In “Who’s Irish”, Gish Jen demonstrates a family that has Chinese root and American culture at the same time. The main character is a fierce grandmother who lives in with her daughter’s family, and then ironically forced to move out because of her improper behavior during she raises her granddaughter. The author uses some unpleasant language and contents to describe the situation, which are effectively demonstrate how difficult and how struggle for people who lives in the gap between two different cultures. I can’t say who is right or who is wrong, but feel sorry for the grandmother. The grandmother of Sophie is an old lady who has worked very hard her whole life. She and her husband own their restaurant although they have no money …show more content…
This method seems work out very well although it is strictly prohibit by Natalie. After a period of time, Sophie stops taking her cloth off and act like a nice Chinese girl, but still, there are some other problems. One day, grandma takes Sophie to the park. After Sophie hides in the foxhole and refuses to come out no matter what grandma says, the grandma uses a stick and tries to chase her out because there is no one can help her. Sophie is very stubborn and she doesn’t want to be spank again. She calls her grandma “Meanie”, and later on falls sleep in the foxhole. Grandma doesn’t know what happens in the foxhole, and there is nothing much she can do besides using a stick to detect Sophie’s situation. The foxhole is deep, she is not capable of crawl down, and Sophie gives no response to her. And at this moment, Sophie’s parent arrive. Sophie is rescued by her father and she told her parents that her grandma hits her all the time. Both of the parents are mad at Sophie’s grandma about what she does to their daughter. Because of this big trouble, the grandmother has to move out in order to avoid her daughter’s divorce. Natalie loves her mother, but she cannot afford to lose her husband. Finally, the grandmother moves in with Natalie’s mother in-law, Bess. Natalie doesn’t bring Sophie when she visit her mom, and she seems busy than ever before, just come and leave. The
Four Chinese mothers have migrated to America. Each hope for their daughter’s success and pray that they will not experience the hardships faced in China. One mother, Suyuan, imparts her knowledge on her daughter through stories. The American culture influences her daughter, Jing Mei, to such a degree that it is hard for Jing Mei to understand her mother's culture and life lessons. Yet it is not until Jing Mei realizes that the key to understanding who her
Sister, convinced that Shirley-T. is not adopted, makes the comment that she looks like their grandfather if he were to ever cut off his beard. So, the first thing Stella-Rondo does when they sit down to eat is attempt to turn Papa-Daddy against Sister. Even though Sister tries to deny what Stella-Rondo says, Papa-Daddy does not listen, but if Sister would argue her innocence without correcting him and getting upset with him, she would have improved the situation. Stella-Rondo easily gets Mama on her side by playing the victim card. Sister thinks that Mama favors her sister, and she points out that “if it had been me that trotted in from Illinois and brought a peculiar-looking child of two, I shudder to think of the reception I’d of got” (362). Mama denies any such accusation and becomes angry when Sister suggests that Shirley-T. might have a problem speaking. After that, Sister is convinced that Stella-Rondo has turned her mama against her while upstairs with her. Uncle Rondo, who has always been particularly fond of Sister, has a bad temper, and Stella-Rondo knows this. Sister concludes that Stella-Rondo would aim to make Uncle Rondo angry with her before dinner even started. Indeed, Sister’s paranoia is not in vain because Stella-Rondo lies to Uncle Rondo saying that it was Sister who made fun of him wearing the kimono. In hearing this, he becomes outraged at Sister and retaliates by throwing lit fireworks
James Joyce wrote Dubliners to portray Dublin at the turn of the early 20th century. In Dubliners, faith and reason are represented using dark images and symbols. James Joyce uses these symbols to show the negative side of Dublin. In “The Sisters,” “The Boarding House,” and “The Dead” dark is expressed in many ways. James Joyce uses the light and dark form of symbolism in his imagination to make his stories come to life.
Another social conflict underlined in this book was the conflict between the Irish-American citizen and the citizens of Indian origin. Typically, Irish people looked down upon the Indian citizens. The writer notes that the Irish people were slowly forgetting their own fate of how they too were the subject of discrimination and callous victimization in the
The purpose of my paper is to show how the Scotch-Irish culture came to be in the United States. There were several things that led the Scotch-Irish to make the perilous journey across the Atlantic Ocean to America including famine and high rents. It is estimated that 40-55,000 Scotch Irish arrived in America from 1763 to 1775. (Everyculture) The Scotch-Irish is one of the strongest cultures in the United States and their influence has been generous.
