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Cynthia Kadohata's Kira-Kira
Cynthia Kadohata's book, Kira-Kira, is a story about an American-Japanese family during the mid-1950's who struggle to save money to buy a home. The story begins in Iowa where the family lives and owns a small Asian grocery store. The parents are American born, educated in Japan and still hold some Japanese traditional qualities. Conflict is introduced when they move to Georgia to work in a poultry factory after their family store fails to be profitable. Additional conflict is added later in the story when the oldest daughter develops a terminal illness. Through the story readers learn about the conditions of living in American during this time period. It accurately reflects prejudice towards Japanese-Americans and other cultures, describes horrible factory working conditions, and demonstrates how communities-families pulled together to cope and improve their situations.
This story is told from the view of the younger sister, Katie, who learns about life, love and perseverance through the perceptive guidance of her sister Lynn. The two sisters have a bond that makes this story heart touching and holds the 6th-8th grade readers' imagination. The format uses a child's view to gradually introduce readers to topics of prejudice, cultural differences, and hardships. The following is an example from page 34.
" The restaurant signs said things like COLORED IN BACK. The white people sat at the front. We didn't know where to sit, so we always ordered to-go. We didn't see another Japanese person anywhere. We got stared at quite a bit. Sometimes a white lady would lean over us and exclaim, "How Cute!" Some of them touched our faces, as if they weren't sure we were real."
At the same time that sensitive topics are being introduced, the reader is also forming a relationships with the characters reflective of an American child experience. The following is an example from page 13.
"My uncle was exactly one inch taller than my father. But his stomach was soft. We knew this because we hit him in it once the year before, and he yelped in pain and threatened to spank us. We got sent to bed without supper because my parents said hitting someone was the worst thing you could do. Stealing was the second, and lying was third. Before I was twelve, I would have committed all three of those crimes.
Matsumoto studies three generations, Issei, Nisei, and Sansei living in a closely linked ethnic community. She focuses her studies in the Japanese immigration experiences during the time when many Americans were scared with the influx of immigrants from Asia. The book shows a vivid picture of how Cortex Japanese endured violence, discriminations during Anti-Asian legislation and prejudice in 1920s, the Great Depression of 1930s, and the internment of 1940s. It also shows an examination of the adjustment period after the end of World War II and their return to the home place.
Soon after Papa’s arrest, Mama relocated the family to the Japanese immigrant ghetto on Terminal Island. For Mama this was a comfort in the company of other Japanese but for Jeanne it was a frightening experience. It was the first time she had lived around other people of Japanese heritage and this fear was also reinforced by the threat that her father would sell her to the “Chinaman” if she behaved badly. In this ghetto Jeanne and he ten year old brother were teased and harassed by the other children in their classes because they could not speak Japanese and were already in the second grade. Jeanne and Kiyo had to avoid the other children’s jeers. After living there for two mo...
middle of paper ... ... ity going in the last paragraph. The structure of the passage helps the responder to clearly see the changed perspective of the author. The passage starts with the child’s perspective; the writing has almost a curious and flighty feel to it. This feeling is empathized through the use of verbs, adjectives, similes, metaphors, imagery and descriptive and emotive language.
The comparison between siblings has become a universal problem over the past several decades, as implied in Peg Kehret’s elementary monologue, I’m NOT My Brother; I’m Me. Through Jonathan, Kehret expresses the valuable message to never judge people based on the characteristics of their siblings. As the oldest child in my family, I support Kehret’s message and additionally believe that every individual is different and hence, should not be judged or compared with their siblings, family members or friends.
“Riding the Bus with My Sister” by Rachel Simon is a touching, true life journey about Beth and her sister Rachel. Beth and Rachel are in there thirties at the time the book takes place. They were born eleven months apart and aside of their age difference and their personality, Beth is different from Rachel because she suffers from mental retardation. Beth has lived on her own in her subsidized apartment and enjoys riding the bus routes around Pennsylvania city. Beth asked Rachel to come stay a year with her in order to accompany her in her daily bus route routine and Rachel agreed. “Riding the Bus with My Sister” documents Rachel’s remarkable journey her and her sister spent together and her learnings from Beth. Simon presents views on how those with mental retardation should be treated and self-determination.
