No Name Woman By Maxine Hong Kingston's No Name Woman

Stephanie Coontz is a teacher, historian, author and a scholar activist. She has also very indulged in the world of public debate on families, this mostly due possible because of her extensive skills to study modern families as well as historical patterns. In her book The Way We Never Were, Coontz presents a historical look at the family and how it has changed over time. Her interest in the subject comes for her need to understand how families functioned in the past and present, and what lead to notion and definition of family nowadays.

In the poem “It’s a Woman’s World,” Eavan Boland uses many poetic devices such as alliteration, simile, and enjambment in order to explain life from a woman’s point of view and how women have lived the same since the beginning of time.

In the She’s The Man (2006), Viola Hastings (Amanda Bynes) cross dresses for the majority of the film, pretending to be her twin brother Sebastian. She does this in order to play for Illyria’s men’s soccer team as her school, Cornwall, cut the women’s soccer team and wouldn’t allow her to play for the men’s team. Her main motivation is to beat her former schools team and prove to them that even though she is a girl, she can play on the same field as the boys. While pretending to be Sebastian, Viola initially struggles to hide her femininity, such as when it is discovered that she has tampons in her bag. As the movie progresses her ability to hide this femininity and express masculinity becomes easier. Her cross dressing has an effect on everything and everyone around her and it pushes the line on the comfort people feel when stereotypical gender norms are challenged/ She becomes interested in her roommate, Duke (Channing Tatum) and throughout the movie the two become closer on an intimate level even though Viola is still masked as Sebastian. Duke is obviously uncomfortable with this as made evident by the end of the movie, when it is revealed that Viola was pretending to be Sebastian the entire time. His look of relief reinforces this idea of stereotypical, heterosexual gender roles, as now that Viola is revealed as a female, it is socially acceptable to be attracted to her. She’s The Man reinforces the stereotypical gender roles that society expects out of

Many individuals often aspire to pursue their own aspirations in hopes of achieving greater accomplishments while abandoning their past. However, despite their numerous achievements they may accomplish in the future, individuals are incapable of altering the initial perception others have already formed upon them despite the significant character changes they experience themselves. In the “Prodigal”, Bob Hicok suggests that when individuals aspire to pursue their own personal ambitions and motivations, they will experience an internal feeling of pride and self-satisfaction within themselves but people who thoroughly understand the individual from the past will still perceive him/her the same way as before. It is through the understanding or

In Danielle Allen’s essay, Our Declaration, she argues that all people should understand and recognize that the Declaration gives all people in the United States the undeniable freedom to self-govern. One person has the power to change the government; although this is not specifically stated, the freedom to self-govern implies every voice matters. She guides the reader to this idea by using simple and easy to follow examples to show the reader that they have the power to invoke a change the government. Allen also uses credible sources in order to give her reasoning credibility as well as using arguments that elicit an emotional connection.

Dorothy Allison’s essay, Panacea, recalls the fond childhood memories about her favorite dish, gravy. Allison uses vivid imagery to cook up a warm feeling about family meals to those who may be a poor family or a young mother. Appeal to the senses shows this warm feeling, along with a peaceful diction.

My mother was in the room. And it was perhaps the first time she had heard me give a lengthy speech using the kind of English I have never used with her.”(417) Overcoming the barrier between languages she spoke aided Tan in building a bridge between cultures. She changed her language to assimilate into American culture while also keeping familial culture. A piece of heritage that uses a language of intimacy, a different sort of English that relates to family talk. Tan grew up with this language and she still uses it with her mother, husband and in her books. (418) Another method to find identity in a new host society is through appearance. In the essay, “No Name Woman” by Maxine Kingston ideals in appearance were passed from generation to generation. Altering ideals when creating identity is noticed in Kingston’s essay. A long held tradition in many Chinese families is that many generations live under the same roof and this can cause a conflict in ideals. Conflicting ideals between generations is shown as Tan tells how the younger generation hid the identities of their sexual color and their character. Hiding these new identities they hoped to avoid potential conflict with generational ideals. Kingston did not hide her identity, she found herself “walking erect (knees straight, toes pointed forward, not pigeon-toed, which is Chinese-feminine) and speaking in an audible

Mother Tongue is a story that describes how Amy Tan’s mother was treated unfairly because of her “broken English”. As the second generation of Chinese immigrants, Tan faces more problems than her peers do. Her mom, who speaks “limited” English, needs Tan to be her “translator” in order to communicate with the native English speakers. Tan has felt ashamed of her mother “broken” language at first. She then contemplates her background affected her life and her study. However, she changes her thought at the end since she realizes things behind language might be more valuable than language itself sometimes. Through the various different literary devices and rhetorical strategies such as the ethos, pathos, and logos appeals, as well as a

