Now that you have read 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 Tuesday.
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, then "Drogos," then your period (so, Calvin Drogos 12). Then, select "Anonymous" for your identity and click "publish your comment." Also, remember to click "Publish your comment" twice to be sure that it gets sent to Mr. Drogos to moderate.
In my opinion there are many themes in American Born Chinese, though there is one theme which is both the most obvious, and the most significant. That is the feeling of being judged just by the color of your skin, and than trying to change yourself into someone you are not, just to please other people. This happens in many part segments of the story, in both Jin/Danny and the Monkey King's worlds. For Jin/Danny it begins on page 31 the second box, where a troublesome boy retorts to the teachers introduction "My momma says Chinese People eat dog." In my opinion this is a very important part of the story because this is when Jin first begins to understand that he will not be acknowledged as a normal kid in his new school. For the Monkey King this moment is when Tze-You-Tzuh tells the monkey that he does not "make mistakes, little monkey. A monkey I intended you to be and a monkey you ARE(pg. 80). And this is where the Monkey King learns that he is not what he thought he was becoming, and that was the "the heights of heaven and the depths of the under world" (pg. 80) which infact Tze Yo Tzuh is. But a monkey who is not appreciating who he really is and was meant to be.
ReplyDeleteIlana Drogos 1-2
ReplyDeleteOne of the many themes that occurs in American Born Chinese is the idea of stereotyping characters to enhance their different personalities, appearances, cultures, and more. The Monkey King is stereotyped on page 13 when he is attending a party for all the kings, and he is not allowed in. he is not allowed in, because he is a monkey, and he is does not have shoes. Jin is stereotyped on page 32, when he first arrives at his new school, and is eating lunch. Jin’s mean classmates teased him for the food they assumed he would be eating. The boys thought Jin would be eating dog, when really he was just eating some dumplings. Chin-Kee is a very stereotyped character throughout the book. One example of this is on page 112-114 when he eagerly answers every question in school. This is a stereotype for Asians being smart. Chin-Kee’s appearance is also very stereotyped. For example, Chin-Kee is constantly drooling. He also has very noticeably big buckteeth. Earlier in the book on page 33, Jin is also teased for having buckteeth, even though it is not true. Another example of Chin-Kee’s stereotyped appearance is shown, by the way he dresses, in his traditional Chinese outfit. He is also stereotyped by his accent, and the way he confuses many of his consonants. An example of this, is on page 48, when Chin-Kee first arrives at Danny’s house and exclaims, “Harro Amellica,” instead of hello America. Stereotypes help enforce ideas, or help get a point through to the reader.
From: Colleen per. 5-6
ReplyDeleteOne of the themes that I see emerging from this book is not excepting who you are. I know this for a fact because on page 223 on the fourth panel the monkey king says to Jin "You know, Jin I would have saved myself from five hundred years of imprisonment beneath a mountain of rock if I had only realized how good it is to be a monkey." He says this because he thought being a monkey was the worst thing that could possibly happen until he got stuck under a rock for five hundred years. I think this is metaphorically what happened to Jin but he was not stock under a rock he was being tortured by the monkey king/Chin-kee for a lot less time but he wasted all of his time as Jin and killed his soul to become Danny and American. There is so many reasons why one of the themes in this book is accepting who you are and these are just some of the ways to tell this but these are the most important ones that really make you understand why Gene Luen Yang wrote this book.
I think the biggest theme in American born chinese is fitting into your surroundings. Jin, the monkey King, and danny all try to over the duration of the story. The guard said to the monkey king "You may be a king-you may even be a deity but you are still a MONKEY". for almost the rest of the story the monkey king tries not to be like a monkey. when a bully says to Jin "stay away from my dog" and "what the hell are those" about his dumplings, Jin starts to eat normal american food like sandwiches. When Dannies cousin Chin Kee comes he tries to distance himself to fit in. The entire book is about fitting in.
