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The differences between Chinese and Western cultures
Chinese and western cultural differences
Chinese and western cultural differences
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The author, Jeanne Wakatsuki, presents a meaningful story filled with experiences that shaped not only her life, but shaped the lives of thousands of Japanese families living in America. The book’s foreword gives us a starting point in which the reader can start to identify why the book was written. “We a told a New York writer friend about the idea. He said: ‘It’s a dead issue. These days you can hardly get people to read about a live issue.
In A Viet Cong Memoir, we receive excellent first hands accounts of events that unfolded in Vietnam during the Vietnam War from the author of this autobiography: Truong Nhu Tang. Truong was Vietnamese at heart, growing up in Saigon, but he studied in Paris for a time where he met and learned from the future leader Ho Chi Minh. Truong was able to learn from Ho Chi Minh’s revolutionary ideas and gain a great political perspective of the conflicts arising in Vietnam during the war. His autobiography shows the readers the perspective of the average Vietnamese citizen (especially those involved with the NLF) and the attitudes towards war with the United States. In the book, Truong exclaims that although many people may say the Americans never lost on the battlefield in Vietnam — it is irrelevant.
Amadou Hampaté Bâ is extremely detailed throughout the book, The Fortunes of Wangrin, in explaining the colonial world in West African societies. He provides multiple examples in this work of fiction that precisely describe the factual aspects of African colonialism that we have discussed in class. I will point out a few of the examples that Bâ uses such as: limitations colonial governments set on Africans, the Métis relationships within colonies, and issues that arose, not only between Europeans and Africans, but within the native African communities as well. I will then point out certain details from the book that do not perfectly reflect the components of colonialism that we have studied in lecture.
In his memoir, Where the Wind Leads, Vinh Chung demonstrates the theme that times of despair and hardship will eventually pass, but it is the motivation to succeed which will make that time fruitful. While relaying the story of his family’s past, Chung gives an overall theme of success and prosperity which accompanies the distress and conflict brought about by the encompassing Vietnam War. As Chung stated, “[W]hat I do know is that the same pressure that can crush coal into dust can also turn carbon into diamond . . . Tough times produce tough people” (14). Though this theme of success can be grounded in one’s desire to prosper, Chung shows a deeper desire from which this success stems.
The Vietnam War in the late 1970s lead many of refugees including children attempting to attain better living condition relative to those in war-torn Vietnam. Escaping from a war torn nation and arriving to America meant getting accustomed to the much different western culture, while simultaneously facing the challenge of retaining your traditions. Le Thi Diem Thuy presents the story, “The Gangster We Are All Looking For,” to demonstrate her struggle as a migrant. Thuy discusses through her first- hand experiences the arduous struggle that was assimilating into American culture.
If we can understand the current issues Asian Americans face, we can help support them better. The neglect of teaching Asian history in the United States has had many evident
“Love and Honor and Pity and Pride and Compassion and Sacrifice” Nam Le’s “Love and Honor and Pity and Pride and Compassion and Sacrifice” is categorized in “ethnic story” narrated his Vietnamese life in order to meet an upcoming deadline even though finally he can’t submit his story because his father burns his work. Throughout the story, Nam the narrator talks about “the past” which he experiences when he was young including the recent experience that he has got from his father reunion. Not only does the story tell us about the past which, but it also shows a connection of time between past, present, and future. Likewise, the story shows the relationship between son and father which is the main theme of this story; and shows how the past is important and affect to them differently. Also, the story of the past could lead to the end of the story that can be interpreted like a prediction of the direction of their relationship in the future.
“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.
The experiences related and recorded in the novels The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan, Monkey Bridge by Lan Cao, and Obasan by Joy Kogawa give great insight to the internal and external struggles East-Asian immigrants face in the Western World, specifically Chinese-Americans, Vietnamese-Americans, and Japanese-Canadians. Although the situations have certainly improved since the mid twentieth century, many of the issues and struggles the characters in the novels face are still real and ever-expanding for over five percent of the U.S. population. To
Many people face some kind of adversity in their lives, but only few are recognized to the same extent as Adeline’s experiences in the autobiography ‘Chinese Cinderella’, written by Ms. Adeline Yen Mah. ‘Chinese Cinderella’ suggests that mental strength is what is needed to overcome all forms of adversity in life. This essay will discuss the ways in which that Adeline uses intellectual power to overcome the difficulties in her life, the outcomes she achieved and the messages she portrays. The ways that Adeline uses mental strength to overcome adversity occurs through many different events in her childhood.
R. Reid wrote Confucius Lives Next Door to illustrate how the teachings of the ancient philosopher and political activist, known in the west as Confucius, have influenced East Asian cultures as they have risen in economic power, how Confucian ethos are expressed in contemporary Japanese’s culture and how Confucius’s teachings revolve around loyalty between individuals and the groups they belong to. Those groups include one’s family, his neighbors, the company he works for or the school he attends, and any other group of people he associates with. Being a responsible member of a group is central to East Asian culture versus the Western, particularly American, focus on individuality. Reid’s book provides both anecdotal and empirical evidence on the cultural results of this group focused philosophy on
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.
They were change agents.” That proves that if you hold on to what you believe, you can accomplish anything. As George Takei talks about his experiences as a Japanese-American and his view of the American
The reminder that An Tĩnhs Vietnamese Identity has been overcome by her American identity shows the emotional aspect of this change. She no longer was overcome with worry, skepticism, frailty, but rather she was self-assured, therefore she could not declare herself Vietnamese. This change in identity forces her to face the emotions surrounding the loss of a valuable part of
While June wanted to only appreciate the American culture in her life, frustratingly for her the Chinese culture was still present, causing doubt and a lack of self worth. This frustration and dissatisfaction with her two cultures led her to doubt herself, despite her mother’s hope for success. For example, “I did not believe I could be anything I wanted to be. I could only be me”(Tan 154). June harbored this sense of inferiority for all of her life, never
