Pagsanjan Short Story Summary

Connection: In the House on Mango Street, Esperanza visits the Monkey Garden. To her the garden is a safe,

Throughout the short story “The Jade Peony” by Wayson Choy the character of the grandmother is shown through her actions, physical descriptions of her, and from the way family members act with her. The Grandma in this story is a very old fashioned lady, who follows family traditions beliefs and practices, and teaches valuable lessons to her loving family.

The significance of her father’s effort becomes valuable to Vanessa when she returns to Diamond Lake and sees the changes. “The small pier which my father had built was gone, and in its place there was a large and solid pier built by the government, for Galloping Mountain was now a national park, and Diamond Lake had been renamed Lake Wapakata, for it was felt that an Indian name would have a greater appeal to tourists” (Laurence 119). The government’s idealization of the lake shows how their ignorance connects with young Vanessa visualizing of Piquette as the “daughter of the forest”. Although, Vanessa’s knowledge of Piquette’s life is much clearer, she still doesn’t understand the Native culture.

Amy Tan’s A Pair Of Tickets is a story concerning family and roots. June May, like the author herself, was a Chinese born in USA and grew up with an American background culture, whereas her mother grew up in China and then immigrated to America. Looking at the repeated words, we discussed that one there are many words such as mother, sister, father and Aiyi. Most of the characters in this story belong to one family, June May’s family. It suggests to us that the tale is about relations and where we stand in our family. Even Aiyi brings practically her whole family to see her brother and niece. This is also one of the stronger traits of the Chinese cultures where there are many family occasions.

Margaret Laurence’s “The Loons”, is a story about an Indian girl who tries to overcome obstacles in her life and discover a place of belonging, but in the end, dies at an early age. She grows up in an environment where she is not happy, and despite her efforts to leave, ends up back in her hometown, which leads to her death. The theme of this story is that everyone is a product of their environment, which is illustrated by Vanessa and Piquette’s lives and the loons on the lake.

It is a warm day in Tegucigalpa, the sun peeking through the cracks of the beat down building Lourdes calls home. But today begins a new chapter of her life, a life in the United States. It is January 29, 1989. Lourdes is a divorced single mother of two. She works hard to provide an income for her family, but it is not enough to purchase education and food for her kids. Like countless other women in the same situation, she decides that she will go to America and make money to send home to her children. Although she plans to leave for only a year, she will not return.

The culture of Mango Street lends itself to espousing two main gender roles for women, most importantly the role of mother and caretaker, and less significantly, as sexual figure. Women on Mango Street commonly embrace or are forced to embrace at least one of these roles. Marin, a woman who takes care of her cousins by day and sits outside smoking by night, easily embodies both roles. Sally particularly exemplifies that women cannot get away from the gender roles that bind them. In her family, being a female means becoming a vulnerable person for the man to control. However, Sally prefers to ignore this gender role and advertise herself as a seductress. As she agrees to give “a kiss for each” boy (Cisneros 97) in exchange for her keys back, “beauty is linked to sexual coercion …; there are no promises of marriage here, only promises of giving back to Sally what is already hers” (Wissman). Her family rejects his role, though to some extent accepted by Mango Street. By accepting the alternate gender role, Sally tries to break away from the gender role her family expects of her. However, she is unsuccessful. To escape from her father, Sally is “married before eighth grade” (Cisneros 101) to an equally controlling man who “won’t let her talk on the telephone” or “look out the window” (Cisneros 102). The marriage is a way

To begin with, the narrator’s emotional bond that grew with her grandmother was slow but impactful. One day she was sick and her grandmother had taken care of her, using homemade balm she describes as “sun shining through the darkness of your eyelids” (Viramontes 33). As a result of this feeling of care and warmth she became fond of her time with her grandmother. Out of all her sibling, she was the one that chose to visit her and help with chores. On the contrary to the beliefs of her sisters, the

Lindo was arranged to marry Tyan-yu. While the marriage was short-lived, Tyan-yu constantly lied to Lindo, and Tyan-yu’s mother treated Lindo like an object to be bartered between families. Lindo experiences depression being trapped in this lifestyle, so she decides to flee to America in order to escape it. When reminiscing on her marriage Lindo says, “I had no choice, now or later. That was how backward families in the country were. We were always the last to give up stupid old-fashioned customs” (Tan ). Similar to the mother in the beginning, Tan creates appeal to pathos, forcing the reader to sympathize with Lindo. The reader’s sympathy to Lindo allows Tan to expand on the larger issue of sexism, creating an emotional and educational tone in order to coax the reader into, again, understanding the true scale of sexism. Tan drilling this larger idea of sexism into readers changes the reader’s perspective. With new perspective, readers notice the need for change to establish equality between both sexes. Therefore, Tan is using her writing as a tool for a deeper subject: exciting change within the world, and thus, exemplifying Jong’s words.

In the novel A Daughter of Han by Ida Pruitt, the readers are taken through a journey of one woman through her life’s highs and lows. Through the eyes of Ning Lao T'ai-t'ai, readers can truly understand the life of a working woman during this time period. Although life may not have been easy at times, Ning Lao shows the determination and passion she had for her family and for their lives to be better. The life of a working woman is never an easy life but adding in the social rules and opium addiction that effected each part of Ning Lao’s life made it much more difficult.

of her trees, and farm. It gave her comfort when she ws living in Bybanks because she was all around these

The disregard for capitalist ideals by 20th century Vietnam however has been constructed by the author throughout the novel. The effect on the peasantry had been constructed by Duong in relation to the character Que. Within the book, the close paternal relationship of Que and Hang had deteriorated since the beginning of her relationship with Aunt Tam. “Because Aunt Tam had taken me under her protection…a kind of indifference had slipped into our relationship.” (Hang, page 136). The author has inserted tragic tone of voice used to express the strain in Hang and Que’s as Hang’s relationship

“There one of them asked me why I wept; I could hardly tell what to say, yet I answered they would kill me. ‘No,’ said he, ‘none will hurt you.’ Then came one of them and gave me two spoonfuls of meal to comfort me, and another gave me half pint of peas which was more worth than many bushels at another time.”(71). The Natives showed her great affection with was not expected of them from her puritanical views. Although she knew no harm would come to her she expected to leave “them” as soon as possible.

“Ancestral lines” by John Barker is a book about the anthropologist’s experience in the Uiaku village located in Papua New Guinea. In the first chapter, Barker tells his readers briefly about him and his education, his and his wife’s experience with the Maisin community, and talks in great detail about the Maisin and their culture in the Uiaku village.

Similarly, in the piece "When Mr. Pirzada Came to Dine," a young girl observes and appreciates from a far a family friend who recently arrived from India. It is evident that in a short period of time he has assimilated to the everyday American lifestyle. He has an established career as a professor and is invited to dinner parties on a regular basis by the Lilia's family. Yet this supposed success through assimilation is not where Mr, Pirzada finds satisfaction. Although his family is suffering in Dacca after a war time crisis, Pirzada is still able to find some sort of satisfaction at Lilia's house as he participates in Indian influenced activities. He plays a round of carom with the family, and chews on fennel seeds, as he experiences moments of happiness among the thoughts of the death of his family back home.