ReplyDeleteI think one of the themes in this story is changing oneself. All the main characters in this story want to change something about themselves. Monkey king does not want to be a monkey, he wants to be a god. Jin has a part of him that wants to be American and part of him that doesn't mind being Chinese, but I think he mainly just wants to fit in and be American. Danny wishes he could get rid of Chin-Kee, because he feels that when his friends meet Chin-Kee they start to think that Danny is like Chin-Kee and then he has to move away. Monkey King tried to not only change himself but also his monkeys, pg. 55 "All monkeys must wear shoes.." Monkey king ordered. Monkey king on page 57 makes a major change in himself that he feels will bring him to the top, "After forty days, he achieved the four major disciplines of invulnerability." Jin tries to change himself by speaking only English to the Wei-chen even though he knows he could speak Chinese with him. Page 37 "You're in America. Speak English." Then on page 40 you see Jin speaking Chinese to Wei-Chen, you do not see him speak to Wei-Chen in Chinese again. Jin in the end gets to be a normal American guy, but he will always have a Chinese part of him nagging at him. When he was Danny that Chinese part of him was Chin-Kee. Monkey King learns his lesson after being under rocks for 500 years.
ReplyDeleteI think that a theme in American Born Chinese is that all three main characters are embarrassed about some aspect of their identity. When the monkey king isn't let into a party on page 15, he becomes embarrassed that he is a monkey. Because of this, he makes all monkeys where shoes, and he changes his form to be more human-like. Jin is treated differently because he is Chinese, like on page 32, when someone says "stay away from my dog". He is embarrassed that he is Chinese and he tries to change himself. He tries to change by changing his hair, then changing into a different person. People are mean to Danny because of Chin-Kee and because his family is Chinese. Danny is embarrassed that his family is Chinese. Family is a part of who you are, so Danny is embarrassed of a part of himself.
ReplyDeleteThe theme is that if you don't try to be something you aren't, you'll be okay, but since Jin tried to be American, he was haunted by Chin-Kee. Once Chin-Kee was gone because Danny punched his head off, Danny returned to his form as Jin. This means that a theme is that you shouldn't hide yourself, or you'll be haunted by your true self.
ReplyDeletePaige Drogos 1-2
ReplyDeleteOne theme that occurs throughout American Born Chinese is changing yourself. Each one of the main characters want to change something about themself. Jin wants to be American, Monkey King wants to become a god and Danny doesn't want to be associated with Chin-Kee. All three of these characters want to change themself to fit in. One example of Monkey wanting to change himself is on page 13, when he is not allowed into a party because he is a monkey and he doesn't have shoes. An example of Jin wanting to change himself is when he changes his hair. Every time Chin-Kee comes to visit Danny, he decides to switch schools. He doesn't want people to treat him differently just because he is related to Chin-Kee. At the end of this story I think all three of these characters are more comfortable with who they really are.
I think one of the major themes in American Born Chinese is definitely being yourself and loving who you are. In the story of the Monkey King, he obviously does not want to be a monkey! He wants to be just like a human. In Jin's story, he just wants to fit in with the Americans instead of being teased because of his race, like being called "buckteeth". Lastly, in the story of Chin-Kee, it's a bit backwards, because Danny needs to accept Chin-Kee as his cousin instead of trying to shove him away. All of the characters in this book all learned a valuable lesson. Be yourself and love it.
ReplyDeleteIn the book American Born Chinese, there were 3 different stories that were connected by many themes. The three major themes that I found were: not accepting oneself, exaggerated stereotyping, and personifying these stereotypes.
ReplyDeleteThroughout the story, especially in Jin's and in the Monkey King's, there were examples of not accepting oneself. Jin was constantly being bullied through Chinese stereotypes at school and eventually it drew him to "forfeit his soul", becoming the all-american jock, Danny. Pages 192-194 illustrate my point. Also the monkey king says on page 223, "You know, Jin, I would have saved myself from five hundred years' imprisonment beneath a mountain of rock had I only realized how good it is to be a monkey."
During mostly Chin Kee's story, but also during Jin's, there is a lot of stereotyping. Chin Kee combines almost every Chinese stereotype around. He says "Harro Amellica" (pg. 48), eats "Clispy Flied Cat Gizzards Wiff Noodle" (pg. 114) and thinks it funny to pee in others' cokes. He is also a know-it-all and his suitcases are (chinese) food containers. In Jin's story Jin is suspected to eat dogs on page 31, "My momma says chinese people eat dogs." This is also another false/exaggerated stereotype developed from some tiny bit of truth that morphed into a much larger issue.
