In the Fifth Chinese Daughter, Jade Snow Wong is the fifth daughter of eight children of the Wongs. Wong lived in Chinatown in San Francisco where he brought up his new family. For Jade Snow “it’s a place with haunting memories, wrapped in the atmosphere, customs, and manner of a land across the sea.” The family maintained the traditional Chinese customs even though they lived in America which is miles away from China.
As Jade Snow struggled through life to understand the concept of “individuality” through the terms of her parents, it was time for her to start college. She attended Mills College where she stayed with the Dean after arrangement. The arrangement was that she would do the household chores in return for a place to stay while she attends college.
One day, the Dean thought that Jade Snow was being left out and suggested to her that she should invite some of her friends from campus to dinner. So she did by inviting three of her Chinese friends as well as her Caucasian friend whom seemed very interested in the Chinese traditions (pg 157). That night of the dinner, her friends were delighted to have Chinese foods since they haven’t eaten it in a long period of time. Jade Snow “formulate and constructed delightful aspects of the Chinese culture” to present to her friends since they were eager to know about the Chinese background.
At the end of her junior year, she was recognized for her excellence in school and received a renewal for her scholarship. She had agreed to cook for a party for a quartet which was hosted by the Dean. Surprisingly, for the very first in her life she had her family to support and helped her in preparing the custom Chinese dishes.
After her graduation grew closer her Mama announced that she was going to have another child. Her Mama was unable to attend her graduation but that didn’t stop her father from going. For her it was the moment of “triumph”, she had proved to her parents that “she could balance her own budget and graduate from college” without a penny from them.
Due to the high importance her family placed on education and her own desire to learn, she graduated from Mills College. After her graduation, her younger brother Prosperity from Heaven was born. Finally, she had someone to teach what she didn’t learn from her father, the American culture.
She found a job at the shipyard and worked as a secretary during the War. During the period of her work, she discovered a talent for ceramics.
She finally decided to opened up own business with the blessings from her parents. She began selling her work in a shop named China Bazzar in Chinatown.
As her work progressed, her ceramics became popular in Chinatown.
During the course of her life she was finally content with what she accomplished as being the fifth Chinese daughter of her parents and was able to “wash away the former disgraces the women of the family suffered.”
Did Jade Snow prove to her father that the women in the family can accomplished something?
Was she discriminated by her own people within the community when she started her business? Why So?
Did Jade Snow Wong lose her traditions and values that her father taught her in the course of her life?
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Jon Claude: Fifth Chinese Daughter
1. Identify and briefly define important word, terms, concepts, or characters.
The story of Fifth Chinese Daughter is written in the third person despite the fact that it is the story of the author’s childhood. This is done because the word “I” is seen as selfish and proud in Chinese culture, to speak in the third person shows modesty and humility. The author and main character is named Jade Snow Wong.
2. Summarize the main idea, theme, action, or event of the reading. Be sure to include quotation that best captures the overall feeling or mood of the reading.
There really is no main event in the first chapter just the introduction to Jade Snow’s way of life in Chinatown, San Francisco. Aside from this there is a series of small anecdotes that usually have the same repeating theme of respect and order in the Wong family. It is necessary for Jade Snow to have respect for elders (parents, uncles, aunts, cousins, siblings and all) and order in her life. This benefited Jade Snow as it taught her not to lie or steal and instilled strong traditional Chinese values in her. On the other hand she could suffer emotional damage due to the stern attitudes of her parent and the severe punishments she received. Also, the strong Chinese enculturation that Jade Snow experiences in her early childhood has made it difficult and confusing for her to assimilate to the American culture later on in her life.
3. Formulate a question for discussion. The question should be relatively substantial, based upon a specified passage or scene from the text, and capable of sustaining a thoughtful discussion.
What does the “Bok Fon”, the white herb described in chapter one that was placed in the bronze brazier, in the shape of the turkey (which as you recall was Jade Snow’s scare/fear) symbolize or foreshadow?
The story of Fifth Chinese Daughter is written in the third person despite the fact that it is the story of the author’s childhood. This is done because the word “I” is seen as selfish and proud in Chinese culture, to speak in the third person shows modesty and humility. The author and main character is named Jade Snow Wong.
2. Summarize the main idea, theme, action, or event of the reading. Be sure to include quotation that best captures the overall feeling or mood of the reading.
There really is no main event in the first chapter just the introduction to Jade Snow’s way of life in Chinatown, San Francisco. Aside from this there is a series of small anecdotes that usually have the same repeating theme of respect and order in the Wong family. It is necessary for Jade Snow to have respect for elders (parents, uncles, aunts, cousins, siblings and all) and order in her life. This benefited Jade Snow as it taught her not to lie or steal and instilled strong traditional Chinese values in her. On the other hand she could suffer emotional damage due to the stern attitudes of her parent and the severe punishments she received. Also, the strong Chinese enculturation that Jade Snow experiences in her early childhood has made it difficult and confusing for her to assimilate to the American culture later on in her life.
