Now that you have read over half of
American Born Chinese, you should now 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 Wednesday.
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 "Nekrosius," then your period (so, Frodo Nekrosius 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. Nekrosius to moderate.
44 comments:
One theme I see in American Born chinese is about taking the right path, about choosing the right thing to do. For example in page fifteen narrator said "he almost left with out saying a word. but on second thought, he decided that perhaps saying one word would make him feel better." Another example is if Wei-Chen had not brought out his toy transformer Jin and Wei-chen might have not been friends. Another example that would of changed the whole story was if the monkey king excepted who he was in page 81 it would of completely changed the story. I think these examples show that much of the story is put together by what seems like equal decisions, but completely changes the story
CharlieNekrosuis 6-7
The theme I see in American Born Chinese is acknowledgement of your race. In the Monkey King's story, on page 15 in the top right panel, the guard says, "Look. You may be a king -you may even be a deity- but you are still a monkey." The Monkey King has to face the challenge of being a monkey. Just like in human society, this seperates him from the rest of the group of spirits, gods, and demons. In Jin's story, on page 39 when Jin and Wei-Chen speak Chinese, although Jin insists that Wei-Chen talks in English, they begin to communicate in Chinese. As they speak in Chinese they both realize more similarities between each other, such as they both like robots. In Chin-Kee's story, Danny is faced with the challenge that his American school will now meet his Chinese cousin, whose character is a collection of stereotypes, and how embarrassing his cousin will be.
Janine Nekrosius 6-7
A theme that I see in American Born Chinese is not accepting yourself. The Monkey King was trying to be like all of the other gods, but in the end, he was still a monkey. He could not accept that. Jin was born in America, raised in America, but in his third grade class, all they saw was that he was of Chinese heritage. Jin could not except that he was Chinese. Danny is a different case. In the book so far, it seems like Danny is a born and raised American as well. The difference between him and Jin is that his parents (as far as we know) are American. When Chin Kee comes around, Danny can not just accept that he is weird and get over it. He can not accept that Chin Kee is a part of him (no matter how hard he tries to avoid it). Every one of the main characters just have to accept who they are.
Emma Nekrosius pd. 6-7
The theme that I see in American Born Chinese is believing in yourself, believing in your true identity, and accepting it. It also has to do with being labeled as a certain race or even species.
In the first chapter, the Monkey King is doubting himself. He wants to be just like the other gods. He doesn't like his own identity. On page 15, the guard to the god's party says "You may be a king, you may even be a deity, but you are still a monkey." The Monkey King has to overcome the differences between himself and all of the powerful gods and goddesses. He has to accept himself for who he is. He doesn't want to be labeled as a monkey, he wants people to see beyond that so they can see who he really is.
In Jin's story, when he moves from San Francisco, everybody labels him automatically as Chinese, without even meeting him. Jin didn't want to be labeled this way. He wants to be his own person and not be Chinese, not just get automatically labeled. For example, on page 30, Jin's teacher automatically assumes that since Jin looks Asian, he must have been born in China.
In Danny's story, when Chin-Kee comes, he has to deal with the fact that Chin-Kee is his cousin. He must realize that Chin-Kee is a part of him. Danny wants to have a good reputation in his school but it is hard. Danny wants to be accepted for who he is, not for who his cousin is. He does not want to be labeled as "Chin-Kee's Cousin" he wants to be labeled as "Danny". Danny doesn't like that whenever people think of him, they also think of his cousin, Chin-Kee.
Saskia Nekrosius 1/2
the main theme in american born chinese is that steryotypes can really harm peoples lives. This is made clear by the fact that mean people insult and spread rumors around the main charecters because of thier ethnicity or species. the author also points out the fact that a person who would seem "normal" to people because he fits all the steryotypes is actually weird.
tobias, nekrosius 6\7
Everything in American Born chinese is related to identity (specifically race and ethnicity). The Monkey King struggles with the life of a monkey even though he lives in luxury and is deity he is laughed upon by all the other kings and gods. Jin Wei-Chen and Suzy are only friends with each other and are made fun of by some kids and they struggle with the ridicule daily. Danny and Chin-Kee are cousins of different ethnicity and Chin-Kee always embarrases him at school with his character depicting every stereotype about Asians.
