Exam Question

So… I somehow missed this blog post assignment on the syllabus. Anyways I am doing it now. Even though on the exam I did not write about the warrior woman for the topic of Chinese vs. Chinese American, I feel it is strong in Kingston’s memoir. I mean her whole memoir is a journey to try to find out what Chinese is, and what American Chinese is. Kingston said, “Chinese-Americans, when you try to understand what things in you are Chinese, how do you separate what is peculiar to childhood, to poverty, insanities, one family, your mother who marked your growing with stories, from what is Chinese? What is Chinese tradition and what is the movies?”(5-6). Maxine Kingston does not leave the reader in the dark about what her memoir is about, she blatantly states it in those few words. Her whole memoir is about finding herself within her culture. In the end, I think she finds her middle ground by talking about the song. Kingston said “I continue to sort out what’s just my childhood, just my imagination, just my family, just the village, just the movies, just living”(205). Even though she still feels unsure about her own stories, I feel it representation in the song shows her progress. The song is about the Chinese woman singing a beautiful song to the barbarian men. Even though the men can’t understand the words, they understand her tone of “sadness and anger”(209). I think that even though Kingston cannot fully understand her mother or her Chinese heritage, she understands the tone of it. Even though some of the stories may be “fake,” I think she shows her emotions and feelings through these stories. It is the tone that is important in them. I think that her whole memoir is this barbarian song.

             There were a few parts in the last chapter of the memoir that I though related to the uncertainty of Chinese, versus Chinese American. Kingston said, “Indeed I was getting stranger every day. I affected a limp. And, of course, the mysterious disease I had might have been dormant and contagious”(190). I think this mysterious disease relates to her uncertainty of Chinese culture. I think she has struggled through her whole memoir trying to figure it out, that this uncertainty is her “disease”. Kingston said “One night when the laundry was so busy that the whole family was eating dinner there, crowded around the little round table, my throat burst open”(201). Kingston described her disease as her throat hurting and barely being able to move. I feel that her throat bursting symbolizes her trying to escape this culture uncertainty. From this point on I feel Kingston is confident enough to come up with conclusion about Chinese and American Chinese. She moves on from this disease of uncertainty to this beautiful song. I think the song is the “Aha! I figured it out!” part of her memoir. All of the stories before that lead up to this song, or her figuring out of the difference between Chinese and Chinese American.

Takaki:Initial Ideas

            I am starting to get a sense of the role of the Chinese immigrant and the Japanese immigrants. I am finding similarities and differences between the two. This week’s reading in “Strangers from a Different Shore” by Ronald Takaki mainly focuses on the Japanese and their immigration to the mainland of America and Hawaii.

            I found that like the Chinese the Japanese women were forced into becoming prostitutes. The Japanese women that were not prostitutes were working and still being paid less than the men were. Hawaii welcomed the Japanese and made promotions for the women just as they did for the Chinese. The Japanese attitude was arrogant towards the Chinese. In the chapter A Meiji Voice Crossing the Pacific, the Japanese talk about how they are more capable and superior over the Chinese. The Japanese bragged about how more efficient their women were as compared to the Chinese. They worked harder in their country and were more educated and literate. It was surprising to read that the Japanese let all of their sons go even the first son. The Chinese were stricter about letting the men leave. An example of favor towards the Japanese is when Takaki says, “The U.S. government had strictly prohibited the entry of Chinese women, it allowed Japanese women to come under the terms of the Gentlemen’s Agreement” (50). The Japanese were also “teiju (settling)” people (52). The Americans liked those who were teiju people instead of deskasegi (sojourning) people. As mentioned in the chapter Ethnic Enterprise, the sojourners created the anti- Japanese hatred. It said, “Neither did the deskaseginin feel a desire or a responsibility to contribute to American society. The sojourner identity, in turn, was contributing to the anti-Japanese exclusionist movement, for it confirmed hostile claims of their foreignness and unassailability”(195). Since the Chinese were mostly sojourners, maybe this created the American hatred towards them, whereas the Japanese settled and tired to be a part of American society. I also think the Japanese’s skillful farming and agriculture skills helped gain the Americans respect. Since the Americans needed good crops, they kept the Japanese because of their great talent in that filed of work.  In the book, it said “But, Abiko believed, Japanese immigrants had to do more than establish families here. They had to develop economic and social stakes through farming” (195). Not only did the Japanese have to become settling people they had to create a good reputation by doing some good farming. It was also surprising to find out how fast the Japanese culture spread. There were specific towns and cities just for the Japanese, with numerous stores for their satisfaction. The reason mentioned in the book for making these separate cities is, “Japanese could feel comfortable among compatriots while avoiding racial discrimination from white-owned businesses” (186). How hard do the Japanese have to work to avoid this discrimination? Even the man Kinji Ushijima was still discriminated after being the most successful Japanese farmers. He made millions, and was probably more successful than some whites were, but there is still that discrimination. I am hoping to see this discrimination diminish as time goes on in this book, because I am tired reading about it.