Personification was also very apparent is the entire story. These personified characters signify groups of people and their stereotypes. Chin Kee was an example of personification. Basically every Chinese stereotype was bestowed upon Chin Kee (even his name). His appearance, food, and intelligence level are all stereotypes of the Chinese people. Danny is also a personification of American people. He's blonde, a jock, and plays basketball. Also, Danny's teachers, Jin, and Wei Chen are all personifications for different groups of people.
These are the major themes in American Born Chinese.
Zoradrogos 6-7
ReplyDeleteOne theme I saw was throughout the book was the major characters were rejecting their identities because other people made them feel ashamed of who they really were. The first character I saw repudiating their identity is The Monkey King. The Monkey King disregards his identity when in the first chapter he goes up to heaven and the guard won't let him in because he isn't wearing any shoes and because he is a monkey, and I think this makes him realize how he is looked down upon by these people and how by them he is considered a lower class. I think that when The Monkey King realizes that the people in heaven look down on him and think of him as dirty because he is a monkey he starts to think that monkeys are dirty and lower himself, so he rejects that he could be one. You can see him start to push the his identity away on page 20 when he comes back from the dinner party and smells the monkey fur for the first time which to me shows how he is becoming hyperaware of his being a monkey, and instead of leaving the fur he thinks of ways to get rid of it which shows to me how he doesn't like being a monkey and wants to get rid of that. So throughout the book we see him come to think of himself as like he says on page 63, "the great sage equal of heaven" and from there slowly reach a climax of denial where he doesn't answer to monkey and will hurt anyone who try's to call him that. Another character who we see reject his identity is Jin. Jin starts to reject who he is when he first transfers to Mayflower Elementry, and the kids there are mean to him because of his ethnicity. A example of a the rejecting because of his ethnicity I when one of the kids on page 32 and 33 is making fun of his food saying stuff like "let's leave bucktooth alone so he can enjoy Lassie", and over time I think that he gets so much of this pounding so that he might start to look down upon himself or just get so tired of it that he starts to reject his identity so much that he is willing to sacrifice his soul to have a new identity.You can see how much Jin rejects his true identity because when he is Danny and Chin-Kee comes along he hates him because he is every Chinese stereotype, which I think reminds me of his true identity. I think that this theme is very interesting to watch because it is a theme that reaches across the stories, for example the monkey king comes into Danny and Jin's stories as Chin-Ker, also it is very intresting to watch how the different characters try to change who they are for Jin he turns into a completely different person, and The Monkey King learns more an makes himself bigger so people will be to afraid to think of him as a monkey.
Nicholas Drogos 6-7
ReplyDeleteA theme that I've seen throughout the books is that people (or monkeys or whatever you are) shouldn't try to be someone who they aren't. The herbalist says this on p.29, It's easy to become anything you wish... as long as you're willing to forfeit your soul. You see characters trying to be someone who they aren't all through the book, and someone always tells them not to do that. Jin doesn't listen to the herbalist's warning, when he gets to the American school, they think he's different. And he wants to be like them so he acts like them and I think he eventually achieves his goal of trying to be like them. Part of Danny's family is Chinese (or at least that's what you think most of the story), but he's not willing to accept it and he thinks that people will think he's weird if he's Chinese. So he tries extra hard to be a full American. The Monkey King is obviously a monkey, and he accepts it at first. But then when he tries to go to a dinner with the gods, they don't let him in because he's a monkey (their excuse is that he has no shoes). This outrages the Monkey King and he beats them all up. Once he gets home he thinks about the fact that he's a Monkey and decides he doesn't want to be one. So he practices Kung-Fu until he has the power to shape-shift. Once he has the power to do this, he changes himself into human shape.