Written by Margaret K. Pai, the Dreams of Two Yi-min narrates the story of her Korean American family with the main focus on the life journeys of her father and mother, Do In Kwon and Hee Kyung Lee. Much like the majority of the pre-World War II immigrants, the author’s family is marked and characterized by the common perception of the “typical” Asian immigrant status in the early 20th century: low class, lack of English speaking ability, lack of transferable education and skills, and lack of knowledge on the host society’s mainstream networks and institutions (Zhou and Gatewood 120, Zhou 224). Despite living in a foreign land with countless barriers and lack of capital, Kwon lead his wife and children to assimilate culturally, economically, and structurally through his growing entrepreneurship. Lee, on the other hand, devoted herself not only to her husband’s business but also to the Korean American society. By investing her time in the Korean Methodist Church and the efforts of its associated societies, such as the Methodist Ladies Aid Society and the Youngnam Puin Hoe, Lee made a worthy contribution to the emergence and existence of Hawaii’s Korean American community.
The story begins with Jodee’s description of how she was victimized in a 4th grade Catholic grammar school; coming to the defense of deaf children that were being treated cruelly. She supplied the school officials with names and was labeled a “tattletale.” No one would talk to her, recess was spent in anguish, and she would find garbage and spoiled food in her book bag. As she progressed into 5th grade some of the social atmosphere began to shift in subtle but profound ways. Being accepted into a clique was all that mattered. Instead of being admired for class participation, as in earlier years she was laughed at and labeled as “teacher’s pet.” She said the rules were simple “shun or be shunned—if you weren’t willing to go along with the crowd, you would become the reject.”
Most children experience agony and hope as they face the struggles of sibling rivalry throughout their childhood. This situation has been experienced by children, of whom may or may not have siblings, for hundreds of years. Several stories represent this crisis, including the Biblical story of Abel and Cain which was written over 3000 years ago. Abel of whom was forced to be Cain’s ash-brother. Cain had developed an intense feeling of jealousy of Abel when his offering to the Lord was rejected while Abel’s was accepted. This caused him great agony, but he wasn’t the only one. The fairytale “Cinderella” encompasses the ideas of sibling rivalry as well as the agonies and hopes that correspond with it.
Takaki, Ronald. Strangers From a Different Shore: A History of Asian Americans. New York: Penguin Books, 1989.
Our class has been reading a book called “Brown Girl Dreaming” for the past two weeks. The author, Jacqueline Woodson talks about her life growing up. For example she talks about how her mom and dad divorced when she was young. She talks about how she moves to Greenville and how her grandpa is like a dad figure, and how her mother came back with a pale skinned baby after she went to New York. Character traits make up a person, and while reading the book, you can see what Jacqueline is like during her childhood. Jacqueline has many character traits, such as being jealous of her older sister, being naive, and she is also respectful.
I find myself following in the literary footsteps of my beloved sister, Alyssa. Her pure love for reading and her stretched imagination has intrigued me ever since I was younger. She always had her nose in a book, and being her little brother I tried to emulate her thirst for words. My sister is my role model, in my everyday life, but I also have to look up to her when it comes to reading and writing. She is able to manipulate words to conform a complete and truly beautiful thought. Alyssa has impacted my literacy and language development through her passion for reading and her ever-growing imagination, which has lead to the way I read, write, and converse in everyday life.
At the age of ten, most children are dependent on their parents for everything in their lives needing a great deal of attention and care. However, Ellen, the main character and protagonist of the novel Ellen Foster, exemplifies a substantial amount of independence and mature, rational thought as a ten-year-old girl. The recent death of her mother sends her on a quest for the ideal family, or anywhere her father, who had shown apathy to both she and her fragile mother, was not. Kaye Gibbons’ use of simple diction, unmarked dialogue, and a unique story structure in her first novel, Ellen Foster, allows the reader to explore the emotions and thoughts of this heroic, ten-year-old girl modeled after Gibbons’ own experiences as a young girl.
The author uses imagery, contrasting diction, tones, and symbols in the poem to show two very different sides of the parent-child relationship. The poem’s theme is that even though parents and teenagers may have their disagreements, there is still an underlying love that binds the family together and helps them bridge their gap that is between them.
Julie Otsuka, herself of Japanese descent, explores the contradiction of American values and reality in her novel The Buddha in the Attic, a story of a group of picture brides who immigrated to America expecting prosperity, instead experiencing only hardship and prejudice. Using anaphora, symbolism, and the first-person plural point of view, Otsuka emphasizes the universal hardships the Japanese picture brides faced in their attempt to achieve the American dream, reflecting how despite their efforts to become Americans, society can impede the immigrants’ pursuit of the American dream, simply because of its fear of the immigrants’ differences in culture and
In conclusion, co-dependency and rivalry is very common in the world today. Though it is not a big issue out in the open, it is an emotional attachment that only one can define. In this short story the two main aspects of having siblings is the theme which revolves around codependency and rivalry. Having siblings is a part of everyday life and problems do occur which sometimes makes a person, or changes a person in ways. In this situation, Pete and Donald are completely different people but they are in fact very dependent upon one another.