Now that you have read most of American Born Chinese, you should be able to see certain themes emerging that appear in all three different story lines within the graphic novel. Your assignment is to describe one of those emerging themes and explain, using specific examples from the text, how you see each of the three story lines embodying or developing that theme. Your post should be at least six sentences long. You may choose to write your answer in paragraph form if you wish. If you are unsure on what the definition of "theme" is, consult your literary term glossary at the back of Social Justice. Your comment is due by the start of class on Thursday.
Remember--read the post, and then click on the word "comments" just below that post. After you have written your post, add your first name and last initial, then "Drogos," then your period (so, Calvin H. Drogos 1-2). Then, select "Anonymous" for your identity and click "publish your comment."
Remember--read the post, and then click on the word "comments" just below that post. After you have written your post, add your first name and last initial, then "Drogos," then your period (so, Calvin H. Drogos 1-2). Then, select "Anonymous" for your identity and click "publish your comment."
One of the themes in American Born Chinese is that stereotypes are not necessarily true. And if they are, then it doesn't matter. Another theme is that you should be who you are and that whoever you are is who you're meant to be. You should not try to change that. Also, to think before you speak. When the monkey king denies that he is a monkey, he ends up under a pile of rocks, but when he shrinks back to his normal size, he beats up a demon.
ReplyDeleteOne of the themes in the Story is the difference between chin kee and Jin. I think that the way chin kee is portrayed is to show that Chin kee is a full Chinese person whereas Jin is a American born Chinese. Another theme is with Danny and how he is really trying to build his image at school before chin kee comes so that he won't have to leave the school I think this is interesting because he is also tring to differate himself from chin kee In more ways than one. This is one of the other forms of plot.
ReplyDeleteOne of the themes in American Born Chinese is trying to fit in. The Monkey King tries to fit in in heaven by starting to wear shoes. Danny tries to fit in but cousin Chinkee always ruins it for him. Jin wants to fit in and be popular with everyone. He even goes and gets a perm to look like one of the popular boys. He does this so that his crush will like him. All three of these characters do this so that they fit in with the crowd. The problem is they never will.
ReplyDeleteThere are many themes in ABC. One of the main themes is that sometimes it’s hard to identify and accept who you are.
ReplyDeleteIn the first chapter, the monkey thinks of himself as the Sovereign Ruler of the Flower-Fruit Mountain, and nothing else. On page 15 when he is not allowed into the dinner party the guard says, “Look. You may be a king-you may even be a deity-but you are still a monkey.” At that moment the monkey king realizes that he is a monkey. Now, realizing something and accepting something is very different. The monkey king realizes that he’s a monkey but does not accept it. In fact, he wants to do everything but accept that he is a monkey. The monkey king is a king but never less he is still a monkey.
In the third chapter, Jin Wang goes to a new school. In this school, he is the only Asian other than Suzy Nakamura. He is different from everybody else. His food is different, he looks different, and he is Chinese. In San Francisco, he fit in with everybody else. He wasn’t different. He fit in with all the other Chinese boys at his school. At this school, because he is different he is treated differently and people see him differently. Jin realizes this and so he tries to change himself. On page 33, you can see that Jin is eating dumplings. On page 34, Jin is eating a sandwich. On page 36, Wei Chen arrives at the school. Jin wants to stay away from him as far as possible. It even states on page 36, Jin says, “Something made me want to beat him up.” Since Jin is trying to be “less Asian” and “more American” so he can try to fit in more, he doesn’t want Wei Chen to ruin his new American image. Jin doesn’t accept who he is so he tries to change himself to fit in more.
In the 4th chapter, Danny is a regular American schoolboy. He leads a regular American life. One day when he is working with Melanie, Chinkee comes. Chinkee changes everything because he is basically a stereotypical Asian. Unlike everyone else, Chinkee accepts who he is. Danny tries to change himself so he can fit in more. He wants to distance himself from Chinkee so that people won’t judge him. He cares a lot about what people think about him, but not that much about who is actually is.
Overall, one of the main themes is that sometimes it’s not easy to identify and accept who you are.
I think the main theme in ABC is the fact that people need to fit in, but that doesn't mean you should change yourself. Just being yourself is the best advice. Another theme is the fact that stereotypes aren't really always true. Like Chin-Kee has buckteeth, which is a stereotype, and when Timmy calls Jin "bucktooth", he's just calling that because he's racist towards Asians, and an Asian stereotype is that Asians have buckteeth.
