My Two Dads Analysis

But was it for the best or for the worst ? The girl had much insight and could cope with almost anything, a 10 year old with a family and a home, a smart young lady who was unimpeachable, given the options to make her own decision she did so. While she did have her insecurities she would put them aside, and the contempt feeling went away. While in the kitchen, the girl walks in and drinks her water, knowing it was time for her piano lessons, she sits ¨Do i have to? {the woman thought for a moment} No, she said, only if you want to. Tell me i have to.¨[pg.16] When the girl wants her mother to tell her what to do, this symbolizes both the relationship they have and how the girl is still a child that wants reinsurance and is still dependent on her. Though during the time they were in the internment camp many things had changed her. The girl had became both reckless and careless, making impulsive decisions without thinking of the after effects or consequences. When she was in the internment camp, the girl became irresponsible and stop caring about everything “ In the morning she did not return until long after dark. She was always in a rush now...she ate all her meals with her friends. Never with the boy and his mother. She smoked cigarettes.[pg.92]” When the

It was so hard for her to talk American parents about Korean family because she felt like she was being disloyal to them and she also said: “I didn’t know how to talk to my mother about my mother.” (Borshay, 2000). She also said “because she was my mother. I feel uncomfortable talking about Korean mother.” (Borshay, 2000). This is one of the reasons why she felt difficult to talk to an American mother. However, American mother said that if Deann want to tell her about it, let tell me. I realize that her voice is so sad. They still discussed about Deann family in Korean because they love her so much. If you were one of Borshay family members, what would you do? Would you accept her real mother? Would you go to Korea because of her daughter?

As a result of the regimes isolationist policy the people of North Korea suffered greatly in both mental and physical health. The hold the state had over the beliefs of the citizens presented in “Nothing to Envy”, varied from absolute belief to uncomfortable awareness. The reader is presented often with Mrs. Song’s dedication to the regime, and Kim Il-sung himself. A mother of four she was often gone from home, working and attending ideological training sessions. “Fridays she stayed especially late for self-criticism. In these sessions members of her work unit- the department to which she was assigned- would reveal to the group anything they had done wrong—Mrs. Song would usually say, in all sincerity, that she feared she wasn’t working hard enough” (Pg. 43).When Kim Il-sung died, she

When the Koreans are forced to change their family names to Japanese ones, their Korean identity is weakened. Going through this traumatizing experience is

Chang-Rae Lee’s Native Speaker expresses prominent themes of language and racial identity. Chang-Rae Lee focuses on the struggles that Asian Americans have to face and endure in American society. He illustrates and shows readers throughout the novel of what it really means to be native of America; that true nativity of a person does not simply entail the fact that they are from a certain place, but rather, the fluency of a language verifies one’s defense of where they are native. What is meant by possessing nativity of America would be one’s citizenship and legality of the country. Native Speaker suggests that if one looks different or has the slightest indication that one should have an accent, they will be viewed not as a native of

She states, “Children of immigrants are living paradoxes,” and from her experience, this is proven to be true. Her parents, moving to American in hopes of creating a better life, desired Hwang to become one with American culture. However, they also desire her to stay true to what makes her herself, which is her Korean culture. Internalizing Hwang’s pain, her parents told her one thing, but expected her to do another. The emotional confusion is overwhelming. Hwang explains her parents “knew they were embarking on a rough trip,” however, if they knew the way in which Hwang feels they may not have went about the move in they way they have. “I identify with Americans, but they do not identify with me,” (13) is how Hwang feels living in America. She is split between not being Korean enough and not being American enough. She stands on the line between the two, but that line is extremely lonely and

Throughout her childhood and adulthood she was exposed to many cultures due to the moving. She was mostly exposed to military life but when she lived in Camp Pendleton North Carolina she talked about how her husband's squadron felt more like family to her than what she was exposed to in her childhood. From the many cultures she got to see she really valued having large dinners with her husband's squadron and kids. During these dinners she valued listening to people's stories about where they came from and what they have seen while being in the military. Language had a small role, when she was a child her grandfather would speak greek but once she moved back home it was english only. Since her father did not approve she was not allowed to use

Written by Margaret K. Pai, the Dreams of Two Yi-min narrates the story of her Korean American family with the main focus on the life journeys of her father and mother, Do In Kwon and Hee Kyung Lee. Much like the majority of the pre-World War II immigrants, the author’s family is marked and characterized by the common perception of the “typical” Asian immigrant status in the early 20th century: low class, lack of English speaking ability, lack of transferable education and skills, and lack of knowledge on the host society’s mainstream networks and institutions (Zhou and Gatewood 120, Zhou 224). Despite living in a foreign land with countless barriers and lack of capital, Kwon lead his wife and children to assimilate culturally,

In the memoir of Quiet Odyssey, Mary Pail lee explains in detail about her daily life of struggles through poverty, racism and harsh working conditions as an Asian- American women. Lee encounters with cultures other than her own, as a child who was part of a very small group of Koreans who immigrated to the United Stated due to the many Japanese soldier's invasion around the 1900s. One aspect of her life in America at the turn of the 20th century had the most impact on her identity was where she grew up from. She stated "Once he was sitting out on the porch smoking after dinner, and I asked him what we had to be so thankful for. He said, "Don't you remember why we came here?" I had forgotten that the fate of out family in Korea was much worse

Yook first begins by addressing the meaning of the phrase “You’re so Asian.” She effectively sets the audience on this journey to find the meaning of this phrase. And throughout the essay, she constantly

This story reflects on how she adapts to her new life in her foreign counrty. In the story it says that she "started a new life in South Korea after she escaped. "(My Escape From North Korea) So what this is trying to say that she left everything from a harsh environment to a new start in the new world other than her old place. She is trying to fit in with the crowd and blend as a South Korean.

Kim has seen Vietnam in flames, been in a communist re-education camp and moved to Canada, where her parents have very little money as they work minimum wage jobs. With the help of her parents, she is given opportunities and is able to pick out the positive things in life. She is able to reflect upon the hardships her parents faced such as being put in a communist camp and having to lose everything and move to Canada. Despite being very uncomfortable and not understanding a thing the teacher or other are saying, she is able to find happiness in the little things many people would skip over or take for granted. Her negative

So, if I make the fried Kim-chi with the Kim-chi from a market, it is just not tasty as much as the one that my mom made. Yet, however the taste of it, every time I eat Kim-chi, it reminds me of my mom’s caring for me and the fact that I am Korean. Because when she tried to make me eat Kim-chi, she always used to say like ‘oh, Koreans should eat Kim-chi.’ By that time, however, what she said did not really come across my mind. Since all the people around me were Korean, I did not really know what being Korea means. But now I am in America, and being ‘Korean’ becomes one of the unique characteristics that represent me.

She had little schooling, but she had run businesses. She had managed on her own, with a husband and sons, in a country that didn’t care for her or her culture, but only for their aggrandized version of it. Her experiences were rightful cause to be jaded and hard, and yet she saw brightness and she saw brightness in me. She saw the great things in life, she loved hard and appreciated the little things — us going for a walk together or just sitting in the sun on a warm day.

My return to Korea in the summer of 2001 was nothing short of a culture shock. I was in a country I thought I had learned by heart. It was the country I always rooted my identity and pride from. I wasn’t ready for the shock. I