Memoir Bound & Western Dress

In her autobiography, Neisei Daughter, Monica Sone shares her journey and struggles of growing up, a task made more difficult as she faced racial and gender discrimination. Over the course of the novel she becomes aware of her unique identity and goes from resenting it, to accepting and appreciating her identity.

Many situations in life make your mind set stronger in difficult challenges. Having hope for the better can make a person stronger to achieve for the best. Showing bravery , hope and courage had helped Amari get freedom that she desired. Expressing the history in the book shows challenges that people had gone through in the past.

In Sophocles’s Oedipus and Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, both protagonists, Oedipus and Janie, fight hardship and misery throughout their life. They are faced with adversity, and their ability to withstand and survive their suffering determine their potential for personal fulfillment, wisdom, and happiness. Both individuals have a set pathway paved for them, either through their upbringing and social class, or through the prognostication of a curse placed upon them. Oedipus and Janie are both strong-willed and dedicated to the things most important to them, love and justice. In the end, their association with each other is split when Janie finds her happiness and self-fulfillment, while Oedipus wallows in his own self misfortune

In the novel Monkey King, Christina Garcia focuses a lot on the patriarchy of the Chen family tree. It makes sense since Chen Pan is the original forefather and without him this story would not have started. However, I found the stories of Lucrecia Chen and Chen Fang rather compelling. Lucrecia is the foremother of the Cheng family and her past is a tragic one. Her mother was raped by the slave master and got pregnant with her. Lucrecia did not realize this until after her mother had passed. When she was reflecting back to her mom she thought about how her “... Mama had loved her in spite of her hatred for him” ( Pg. 133). Her mom gave her unconditional love despite where she came from. In turn, Lucrecia did the same with her son Victor Manuel. She was protective of him and loved him despite him

Different literary works created by the same author often are similar, whether the main character is similar, or the settings are similar, etc. But how similar are Koly and Chu Ju, the main characters from Gloria Whelan’s novels Homeless Bird and Chu Ju’s House? Before jumping right into it, here’s a quick summary. In Homeless Bird, a young girl named Koly is sent off to marry a boy named Hari, who is sick with tuberculosis, unbeknownst to her. Hari’s parents then use Koly’s dowry to buy a ticket to Varanasi, where Hari can bathe in the Ganges to save him from death, but he then ends up dying in Varanasi. After Hari dies, Hari’s sister, Chandra, marries and leaves home, and shortly after, Hari’s father, Sassur, dies. Hari’s mother, Sass, seeing an opportunity to find another home, abandons Koly in Vrindavan, which is known to be the city of widows in India. However, she finds a boy named Raji who finds her a widow’s home, where she gets a stable job and food, and the book ends with Raji asking Koly to marry him. In Chu Ju’s House, a young girl named Chu Ju is about to get a sibling, but she hopes it to be a boy, as male children are highly valued in Chinese culture, and a single family may not have more than two children. However, when

The irony of an unfortunate date leading her image to be published in a magazine is a tribute to Aunt Nora’s independence. Despite Aunt Nora’s independent nature, she loves interacting with people and having good conversations. I know how much she appreciates my family’s visits by the excitement with which she speaks. She need us to support her and we are happy to be there for her. However, the best things in her life came from individuality. From gracing the stages of Broadway to travelling the globe, her greatest success and happiness were products of independence. Aunt Nora has an unbelievable amount of courage to challenge traditional expectations, which inspires me to deny society’s criteria for women in my own

At a young age Ying-ying learns a haunting lesson from her nursemaid when she tells her, “haven’t I taught you – that it is wrong to think of

inferiority. In this stage, children look to develop a sense of good work and study habits looking for praise and satisfaction. If praise is withheld and instead a child is discouraged by way of scolding or rejection, feelings of inferiority and inadequacy may occur.

Adolescence is a time when teenagers are subject to pressures. Many of their troubles arise from the culture in which they live. They feel as if they are different and that they don’t belong. Marie G. Lee 's “Finding My Voice”, explores how the life of a teen is influenced by others. This story revolves around the challenges and uncertainties of adolescence. It also displays that conflict is inevitable in a parent/child relationship. ‘Ellen Sung’ is a dynamic character. Many events lead to Ellen’s understanding of her personality and help her meet her goals. Ellen faces many problems as she struggles to accept changes in her life.

The writer Qiu Jin was telling story of a girl who experienced a Chinese woman’s life through the period of feudal China to the semi-colonialism China. The girl’s name is Jurui, and she experienced every unfair torment that the old society imposed on girls and women. Although Jurui was unhappy and even angry about the way she was treated, she could not do anything to help herself until she read some readings describing how western women were respected and educated outside of China. After secret talks with a few of her friends who had same ambitions with her, they fled to Japan together for an education and planned to come back to free the women and the nation.

There 's a subtle wonderfulness to this story. It 's such a relatable story that involves day to day recounts of activities, Kimberly and her mother 's struggles and strives, financially and culturally. Especially from Aunt Paula. Once she said: “You can release your heart, older sister” (148). And another conversation is that “I am too smart to cheat….It is under me” (157).Even though Kim’s mother suffered loneliness ..she is such a bold character to suffer and sacrifice though she got hardships and rejection from Aunt Paula. . “You may need to change your dreams. My little heart, listen. But sometimes our fate is different from the one we imagined for ourselves. (56)”Once Ma told to Kim. Jean Kwok talk about Girl in Translation and earned a new found respect for her work. Kwok

Jing-Mei was then shocked when she learns some history about her mother leaving behind two young daughters in China. Because of the incident, Jing-mei thought to take care of the situation even though she doesn’t understand the suffer of Suyuan. After the death of Jing-Mei's mother, she learns about the

From her father being sent to work in a labor camp, or witnessing her deputy headmaster being denounced by his young daughter, Moying Li had a harsh and unforgiving life, like many during the Cultural Revolution in China. Despite these harsh circumstances, Moying remains strong and gets through the hardships of everyday life. No matter how many challenges Moying Li faced, she never gave up, but instead became a stronger person and made a better life for herself.

Each and every character in Yu Hua’s To Live is a catalyst through which the author explores human nature. The novel itself follows the life of Fugui, whose narrative is framed by pre-communist, Maoist, and post-communist China. Though he chronicles a long period of time, Yu Hua effectively uses characterization to present and prove his claims on human nature. Throughout Fugui’s journey, each character he encounters reflects on an aspect of humanity, through an event or group of people. For example, Long Er symbolizes the death of feudalism, while Fengxia symbolizes the Chinese people under a fascist, nationalist government. In Yu Hua’s To Live, Fugui’s son Youqing is a symbol of the Chinese people living under Mao because they were child-like in their innocence, and Youqing’s journey proves that naively trusting authority leads to deception.

An examination of Ruan Lingyu’s career would reveal that “in general, Ruan’s persona is not a “type” character” but rather a “fate persona” who “encounters tragedy in her life” regardless of “her social background or her age” (Kerlan, 2011). Ruan was “an icon in the tradition of ‘suffering Chinese women’