Eamonn Nekrosius 6-7
One theme i saw in American Born Chinese was how in every "world" the story about one particular person or monkey is that they are embarressed by there identity or race. For instance the Monkey King is embarrased about being a Just a monkey as the guard said on page 15. Jin is embarresed about looking like a chinese person even though he is not from china himself. Danny is more embbaressed about his cousin Chin-kee because his cousin Chin-kee presents all the chinese stareo types. LiliaNekrosius 1-2
A major theme that I see occurring multiple times in the American Born Chinese is that people make assumptions about other people. An example of people making assumptions about other people is when the teacher says Jin's name wrong. A different teacher also gets Wei-Chen's name wrong. Another example of people making assumption about other people is when the rumor that Suzy was going to be Jin's wife on her thirteenth birthday. Throughout the whole story people make assumptions about Jin, Danny, and The Monkey King. Because of those assumptions, they have all made choices that change the story.
Justin Nekrosius 6-7
It think the theme is knowing who who are. In the monkey story the monkey only thinks of himself as a king and a deity. Until on page 15 the man says "Look. you may be a king - you may even be a deity but you are still a monkey. In JIn's story Wei-Chen only thinks of himself as a person from a taiwan until on page 89 he realizes he is not just a person from taiwan now he is also an american. An after that he starts dating Suzy. For the Chin-Kee story its mostly just not knowing who he is. Chen-kee does not think oh, people are making fun of me because i am Asian because he is to busy not knowing who he is and just acting like a fool. I think that this so far has been a great book about people learning who they are or just not acknowledging who they are.
Danny Nekrosious 1/2
One theme I found in American Born Chinese is to fit in into your community. For example, the Monkey King try to attend the party at the heaven because he wants to met the gods. Jin don't want to speak chinese with Wei-Chen because no one else speaks chinese and he wants to be like others. He tried to be an all american boy by fit himself into their "circles". In Danny's story he is trying to fit in to his new school besides the fact that Chin-Kee always step in and ruined his life. He is also trying to let Chin-Kee fit in, either let him stop embarrasing himself or drive him back to China. The three characters have different problems, but their goal was the same: to fit in.
The theme that I have chosen to explain is fitting in. All three of the characters in American Born Chinese want to fit in. The Monkey King wants to be like everyone else, not like a monkey. This is first made clear when he is denied entrance to a dinner party because he is not wearing shoes like everyone else. This experience made him more self conscious of his monkey-ness. A quoted example from the book can be found on page 20, "When he entered his royal chamber, the thick smell of monkey fur greeted him. He had never noticed it before. He stayed awake for the rest of the night thinking of ways to get rid of it." In Danny's case, he doesn't want Chin-Kee to visit him at school every year, so that everyone won't think of him as 'Chin-Kee's cousin' instead of 'Danny'. For example, on page 51, "'Perhaps Chin-Kee can find pletty Amellican girl for hisself when he attend Amellican school tomollow wiff Cousin Da-nee!' '...?! Ma?!'" The final character, Jin, wants everyone to stop thinking of him as the Asian kid (and stop making fun of him for it). He wants to be a regular person. This is proved on page 96, "'Hey, I it's getting a little NIPPY out here.' 'You're right! I'm getting GOOK BUMPS!'" After this comment, Wei-Chen, Jin, and Suzy all look down in embarrassment. That is why I think that the theme I chose is a legitimate (and important) theme in the book.
Fred Nekrosius 6/7
To Justin N. 6-7-
I agree with your comment. I think that it is really true what you are saying. I just never thought about it. Good post!
Saskia Nekrosius 1-2
I think that they all just want to fit in. Danny and Jin don't want to be seen with chinese stereo-types. Danny because he has cousin Chin-Kee and he thinks that everyone relates him to Chin-Kee. Everyone doesn't "Think of me as Danny anymore. I'm Chin-Kee's cousin."(Pg.127) Jin because people call him a chink and he would have had a easier time getting Amelia to like him if he was white. Also most of the other kids are white and most white people wont hang out with him. The monkey king also just wants to fit in. After he was rejected at the party he has wanted to be less like a monkey and more like a human. That is why when he gets the transformation ability he canges his form to be more human like. so that is why I think a theme in the book is trying to fit in.
