In Ken Liu’s short story “The Paper Menagerie,” the protagonist Jack’s dialogue shows his rejection of his Chinese identity. Since he often repeats his words, it emphasizes and stands out to the readers. The repeated words “Speak English” reveal his hatred towards the entire Chinese culture, caused by bullying due to racial discrimination at school. As a result, he blamed his troubles on his mother for being Chinese, demanding that he have some “real toys” besides his mother’s paper menagerie. For this reason, his mother was hurt and heartbroken. Despite all this, Jack was actually just a kid who wanted to fit in. As a Chinese-American boy, Jack was torn between two identities mentally (man vs. man conflict). Furthermore, Jack decided to live completely “American” to fit in with other American kids. He had experienced bullying at school due to racial discrimination towards Chinese people simply because they were different. However, near the end of the story, when grown-up Andy discovers his old toy Laohu, he exclaimed with excitement: “How’ve you been, old buddy?” His dialogue uncovers the fact that he still remembers and cares about his old toys. After he found the letter his mother had written, he decided to find someone who knew Chinese, asking people in the street: “Ni hui zhongwen ma? (Can you read Chinese?).” His willingness to inquire strangers to translate his passed-away mother’s letter reveals he still holds love for her, wanting to know what she had wanted to say to him. In general, the dialogue of Jack in the story hints at his refusal to accept his Chinese identity living in America.
Rayna
"I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious" - Albert Einstein
In Ken Liu’s short story “The Paper Menagerie”, Jack’s (the main character) understanding of his identity changes and develops through the author’s use of dialogue, characterization, and symbolism.
The main character in Evan Hunter’s short story entitled “On the Sidewalk Bleeding” initially believes he is proud to be a Royal, but later realizes he wants to be himself, it is not worth dying for being a Royal, and he wants others to think of him as Andy. His changing in understanding is revealed through the use of symbolism, thoughts, and interactions with other characters (specific techniques).
Quotes:
- “He rolled away from the jacket and lay quite still, breathing heavily, listening to the sound of his breathing and the sounds of the rain and thinking: Rain is sweet, I’m Andy” (p7, Hunter).
- “He wondered why he’d never thought of them important to him before, wondered why the rumbles and the jumps and the purple jackets had always seemed so important to him before” (p6, Hunter).
- “Andy lifted his face from the sidewalk, and his eyes said: Please, please help me…” (p5, Hunter).
My strengths are communicating and listening to others, reading, and (creative) writing. My weaknesses are public speaking, and writing essays on sophisticated subjects. Therefore, my goals for the year are improving my analytic essay-writing skills, research skills, speaking skills, and increasing my vocabulary. The resources that are available to me to help achieve my goals are English projects, help from teachers and peers, books, and myself (by practicing writing by myself). I think the only two obstacles I might face are not having enough time to achieve these goals, and online learning . To manage these problems, I might get time on the weekends to improve my skills, and for online learning I will just deal with computer problems to make the learning experience better.
Many years later after the French Revolution, the memories and stories were fading away. Many people who lived in that period had passed away, and the tales are becoming blurry. It was a time of flesh and blood, of changes. It is a time that’s worth remembering forever. The common French people fought for freedom, to escape from the cages of a miserable life. As an old man, I was rummaging through old papers when I came across a yellowed journal with the words “Pierre E. Bernard” engraved on it. A lightbulb went off in my mind, a tiny light which made me open the book with shaking hands. Here is my story that I share of my childhood in the Revolution…
Many things through this long Revolution battle have changed, while some things have stayed the same. The French Revolution created new inquiries about the nature and developing of human rights. Furthermore, the French people were more equal. No longer were there classes or privileges for the authorities, a rule in the Napoleonic Code. However, it didn’t achieve its original goal of creating a republic, getting another king after the turmoil (which wasn’t mentioned in the journal as it was after the Revolution). In addition, Napoleon didn’t bring peace; he only started many battles with other countries. Maybe he was a villain after all. In the end, was the Revolution worth it? At first I still stuck to my opinion that it was, that we overcame many challenges. But as time passed and I recalled the events again, new perspectives lit up. It is still impossible to tell.