3. Formulate a question for discussion. The question should be relatively substantial, based upon a specified passage or scene from the text, and capable of sustaining a thoughtful discussion.
What does the “Bok Fon”, the white herb described in chapter one that was placed in the bronze brazier, in the shape of the turkey (which as you recall was Jade Snow’s scare/fear) symbolize or foreshadow?
Saturday, February 2, 2008
Tracey: Eat a Bowl of Tea
In Chu's Eat a Bowl of Tea, the story takes place in New York City's Chinatown, in the Money Come club house run by Wang Wah Gay. When the rent collector Chong Loo arrives, he is met with resistance from Wah Gay, as well as a club regular by the name of Ah Song, who both brush Chong Loo off and tell him to come another time for the rent. Loo seems used to this reaction and quickly changes the subject to frivolous matters of gossip about the town. He is hurried out by the playful heckling of Wah Gay and Ah Song, who later discuss their own job histories. Ah Song seems to live a life of leisure, frequenting the race tracks for gambling purposes, while Wah Gay gives off the impression that he has lived a life much different from that of his old friend.
During this discussion another friend of Wah Gay enters his club and cools off from the summer heat. When Ah Song abruptly leaves to venture back to the race track, his chair is quickly claimed by the newcomer, Lee Gong, who originally came to America with Wah Gay when they were teenagers. The two discuss the comfortable life of Ah Song and how "Western civilization" is "a very deteriorating influence" on young people in America. Ah Song then returns with two friends and everyone then joins in a game of Mah Jong.
Next we are transported to the apartment of the newlyweds Ben Loy and Mei Oi. It is early in the morning and Ben is on his way to work, leaving his bride in bed with what seems to be a bad case of jetlag from their flight from Hong Kong to New York City just a few days prior. Mei Oi is overwhelmed with feelings of depression and uselessness, for she fears her new husband doesn't love her. She had been forced into marriage by her father, Lee Gong, who had sent Ben Loy to Sunwei village as her intended groom. She and her mother often discussed the type of man that she would marry, both agreeing that a gimshunhock, or farmer, would be the best husband because she would be able to see him in the mornings and nights when he was not tending to his land.
Mei Oi did not marry a gimshunhock, instead she gave into her father's wishes and settled for Ben Loy. After the two of them moved to New York Mei Oi's heart broke and she began to feel worthless. Feeling a bit better after some sleep, Mei Oi decided to wait for her husband to return from work in an attempt to spark some romance between them. Ben Loy comes home at nearly one o'clock in the morning and when Mei Oi tries to be tender with him he brushes her off, claiming he had a long, tiring day at work and the two of them simply head off to bed.
Some good questions that can be derived from this reading are: Is the combination of old world customs and new world freedom a recipe for failure for Asian American immigrants? Essentially, can a family value system be maintained in a country where there is more freedom and less morality? How will young children be raised and how will they be influenced by America and it's citizens? These are questions that perhaps will be discussed in class.
During this discussion another friend of Wah Gay enters his club and cools off from the summer heat. When Ah Song abruptly leaves to venture back to the race track, his chair is quickly claimed by the newcomer, Lee Gong, who originally came to America with Wah Gay when they were teenagers. The two discuss the comfortable life of Ah Song and how "Western civilization" is "a very deteriorating influence" on young people in America. Ah Song then returns with two friends and everyone then joins in a game of Mah Jong.
Next we are transported to the apartment of the newlyweds Ben Loy and Mei Oi. It is early in the morning and Ben is on his way to work, leaving his bride in bed with what seems to be a bad case of jetlag from their flight from Hong Kong to New York City just a few days prior. Mei Oi is overwhelmed with feelings of depression and uselessness, for she fears her new husband doesn't love her. She had been forced into marriage by her father, Lee Gong, who had sent Ben Loy to Sunwei village as her intended groom. She and her mother often discussed the type of man that she would marry, both agreeing that a gimshunhock, or farmer, would be the best husband because she would be able to see him in the mornings and nights when he was not tending to his land.
Mei Oi did not marry a gimshunhock, instead she gave into her father's wishes and settled for Ben Loy. After the two of them moved to New York Mei Oi's heart broke and she began to feel worthless. Feeling a bit better after some sleep, Mei Oi decided to wait for her husband to return from work in an attempt to spark some romance between them. Ben Loy comes home at nearly one o'clock in the morning and when Mei Oi tries to be tender with him he brushes her off, claiming he had a long, tiring day at work and the two of them simply head off to bed.
Some good questions that can be derived from this reading are: Is the combination of old world customs and new world freedom a recipe for failure for Asian American immigrants? Essentially, can a family value system be maintained in a country where there is more freedom and less morality? How will young children be raised and how will they be influenced by America and it's citizens? These are questions that perhaps will be discussed in class.
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