Owen Nekroisius 1-2
This book, American Born Chinese, has a underlying (and mostly strong) theme. I think that it's about staying true to yourself. The Monkey King is trapped for 500 years because he's not true to his form; he stays too big and therefore is, again, trapped for a very long time, and he is feeling bad about this on page 149.
Jin isn't staying true to himself in the beginning by eating only 'American' food and playing with 'American' kids. Then he realizes on pages 38-40 that Wei-chen is a true friend, and hangs out with him and Suzy more.
Danny is pretty true to himself, except when Chin-kee comes along, then he starts coming to school late (page 110) and trying to cover up the fact that his cousin is there (116). That's when he starts to lose it and become someone he's not.
A major theme I see in American Born Chinese is the idea of accepting others for who they are and not what stereotypes might led someone to think. On p.30 "He and his family recently moved to our neighborhood all the way from China!" Jin replies "San Francisco." this is a stereotype that all Asian looking people are from China. Another aspect of this theme is accepting yourself for who you are and not trying to be someone else. On p.81 "A monkey I intended you to be, a monkey you are." this qoute show that he should accept himself as a monkey and be himself.
-Jacob Nekrosius 1/2
The theme that reaceres throughout all three storys is that none of them want to be what they are because, they are not accepted like that. There are a lot of stereotypes about what they are so they want to change that. The monkey king is a monkey and as on page 62 (iBooks version) the dragon king says " nothing personal- we just are not particularly fond of fleas". That is a stereotype that monkeys have fleas all of them. A reason for Jin that he does not want too be chines is that they think he eats dead cats and dogs as on page 34 Jimmy askes Jin if he is eating his dog. Notice that chinkee eats a cat during one meal. On page 119 Danny is leaving detention and he sees this guy imitate chinkees eyebrows and then this girl laughs. This says to Danny that he is in a world where people of his race are stereotyped so he wants to not be chines anymore.
Jonathan nekrosius 1/2
In American Born Chinese in the Jin story line. I think the theme is that you can be anything you want to be in life. Jin's mom says that's silly. [p.28] But then the old woman says, "
it's easy to become anything you wish". [p.29] Later on in the story I think the theme is not to laugh at the Chinese stereotypes. I think that because it's not nice to be picked on.
from Adrian Nekrosius 1/2
The most important theme I see in American Born Chinese is coming to terms with your race and heritage. The Monkey King changes himself after the dinner party and calls himself 'The Great Sage, Equal of Heaven' yet he still is a monkey. He cannot except this. As he says on p. 62, "I am not a monkey!"
Jin is uncomfortable about being Chinese, and he feels it separates him out from everyone else. Jin tries to be American but he can't ignore that he is also Chinese. Jin needs to accept and be confident about being Chinese. Danny also can't accept that Chin-Kee is his cousin. Danny isn't able to move past Chin-Kee's strange behavior, and accept that Chin-Kee is a part of him. On p. 123, Danny tells Melaine "I'm nothing like him! I don't even know how we're related!" which shows his inability to, as Emma said, get over it. For these reasons, I think coming to terms with your race and heritage is a central theme in American Born Chinese.
Elsa Nekrosius 6/7
The theme I see in American Born Chinese is that all three characters aren't happy with who they are. The Monkey King refuses to accept the fact that he is a monkey. He wants to be considered equal to the other gods and goddesses. Jin hates being Chinese and tries to distance himself from Wei-Chen and Suzy Nakamura and tries to be more American. Danny is trying to distance himself from Chin-Kee and being Chinese. This is because whenever Chin-Kee comes to visit, people no longer think of him as Danny, but as Chin-Kee's cousin, and therefore Chinese.
Tiboo (Aran) Nekrosius 1/2
I think that the theme of American Born Chinese is to stay open minded. In many of the stories the characters are not open minded, and they don't want to accept changes in their lives or new people in their school. For example, the students at Danny's school don't accept Chin-Kee, including Danny. This is because he is asian. You need to be confident about yourself and your cultural identifiers, this is another theme that the author brings in the story about Jin. Jin is experiencing a time in his life where he is around almost all white people, when this happens he starts to feel like he does not belong and he brands himself as the outsider of the school. That is why he does not want to be friends with Wei-Chen when he first comes to the school.