In the late 1700s, the French Revolution erupted with cries of “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity”! The French people had suffered enough, especially the commoners that carried all the responsibility. The king, who was careless about his people, was overthrown and executed, the monarchy abolished. Commoners rebelled, and the National Assembly rose to power. It was a chaotic and bloody period in the country. There were conflicts with other European countries, thousands of people killed. A man who started off in poverty slowly worked his way up to create a new monarchy (Napoleon), and sit on the throne. The image shown above is a well-known painting, depicting the brutal revolution of the time, with so much flesh and blood sacrificed. The ten-year revolution changed many laws and influential ideas of the time. The controversial topic of whether it was worth it may still be too early to know the answer…
The book I read is called Google It, by Anna Crowley Redding. It is about the history of how Google was made by two university students, who wanted to organize worldwide information on the internet. A theme in my book is creativity frequently empowers ideas that can lead to successful outcomes.
There are three reasons why you should read this book. The first reason is when Larry and Sergey were just starting off on their Google ‘project’, they made do with their limited supplies: “Placing the hard disks into the tower, their homemade server was complete” (Chapter 2, Beg, Borrow, Stalk). This shows that through creativity, they were able to overcome difficulties and use what they had (in this case Legos). It was the last thing to make a server before the original Google was made, and without creativity it wouldn’t have been possible. Secondly, the Google founders cared a lot about their workers’ environment, which they believed would help make creative ideas. “For Larry and Sergey, all of this—the building, the toys, the culture—was about empowering their employees to change the world” (Chapter 10, Google World Headquarters (for Real)). The energy they put into making Googleplex and having fun activities and competitions online for users, was essentially all for the spread of creative ideas that might possibly change our lives one day. Lastly, Google X was the company’s moonshot factory to create new technology, the place where “Impossible dreams, lofty goals, and seemingly unattainable ideas are what they work on every day” (Chapter 16, A Healthy Disregard for the Impossible). The people in Google X focused on worldwide issues, and make the impossible possible. It really reveals the effort Google put into creating new ideas that can impact our lives. It is the key to their success.
Something I learned in this unit is that I should pay attention to causes and effects, which might seem simple but can be very complex. Also, this can lead unexpected connections between parts that don’t seem connected. Furthermore, I also learned that descriptive passages in stories can often lead to many ideas. Before, I always read without paying much attention to anything beneath the surface in stories, I just thought the author wrote a story. Now, I know how to dig deep into books and understand them better, and what the author is trying to communicate.
The Boxers don’t deserve a bad rap. The foreigners invaded their country, and created spheres of influence that weren’t welcomed. The foreigners invaded Beijing and destroyed the Imperial Gardens. They forced the Chinese to sign a treaty with them that gave them more freedom in the country, and this angered the common people, because they didn’t want foreigners in their land who were trying to convert them into another religion. The foreigners had no right to invade Beijing without permission from the government. Furthermore, the Qing Dynasty was weak, and the British army is very powerful and skilled. They had a greater advantage than the Chinese, having defeated the Qing army in the Opium Wars. In this kind of situation, the Chinese wanted to defend their country and culture. Thus, the Boxers were formed. In addition, when the Boxers trapped foreigners in their legation, 8 nations (led by Germany) banded together, beat the Boxers, saved their country’s people, and were ruthlessly brutal to the Chinese. In conclusion, the Boxers shouldn’t carry a bad reputation compared the actions of the foreigners.
Womens Fashion Magazine Cover by Rayna
My project is inspired by one of William Shakespeare‘s most renowned plays A Midsummer Night’s Dream. I chose Hermia to put on my magazine cover and write about because I think she is a very unique character. In the story, she showed through her lines that she wasn’t afraid of the unfair laws at that time that kept her from choosing her own love. She has a very different personality from the other characters, and has different thoughts and ideas about the rules at that time. I think she also symbolizes justice, bravery, and courage. I picked the image I chose to portray Hermia as a young woman wearing a black dress with dreamy eyes, and flowing black hair. I think that the dreamy eyes makes her seem faraway, deep in thought about the many challenges she’s facing. I think Hermia is also quite beautiful in this image, and in the play it’s mentioned that she’s super attractive and good-looking. People might think of Hermia mostly as a white woman as the play is set in Italy, but I think that as this play has been transformed into many versions, translated into so many languages, and changed to fit so many cultures, that Hermia can be any race or ethnicity. I am proud of the image I found for Hermia because I think it really fits the idea and appearance of the character. Also, I’m proud of the title I gave my magazine, because I think Hermia would definitely appear as a popular woman of the year even if she isn’t real, since she’s a main character in the play.
Blue Icon Charity Infographic by Rayna
Overall, I would say that I’m 90% humanist, because I love humanities and subjects related to it, especially art and history. I agree with humanist ideas and feel that we should challenge all that’s around us in order to learn new things and help develop a better world. However, I don’t study classical culture a lot.
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