FICTION
"A Pair of Tickets" by Amy Tan
Young Jing-mei is a Chinese-American. Both of her parents were born and raised in China, they moved to the United States shortly after giving birth to Jing-mei's older sibling. Jing-mei was born in the United States. As she gets older, she constantly battles with her mother about their Chinese culture. Her mother wants Jing-mei to embrace their culture but Jing-mei does not really understand; she feels American, and does not really know any differently because she has been raised in America. Shortly after her mother dies, Jing-mei and her father buy a pair of tickets to China to visit/meet their family. Only until Jing-mei gets on a train in Shanghai, does she begin her actual journey of self-discovery. She begins to see what her mother meant after all of the those years of saying, "Once you are born Chinese, you can not help but to think and feel Chinese."
Young Jing-mei is a Chinese-American. Both of her parents were born and raised in China, they moved to the United States shortly after giving birth to Jing-mei's older sibling. Jing-mei was born in the United States. As she gets older, she constantly battles with her mother about their Chinese culture. Her mother wants Jing-mei to embrace their culture but Jing-mei does not really understand; she feels American, and does not really know any differently because she has been raised in America. Shortly after her mother dies, Jing-mei and her father buy a pair of tickets to China to visit/meet their family. Only until Jing-mei gets on a train in Shanghai, does she begin her actual journey of self-discovery. She begins to see what her mother meant after all of the those years of saying, "Once you are born Chinese, you can not help but to think and feel Chinese."
POETRY
"The Whipping" by Robert Hayden
This poem is about an older woman and a young boy. It is about an older woman who seems to be going through her own personal issues and takes it out on a young boy by beating him. It seems as though she has been "whipped" in the past as well. The poem really expresses Ghandi's thinking of Passive or Civil Resistance. The young boy seems to want to fight back and defend himself at one point, but then just decides to keep quiet and hope for it to stop soon. The woman is remorseful at the end. The young boy and the speaker (who is a neighbor to the older woman and young boy) seem to lose a sense of their hope. Even after the Civil Rights Movement, have things really COMPLETELY changed for the better? That is what this poem makes the reader think about.
This poem is about an older woman and a young boy. It is about an older woman who seems to be going through her own personal issues and takes it out on a young boy by beating him. It seems as though she has been "whipped" in the past as well. The poem really expresses Ghandi's thinking of Passive or Civil Resistance. The young boy seems to want to fight back and defend himself at one point, but then just decides to keep quiet and hope for it to stop soon. The woman is remorseful at the end. The young boy and the speaker (who is a neighbor to the older woman and young boy) seem to lose a sense of their hope. Even after the Civil Rights Movement, have things really COMPLETELY changed for the better? That is what this poem makes the reader think about.
DRAMA
"The Cherry Orchard" by Anton Chekhov
This story is about a woman (Madame Ranevsky/Lyubov Andreyevna) who is very materialistic and naïve with her money. Her beloved Cherry Orchard is threatened to be sold during a time of a revolution. She returns back from Paris, with her daughter after a five year time frame. She left the orchard five years before due to losing both her husband and her son in such a close time frame. When she returns to the Orchard and estate, she came back to a debt that she could not repay. When it comes time to sell the estate, she is shocked by who purchases her beloved land.
This story is about a woman (Madame Ranevsky/Lyubov Andreyevna) who is very materialistic and naïve with her money. Her beloved Cherry Orchard is threatened to be sold during a time of a revolution. She returns back from Paris, with her daughter after a five year time frame. She left the orchard five years before due to losing both her husband and her son in such a close time frame. When she returns to the Orchard and estate, she came back to a debt that she could not repay. When it comes time to sell the estate, she is shocked by who purchases her beloved land.