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An essay of refugees
An essay of refugees
Examples of universal refugee experience
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More handpicked essays just for you.
An essay of refugees
An essay of refugees
Examples of universal refugee experience
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
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.
As Shin was born in a work intensive political prison, he grew up knowing nothing but the teachings of the guards. Never having experienced a civilized society, he unquestioningly accepting the camp’s authority and called it home. Prisoners were praised on a daily to betray family members and friends for better treatment. Furthermore, family members were punished on one’s behalf to condemn the wrongdoer.
The novel Lost Names by Richard Kim gives a glimpse of Korea during the period in which Japan had colonized it and had been conquering a plethora of other Asian countries. It follows the life of a young boy as he and his family live in the colonized country of Korea and speaks of how their lives were effected. The writing is accomplished in giving testimony to the occupation of the Japanese of Korea and its people and the ways in which they enforced allegiance to Japan. By means of policy, law, and everyday practices the Japanese attempted to create an allegiance to themselves from the Koreans; while the majority of these succeeded at some level they also created a deep set hatred by the people because of the oppressive practices used.
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.
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,
The book is a powerful true story of Jeanne and her family’s life before, during, and after being inside a Japanese American internment camp. Most of the setting in this book takes place during World War Ⅱ. Jeanne tells of her and her family’s hardships and struggles in adjusting their life in cramped barracks, and searching for purpose in the internment camp. Jeanne, being the narrator and author of this book, took an unemotional and observational take to describe her events in this book because she wanted to keep the factual accounts separate from her emotions and to show people the impact of Pearl Harbor had on
The author uses this idea of freedom in her writing to allow the audience to feel and understand the mission of Reagan--“to restore the strength of the free world, and to free the slaves of communism” (6-7). The word “free” is used to help the audience
A Korean Communist man told his life story to the author of Songs of Ariran, Helen Foster Snow, in which he commented “This [the March 1st Movement] was my first awakening to political consciousness, and the power of mass movement shook we to the very roots of my being…. I learned the meaning of force and futility of non-resistance.” . This holds significance to the fact that Korean people were feeling empowered for the first time since the annexation, and recognised the hope that was among many people who were now able to identify the actions it took to spark a movement. This recognition and identification were important to the progress within the Korean Independence Movement which later caused greater liberation, improving the lives of many
Back in North Korea, Lee’s family was settled on the border to China in the northern region of the DPRK (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea). Lee would always look across and marvel at the “sea of lights” in China, and wonder why North Korea did not have even the luxury of electricity. She would also see
“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.
Barbara Demick has developed the idea that North Korea “has fallen out of the developed world” by providing several examples of life as analytical ways of thoughts and processes of North Koreans in comparison to other countries
North Koreans believe that as long as they follow their ruler, they will have a happy, full life. They hold large, elaborate celebrations, parades, and children compete in the Mass Games. During parades “as they march past, they cry 'Mansei ' which means "Long Live!"”
It came to dominate my understanding of the discussion on the social and historical scene and to restrict my ability to participate in that discussion.(444) If we go back and use the reference again of the electronic tool we can see the struggle of being at home and communicating with her family and having an influence of capitalistic viewpoints and living the life of a capitalist, then immediately having to communicate in a different language at school and being surrounded by socialistic views and living the life of a socialist. Her thoughts were constantly flip-flopping and this became very frustrating for her. If we bring all these struggles into one main purpose, Min-Zhan Lu’s mother falls into silence two months before her death and Min-Zhan Lu attempts to “fill up that silence with words that I have since come to by reflecting on my earlier experience as a student in China.(437) The struggles that she faced growing up in China as a student and her past experiences have really helped her overcome life obstacles and develop her as a better reader and writer.
It is hard to imagine a life where people have to leave their family multiple times and fear that they will lose a family member at any moment. Loung Ung, a Cambodian girl, had to endure this through most of her childhood. She has to deal with the loss of most of her family at the young age of five. Family plays an important role within people’s lives. Without them, life becomes a challenge many never thought of having.
In the novel Before We Were Free, Julia Alvarez explores the theme of freedom, in more depth, how freedom comes at a cost. The main character, Anita, and her family are forced to leave their country to escape their dictator, Rafael Trujillo, of the Dominican Republic in order to be free. Although, nothing this serious would be executed without a cost. Lucinda, Anita’s older sister, is forced to choose between accepting Turillo’s proposal to be his lover or go to the states and hope for her family to meet her there. Mami says that she doesn’t want her daughter to work as a maid in America, but then Papi cuts her off to say, “Would you prefer she be Mr. Smith’s little querida?(pg.69 p.6)”.