monkey King is wearing no shoes and thus cannot enter, is not the main reason he will not let the Monkey King in. The same can be seen in society today, were racism has become invisible because it is systematically embedded in American culture. Many excuses can be made to hide the real factor: racism. A fundamental turning point in the first 20 pages is when the Monkey King recognizees the smell of his species, and wonders how he can detach himself from it. The message Yang conveys is that as an outcast, many times instead of embracing the differences he or she will first turn to anger (as the Monkey King attacked everyone at the dinner party), and then to something far more dangerous: ways to change him or herself to fit in.

The Oracles - Crab metaphor (my thoughts in 10 minutes)

The imagery created by the metaphor is extremely effective in conveying Poblete's tone. The imagery of likening Grandma Fausta and Grandma Patricia specifically to crabs creates a chaotic, every man or woman for him or herself scene in my mind. Not only that, but a competitive one as well. Poblete could have stopped with "letting go of those behind us before we crawl out", but instead continues to highlight the cruelty of the situation by saying "letting go of those behind us and pushing them back before we crawl out". It seems Poblete is claiming that finding refuge in America is so highly coveted in the Phillipines that one will sacrifice his or her family to reach here. Also, the imagery is ironic in the fact that the Grandmothers view coming to America such an achievement, yet Poblete describes that they have to "crawl out of the barrel" to reach here, a description that carries a negative, shameful connotation. With the complacency Poblete describes this metaphor with, it seems she is detached from the situation because she does not understand why America is so highly sought, to the point where she finds Grandma Patricia's resentment unwarranted and almost stupid.

The best surprise came when I met my family. How was I to know that they would be so different than my brothers and I? That they used different washing machines and they walked to work everyday and they each had full time maids? Communication with my grandparents proved most difficult. It was a complete culture shock, for them and for us as well. They had no inclination of the white suburbia that my brothers and I had been exposed to our entire lives. They knew nothing other than a bustling city life and unbearable humidity. They had different expectations of us than they did for our cousins. At that point, I felt like I had been dipped back in time to their generation. Where had I been? Where was I going? To them, I was an ABC, and that was enough for them to treat me differently than my cousins in Hong Kong.