In the story I see the theme that you should be proud and happy of who you are, no matter who you are. On page 150 the monkey king turns back into his natural monkey form and beats up the trolls. On page 158 the monkey king says, “… master. Let me help you to your feet.” “The monkey king accompanied Wong Lai-Tsao on his journey to the west and served him faithfully until the very end.” That tells the reader that even though the monkey king might have been selfish before now he is not, and wants to help Wong Lai-Tsao. On page 223 the monkey king says, “You know Jin, I would have saved myself from five hundred years’ imprisonment beneath a mountain of rock had I only realized how good it is to be a monkey.” I think that is when Jin realizes how good it is to be Asian. I also think Wei-Chen realizes how good it is to be who you are because on page 220 he says, “I will spend the remainder of my days in the mortal world using it for my pleasure.” But on page 233 Wei-Chen isn’t serving the humans or using the world for his pleasure he is laughing and talking to his real friend, not his slave. So everyone in the book realizes how good it to be yourself.
ReplyDeleteOne theme i see in American Born Chinese is coming to terms with ones true identity and not changing just to fit in. The characters Jin and the Monkey King both change themselves physically. In the case of Jin this is on page 194 where he becomes Danny the American boy. Changing into Danny makes him popular and allows him to fit in to society. However this is not who he really is and i the end Chin Kee helps him see that being Jin is a good thing on pages 213-223. The Monkey King changes himself after he is kicked out of the party on page 15. He takes the body of a man, but is imprisoned by Lao Tze Tzu for 500 years under a mountain. He finally realizes that he is better off as a monkey on page 149. In both of these stories the main characters need to come to terms with their identities to escape a prison.
ReplyDeleteBen Drogos 6-7
Jacob Drogos 1-2
ReplyDeleteOne major theme in American Born Chinese is being different and not welcomed. In the first chapter, the Monkey King is not let into the dinner party because he is a monkey who doesn't wear shoes, unlike the gods. Danny has a weird cousin named Chin-Kee who visits him once a year. Every year when Chin-Kee comes, people make fun of Danny at school. Every year, when Danny has just fit in to a new school, he has to leave because of the embarrassment. Jin is a boy from China that has to America who has to make new friends. He is bullied and teased because he is different and not welcomed. This is one of the major themes in American Born Chinese
Alexis Drogos periods 6-7 One of the themes out of many in American Born Chinese is the color of your skin or race. Jin is Danny this is showing that Jin thinks that if he was white then everything will be fixed or perfect. I feel like Jin is forcing Wei-Chen to become white and stop talking chinese and start eating American food and speak english. Jin is really afraid of being an F.O.B(fresh off the boat). In conclusion I think that one of the many themes in this book is that Jin thinks that if your white everythings right, well its not. Everything won't be alright if your skin color is a certain color
ReplyDeleteA theme that i See in ABC is that if you dont fit in you can sometimes be somethimg you arent. like when monkey king took his man form. or when jin took the form of danny because he was unhappy with who he was. but when these people realized that being themselves is not so bad the were happy.
ReplyDeleteI think that one important theme in American Born Chinese was trying to be someone you're not. The Monkey King, at first did not like the fact that he was a monkey, so he started wearing shoes, grew taller and muscular, and he tried to change his cent. The Monkey King tried to be a human and it didn't work well for him. Jin tried to be someone he wasn't by acting more like the american stereotype. He did things like changing what he ate for lunch, never speaking in Mandarin, and dating an american girl with blonde hair. Danny had a cousin that he disliked, Chin-kee so Danny tried to hide Chin-Kee as much as possinble.