ReplyDeleteThe theme of the story is about figuring out who you are, and finding your true self. The characters Jin, The Monkey King, and Danny all go through changes, which enables them to find their true selves. Jin changes his hair and turns his back on Wei-Chen in order to go out with Amelia. But it turns out that Greg doesn't want him to go out with Amelia, no matter what he looks like or who his friends are. After learning all 12 disciplines of Kung-Fu The Monkey King becomes "the great sage equal of heaven", and starts to turn 'evil'. He realizes his true self, in part, by Tze-Yo-Tzuh proving to him that he is his creator and that he is a monkey. Danny is embarrassed because of Chin-Kee, and because of him Danny's reputation is changed. Danny also likes a girl, and because of Chin-Kee he gets dumped. In the end, The Monkey King helps him realize who he is.
ReplyDeleteI think that one of the themes in American Born Chinese is that even when things are hard, confusing, or embarrassing you can still have an "escape". It is almost like when we wrote our "escaping the box" stories. In American Born Chinese there are three main stories: The Monkey King's stories, the Jin stories, and the Chin-kee and Danny stories. For the Monkey King, originally when he is upset about his limitations because he is a monkey, he "escapes" by mastering the twelve major disciplines: "This "Monkey King" it speaks of no longer exists, for I have mastered twelve major disciplines of kung-fu and transcended my former title" pg. 60. Then later, on page 150 the Monkey King "escapes" from underneath the pile of rocks by shrinking back to his original size. In this instance he is literally escaping and figuratively escaping because it is a barrier. For Jin, his escape is talking to Amelia, and hanging out with Wei-Chen. Jin has to "escape" because people were originally teasing him for his culture and race. Then there is Danny. Danny has to escape from being just "Chin-kee's cousin". Because Chin-kee is his cousin, Danny gets teased and embarrassed because people stereotype Chin-kee and then assume that Danny is just like Chin-kee. Danny is still finding his "escape", but he sometimes escapes by talking to Steve or switching schools.
ReplyDeleteOne of the themes in American Born Chinese, that comes in all three stories, is what people see you as, and how you want to be seen. Also, that changing does not always improve your chance at having people see you how you want to be seen. The monkey king is seen as a simple monkey so he tries to change and have everyone see him as "the great sage equal of all heaven". This ends up being dangerous and earning him less respect. Jin is thought of as a stereotypical chinese boy and this view is not pleasant. He tries to change himself and become a normal american boy. He gets too full of himself and it backfires because he acts too "American". He realizes that its better to just be himself: Chinese. Danny is thought as a really cool, stereotypical American boy, until Chinkee comes and makes people think of Danny as Chinkee's cousin, not Danny. This forces him to move. He tries to distance himself from Chinkee, which includes beating him up, but realizes he is still Jin, an American born Chinese.
ReplyDeleteI think that one theme is that none of the three characters really like who they are so they are trying to change themselves on the outside but they are all still the same on the inside. For example: Jin doesn't like that he is Chinese, so he tries to be American by changing his hair. Monkey king hates being a monkey and got laughed at by the other guests at the dinner party because he is a monkey and wasn't let in because of that. Monkey king tries to change himself by wearing shoes and acting like a person and not who he really is. He proves how powerful he is by mastering the four disciplines. He can grow big, become small, shape shift, hair into clones, and basically become immortal by being immune to fire, drowning, wounds and cold. He tries to act powerful and harsh to show that he can fit in with the other gods (e.g. beating the person on page 68.) In the third story, Danny doesn't want to be himself because he is the cousin of Chin Kee, that is how everybody sees him after chin kee visits the school that he is going to. The other students start seeing him as just the cousin of Chin Kee and not Danny anymore. This gets so bad by the end of the year that he is forced to switch schools just so it can happen all over again. Danny tries to change this by telling Chin Kee to be quiet and not get involved with anything, he also tries to stay far away from Chin Kee because he gets so embarrassed when he is with him. But on the inside, he will always have Chin Kee as a cousin.
ReplyDeleteOne of the themes that each story merges into in is the fact where every character is forced into a situation where they have to live with who they are. Jin on pg. 98 tries to change his image and make Amelia more attracted to him by changing his hair. But once Jin meets Amelia with his new hair, she just hesitates and then treats him the same. And with Danny he tries to separate himself from Chink-Kee, on pg. 110 he comes late trying to avoid Chin-Kee. But as I said before Chin-Kee still forces Danny to a position where he has to live with his cousin and even more importantly his own heritage. The easiest story line to compare to this to is the Monkey King on pg. 84 when he is physically forced under a mountain until he excepts the fact that he is a monkey which takes the Monkey king 500 years to do.