The Adlerian Theory focuses on how the person’s perception of the past and his or her interpretation of early events have a continuing influence. Alder believed "that biological and physiological factors provided probabilities for future growth but that, "the self", with creative power as part of its inner nature, is the important intervening variable” (Selgiman & Reichenberg, 2010, p. 63). Behavior is purposeful and goal-directed when using Adlerian theory. Adler’s theory focuses on inferiority feelings, which he sees as a normal condition for all people and as a source of all human striving. Inferiority can be the wellspring of creativity. Alder believes this is what motivates us to strive for mastery, superiority, and completion. From an Adlerian perspective, human behavior is not determined solely by heredity and the environment. Instead, we have the capacity to interpret, influence, and create events. Alder asserts that what we were born with is not as important as what we choose to do with the abilities and limitations we possess.

English is an invisible gate. Immigrants are the outsiders. And native speakers are the gatekeepers. Whether the gate is wide open to welcome the broken English speakers depends on their perceptions. Sadly, most of the times, the gate is shut tight, like the case of Tan’s mother as she discusses in her essay, "the mother tongue." People treat her mother with attitudes because of her improper English before they get to know her. Tan sympathizes for her mother as well as other immigrants. Tan, once embarrassed by her mother, now begins her writing journal through a brand-new kaleidoscope. She sees the beauty behind the "broken" English, even though it is different. Tan combines repetition, cause and effect, and exemplification to emphasize

Throughout the novel The Woman Warrior, by Maxine Hong Kingston, the past is incorporated into the present through talk-stories combined into each chapter. Kingston uses talk-stories, to examine the intermingling of Chinese myths and lived experiences. These stories influence the life of the narrator as the past is constantly spoken about from the time she is young until the novel ends and she becomes an adult. Kingston incorporates two cultures. She is not a direct recipient of Chinese culture, but she has her own sense of talk-story, that she learns from her mother, which tells the old Chinese stories with a sense of myth, in a new American way. This is a way of weaving two cultures together, bringing the Chinese past into her present American life.

In “No Name Woman,” the theme of silence starts with the elementary words of the memoir stating you must not tell anyone. This statement is ironic because Kingston is in fact telling everyone, giving voice to Chinese customs and the lives that are foregone. As written in her memoir, she states, “You must not tell anyone,” my mother said, “what I am about to tell you. In China your father had a sister who killed herself. She jumped into the family well. We say that your father has all brothers because it is as if she had never been born.” (Deshazer 308). It is especially notable and ironic that the memoir begins with the phrase “You must not tell anyone.” Her effort in No Name Woman is to write about that which is never said; her unnamed dead aunt, and the outrageous behaviors in her mother’s Chinese village. Kingston was not necessarily silenced direct by a male figure; however, the words said by her mother “You must not tell anyone” is a representation of Kingston father’s authorization voice through her mother’s explanation. Kingston’s effort is also about discovering a voice, as both a Chinese-American

The author starts the book with the story of her aunt. This story was a well-kept family secret being that her aunt’s actions were of great disappointment to the family. The “no name woman” as the story names her, was forgotten by all her family because she had a child that was not from her husband. This story gives a clear

She considers that “some man had commanded her to lie with him and be his secret evil.” (Kingston 6). Kingston writes her initial version of the “No Name Woman,” who was raped, raided, and died an outcast, but Kingston determines that this telling does not fit her understanding of China. Therefore, Kingston entertains another hypothetical, that her aunt took a lover and saved him from shame by giving “silent birth” and not revealing the lover’s identity (Kingston 11). Here, Kingston critically examines the inherited talk-story of her mother to determine the meaning she should obtain from the death of her aunt. Her mother’s conclusion is that she must not become pregnant, but Kingston is uncertain about the simplicity of her mother’s story. In the “No Name Woman,” Kingston introduces the fictitious memoir structure that she utilizes through the variety of interpretations of her aunt’s story. Consistently through the memoir, Kingston writes contrasting accounts of the same stories and imagines the stories of others to further her themes about silence, authenticity, and identity formation.

This paper is a work of self-examination to find out what influenced my development from birth to this my 56th year. I will delve into my past and try to honestly and without judgment describe what events and actions led me to become the person I am today. I will look at the way in which the culture and family I grew up in build the frame-work of the person I have evolved into.