Strangers from a Different Shore & Chinese/Japanese American History

After reading “A History of Asian Americans: Strangers from a Different Shore” by Ronald Takaki I learned a lot about Chinese/ Japanese American history. I thought the reading was quite dry, and at times, it almost felt like I was reading a history book. I thought some of the chapters were too specific with the dates and numbers, there was a lot of data, and I kept loosing track of what pertained to what.

            In the “Tan Heung Shan and Gam Saan” chapter, the role of women was somewhat confusing. I understood that in Hawaii during a certain time they were welcome to come and join their husbands. In fact, they made a law saying, “No Chinamen should be allowed henceforth to come here… unless they are accompanied by their women” (38). The kingdom of Hawaii made it seem as if women were more desirable than men were and would be treated fairly. When the women arrived at Hawaii, they were not treated as highly as the underdogs described. They were paid less when they got there which shows the inequality amongst the Chinese men and women. I liked the comparison made between the Hawaiian Chinese women and the California Chinese women. The California women were mainly prostitutes, and many of them were forced to be prostitutes. I thought the story of Lilac Chen and Wong Ah So was very tragic.

 In California, all Chinese and Japanese in general were seen as just laborers, and many whites showed violence and hatred towards the immigrant workers. California viewed the relationships with the Chinese workers as “contractual, businesslike: they were purchasing labor, nothing less” (39).  In Chapter 5 the Japanese were “ usually scorned their very presence and white workers waged hostile and sometimes even violent campaigns to keep the Japanese out of the labor market”(180). It said, “Like the Chinese before them, the Japanese immigrants experienced racial discrimination” (181). What I got from reading that quote was that the Japanese were new to the immigration and harsh racism and discrimination from the Americans, and the Chinese had already been there long enough to know about the discrimination. Just reading what the American’s did to the Japanese in hatred and in discrimination was unbelievable. Many times, it went past words to hurtful actions. The labor both the men and women Japanese had to do seemed tiring. It said, “Women had double duty-field work and housework.” I could not even imagine the typical day that they would have. It angered me that the men usually were not willing to help the women out with their housework.

The Warrior Woman

Many may criticize Maxine Hong Kingston’s “Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts”, because they do not think the memoir is real, traditional, or that Kingston is a reliable narrator. It is hard to pick out the sources of her ideas. This makes her appear as a less reliable narrator. I feel that even though some of her events may not be “real” they are the events that try to help her find her true identity. Her method of writing this memoir leave me baffled at the end, because she makes these many wonderful observations of other people, but fails to make her own reflections and insights about them. 