ReplyDeleteOne of the themes in American born Chinese is that there are a lot of stereotypes the doesn't really matter to people in the story except for a few people because they are embarrassed of someone. You should not try to change anything about yourself just because they are embarrassing you. Another theme is when the monkey king is trying to tell people that he is not a monkey so he gets big and mean and doesn't believe anyone so he flies out on a cloud past the everything in the world and ends up under a pile of rocks because he is so stubborn
ReplyDeleteI think one of the themes in American Born Chinese is that you can't be anyone but you. In the Jin story, Jin is trying to be like Greg by having the same type of hairstyle as him. I think he does this so he can feel more American. In the Monkey King story, The monkey king makes all the other monkeys ware shoes to fit in with the humans because they wouldn't let him into the dinner party. He also masters the 4 disciplines of Kung-Fu and changes himself so he can be bigger and stronger. But in the end, both Jin and the monkey king go back to their normal selfs. So even if you try to be someone different, or something your'e not, you will end up the same.
ReplyDeleteThere are more than one theme to the book American Born Chinese. I am going to start with Jin, Jin is a normal american born chinese that has gone through a lot of tough times. Such as being teased in the beginning and then switching his food. That compares to danny and he has gone though a lot of tough times too. When his cousin Chin-Kee comes to Danny's house danny is not comfortable and gets teased by his classmates. When comparing them i think they have gone through both difficult times. Now for the monkey king he is trying to break out of his box and gets put right back into it. Such as when he goes to the royal house and gets put down because he is a monkey. they all compare in the way that they are all different and get teased for it.
ReplyDeleteThe main theme seems to be that Danny wants to be "Danny", Jin wants to be American, and Monkey King wants to be human. Danny is considered "Chin-Kee's cousin". Jin is Chinese (and American). Monkey King is a monkey. In the end Danny is "Danny", Jin can be American, and Monkey King can be human. Gene Luen Yang shows this in a very literal way.
ReplyDeleteOne of the themes in the story is that whoever you were born to be is who you will forever be no matter how hard you try to escape like in the story of the monkey king on page 70 when Tze- Yo- Tzuh says "I am Tze-Yo-Tzuh. All that I have created- all of existence- forever remains within the reach of my hand. Therefore, you can never escape my reach." Tze- Yo- Tzuh is trying to explain to the monkey king that he will never escape the reach of his true identity. Another theme is that when you try to escape your real identity it is only you who will pay like on page 84 when the monkey king is buried under the pile of rocks, nobody but him is hurt only because he tried to escape his identity.
ReplyDeleteOne of the main themes in American Born Chinese is that everyone is born with a set identity. You may not like your identity but you can't change it. With all identities come a stereotype, and you can accept it or you can act against it. While some people succeed in doing so, others, such as The Monkey King try to deny their true identity. The final challenge is to find a common ground of accepting your identity but learning to lose your connection with the stereotype.
ReplyDeleteThe theme for American Born Chinese is to fit in. In chapters with the Monkey King, he tries to fit in with the other gods and denies the fact that he is a monkey, and therefore different. For example, after the guard denies him entrance into the dinner party because the King doesn't wear shoes, he decrees that all monkeys must henceforth wear shoes. In Jin Wang's story, he tries to fit in by eating a sandwich for lunch, instead of having a box of food. He also says, "You're in America. Speak English." to Wei-Chen, even though they both know Chinese. In Danny's story (or should I say Chin-Kee's story?), he fits in at first, but when Chin-Kee comes to visit, he no longer fits in. He must distance himself from Chin-Kee and try to convince others that he is not similar to Chin-Kee.
ReplyDelete(I refer to the end of the book in this post)
ReplyDeleteThe theme of American Born Chinese is about the characters accepting who they are and that they are that person (or monkey) because they were meant to be that person (or monkey).
On page 81, top panel, Tze-Yo-Tzuh says, “I do not make mistakes, little monkey. A monkey I intended you to be, a monkey you are.” The Monkey King was meant to be a monkey, but he didn’t accept that. He wanted too badly to fit in, and didn’t accept who he truly was (or all the benefits of being a monkey). In the next Monkey King chapter, the Monkey King comes a little more in touch with himself, even with just the simple steps as shrinking back to normal monkey size and not wearing shoes.
