Identity In Gish Jen's An Ethnic Trump

Four Chinese mothers have migrated to America. Each hope for their daughter’s success and pray that they will not experience the hardships faced in China. One mother, Suyuan, imparts her knowledge on her daughter through stories. The American culture influences her daughter, Jing Mei, to such a degree that it is hard for Jing Mei to understand her mother's culture and life lessons. Yet it is not until Jing Mei realizes that the key to understanding who her

What this novel does not touch on is the harsh levels of discrimination that some Asian-American families faced during the 20th centuries, some people telling at them to go back to Vietnam, Korea, or wherever they came from, some refusing service, perhaps throwing them out for being different, similarly to how African-Americans were treated during that time, and similar to how some Muslims are being treated today. However, more insidious than moments of outright hostility, and maybe more powerful, are the constant weak reminders that you’re different, that you’re not one of them. The “sign at the Peking Express” (Ng 193), the “little boys on the playground, stretching their eyes to slits with their fingers” (Ng 193), you even “saw it when waitresses and policemen and bus drivers spoke slowly to you, in simple words, as if you might not understand” (Ng 193). All these tiny things, these little reminders that you’re not the same as everyone else around you, may have more impact on the people being discriminated against than blatant in-your-face

In discussions about raising children in different cultures between Chinese and Western families, Chinese mothers and Western mothers raise their children differently from each other. Amy Chua, in her essay entitled “How Chinese Mothers Are Superior,” argues that Chinese mothers are extremely more strict and harsh when it comes to parenting their children’s self-esteem while Chinese mothers do not while they assume “strength, not fragility” from their children. She also believes that it is necessary to limit the children in their daily lives in order to achieve greatness and honor to their family. Amy Chua is led to this conclusion due to research and examples of her own life as a Chinese daughter as well. My own view on the issue is that Chinese

Chinese parents and American parents differ substantially in their parenting styles, and a noticeable difference can be seen in the success of their children. The children of Chinese parents often excel in various areas, including in their educational, musical, and professional lives. The children of American parents, however, usually have a harder time excelling in those areas. Chinese parents and American parents hold opposing philosophies about how they view their children, opposing

In the short story, "Two Kinds" by Amy Tan, a Chinese mother and daughter are at odds with each other. The mother pushes her daughter to become a prodigy, while the daughter (like most children with immigrant parents) seeks to find herself in a world that demands her Americanization. This is the theme of the story, conflicting values. In a society that values individuality, the daughter sought to be an individual, while her mother demanded she do what was suggested. This is a conflict within itself. The daughter must deal with an internal and external conflict. Internally, she struggles to find herself. Externally, she struggles with the burden of failing to meet her mother’s expectations. Being a first-generation Asian American,

Asian immigrants raised their children on the values of filial piety. Filial piety is based on Confucianism ideology which is one showing respect to one’s parent. American-born children are raised with two values which are Confucianism and the American values. The American values allow an individual to make their decisions either in their career, marriage, or lifestyle. Unlike, the American values, Confucianism decisions are decided by the parents, which have created tension in both generations. The immigrant parents stress the importance of a proper education to their children because the parents did not have the opportunity for education. Education was a privilege meaning only the families that had money could send their children to school. The parents began working at a young age to support their family and maintaining the household was more important than education. The immigrant parents are motivated by the “American Dream” instead of a financial benefit, the better the education and the employment, the more opportunities that would be offered. A person without a proper education would not succeed in life compared to the ones that have an education.

The tale “American Born Chinese” by Gene Luch Wang depicts the story of three characters, Monkey, Jin, and Danny. They all have the problem of fitting into their new environments. Jin Wang has to deal with Asian stereotypes. Danny has to deal with embarrassment of his cousin. Lastly, Monkey has to deal with the fact that there is no position for him in the heavenly ranks. However, over time, these characters have to come together to fit in. Yet the question remains: what exactly about fitting in is the problem? Although Jin Wang takes the form of Danny to reject his Chinese roots, the embarrassment of Chin-Knee shows he cannot hide behind a false American identity, thereby delineating that race is the source of his problem.

We are all different, we come from different parts of the world, and our culture is different from one another. Be proud of who you are, don’t be ashamed of what you are. There is nothing wrong with adopting other cultures. In this essay, I’m going to compare and contrast Andrea Roman and Amy Tan relationships with their parentsWe are all different, we come from different parts of the world, and our culture is different from one another. Be proud of who you are, don’t be ashamed of what you are. There is nothing wrong with adopting other cultures. In this essay, I’m going to compare and contrast Andrea Roman and Amy Tan relationships with their parents.