  The question brought up in the beginning of her memoir is, “Chinese-American, when you try to understand what things in you are Chinese, how do you separate what is peculiar to childhood, to poverty, insanities, one family, your mother who marked your growing with stories, from what is Chinese? What is Chinese tradition and what is the movies?”(6) Kingston never really answers this question with words to her readers. She does not add her commentary to these remarkable events and stories. Kingston leaves the reader to decide what is real of fake, and what is Chinese and what is the movies. I felt that she was somewhat satisfied with her work, and finds her answers, but personally, I was left dissatisfied and frustrated. If I were one to love puzzles and hard thinking, I would have loved this memoir.  She still leaves us with this giant knot to untangle, and it is as if there a many ways to do it. I feel as if in the end there is still an uncertainty in how the Chinese and Americans fit together. I still have not found that connection. I feel that she is so uncertain about her ideas that it leaves the reader feeling the same way. I mean I have to agree with Frank Chin when he says “And, to legitimize their faking, they have to fake all of the Asian American history and literature, and argue that the immigrants who settled and established Chinese America lost touch with Chinese culture, and that a faulty memory combined with new experience produced new versions of these traditional stories. This version of history is their contribution to the stereotype” (3). I feel that Kingston is setting up possible stereotypes in her writing, because she is unsure of her stories and sources. I feel that by not providing “traditional” stories she is pushing her self and her readers away from her own question of what is Chinese. She rarely says “well I think this is what happened, or this may not be true” she tells her stories in such a convincing way that makes it seem as if she is almost trying to convince her readers to believe them. It was shocking to find our that her story about Mulan was “fake.” I would have believed it as the real story had I not have read Frank Chin’s criticism of Kingston. So is she purposely trying to set up these “stereotypes”? Throughout the memoir Kingston, barley tries to make any connections between the Chinese, Chinese-Americans, and the Americans. She was usually focused on one specific way of culture. She never tried to take the things from each one to figure out, like a puzzle, what was stereotypical, or the movies. Maybe if she tried to answer her question throughout her memoir by picking out pieces and putting them together I would have a more clear answer for her question. I feel that maybe she cannot do this because she herself got lost in her writing. Maybe she herself cannot determine what is real or fake therefore cannot make the connections to figure out what is Chinese. Most of her stories are about her family and maybe if she tried to make a conclusion it would be simply be unreliable, because her conclusions would solely be from her family’s experiences.

Shaman

Wow! I felt like there was a lot thrown at me in reading Shaman. I had to go back and recollect my thoughts after reading so many things; the college “dream life” sitting ghosts, eating weird things to be heroes, more ghosts, killing babies, selling children…etc. I felt like it jumped back and forth to a lot of ideas, and ideas that Kingston wanted the reader to observe more closely.

            The way the story started out with the doctor’s degree and the college life, I thought right away it was going to be a very dry piece or writing. I thought the story would outline how women and of other races can achieve. I was not expecting to read about a family pigging out on monkey brains or a man/ape try and attack the doctor. The way I pictured the mother in college was a brave, smart humble person. I did not expect her to come back to the village in high heels and a silk gown buying dogs to protect her and a buying a girl to be her nurse. From what I got from the sitting ghost experience, she portrayed herself as a very brave woman able to fend for herself. However, once she goes back to the village she needs a small dog to protect her and the only thing it really seems to do is yelp when ape-man tries to attack her. In the story, it said, “With hardly a rustle of leaves, the ape-man leapt live out of the trees and blocked her way. The white dog yelped”(84). So what is the significance of the white dog? She was fine fighting off ghosts that were trying to kill her in the ghost room. She even died and came back to life! Maybe she felt she had to be a different person at the college. Maybe, she was not happy pretending to be the brave know it all girl. We know she read way ahead of the other girls so she would not appear stupid, maybe she just wanted to appear brave so that others would appreciate her more.  She would study “when the breathing coming from the beds and coming from the walls was deep and even… The sweat of hard work is not to be displayed. It is much more graceful to appear favored by the gods” (64). First off, it is hard work to become a doctor, it just does not happen, so why is she trying to hide the fact that she worked hard to get where she wants to go? Second, what kind of gods would frown upon hard work? Not working hard, would mean you took the easy way out either by cheating or not putting your full heart into something, and if that is the case, you probably are not passionate about it. That would be something to frown upon, not hard work. However once she reached, the village she probably knew people would accept her because she is a doctor and people need doctors. I felt when she entered the village is when she opened up her true personality to the reader. She was a great doctor in the village, but what happened to her career when she got to America. Did I miss something or did she just go from doctor to like a woman working on the farm with man muscles. So many things confused me in this story. The ghost thing came up again and more frequently while they were living in America. What is the significance of that? How does it tie into the other stories prior to that? I have a feeling that this whole ghost thing will have a deeper meaning as I read on.

