DaNi's Posts

DaNi Son

US LitH

What I love most about this book is the overall plotline of the book and how wonderfully written it is.  I also love that once Henry sees the women with the red umbrella that all these wonderful yet tragic memories come flooding back. Henry meets this young Japanese girl, named Keiko, who just recently moved to Seattle to attend Rainier. They form a tight friendship but with the complications of the war, Keiko and her family are sent to an internment camp for the Japanese. After her family is evacuated and sent to Idaho, Henry flees and tries to find Keiko and her family and sneak them out. It just shows how much Henry is willing to risk in order to save her family, despite his family, and his father’s beliefs.

What I liked the least was Henry’s father. Even though he was trying to fair and protect his own family, he was such a terrifying and cruel man. One passage that made me so angry was when Henry comes home and his mother sets the table for him but Henry’s father interrupts, “Are you expecting a guest for dinner?” (187). He doesn’t even acknowledge that his son is still apart of the family yet he treats him like a stranger. He is so caught up in having a normal life that he pushes away his only son, and I think that’s exceptionally cruel.

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I think that one of the most powerful passages that I’ve read was when Henry’s father is yelling at Henry about the family albums that belonged to Keiko. He had ripped up the photo album and tossed it out the window. Henry wanted to keep her promise but his father would not have any of it because he couldn’t risk his family getting sent to jail. As Henry approaches the door, his father points to the door and says, “if you walk out that door--if you walk out that door now, you are no longer part of this family, You are no longer Chinese. You are not part of us anymore. Not a part of me.” To which Henry replies, “I...am an American” His father has made everything Henry is now. He was the one who had told him to stop speaking Cantonese at home so that they could be American. And when he hands Henry another button that reads, “I am American.” I find that so significant because he’s finally standing up against his father but also the fact that his father says, “You are no longer Cantonese” it totally contradicts what his father wants Henry to be. To be a normal American.

Which of our central questions does your text address most thoroughly?

First and foremost, this text addresses the issues of racism and equality in America during WWII.  It discusses the impact Pearl Harbor and the war in the Pacific had on Americans’ view of race - the hatred aimed at all things Japanese, and the mistrust of Asian-Americans in general - as well as the effects of the Chinese/Japanese war.  It also touches on the importance of material possessions as a link to one’s history and culture, detailing the lengths Japanese Americans went to save and preserve their property before they were shipped off to concentration camps.   Inversely, the text explores those things that are more important than material wealth - family, safety, honor, and acceptance - and looks at the way they influence our lives. Finally, the text examines what it means to be an man, following Henry's path to adulthood (which he considered himself to have reached at 13) and the responsibilities and decisions he is forced to make without parental help.

What do you like best about your book? What was the most powerful part of the text?

One of my favorite parts of the book was the relationship between Henry and Marty.  In a lot of ways, it reminded me of the relationship I have with my own parents. We don’t always see eye-to-eye, but always have the best intentions at heart.  Generation gaps can make talking to one-another difficult. You grow up never thinking about why your parents say what they say, do what they do, or believe what they believe, only to remember that adults have a past too.  The awkward attempts at communication between father and son were easy to relate to, and the difference between Henry’s self-perception and the way Marty viewed him was really interesting.   Aside from this, I also thought Sheldon's death was superbly well-written. It tugged at my heart strings perfectly, especially when the young nurse asked Henry if he was part of Sheldon's family, despite their different ethnicities.  It really highlighted how much had changed since Henry was a boy.

What are some topics that you could research based on your book?

• Conditions in Japanese concentration camps
• History of jazz music
• Psychology of racial prejudice
• Pearl Harbor
• Racism towards Muslims today (in comparison w/ Asian-Americans during WWII)
• Wartime efforts on the home front
• History of slang
• Chinese vs Japanese culture
• Japanese-American soldiers during WWII

The Assignment and the How-To

Hi Everyone,
In order to post, you need to click that Blogger logo in the upper left corner.  See it? The orange box with the squiggly thing in it?  Then, click on the pencil next to your blog title.  That will allow you to write your post.  When you are done, click "Publish."

Here's Your Assignment:

One thing that we have said repeatedly in our class is that American literature is an ongoing conversation about a few central topics.  These topics are ingrained in our national narrative, the story of who we are as people.  This week, you will begin thinking about topics that connect to this American narrative, and these topics will become the focus of your research after winter break.

To get you started generating topics for research, use your lit circle books.  I'd like two written responses from you this week, both posted to your group blog.  I also expect you to read and respond to each others' posts.  If you were to type your response in Word first, it would be about a page.  DO NOT JUST ANSWER A LIST OF MY QUESTIONS.  Instead, generate two or three paragraphs on the questions that interest you most.  The questions to consider:

• What do you like best about your book?  What do you like least?
• What was the most powerful part of the text?  The most exciting?
• Which of our central questions (American dream/possessions, nature, race and equality, individual power, etc.) does your text address most thoroughly?
• What questions does this book raise for you?  What does it make you wonder?
• What are some topics that you could research (based on your book)?
• What place do you think your text has in the body of American literature?
• How does the text "talk back" to some of the authors we've already read?
• What do you know about the author of your book?  Are you curious to know more about the author's story?