Will Nekrosius 1-2
The theme I see is being true to your self and embracing it. For example, the Monkey King wants to be thought of a deity not just a monkey. I know this because on page twenty, the book states, "When he entered his chamber, the thick smell of monkey fur greeted him. He'd never noticed it before. He stayed awake the rest of the night thinking of ways to get rid of it." In Jin's case, he wants to be a "transformer." He wants to be thought of as a regular American kid and not as Chinese. I know this because on page 27 seven it says, "So little friend, what do you plan to be when you grow up? Well... I... I want to be a transformer!" Then on the next page Jin explains saying, "Yeah, a robot in disguise! Like this one! He changes into a truck... see? More than meets the eye!" In Danny's case, he has decided every year since eighth grade to transfer schools every year because his cousin Chin-Kee comes to visit and ruins his reputation. On page 123 Danny says to Melanie, "I'm nothing like him! I don't even know how we're related!" He says this as if he doesn't want to accept the fact he is related to someone who is Chinese. That is the theme I see in American Born Chinese.
Annika Nekrosius 6+7
A theme that I see in American Born Chinese is fitting in, or trying to fit in. The monkey king doesn't fit in with the gods, goddesses, spirits, and demons at the dinner party, so he decides to wreak havoc on the dinner party, thus causing him to shape-shift into a monkey-human (?), thus causing him to call himself "The Great Sage, Equal to Heaven" thus causing him to end up under a big rock for 500 years. Jin wants to fit in with the American kids, so instead of eating his Chinese cuisine, he brings a sandwich to school in the hopes that the American kids will notice and become friends with him. Danny has switched schools so many times because after Chin-kee visits, he doesn't fit in with his friends anymore. These characters all have the challenge of blending in with the general public around them.
Pascale Nekrosius 6/7
The theme that I had saw; was finding identities. In each of the three stories it talks about how the main character wants to be something. Each main character has their mind set on who they want to be, but they don’t necessarily know how to be that. With The Monkey King, he wants to be an immortal so he thinks that he can just do that by learning. It says that he learned all these different Kung-Fu moves (pg. 57-58).
In the Jin story Jin wants to be American. His way of explaining that is by saying that he wants to be a transformer when he grows up (pg. 27). He is trying to find a way to become American. In The Danny story, Danny wants to not be related to Chin-kee. Meaning he won’t be Chinese. I saw many different themes in this book but I think that finding identities was the most important.
The theme that I had saw; was finding identities. In each of the three stories it talks about how the main character wants to be something. Each main character has their mind set on who they want to be, but they don’t necessarily know how to be that. With The Monkey King, he wants to be an immortal so he thinks that he can just do that by learning. It says that he learned all these different Kung-Fu moves (pg. 10-11, 57-58).
In the Jin story Jin wants to be American. His way of explaining that is by saying that he wants to be a transformer when he grows up (pg. 27). He is trying to find a way to become American. In The Danny story, Danny wants to not be related to Chin-kee. Meaning he won’t be Chinese. I saw many different themes in this book but I think that finding identities was the most important.
Tamera Nekrosius 1/2
A major theme I see in American Born Chinese is that we should learn to accept the way of life. When we don't accept and believe in the way we are, we aren't be happy. The Monkey king thought it would be better to be someone different, he didn't accept himself in being a monkey. For example, "This 'Monkey King' it speaks of no longer exists, for I have mastered twelve major disciplines of Kung-Fu and transcended my former title"(60). Later, he realizes that he is stuck with who he is as a monkey, because that is what he was meant to be when he realizes he could’ve gotten out from underneath the rock by becoming a monkey and shrinking on page 150. He really realizes that a monkey is his true identity when Wong Lai-Tsao tells him, “We have no need…for shoes”(159) Jin didn’t believe in himself, he didn’t believe that he had enough courage to ask Amelia out, until Wei-Chen pushed him and gave him courage to do so. Danny wouldn’t accept that Melanie just wanted to be friends, he blamed Chin-Kee and made himself think that it was Chin-Kee being embarrassing that caused Melanie to want to be just friends. “I’m not like him Melanie…I’m nothing like him! I don’t even know how we’re related” (123) Danny has realized for a second in between when she told him she wanted to be friends on page 123 that he is the reason Melanie didn’t like Danny, not Chin-Kee, but refused. They have all realized that they are the source of their own problems, not anyone else; they have learned to accept themselves.