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ReplyDeleteThe three themes throughout ABC is accepting your true identity. Each of the characters Jin,Danny, and the Monkey King, know who they are, but don't accept it. Until some person tells them something like, "You have a weird asian cousin. You're a monkey. You're asian" Jin and Danny and the Monkey King all get mad at other characters because they cannot accept their true identity's. Some examples are: the Monkey King tells organisms that he is, "The Great Sage, Equal of Heaven." Jin gets mad at Wei-Chen, just for being asian. Danny gets mad at Chin-Kee because Chin-Kee is asian. Danny, Jin, and the Monkey King need to accept their true identity. -Brian Drogos 6-7
ReplyDeleteBen Period 1-2 Mr.Drogos The ongoing theme throughout "ABC" is accepting your true identity. All three storylines' main characters (Danny, Jin, and the Monkey king) know who they really are, but they all deny who they are, until someone or something wakes them up and says "Hey you're just a monkey." or "Yeah, you're Asian, deal with it." or even "Stop feeling bad for yourself, and move on with life. You're part Asian deal with it." Also, Jin, Danny, and the Monkey king are getting mad at other people for the fact they are who they really are. For instance, the Monkey king tries to make people think that he is the "great sage equal to the heavens" just because he feels insecure and bad that he is a monkey. Danny gets mad at Chin-kee just because Danny really is Asian, and he wants to be american, and push all this Asian stuff away from him. Jin gets mad at Wei-Chen, for being Asian, and categorizing him as Asian, even though Jin really is Asian.
ReplyDeleteEmma Drogos period 6-7
ReplyDeleteI think there are many themes in ABC, but among them, the one that really stood out to me, was the fact that everyone is very stereotyped and people are judged by how they look. For example, on page 48 Chin-Kee is an example, because he is everything some people think about a Chinese person, loud, can't speak English correctly, his bags are Chinese takeout boxes, he has a long braid for his hair, and his dress, some people would call very "Chinese". Another example is the stereotype for basketball players. Steve, on page 125 is fat, has a jersey always on, basketball shoes, and just looks like one.
Chavon Drogos period 6-7
ReplyDeleteI think the theme of American Born Chinese is to not stereotype people,"not to judge a book by its cover". One example is Jin, he is so use to being put down that he whats to change his own Identity. He wants to change his Identity to an american boy, when he is little he describes this change as a "transformer". I think he would prefers to be in the monkey kings shoes because the monkey king and switch identity's any time. Another example is that I think the monkey king also wanted to change his identity because people don't respect his authority as a monkey king, he shows us this by wearing shoes and remaining taller to act more human like (he thinks humans are more respected).
There are many "Themes" in ABC. I think the most important and to me most obvious is that you will only be judged by your race if you are shy about it. People will only stereotype you if you let them and act very odd in a way that makes you seem different and the first thing people will do is put in their minds are that race are unsure of themselves and that will always stick with them. In the story Jin wants to be a "Transformer". I feel that really stood out about him in the beginning of the story that he wanted to be someone else of "Danny". You should love who you are and what you look like because that will never change. People need to embrace it and be who they want to. The last thing that should be holding people down is the color of their skin.
ReplyDeletethe monkey king tries to fit in by wearing socks and tries to be more powerful. he wants to look like the others just like jin. he wants to be a normal american bu the turns out to be in the end a chinese gansta. with the chinese symbol on his gansta car. In ABC lots of people try to be what there not. evan danny, he wants to be set apart from Chin-Kee.
ReplyDeleteThere are many themes in American Born Chinese but the one that stood out to me the most was the stereotypes I saw in this book. One example is how Chin-Kee had those humungous buck teeth and how every one keep saying to Danny and Jin that they have buck teeth. Another one is how Chin-Kee is very loud and cannot pronounce his l and his r in the right spot. Chin-Kee also eats very wierd food and how his luggage was Chinese take out boxes. Other people with wierd stereotypes was Steve the jock he was wearing his basketball jersey with his basketball shoes and he was carrying around a basketball. He was also kind of fat.
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ReplyDeleteI think that one of the themes is identity. As we are studying in Humanities who we really are and making the identity collages and studying what shapes our identity and what makes us who were are with the identity personal narrative, I think that this theme is ABC as well. For example, the first few chapters when you see the Monkey King, he isn't let into the party because he is "just a monkey". So he decides to try to change his shape and from then on you see him as a big and strong human-like monkey King. Also like Jin in the first few chapters, he wants to "transform" like the transformers by transforming into an American boy. Another example is Danny, who doesn't want his identity to be the goof with the super weird cousin. He just wants to be Danny and he doesnt want Chincky to stay there but just wants him to leave. These are some examples of the theme of identity throughout "American Born Chinese".
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