I really liked the way
this story wrapped up, short and sweet, ending on a powerful note. Not
too much room for closure but it certainly gives the audience the
feeling they'll be friends forever.
1.Did you expect the reveal on page 216? What emotional impact if any did it have on you?
2. How did your' feelings of Wei-Chen Sun evolve at the end of the story after his identity was shown?
3. They are very clearly 2 different stories, drawn 2 different ways. How did American Born Chinese "feel" different from Shortcomings in relation to the art style?
4. What do you think about the Monkey kings ability to practice kung-fu after reverting to a monkey again?
5. What "surface" messages of acceptance and relation between the characters can be drawn by the ending of the book?
6. What overall underlying message about this story shines through? Acceptance, nepotism, racism, prejudice.
1.Did you expect the reveal on page 216? What emotional impact if any did it have on you?
2. How did your' feelings of Wei-Chen Sun evolve at the end of the story after his identity was shown?
3. They are very clearly 2 different stories, drawn 2 different ways. How did American Born Chinese "feel" different from Shortcomings in relation to the art style?
4. What do you think about the Monkey kings ability to practice kung-fu after reverting to a monkey again?
5. What "surface" messages of acceptance and relation between the characters can be drawn by the ending of the book?
6. What overall underlying message about this story shines through? Acceptance, nepotism, racism, prejudice.
If I had to sum up the underlying message about this story, it’s how young children with a foreign background, learn accept themselves and embrace the culture they come from, after moving to America. Otherwise, they are not doing justice to themselves nor their past. They rely on friends to help them through this time in their lives. But learn betraying a friend is like betraying yourself.
ReplyDelete1) I definitely wasn’t expecting the three plot lines to come together that suddenly, or in that particular way, but I really liked how it was done.
ReplyDelete2) I had a similar reaction to seeing the way Wei-Chen Sun was revealed to be the son of the Monkey King and Danny was revealed to be Jin Wang. I felt that both of these cases were similar, because they involved someone transforming into someone else (although their reasons for doing so were different). That’s why I also felt it was interesting that these two characters both had transformers. I really felt sorry for both Wei-Cheng and Jin Wang because they both suffered a confusing crisis of identity in the face of difficulties. They were both sort of disillusioned about the world around them, but by embracing who they were they were able to work on overcoming those obstacles.
3) I think the main style differences between Shortcomings and American Born Chinese, aside from the use of color, was the way that the illustrations in American Born Chinese were more cartoony. The characters were not necessarily much more abstracted than the ones in Shortcomings, but I think these illustrations placed more of an emphasis on stereotypes rather than specific people.
4) I was glad that the Monkey King was still able to use his kung fu, because he worked really hard to achieve proficiency!
5 / 6) I think the message for American Born Chinese is pretty straightforward and that it’s one of self-acceptance.
1.Did you expect the reveal on page 216? What emotional impact if any did it have on you?
ReplyDeleteI didn’t expect it at all! I mean, I assumed it was a metaphor, but it was super cool. I thought it was a little childish, but it fit in a way it wouldn’t have in another story. It made a a lot on sense, though I had preferred to think of it all as a metaphor rather than a literal situation.
2. How did your' feelings of Wei-Chen Sun evolve at the end of the story after his identity was shown?
Again, because the ending was literal rather than a metaphor (or at least that how it was treated), I felt it was a bit silly. Though I still did like it. It was a reflection of the Monkey King story, and I felt like he finally learned, much like his father, to embrace who he was, rather than something he was not.
3. They are very clearly 2 different stories, drawn 2 different ways. How did American Born Chinese "feel" different from Shortcomings in relation to the art style?
Well it was more cartoonish! The more cartoon the style is, the more we can focus on the story or the message. Shortcomings was a more detailed and realistic style, and we were able to (because of the details) relate the story more to a real life event rather than assuming its a fictitious one. Of course, American Born Chinese was certainly not a real event, the style backs up the story.
4. What do you think about the Monkey kings ability to practice kung-fu after reverting to a monkey again?
Well, that was as it should have been, personally. I mean, that is who he was when he learned it, and that’s how it should always be. He tried to become something he was not, and so, when he was no longer himself, he shouldn’t have had the power to begin with. Losing yourself because you want to be someone else has its consequences, and so when he still had the ability to use kung-fu, it was like, the old person (monkey?) was still in there. And then he became a monkey again, and used kung-fu, it was like the old monkey (person?) was still in there all along.
5. What "surface" messages of acceptance and relation between the characters can be drawn by the ending of the book?
Accept who you are and don’t change yourself so you’ll fit in is basically the message. All the characters tried to hide their heritage and, by extension, who they really were, to fit in. For example, the Monkey King used shape-shifting to look more human and had all the moneys wear shoes in order to seem more human.
6. What overall underlying message about this story shines through? Acceptance, nepotism, racism, prejudice?
It was mostly about wanting acceptance of his peers. Jin started to reject his culture entirely because people saw him as different. If perm-boy (I forgot his name) hadn’t told Jin to stay away from the girl he cared about, Jin may have seen his race and culture as something to embrace rather than something to reject entirely.
2. Wei-Chen Sun is an interesting character, and one of the reasons why American Born Chinese works so well as a story. As Jin’s best friend, we see Wei-Chen act not only as a sounding board and foil for Jin, but also as a guide. Wei-Chen is one of the main reasons Jin manages to connect with Amelia, symbolic of his desire to fit in and be a part of Anglo-Saxon America. For me, Wei-Chen played the role of emissary or guide well before his divine origins are revealed, where he is shown as somehow above the concerns of the characters around him.
ReplyDelete3. The comparisons between Shortcomings and American Born Chinese are unavoidable, despite the numerous differences between the two of them. However, I do believe there is something to be appreciated in the dissimilarities between the two stories. Graphically, the two works are worlds apart. American Born Chinese presents a pleasant, approachable palette of colors to its readers, while Shortcomings favors a more subtle art style, focusing not on colors but instead on the transitions between its panels. While the narratives of American Born Chinese maintain a steady, engaging, quasi-adventurous pace, Shortcomings’ sense of time is more fuzzy. The two works share the same themes and ideas, yet through their pacing and art style they differentiate themselves, better reflecting the period in life which their topics are explored.
4. Much of the monkey king’s narrative can be taken as a more symbolic take on what happens in Jin Wang’s own life. The monkey king’s imprisonment of the mountain reflects Jin’s feeling trapped between his identity as American and his identity as Chinese. By trying to model himself after another group, he cannot fully realize his own potential; he can’t use his kung-fu. It is only when the monkey king, and by extension, Jin, recognize the value and importance of his true identity is he fully free. Simple enough, really.