1. The Scotch-Irish were staunch libertarians, and acted upon their feelings. Sex ways and dress ways had close ties to each other in the backcountry. To talk about sex and sexual behavior was also acceptable in this culture. The dress women and men wore was meant to arouse the opposite sex. Anglican missionary Charles Woodmason wrote, “They draw their shift as tight as possible round their Breasts, and slender waists (for they are generally very finely shaped) and draw their Petticoat close t their Hips to show the fineness of their limbs– … –indeed nakedness is not censurable without ceremony.” Woodmason was appalled at how these women carried themselves, but to the women, they were sexy. Men even dressed in ways to show off
Unlike presidents, state governors tend to fade in the memories of citizens. Overtime, despite many accomplishments and two terms, John Ireland has joined the long-lost list of forgotten governors. The mention of his name fails to incite anything but blank expressions from Texas citizens. In light of his influence on one of Texas ' most famed buildings, it might seem as though his name might ring a couple of bells, but no such luck. Clearly, John Ireland has been forgotten for too long. What did this man do for Texas and why should he be remembered? Time to find out.
Psychologist Ph.D. Diana Baumrind studied specific techniques of parenting at length and came to the conclusion that “spirited give and take within the home… may teach the child how to express aggression in self-serving and prosocial causes,” however, Sophie’s household has not quite mastered this “give and take”. Gish Jen’s “Who’s Irish?” highlights the adverse effects of early exposure to conflicting parenting styles through a detailed narrative of the daily life of a young girl named Sophie and her mother, father, and grandmother. The interpersonal relationship between Sophie and each of these parental figures embody three different parenting techniques: authoritarian, indulgent, and authoritative. Rising tensions between the techniques give rise to Sophie's confusion and eventual rebellion against her home life, which Gish Jen masterfully displays through her changing actions and, even, her physical appearance.
learning to read and write, took up the just labor of copying all of western
When the Grandmother tried to manipulate the family plans to change vacations from Florida to Tennessee, she does not care what the kids want or the family wants she only thing about herself and just add odd comments from the moment that they got to the car until they had the accident. At the end basically because her manipulation
Stay away from me.” Yells Aaron as he ran into the arms of Jasmine, squeezing her tight and not letting her go. Sophie is speechless. Does Aaron know the truth of Katrina’s death,? Sophie wondered. Jasmine looked away and looked around the house that had once been a bright happy family home, all the experiences are now faded memories. “Why don’t we go get some fresh air,” Sophie asked Aaron. They both walk outside and sit down the lushes green grass. Sophie still holding Jasmine’s diary holded it tight in her hands staring deeply into thick brown cover, but she wasn’t just captivated by the book she was overtaken by the red blood finger prints that laid on the bottom left hand corner of the diary. Aaron looks at Sophie, then at the house and then back at Sophie. He grabbed the diary from Sophie and opened it. He flicked through a few pages till he reached the exact page that Sophie had read earlier, grabed a pen out of his pocket, took a deep breath and started to write something “I know you killed my
Bella Adams discusses these problems in relationships between generation gaps in “Identity-in-difference: Re-generating Debate about Intergenerational Relationships in Amy Tan’s ‘The Joy Luck Club.’” Adams agrees that relationships between mother and daughter are difficult but vital to understanding one’s identity. In “Diasporic Self, Cultural Other: Negotiating Ethnicity through Transformation in the Fiction of Tan and Kingston” Li Zeng notes, “The assurance of self-definition through connecting with her cultural roots is Jing-Mei Woo’s resolution to her ethnic dilemma” (7). When Jin-Mei is staying in the hotel she says she finally feels what her mother meant by “activating” her “genes” and “becoming Chinese” (Tan, 270). She does not feel this sort of primal connection to her Chinese culture until she is immersed in it.
The entire story makes fun of other ideas that people to try to solve big problems in society. The proposal itself that the Irish should eat their b abies is a satire itself, because it makes fun of people who propose absurd ideas thinking that it will practically solve the porblem. The essay is certainly a satire that is aimed at making his readers recognize the kind of cold, and blunt reality when used to address social problems such as poverty and overpopulation.
In the personal essay “My Mothers Tongue” (1990), Amy Tan, widely known author explains her insights on language and culture identity using details and memories from her own life experiences. Tan conceals that the language in which her mother used with her “was the language that helped shape the way [she] saw things, expressed things, made sense of the world” (1208) and in the process it made her who she is today as an author. Tan illuminates the euro centricity of the Master Narrative by retelling stories of her mother being treated poorly because of her “broken” or “limited” English. She recalls many past experiences where her mother suffered from bad service and treatment from restaurants, stockbrokers, and even hospitals. Using examples from her personal life Tan gets her point across about language and culture characteristics in order to show how Chinese culture is affected by the master narrative and also encourages others to include a variety of cultures in order to overcome bias opinions. Tan’s apparent audience can be ranged from the child of an immigrant to a doctor and offers an authentic and rich portrayal of Chinese history through her conflicting experience of her Chinese and American cultures.
Mary’s culture has not been very significant in her life. Although her parents sometimes speak Chinese in their home, they speak English as their primary language. Mary says that her parents sometimes celebrate Chinese traditions to bring some of their culture back into their busy lives. Mary’s Dad is a doctor, and her mom is a house wife who is starting a decorating business.