comments

1/27 Brad & Anna

2/3 Iwona & Caroline

2/13 Avery & Anna

3/16 Avery & Anna

3/27 Anna & Kristy

3/30 Edd

4/3 Tessa & Kristy

4/6 Tessa

The Woman Warrior:No Name Woman

There was definitely a change of tone in The Woman Warrior; compared to the last piece I read called the American Born Chinese. I felt the tone set in the short story “No Name Woman” was very serious. My mood reading the story was very tense; I could feel my face tighten up with great concentration. While reading the comic book I had my feet up on my desk eating chips, laughing to myself at times. I liked how the “No Name Woman” started with such a shocking idea of a woman committing suicide, and ending with something still so frightening. The style of the story felt like a man trying to run a circus show. A man running a circus would usually open up with something big then do a few little acts then leave the audience with something big and amazing, so they will come back. The author would open up with such a big attention grabbing idea, move on to some facts, throw in some humor, and then end it with something big and attractive to the audience to make one go back and look at the piece further.

As I looked back at the piece, I was able to make connections to the American Born Chinese. I noticed that the “aunt” was referred to as a ghost through out most of the story. When she was alive, she was the outcast, and not accepted by many. She would have to eat at the outcast table for dinner; she went out of bounds with tradition and was eccentric with her style. I believe that the “aunt” connected to a few of the characters in the American Born Chinese. I suppose she was like Jin, the monkey king and Wei-Chen because they all had a hard time trying to be accepted into society. I felt that the “aunt had good morals, but the hardcore Chinese villagers couldn’t look past their own beliefs to see that. I felt that the Americans constantly picking on, and throwing stereotypes towards Jin and Wei-Chen were at times to stubborn to take the time to see that they were trustworthy characters. The daughter telling the “No Name Woman” story, Jin, and Wei-Chen were all struggling to become more American. In the “No Name Woman”, the author says, “The Chinese I know hide their names; sojourners take new names when their lives change and guard their real names with silence” (5). I think Jin trying to hide his Chinese background goes along with that quote. Changing ones name is just being unfaithful to ones self and ethnicity. I feel that in both pieces of writing there is an uncertainty of stereotyping. Like the daughter said in “No Name Woman”, “What is Chinese tradition and what is the movies?”(6) The daughter herself is confused about her traditions and what are myths. In the American Born Chinese Jin and Wei-Chen seem quite certain about their traditions, but Chin-Kee believes in every Chinese stereotype imaginable.

I have made a few general connections between the last two pieces I have read, but I still feel like there is more to analyze. I am not completely satisfied with my correlation between the two pieces of writing. However, the few questions I am left with, I just cannot seem to find a suitable answer. I feel that there is a greater significance of the idea of the “aunt” being a ghost. Why was she referred to as a ghost instead of “The aunt we don’t talk about”? It seemed that the men were able to “break free” to explore Western civilization and create a better life, but why can’t the village break free from their strict Chinese traditions and move a little closer towards our more humble ways of life?

About me

Hello, my name is Michelle. I am 19 years old and a sophomore at Saint Rose. My major is early childhood special education with a concentration in English. So far, I am satisfied with my major, and enjoying the field of education. I am from Dutchess County, and I grew up in a small town called Hopewell Junction, so moving to Albany was a big change. I became accustomed to the countless one-way streets, the heavy traffic, and the increased population of the homeless with their shopping carts. With College came many changes in my life. I have had to spend a whole year living with another person, in Lima Hall, and then go to living on my own in a studio apartment. I would not have been able to make it through all these changes without the support of my loving family. Probably the person I am closest to is my brother Jonathan. He is one year younger than I am so I feel that we can relate well. We share many of the same interests such as playing video games, snowboarding, skateboarding, running, scuba diving, and talking about cars. Something I would say I am obsessed with is my crazy Shit-Tzu named Peanut. I spend a lot of time and money on Peanut. His haircuts cost more than mine. One of my favorite things to do with Peanut is play at the Dog Park back home. I have a wonderful boyfriend named Ric. He is in the United States Marine Corps, and will be permanently stationed in Beaufort, South Carolina working on F/A-18 Superhornets. When school is in session, I work at the Financial Aid office, and over the summer I work as a Life Guard at a private pool.