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Japanese internment camps research question
Japanese internment camps introduction essay
Japanese internment camps research question
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Farewell to Manzanar, a historical memoir, delivers an inspiring perspective on how Japanese were treated at their time in internment. This book is highly recommended for students who are in curiosity to learn more about the Pearl Harbor bombing and how the Japanese were affected by the way they had to live. While reviewing this book, it was noticed that there was excellent content, sources and perspectives. The author also had an interesting background that inspired her to write this memoir. Although life at Manzanar seemed unbearable and tough, the memoir also describes how the Wakatsukis’ transition from their childhood memories and how they think of Mazanar as adults; especially Jeanne.
Jeanne Wakatsuki, co-author of Farewell to Manzanar, is a Japanese American that was forced into an internment camp in 1941. Wakatsuki was born to two Japanese natives in Inglewood, California in 1934. Her childhood was stable, and she was surrounded by a large family consisting of nine siblings, four brothers and five sisters. When Wakatsuki was seven years old, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and President Franklin Delanor Roosevelt ordered that all Japanese Americans be placed into federal custody. The Wakatsuki family was one of the first Japanese American families to be questioned about the Pearl Harbor tragedy because the federal government believed that all Japanese Americans were in cahoots with the Japanese military.
Julie Otsuka’s When the Emperor was Divine is a story about a Japanese-American family and their experience in an internment camp in Utah. In the book, the young girl says to her mother “Is there anything wrong with my face?... People were staring” (15). The reader can see from this quote what it was like for the Japanese-Americans during the war. The quote shows how it was not just a national problem; it was a problem for everyone- including making a ten year old girl feel self-conscious.
Mary Matsuda Gruenewald tells her tale of what life was like for her family when they were sent to internment camps in her memoir “Looking like the Enemy.” The book starts when Gruenewald is sixteen years old and her family just got news that Pearl Harbor was bombed by the Japan. After the bombing Gruenewald and her family life changed, they were forced to leave their home and go to internment camps meant for Japanese Americans. During the time Gruenewald was in imprisonment she dealt with the struggle for survival both physical and mental. This affected Gruenewald great that she would say to herself “Am I Japanese?
Takaki’s book shows the differences and similarities minority groups experienced during the war. This is not a typical history book, as it is a book that contains different stories and experiences of the war both abroad
Her book, “Farewell to Manzanar,” states, “I couldn’t understand it. I remember clinging to her legs, wondering why everyone was crying “(Houston and Houston). In 1945, Manzanar was shut down, forcing anyone who remained there to leave. After she and her family left the camp, Jeanne did not return for another thirty years (Houston and Houston). Then, she and her husband set out on the journey of writing “Farewell to Manzanar,” illustrating how life in internment was from the
Eyewitness accounts are generally able to convince readers and this book is able to convince readers about its objective through some sincere retelling of events. One feels that one is accompanying Jeanne on her personal journey and that is the strength of the book. The authors not only recount facts and events but take the readers along with them on a journey where they search, examine and understand the truth behind their experiences. Jeanne shares her experience of being a Japanese American during the war and the impact it had on her without any bitterness or self-pity. It is extremely readable as it avoids being academic and relies more on personal experiences.
Like many children her age, the girl in Julie Otsuka’s novel When the Emperor was Divine had the opportunity to attend a “summer camp.” However, the camps that the girl and her family endured were not like traditional summer getaways but instead state-sponsored prisons designed to keep the populace “safe.” Instead of enjoying the water slides and rope swings that other children her age got to experience, the girl struggled with establishing an identity that fit with the rest of her society. With her use of neutral tone and language, Julie Otsuka explores the creation of the cultural identity that is established by the Japanese-American people as they are confined in Concentration camps designed to keep the nation safe. Pulled from their homes,
This paper will describe the contexts and the analysis of the “Unbroken” book. Historical Context Unbroken mainly emphases on the conflict that emerged during the WWII in the Pacific. The author narrates how
Julie Otsuka’s When the Emperor was divine is a novel that takes place right after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. In the beginning of the novel, the Japanese American family consists of a mother with her two children. They are in a turning point of their lives. There are posters and signs indicating that anyone with japanese ancestry must evacuate. Immediately the family starts feeling the rejection of their neighbors and people around them.
Manzanar- The non-fiction memoir Farewell to Manzanar, written by James D. Houston and Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston, shows clear examples of oppression when she and her family are in an internment camp and Jeanene questions her self-worth. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, Jeanne, and her family are taken into an internment camp where Jeanne returns to school. Inflicted by the words of a girl questioning Jeanne's ability to speak English, Jeanne realizes “... [she] would be seen as someone foreign, or as someone other than American, or perhaps not be seen at all.”
Matsuda’s memoir is based off of her and her family’s experiences in the Japanese-American internment camps. Matsuda reveals what it is like during World War II as a Japanese American, undergoing family life, emotional stress, long term effects of interment, and her patriotism and the sacrifices she had to make being in the internment camps. Everyone living in Western section of the United States; California, Oregon, of Japanese descent were moved to internment camps after the Pearl Harbor bombing including seventeen year old Mary Matsuda Gruenewald and her family. Matsuda and her family had barely any time to pack their bags to stay at the camps. Matsuda and her family faced certain challenges living in the internment camp.
Struggles are a common part of everyday life. However, dislike of a specific group can lead them to endure awful conditions. After Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, people became suspicious of Japanese Americans. This fear led to the family in the story being forced to live in harsh conditions for several years. Even after the war, their lives had changed drastically because of the suffering they endured and the animosity towards the Japanese.
Anne Frank, a victim of the holocaust and a Jew that died too young, once said, “In spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart.” Although Anne believed that people can change for the better, Jeanne Watasuki Houston, the author of Farewell to Manzanar, doesn’t agree. For the first few years of her life, she thought that she had to change in order to be accepted. After a while, she realized that she was perfect just the way she was and no matter what she did, people would still look down on her just for being Japanese. Though their views were different, both women were greatly impacted by World War ll just in different ways.
The young girl is prevented from entering the church where her grandmother has prayers. As a person from the old world, the young girl is not allowed to play with boys from the new world. On the other hand, “in response to executive order” by Dwight Okita is about Americans of Japanese origins that were supposed to report to relocation
