Hong Kong English

It was April 12th 1865, the slaves of the south were promised an opportunity, a new opening in the world that had for so long been run by whites. With the end of the Civil War, America was supposed to be on to new horizons. Racism was supposed to eventually come to an end in order to make available the same prospect for all peoples, regardless of skin tone or cultural heritage. Instead, what ensued into the 20th and 21st centuries was the ire of prejudice and bigotry from both the minorities and…

In the criticism, “Questioning Race and Gender Definitions”, Malini Schueller draws light to the expectations of Chinese women and how they are to be quiet and passive in nature. According to Schueller, “The initial story establishes the denial of expression women are condemned to in patriarchy and the cultural stranglehold the narrator must fight in order to express herself” (423). It is this cultural expectation that Kingston rebels against by telling her version of the unnamed woman.…

Ruisha Yang The Woman Warrior A novel can be considered as a form of art while it imitates our internal life and experiences in the world or as a crazy telescope that allows us to explore the life of minds. However, the plot is the structure of a novel. As Culler implies, “Aristotle says that plot is the most basic feature of narrative, that good stories must have a beginning, middle, and end, that they gave pleasure because of the rhythm of their ordering...Essentially, though, a plot requires…

In the opening of the first chapter, “No Name Woman”, we can see how Kingston lived in a continual conflict between messages, sometimes obvious, sometimes subtle, of two cultures. How could a bridge be built on this terrible emptiness with socialization within a framework of expectations on the one hand and acculturation on the other? The lack of public voice, the silence, the secret kept, formed the loose threads of the story of the aunt who committed suicide and whose name was erased from the…

Individuality and community are the two defining characteristics for humans. Driven by both his rage and vanity, Wittman in Tripmaster Monkey by Maxine Kingston searches for a balance of these principles. As a character, Wittman is a confused artist. He is trying to be an individual in contemporary society, but finds this impossible because people think of him as different. Wittman correctly comprehends that this is because of the color of his skin. Wittman wants people to view him as…

Mountains are an important symbol throughout The Woman Warrior; therefore, I chose a Chinese painting called Summer Mountains. Mountains can symbolize obstacles, progression, loneliness, and isolation. In Summer Mountains, there are various mountains of different sizes; similarly, to how mountains take on different meanings throughout The Woman Warrior. For example, mountains first appear in the novel when Kingston’s mother mentions the Gold Mountains. The Gold Mountains refers specifically to…

Sisterhood of Spies Women of the OSS is about the untold contributions made by the woman of OSS (Office of Strategic Services) during World War II. The author, Elizabeth P. McIntosh, begins by introducing OSS and its origins. The first half of the book describes the operations and concepts of the different branches; the second half shows the adventures and actions of the women. The author relates stories from her own experiences as well interviews of over 100 women who served all over the world.…

Maxine Hong Kingston published a masterpiece of literature in 1976, “The Woman Warrior”. Many people found the reading a bit complex to grab, like why was the aunt is the no name woman? Now I have to admit the literature was a bit miscellaneous but I understood. Each chapter has its own meaning have why it is being told; the answer is in between the lines. Overlooking the reader’s review they raised many logical questions such as: why is the aunt labeled as the no name warrior? Why did the…

In 1975, Maxine Hong Kingston wrote a book that blends a collection of memoirs, an autobiography and a Chinese folk tale. Throughout The Woman Warrior, Kingston reports a complex portrayal of the 20th century experiences of Chinese-Americans living in the U.S in the shadow of the Chinese Revolution. “ White Tigers”, the second chapter, has the feel of a warrior epic. It is drawn from a traditional Chinese myth about a woman who fights in place of her father. It is separated into two completely…

Around the globe, social expectations towards gender are seen everywhere; magazines, television shows, advertisements, movies, and in many other different places. Societal expectations in terms of gender can be defined as the general standards that male or female individuals within a society are expected to uphold by demonstrating such ideals through their behavior, attire, manners, lifestyle, and attitudes. No Name Woman by Maxine Kingston describes the story of a woman who was forced into…