Shanghai Girls - Book Review

The Chinese Experience records the history of the Chinese in the United States. The three-part documentary shows how the first arrivals from China, their descendants, and recent immigrants have “become American.” It is a story about identity and belonging that is relative to all Americans. The documentary is divided into three programs, each with a focus on a particular time in history. Program 1 describes the first arrivals from China, beginning in the early 1800’s and ending in 1882, the year Congress passed the first Chinese exclusion act. Program 2, which details the years of exclusion and the way they shaped and distorted Chinese American

In Amy Tan’s “A Pair of Tickets,” setting unfolds an important aspect of the story by positioning a ‘where’ and ‘when.’ Throughout the story, June May struggles with her internal conflict of resisting her Chinese culture. However, she begins to release this resistance as she ventures through China. The setting perpetuates the theme through the usage of transportation, the significance of the color gray amongst colors, and June May’s transition into a Chinese-American. As reflected by the setting and external places visited in “A Pair of Tickets,” June May’s interior state becomes more Chinese as she explores her native country.

When Jan Wong first arrived in China, she was filled with the complete belief that China’s totalitarianism way of government was the best way of governing, and that no other way would do. While natives smiled behind false expressions, she failed to realize the true extent of the miserable lives under the Maoist regime until she herself experienced the injustices faced by the Chinese citizens. In Red China Blues, author Jan Wong writes of her experiences during her life in China and after, and how her whole journey led to the realization of the harsh reality that Maoism really was. As Wong learned more and more about the truth behind the totalitarian government, her own experiences helped her to transform

In Jan Wong’s entrancing expose Red China Blues, she details her plight to take part in a system of “harmony and perfection” (12) that was Maoist China. Wong discloses her trials and tribulations over a course of three decades that sees her searching for her roots and her transformation of ideologies that span over two distinctive forms of Communist governments. This tale is so enticing in due part to the events the author encountered that radically changed her very existence and more importantly, her personal quest for self-discovery.

As China faced new international pressures and the change to a communist society, gender relations transformed women from servants of men to full independent workers, who finally became soldiers of the communist state. In Jung Chang’s novel, Wild Swans, the three women – grandmother Yu-Fang, mother Bao-Qin and daughter Jung Chang – exemplify the expected gender roles of each generation. I will argue that Confucian society presented few economic opportunities for women to support

One of the similarities between my life (and family history) and Jiang Ji-Li’s is our nationality. Red Scarf Girl takes place in Shanghai, one of China’s biggest cities and financial centers. Coincidently, my family is also from Shanghai—my father was born just 3 years after the

The Book “Forbidden City” is a book about a 17-year-old kid named Alex Jackson who went to China with his dad for an assignment. When they made it to Beijing, they went to the Beijing hotel, and there he met another reporter named Eddie working for the CBC like Alex’s father and Lao Xu who was a reporter for the Chinese government. I was surprised when Alex’s father got a liver disease so he went back. This book was overall interesting.

Chang-Rae Lee uses this experience to create works that help others understand what it feels like to struggle to know your identity through imagery and, symbolism. Coming to America was a change Mr.Lee thought was tough getting used to but, at the end he received a B.A. in English wrote successful books about Asian Americans. Every book is different but all corollate to finding ones identity and where they fit in in

ung Chang’s Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China follows three generations of woman in China through live and political struggles. China’s transformation between 1910s and 1970s, was one of radical change and caused great suffering. The importance of Chang’s book is its in a women 's point of view by showing the suffering and healing that occurred and to educate about the history of China through the Warlord, Japanese, and Mao rule.

In Madeline Thien’s “ Do not say we have nothing”, Thien takes the history of Cultural Revolution in China which lasted from 1966 to 1976 and weaves it into a novel to show the lives of those earlier generations revolve around the Shanghai Conservatory and how cultural revolution changes their fate. Cultural Revolution is a time period with massive violence and chaos since it had widespread consequences at all levels of society and the economy stagnated, and thousands of historical and cultural monuments were destroyed during that

I chose this topic because I view women as the backbone to the development or a nation, therefore the Chinese woman is paramount in one of the world’s great civilizations. The role of women in Chinese culture has changed over the years. When we consider the position that women held in ancient Chinese society we find that they have come a long way to be where they are today.

Shanghai Girls takes place in the 1930s, in Hong Kong, China and is the story of two sisters that struggle to survive in a foreign country. Like any book written by Lisa See, they are known to leave wounds in the heart, and Shanghai Girls is no different. Lisa See illustrates the differences between two sisters and their ambitions in life, before and after their homeland was eradicated by the bombs dropped by Japanese forces from Japanese planes. May and Pearl leave their comfortable homeland to a foreign land, unaware and afraid, until they found out that their father had sold them off to “suitors” in order to repay his gambling debts. May and Pearl try to adapt to their new lives as immigrants in America. Shanghai Girls was very educational

During 1927 to 1950 China was locked in a period of civil strife. It actually has been going on for much longer but this time it was between the two main warring forces. The nationalist Kuomintang party and the communist, communist party. Before China broke apart in different views they were ruled by long running dynasties. For China, it only took half a century to completely change their ways and become the very industrialised country we know now. The China in 1930 had twice the size of today’s US. It’s quite impressive that China was able to change so much with just a couple revolutions. In the 19th century China was ruled by the Qing dynasty same in the 18th and 17th. It was during the 19th century that the westerner colonists and merchants turned their focus to China. The Qing did not accept

The pungent smell of death filled the air. These were the dumping grounds on the outskirts of Xoheim, the largest city in the Sub-Continental Confederation, a fragment of China’s past. For years the government had been terrorizing the people ever since the end of the Great War. Being a small girl, Biyu Iposhimi was too young to understand why her family was punished for her father's profession as an underground journalist, but what bothered her the most were her grandparents untimely deaths a day prior to the move from Xoheim.

Although these incidents are a result of China’s excessively controlling government, these instances are unfortunately all too familiar to most women across the globe. One of the saddest moments in the film for me happened within the first 20 minutes, and these shots left me particularly shaken because