Athena Nekrosius 6/7
I think the theme of American born chinese is accepting who you are.The Monkey king accepts who he is by taking of his shoes and calling Lai- Tsao "master" on pages 158-160. Not having shoes was the reason he did not get in the party. His first order of business after he came back from the party was announcing that "all monkeys must wear shoes" therefore giving up that, truly meant he was accepting who he is. Jin is trying to be more american by talking almost only in english and eating sandwiches on page 37 and 89 were as Wei- chen is eating chinese food. He still has not accepted who he is. Danny needs to accept that Chin-Kee is a part of his life and therefore apart of him. He wants Chin-Kee to go away and not be part of him and it shows that on page 114 when he tells Chin- Kee to "leave me alone".
Nikki Nekrosuis 1-2
There are many themes in American Born Chinese,but I think there is one main theme.I think that that main idea is to not deny who you are.On page 81 Tze-yo-tzuh says "I do not make mistakes,little monkey,a monkey i intended you to be.A monkey you are." Jin has the same problem he keeps on trying to get around having to ask Amelia.He should have just asked her out outright,and not had to wait until she was stuck in a closet with Wei-chen,but in the end he got there.Both Jin and the Monkey King could have gained a lot by realizing this earlier but eventually they did,and that is what is important.I think all of us know that we should just be ourselves ,and we also try to get around it sometime in our lives,but we always go back to being ourselves.
Alice Nekrosius 6-7
The theme I see in American Born Chinese is accepting your identity, especially the race and nationality part. In the monkey king’s section, at first he is perfectly happy being a monkey. The monkey king is thrown out of the dinner party because he is a monkey. The guard says, “You may be a king –you may even be a deity- but you are still a monkey.” This makes the monkey king angry, he is being judged because of his race, or in this case species. The monkey king does a lot of kung fu to become more human because he can’t accept that he is just a monkey. In Jin’s section he judged because he looks Asian. Right away at his new school his teacher mispronounces his name and says he is from China. No one except Peter wants to be his friend because the other boys think he will eat their dogs. Jin feels bad because he is American but people are just making fun of him because of his race. In Danny’s section he is being judged and made fun of because of his cousin’s race. Danny is Caucasian but his cousin Chin-Kee is Chinese. Before everyone at school likes Danny, but after Chin-Kee visits everyone thinks of him as Chin-Kee’s cousin instead of who he really is. Chin-Kee is very stereotypically Chinese and everyone thinks he is annoying. After he arrives everyone at school thinks Danny is Chinese too. Danny can’t just accept his cousin, so he has to move schools every year.
Grace Nekrosius 1-2
One of the themes I see is you shouldn't want to change anything about yourself. In this story, all the main characters have tried to change something about themselves, and all ended up in a tangle.
For example, when the Monkey King thinks he deserves to be called The Great Sage, Equal of Heaven, bad things start to happen to him( he gets buried under a pile of rocks for 500 years).
Also, starting page 109, Danny is REALLY frustrated because Chin-Kee is ruining his good reputation at school. This has happened many times before, and that's why Danny has changed schools so often. Danny doesn't want to be related to his stereotype Chinese cousin because everyone will think he is a nasty Chinese person that eats cats, speaks with a weird accent, and has buckteeth.
There isn't really anything that Jin wants to change about himself, but he did think his hair was weird. He wanted so much to impress Amelia that he changed his hair so it looked like Amelia's friend. He thought that Amelia liked him more because of his hair.