The emergence of the second generation bloomed quickly and by 1930, 41% of the Chinese population in America was naturalized born citizens. The birth of a child in America was symbolization of an elite status in an Asian American’s family (Lee 177). First generation immigrant parents feared the worst for their children who were second generation Asian Americans. The parents of the children feared that their children will grow up learning the American culture and language that they would become too “Americanized” and forget

I have always thought and been taught that racism was a form of ignorance; people used stereotypes are the easy route, instead of looking at the individual outside of the whole. But Kelley’s thoughts on the topic rang very true to me—“Racism is knowledge…is learned behavior…” (7). When we are babies, we don’t notice or care if someone is of a different race, socioeconomic standing, sexuality; we just see them as people. It’s through repeated actions that we learn what separates us from the “other”. As a young child, my neighbor was my best friend. We played every day until I moved, but our families still kept in touch. It was until probably the 3rd or 4th grade that I realized he wasn’t like me, he had Down syndrome. Of course, that didn’t make a difference to me then or now, but I find it to be a striking example in my own life that as a young person, I was unable to see anything different about us, to me we were the same, we were

In the story “Two Kinds”, author Amy Tan, who is a Chinese-American, describes the conflicts in the relationship of a mother and daughter living in California. The protagonist in this story Jing-mei Woo’s mother is born and raised in China, and immigrates to the United States to escape from the Chinese Civil War. For many years she maintained complete Chinese traditional values, and has been abided by it deliberately. This kind of traditional Chinese culture has also affected her daughter profoundly. However, Jing-mei is born and raised in the United States. Despite she has a Chinese mother; she is unfamiliar and uncomfortable with Chinese

Because America is such a diverse country, there are many differences between cultures of various immigrant groups. Members of each culture, have their own beliefs and values regarding what they think is right. The cultural diversity allows for each person to have a different view of things. Amy Chua’s essay “Why Chinese Mothers are Superior,” she describes her way of parenting her two daughters following Chinese values about education. She explains how Western parents are much more lenient than Chinese parents with their children and education. Chua gives examples of how she raised her daughter Lulu and Sophia which lead them to achieve success. She makes comparisons between Western and Chinese parenting styles throughout the essay and concludes that both types of parents want the best for their children, but just approach parenting it in different ways. In the article, “Chinese vs Western Mothers: Q&A with Amy Chua,” Amy Chua is interviewed by Belinda Luscombe where she clarifies how her Chinese method of parenting did not hurt her children the way many readers thought it did. Chua explains that her relationship with her two daughters is very strong and believes there are many effective ways of parenting in addition to the Chinese approach. Chua’s essay shows the Chinese immigrant approach to parenting and gives insight into why so many children of Chinese parents are so successful. Discussing the cultural differences shows the risk of stereotyping groups where feelings

How bitter the words were! If a child never get mother’s acclaim and encouragement, how sorrowful one’s heart feels! Here comes a contrasting comparison of western and Chinese parenting—western parents encourage and praise their child much more often than Chinese parents do. This encouragement helps them create new ideas, independent opinions, developing unique and sparkling characters. Whereas Chinese parents believe in the old saying, “a strict teacher produces outstanding students”, strictness and criticism are important educating guide lines for Chinese parents, which results in obedience and collectivism, compromise, no psyche and no guts to say no. But on the other hand, Chinese do behave better in harsh and high-pressured condition due to their strict training in childhood.

Elizabeth Wong is a Chinese-American playwright who wrote “The Struggle to Be an All-American Girl”. In her essay, she describes her resentment of her Chinese roots and her protest against her parents who want her to learn and appreciate her heritage and culture. Her essay exposes the pressure that society places on immigrant children to fit into the dominant culture. The proposed solutions to fixing this problem is thinking and implementing long term plans. I make the argument that his ethical problem of society placing such a heavy burden on immigrant children to fit into the dominate culture can be solved with the implementation of multicultural classes, language classes, additional counselors and child psychologists in public schools.

Children who are pulled out of their normal environment and inserted into different surroundings face an identity crisis due to the importance of identity in determining who one truly is. In a study, Trolly, Wallin, and Hansen discovered that fewer than fifty percent of the parents of foreign children felt that their children were only somewhat aware of their birth culture (Hollingsworth 48:209). These children lack a sense of who they really are and later in life will become confused on why they differ from their new families. Though it is often a painful topic that parents choose not to bring up, it is important that children understand their background because it results in a better quality of life. However, the prevalence of “cultural socializations” was low amongst Caucasian families who adopted Asian children (Deater-Deckard, Johnston, Petrill, Saltsman, and Swim 56:390). It is made clear that Westerners lack the cultural knowledge necessary to properly educate their internationally adopted children about the culture the children come from. This can result in a variety of psychological implications due to the significant effect of identity on the health of people of color (Deater-Deckard, Johnston, Petrill, Saltsman, and Swim 56:390). These implications tend to be internalized rather than externalized. In the same study, Chinese adoptees displayed the possibility of behavior such as hyperactivity, aggression,