Jin needs to accept that he is an ABC. That doesn’t mean taking all the judgement and stereotyping. It means accepting who he is and being proud of it. Not running away from himself and becoming Danny. Being him, Jin.
(In the current chapter, where it is just Danny, the American) Danny has been accepted by his school as this all-American jock boy. But when Chin-Kee comes, people start to see him differently. Danny must accept that he’s Chin-Kee’s cousin, but that he is not Chin-Kee.He is himself and he has to stay in touch with that.
And lastly, (this is the part about the end of the book, when we learn the truth about Danny/Jin), Danny/Jin needs to accept who he is, an ABC. Jin becoming Danny might make him fit in, but he’s just being a cowardly turtle, his true, Chinese, self hidden in this all-American shell of a body. He needs to be true to himself, stop running away from his identity, and become who he is. Jin needs to accept that he is Chinese, live with it, and make the most of it (and repair his friendship with Wei-Chen, but that’s for a different blog answer).
One of the themes in ABC is the identity of each main character, and how they change and try to be something else. The Monkey King tries to be a master of Kung-Fu in order to be equal/higher than heaven. He doesn't want to be laughed at anymore by the immortals and deities. Jin wants to be something else for Amelia Harris. He changes his hair to look like a broccoli (because Justin's hair is curly) for her. Even though the Chapter is about Chin-kee, I think the main character in the Chin-kee chapter is Danny. He tries to act cool, so that Melanie will like him, and tries to change when Chin-kee comes to his school. He tries to take control of Chin-kee. He tells Chin-kee to be quiet, to leave him alone, and he just gets embarrassed even more.
ReplyDeleteAnother theme is how all of the main characters (The Monkey King, Jin, and Danny) are alone, are in a new situation and have to deal with the problem that comes to them. The Monkey King was laughed at in the beginning and tries to separate himself from the other monkeys. Jin doesn't have any friends in his new school, but when Wei-Chen comes, he has to help him even if he doesn't want to and when he starts liking Amelia, he has to come out of his shell. Danny is new to the school and doesn't want to move to another school because he wants to date Melanie. Chin-kee has made him move to different schools because Danny couldn't handle everything about him being Chin-kee's cousin, not just Danny.
I believe one of the themes in ABC with all the stories is how being different for them is not good. For example Jin does not want to be as Asian so he makes his hair curly like the American boys hair. With Danny, he does not want people to think that he is like Chin-kee in any way. In the monkey king, the monkey wants to be like the gods, really truly wants to be a god so he changes him self to be the great sage equal of heaven.
ReplyDeleteThe author tried to prove that you can't change who you are, but you can change aspects of yourself. He tried to prove that you shouldn't have to change yourself just because people don't accept you for who you are. The Monkey King realized that nobody liked monkeys (pg.15) so he tried to think of ways to be less monkey-like. After he completed his training in Kung Fu, and mastered the major diciplines (one of which was to shape-shift) he looked very different. He looked very human because he tried to change who he was. but everyone still knew that he was a monkey.(pgs.60-67) Only after being buried under rock for 500 years and after being the emissary of Tze-Yo-Tzuh did he realize how good it is to be a monkey (pg. 225) The author conveyed that it is good to be you.
ReplyDeleteOne of the themes in american born chinese is the differences between Wei-chen and Jin. Wei-chen is more accepting to the culture he was brought up and born into and doesn't seem like he wants to change the way he presents himself to his friends (he eats noodles even though people make fun of him). Jin wants to change everything thing about him he is not accepting he changes what he eats to seem more "american."
ReplyDeleteAnother theme is the monkey trying not to be a monkey, after the people would not let him into the party he made all the monkeys wear shoes and change their personalities to be not like a monkey
One theme in American Born Chinese is the simularities between Jin and Danny. I think that how they both want to get something (or someone) and how they are both different then anyone else, makes them simular. I also think that they both want to improve themselves, and that who they are, isnt really good enough for themselves. Another theme is that you cant change who you really are. You can change your appearences, you can change the way you act, but you cant change the fact that you are a monkey, for example. The mokey king through out the story, is constantly changing, and right when he thinks that he knows who he is, Tzeh-Yo-Tzuh and others, convince him otherwise. The third theme is that if you want something done, you can't sit back, and hope people do it for you, you have to act apon it.