Sarah Nekrosius 5/6
One theme that I really noticed and that kept showing up was the theme of race. In the Monkey King's story his "race" wasn't aloud in the dinner party. The guard at first tried to say that the Monkey King couldn't get in because he didn't have on shoes. Now we all know that the dragon didn't have one any shoes. So there for it was just because he was a monkey. Now in the story "Everyone Ruvs Chin-kee" Danny doesn't want to be teased because of how his chinese cousin acts. Danny doesn't want the other kids to say "How is the white guy related to the chinese one? He must act just like him. Let's stay away from him". I know that sounds bad but that is how most american teenagers would put it. In Jin's story it's totally about race. It's about how the kids make fun of Jin because he's chinese, and because he would eat chinese food. The kids said the Jin was eating dog. That is a total stereotype. Another stereotype is Jin's buckteeth. All of the stories have something to do with race. All of the stories are built off of race.
Alana Nekrosius 6/7
I noticed that all of the main characters are struggling with their identities, like that monkey king wants to be like the other gods in heaven but he is still just a monkey in the end. With Danny he is battling with the Chinese part of him by ignoring Chin-Kee. Jin was born and raised as an american but everybody still sees him as chinese so he is trying to be american for example not hanging out with Wei-Chen in third grade.
ZachNekorisius 1-2
On of the themes I see in American born Chinese is that it's all about trying to fit in. Like on page 55 when the monkey king declared the rule that all monkeys must wear shoes. He wasn't being himself, he was trying to fit in with the gods, spirits, and the demons. Another point I saw was how Jen used to bring a chinese dish for lunch but now he brings a sandwich and a juice box. Jen probably didn't change his mind on day and think "oh I don't like this anymore" he most likely just didn't want to be made fun of. One last point I saw was how Danny was trying to get away from his cousin so that he would fit in. He refuses to accept that Chin-Kee is strange and there is nothing he can do about it. I think that if all of the characters would just accept who they are then everything would work itself out but then there would be no story.
Immi Nekrosius 6-7
I think the theme of american born chinese is to be open minded. In many of the stories the characters are not open minded. They don't want to accept changes or new people that have come into their life. There is an example of this in the stories about Danny and Chin-Kee, Danny does not want to have anything to do with Chin-Kee, because he does not want to be known as "Chin-Kee's cousin. Another theme that i see in this story is to be proud about your identity. In the stories about Jin he brands himself with the title of "outsider" because he is asian and almost everyone else is white. But when Wei-Chen joins the school he oes not want their to be another outsider, so he does not accept him. The two themes tie together.
Will Nekrosius 1-2
One of the themes in American born chinese is who you are, what you look like and your race. The Monkey king does not want to be known as a monkey so he tried to transform into some monster. Or in Jin he does not want to be known as the chinese kid who eats potstickers, so he spikes his hair and starts eating sandwiches. In chin kee danny does not want to be known as chin kees cousin because of how different he is. If danny just went along with it and acted proud to be his cousin he would be switching schools every quarter. In all of the stories something back fires like when the monkey king doesn't want to be known as a monkey he wants to be known as a leader but he ends up under a pile of rocks. In Jin when he changes his hair people start to remember him as the kid with weird hair. In chin kee he tries to hide his face more and more threw out the day and talk to him less because more people are annoying him about him. In some ways it is like the author is trying to send a message about trying to change your life with something.
Andrewnekrosuis6/7
A theme that stuck out the most to me in American Born Chinese in finding your true identity and accepting yourself. In all three stories, the main characters all have difficulties accepting to who they are. The Monkey King wants to be more that just a monkey, so he changes his look and strength and ability by training some more and his ego becomes big and he's no longer who he was created to be. In Jin's story, Jin wants to be an all American boy so he got a perm and tried to avoid Wei Chin and Suzy, but they ended up being friends. Jim had to accept the fact that no matter what, he's always going to be from the Chinese descent. In Danny's story, he's embarrassed about the fact that Chin-Kee is his cousin, and everyone makes fun of him for that. Danny has a very hard time excepting that they're related because Chin-Kee is very proud of who he is and Danny is so used to being American and only American that having a cousin of a different racial background makes him somewhat ashamed but very embarrassed.
