Talk Story

4/30/2019   Polyculturalism- Uncouples the notions of origins & authenticity from that of culture  Railroads – Transcontinental Railway, reinforcing stereotypes  The Joy Luck Club (Round 2)  Duck stretching neck to become swan  Immigrating to America   Sitting on the East at mahjong table, June replacing mother who started Joy Luck Club  Club connected by trauma and hopes for their children  … Continue reading »

Railroad Standard Time   “She chanted a spell up over me that conjured the meaning of what she was saying in the shape of old memories come to call.” (Page 1)  Parents are one of the only ways in which children learn of their own culture. This quote brings up many moments of when my parents … Continue reading »

Week 4 Notes  4/23/2019   Short stories vs Novel                       Novel —— Precision/Concision ——- Poetry  Precision  Concision  Sub-text/understatement  Themes   Tension and interethnic interactions                         Finding Passion  Tension between Issei and Nisei                    … Continue reading »

The High Heeled Shoes, A Memoir   “She came back with the impression that the police had been much amused, that they had actually snickered as she left with their officially regretful shrug over her having given them nothing to go on.” (Mary trying to report being assaulted to the police. Page 3)  Considering that only … Continue reading »

Week 3 Notes  4/16/2019   API Popular Culture – Extrinsic (The production of art/culture by the demographic)  API and Popular Culture  APIs in Popular Culture – Depictions or representations/stereotypes  Bildungsroman – coming of age story  Threads/themes/topics:  Americanization                              Family  Culture/Duality              … Continue reading »

Asian Americans in the Twenty-First Century Talking points (1 per interview)  Asian Americans as a Movement: Dale Minami  “But I think the bottom line is they want to see a more equitable society, a society with a lot less racism—a society with people who are not spending their money on wars or military contractors, but … Continue reading »

4/9/2019  ABC- American Born Chinese  FoB– Fresh off the Boat  UBC- University of a Billion Chinese  UCLA- University of Caucasians Living Among Asians  Panama Hotel- Japanese-American architect, last remaining Japanese bathhouse in the U.S  Four Creative Genres  Fiction  Poetry  Drama  Creative Non-Fiction- Non-fiction that borrows from fiction and poetry  Slanting the truth  Art is a … Continue reading »

Four Quotes from Mimi Thi Nguyen and Thuy Linh Nguyen Tu’s Alien Encounters                 “… the imagining of the “third-world” city as a criminal underbelly—to dramatize the narrative of “ethnic subjects in pursuit of social equality, law, order, and economic rationality, rendering grotesque an invisible global network of discipline that enacts violence akin to the torturing of … Continue reading »