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American Born Chinese By Gene Luen Yang

1383 Words6 Pages

American Born Chinese is a graphic novel written by Gene Luen Yang. The book is used to represent what life is like for Chinese people that are born in America. It uses three main storylines to show what life is like for them, the Monkey King, Jin Wang, and Danny. The Monkey King is a Chinese deity who goes to great lengths to make himself more human as he doesn't like being a monkey. Jin is a Chinese American junior high school student subjected to many accounts of racism, living in a primarily white community. Danny is a white high school student whose life is interrupted by his “stereotypical Chinese” cousin. All of these story plots show what it is like for Chinese people living in America.

The first plot is about the monkey king. This …show more content…

Throughout the novel, many examples of struggle with self-identity in an ethnocentric world are shown. Jin, a Chinese middle school kid who moved to California, America in pursuit of a better education, expresses his identity in several ways. From the clothes he wears to the food he eats, his identity is expressed. Because of globalization and the ethnocentric view that has been set upon America, Jin experiences backlash and ridicule for his identity. An example of this is on page 32 where he is shown eating Chinese food and other students make fun of him for the food he eats and the way he looks. This scene depicts how because of globalization and the values that it has set upon people, people of other cultures may experience unfair circumstances for the way they express their identity. As time passes, Jin is shown gradually feeling resentment for his identity. He is seen changing his clothes, hairstyle, and the way he speaks to fit into the “American view.” Because of the systematic racism present in America today, Jin struggles to affirm his identity, language, and culture which affects him both physically and mentally. This book is an excellent representation of the social curriculum and relates to Unit One in many ways. The graphic novel American Born Chinese relates to Unit One to a great

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