Alex Nekrosius 1-2
One theme I found in American Born Chinese is to fit in into your community. For example, the Monkey King try to attend the party at the heaven because he wants to met the gods. Jin don't want to speak chinese with Wei-Chen because no one else speaks chinese and he wants to be like others. He tried to be an all american boy by fit himself into their "circles". In Danny's story he is trying to fit in to his new school besides the fact that Chin-Kee always step in and ruined his life. He is also trying to let Chin-Kee fit in, either let him stop embarrasing himself or drive him back to China. The three characters have different problems, but their goal was the same: to fit in.
Wanqi Nekrosius 6-7
I think that one of the emerging themes in American Born Chinese is to be yourself. When the characters in this book are being themselves, they are always happier than when they are not being themselves. When the monk came, and freed Monkey King of his imprisonment, Monkey King took advantage of who he was. He used his powers, and left his shoes in the dust. Monkey King was glad to shed the false identity, and regain his own. Monkey King learned his lesson. When Jin decided that broccoli hair was a good idea, he looked ridiculous. You couldn't possibly take him seriously. That was a case where Jin tried to be somebody he wasn't, just to get a girl. Danny doesn't just let himself be Danny. He tries to be "the cool, tough basketball guy" in an effort to not be known as "Chin-Kee's cousin". The characters in American Born Chinese were happier, more comfortable, and more successful when they were themselves. I think we should all learn something from that.
Isabel Nekrosius 6/7
I think ABC is a book about acceptance of what you are. None of the characters are really accepting who they are, so they run into the consequences of not Being themselves. when the Monkey King is taking out his insecurity of being a monkey on the inhabitants of heaven. Jin is also going not-himself with the broccoli cut and it seems like he is going very much out of his way to seem more normal than he already is. Danny however, is normal fighting against assumptions that he's like cousin Chin-Kee
I think the theme of the story is accepting yourself and the people around you for example. The monkey king was not happy with just being a monkey and tried to change that about himself and his followers like on page 55 he made all the other monkeys where shoes to try and make them for human. Also in Everyone Ruvs Chin-kee Danny has a hard time accepting his cousin (even though he is basically a walking sterio-type)I still think that he could have been more accepting of his cousin and not act like he was on page 110 by bringing him in late just so Chin-kee could not interact with his friends. In Jin's story it is an example of both accepting yourself and accepting others. When Jin first comes to his school he is not trying to fit and be one of the "cool" kids he is doing what he likes, but later on in the story he is trying to act like a typical american boy and is also trying to change Wei-Chen-Sun to.
NickNekrosuis 6-7
Two large themes of the book are discrimination and racism. In chapter one, the people are discriminating against the monkey king just because he is a monkey. From chapter two onward, people are discriminating against Jin and Wei-Chen because they are Chinese. With Danny, after Chin-Kee comes, Danny is made fun of just because he has a Chinese cousin. The author is trying to show how bad racism can be. It also shows how lots of people want to be normal but they can't because they are a certain race or religion.
Alec Nekrosius 6-7
The theme in American Born Chinese being you and not what you think people want you to be. An other theme is you want people to see you as who you are and not who they think you are. Both the monkey king and Jin are not willing to accept who they are. Jin is American and Chinese but is seen as just Chinese. Jin is embarrassed by who he is inside. The Monkey King thinks that mastering the 12 elements of Kung Fu will change who he is. He might be strong and powerful but he is still a money inside and outside. He wants to be a god and treated like one.
Shoshana Nekrosuis1-2
One theme I see in all three stories is trust. In the first story about the monkey king, Wong Lai-Tsao trusts that the monkey will help him and he will not get eaten by the demons, "mortals, there are demons behind you."said the Monkey, then Wong says, "Yes, I am aware of them, that is why I ask you to free yourselves quickly." Showing that Wong trusts the Monkey King. The 2nd story is about Jin, Jin shows a lot of trust towards Wei-Chan. For example, "I pondered these things for a while before I told Wei-Chan." Even though he didn't tell Wei-Chan very soon, he was the first person Jin went to for help. The third story, which is about Danny, shows trust in between Danny and Steve, "Can I tell you something steve?" Danny tells him about Chin-Kee and Steve try's to help him. Trust changes each of these stories.
Jennifer Nekrosius 1/2
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