ReplyDeleteI think one of the themes is "proving" who you are. Jin wants to be more American, he does this by getting an afro. Danny does not want to be called "Chin-Kee's cousin", Danny tries to avoid Chin-Kee. In the book it says that Danny does not want Chin-Kee to have his annual visit. The Monkey King tries to prove that he is not a monkey, he does this by beating up the gods and godess in the book. When the Monkey King meets the "God", the Monkey King says "I am not a Monkey!" This is part of "proving" who you want to be. Later in ABC, when the Monk talks to the Monkey King, he lets the Monkey King see that he wants to be a monkey again. The Monkey King has to fight the demons,he proves that he wants to be a monkey again.
ReplyDeleteOne of the themes in the story are the monkey king and Jin are in a sense growing up and learning to do the right thing. On pages 149 and 150 the monkey king realizes that he can't just stand around and let the monk be eaten by demons and does the right thing and changes back into a monkey wich is who he really is. He knows that he should not change the fact that he is a monkey because that is who he was meant to be. Another example is when Jin is at lunch in page 40 he kind of warms up to Wei-chen and they become friends. To do this he had to overcome the fear that kids will make fun of him.
ReplyDeleteOne of the themes is identity. Jin, Chin kee, Wie chin,Danny, and the Monkey king all have it. But they are all miss judged. Every one in Danny's schools thinks of him as Chin kee's cousin. When he is his on person. Jin and Wie chin are thought of as the chinnes kids in school. Not a nerd or a jock( even though nether of them are jocks.) They are miss judged. Jin when he fist came every one thought that him and Susie were going to get marred on her 13th brithday.
ReplyDeleteIn American Born Chinese, I think one of the themes is that even though you can look, feel, and have different cultural aspects, everyone does a lot of the same things, and shouldn’t be judged by there racial stereotypes, and differences. Through out each of the three stories, you can see that each character wants to fit in to a part of society, but certain things prevent them from doing so. The monkey king wants to be recognized as a deity, when he is only recognized as a monkey, the monkey king finally realizes that being himself has it’s own values such as freeing himself from the mountain, he also starts accept what actually is instead of what could be. Jin wants to be a normal kid without stereotypes. He wants to be a normal American boy, which is what he is, except his parents came from China. He wants to be a transformer, and starts to change himself into his classmate Greg. Danny wants to also be the normal guy, who he pretty much is, but when Chin-Kee comes, he always looses his name as Danny, but it then becomes Chin-Kee’s cousin. Danny wants to maintain the “normal” image, and stay at the same high school for more than a year.
ReplyDeleteA theme that happens throughout the three stories is that changing your identity and who you are is not always the right thing. As Tze-Yo-Tzuh said to Monkey King on page 69, "I created you, I say that you are a monkey, therefore, you are a monkey". If you show who you are and embrace it, your colors will shine no matter who you are or where you come from. Jin first tried to hide his identity because he was embarrassed being who he was (Chinese). Jin changed his appearance (afro hair), what he ate, the way he had said things (e.g. page 102 "Word to your mother"), and what he said. Later on in the book, Jin wants to change himself so much he calls himself Danny (also looks more American). Finally he realizes that it's okay to be you. It even seems like he has more fun being himself. Life could be more fun being and accepting who you are and embracing it, and no matter who you are there will always be someone who has got your back (Wei-Chen).
ReplyDeleteIn ABC the main theme in all three stories is that the main character is trying to fit in so they change their identity. From somebody they are to somebody they are not. In Jin's story he changes his hair from the way it is to the way Timmy wears it. This happens on page 97. In monkey king he changes into a human form and the features on his body change. He also refuses to be called a monkey. This is expressed on page 68. In Danny's story he tells everyone that he is not related to Chin-Kee and try's to be seen without him. You should be yourself and you will find friends e.g. Wei-Chen.
ReplyDeleteYou should never change who you are. One of the themes in ABC is the struggles of who the characters are and who they want to be. The Monkey King wanted to go to the night party, but because he was a monkey, he could not come. Jin disliked his Chinese culture. He wanted to be american. Danny doesn't want Chin-Kee in his life. After Chin-Kee's visit, everyone thinks of Danny like Chin-Kee's cousin, not Danny. They all try to change who they are.
ReplyDeleteSome themes of this book is you should never want to change your appearance because it doesnt change your inside. The monkey king tries to change that when he puts on shoes because he doesnt fit it. It also happens when jin changes his hair to be the greg, who is a "cool" kid. Also jin changing to danny was like this also.
ReplyDelete