In the article “My “Oriental” Father: On the Words we use to Describe Ourselves” Kat Chow explains her opinion on her father’s choice to continue to use the word “oriental” to describe not only himself but anything of the Asian culture. Chow’s father, originally from Hong Kong, moved to the U.S. in 1969. He opened an oriental restaurant in a Connecticut suburb, but it eventually went bankrupt. The author explains how her father using the word oriental made him out to be looked at like a “caricature of a grinning Asian man with a ponytail and buck teeth.” Kat shares a story of when she was working at her father’s restaurant.
"Lessons for a Women" by Ban Zhao is an insightful telling of life lessons and clever advice that any young women can apply to their life. The author is Ban Zhao who is seriously ill and not sure if she 'll live so she feels the need to teach her daughters things they have not yet been taught. "I am now seriously ill, life is uncertain. "
From a modern viewpoint, arguments are thought to be the cause for rifts that occur in relationships. Only when thinking objectively will it become apparent that the arguments themselves are harmless. The real reason relationships turn sour is due to ineffective arguing. When each viewpoint of an argument is conveyed successfully, along with coherent reasoning, the opposer will be able to clearly understand the conclusion. The purpose of an argument is to compel someone to agree with a certain set of views.
Even as a young child, she was incredibly observant and noted that other Chinese girls did not speak either, and so she drew the conclusion that “the silence had to do with being a Chinese girl” (166). Kingston does not say that all Chinese children found themselves in silence – only the girls did. She does not only have to find her identity as a Chinese American, but as a girl, and to figure out how these two facets of her identity work together to define her. Brave Orchid’s cutting her daughter’s tongue resulted in a physiological change; however, Kingston’s issue with speaking proves to be more psychological.
Qian Julie Wang’s memoir, “Beautiful Country” portrays her experiences immigrating from China to the United States at a young age. She discusses her challenges in adapting to a new culture and school system, changes in her family’s financial situation, and the constant fear of deportation as an undocumented immigrant. Through her personal story, the author sheds light on the struggles faced by immigrants in the United States, particularly those who are undocumented, and the emotional toll these experiences can have on individuals and families. In her memoir, Wang describes several biographical disruptions she experienced as an immigrant to the United States. These include the sudden switch in the family’s economic status, Julie’s transition
Leonardo Da Vinci once stated, “The greatest deception men suffer from is their own opinions.” For eras on end, stereotypes and misconceptions have stood as obstacles preventing individuals from sharing experiences, perspectives, and ideas with one another. Amy Tan further exhibits an individual’s tendency to form preconceived opinions in her novel The Joy Luck Club. The pairing of Chinese mothers and daughters throughout Tan’s novel proposes that deception has a drastic effect on a woman’s life and the manner in which she is perceived. To begin, the strained relationship between Suyuan and Jing-Mei Woo signifies the misinterpretations that frequently occurred between mother-daughter pairs during the novel.
“Her actions remind me that, even under unbearable circumstances, one can still believe in justice,” in David Henry Hwang’s foreword, in Ji-Li Jiang’s memoir Red Scarf Girl, commemorated even during the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution anyone can overcome adversity (9). Ji-Li Jiang was a young teenager at the beginning of the Cultural Revolution, and living through a very political time in China’s history made Ji-Li into the person she is today. Ji-Li’s intelligence, her choices, and family devotion made her into the headstrong and successful person she is today. Even when Ji-li thought she was unintelligent, others saw she was wise. There were many moments when Ji-Li was reminded she was very smart.
“I wanted my children to have the best combination: American circumstances and Chinese character. How could I know these two things do not mix? I taught [my daughter] how American circumstances work… She learned these things, but I couldn’t teach her about Chinese character . . .” (Tan 254)
In Rules of the Game by Amy Tan, Waverly Jong’s mother expresses this to her in hopes that she would learn the “art of invisible strength,” which was a strategy for winning arguments and respect from others (Tan 497). Tan successfully illustrates the way of Chinese parenting and the frustration a Chinese child often experiences. As the interaction between mother and daughter becomes tense, Tan seems to convey the mother’s message-- “the art of invisible strength” a very understandable Chinese way of
This report was commissioned by The Asian Education Foundation, to analyse the growing number of Asian texts being produced. This report will asses Family life, Resilience and the issue of Racism. Asian tests have had a large increase from the publishing of Anh Do’s autobiography, The Happiest Refugee. 2.0 Representations of growing up Asian in Australia 2.1 Family Life In the autobiography ‘The Happiest Refugee’, Do has a high regard for his family, that he illustrates throughout the memoir.
The Woman Warrior is a “memoir of a girlhood among ghosts” in which Maxine Hong Kingston recounts her experiences as a second generation immigrant. She tells the story of her childhood by intertwining Chinese talk-story and personal experience, filling in the gaps in her memory with assumptions. The Woman Warrior dismantles the archetype of the typical mother-daughter relationship by suggesting that diaspora redefines archetypes by combining conflicting societal norms. A mother’s typical role in a mother-daughter relationship is one of guidance and leadership. Parents are responsible for teaching a child right from wrong and good from evil.
MEMOIR: INTERVIEW WILLIAM WU I 'm a first generation Asian-American. I was born in Lima, Peru, right before my parents came to America from China, and we moved to America when I was one. Growing as a first generation American, my parents worked a lot. I can 't say that I wasn 't loved, but my bond with my parents was weak because I was always home alone, being babysat by others, or going out because they had to work.
The article “Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior” was written in 2011 by Amy Chua, who is a professor at Yale Law School in the United States of America. The article follows significant themes such as the upbringing of children and perfectionism. In the article, the author, Amy Chua, explains the differences between the upbringing of children by respectively Chinese parents and Western parents.
Amy Tan’s “Two Kinds,” written in 1989, captures the relationship of a mother and daughter from China that has just relocated to America. So, in the beginning of the short story Tan expresses the mother’s beliefs of America by saying “my mother believed you could be anything you wanted in America” (Tan, Two Kinds, www.rtsd.org). then going into examples such as “You could open a restaurant. You could work for the government and get good retirement and of course, you can be a prodigy, too” (Tan, Two Kinds, www.rtsd.org).
The traditional Chinese cultures have a development process for thousand years, now we are creating another kind of traditional culture especially under the wave of globalization. Although the form of expressing or performing the culture experienced some changes but the basic idea and belief behind rarely changed. To promote Chinese culture we would refer to the essence of Chinese wisdom so the following is actual practicing of different dimensions of Chinese traditions which show the beauty of China. The family concept is the essence of Chinese culture.
