Early in the book, the Monkey King trains himself in Kung-Fu and Taoist disciplines in order to transcend his lowly status as a monkey and become a supreme being whose power rivals the creator of the universe. The Monkey king is a Chinese deity who, after being denied entrance to a party in Heaven for not wearing shoes, goes to great lengths to make himself more human. American Born Chinese study guide contains a biography of Gene Luen Yang, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis. The two storylines collide when Chin-Kee reveals his true form as the Monkey King and teaches Jin that he could have saved himself five hundred years under a pile of rocks if only he accepted that it is good to live as a monkey. American Born Chinese is a graphic novel by Gene Luen Yang. Each character has to change emotionally. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang. Teachers and parents! The chapters telling Danny and Chin-Kee’s story are set up to read like a sitcom, Everyone Ruvs Chin-Kee with elements like a laugh track and organization that…, One important result of the transformations that Jin and the Monkey King undergo is that both of them, after becoming who they think they want to be (white in Jin’s case, and more human in the Monkey King’s case) is that both of them double down on the persona they create for themselves, even when they encounter a great deal of resistance to their new personas. In American Born Chinese, a graphic novel written by an Asian American immigrant Gene Luen Yang, the author successfully communicates to the audience of unjustified stereotypes faced by Asian American youth that equally share his cultural background at schools (American). LitCharts Teacher Editions. In … His girlfriend is Suzy Nakamura. As immigrants, he has to face a lot of problems in American society, which inspires Yang to describe all three main characters from different stories to bring out the themes. Print Word PDF. resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel. "My students can't get enough of your charts and their results have gone through the roof." 222 Three interwoven Discontent—i.e. Copyright © 1999 - 2021 GradeSaver LLC. In a symbolic effort, he curls his naturally straight hair to better resemble Greg. Fables, found in cultures across the... Jin Wang. The Monkey king is a Chinese deity who, after being denied entrance to a party in Heaven for not wearing shoes, goes to great lengths to make himself more human. Transformation is perhaps the most prominent theme in American Born Chinese, as the desire to change form and therefore identity is the trait that unites the Monkey King and Jin and shows how their stories work as parallels. Gene Luen Yang’s three storylines converge to deliver the message of be who you are. -Graham S. “Would not have made it through AP Literature without the printable PDFs. From the creators of SparkNotes, something better. One day she sees Jin and asks what he wants to be when he is older. Eventually, by releasing his discontent and accepting himself, the Monkey King frees himself from the rocks. American Born Chinese is a graphic novel published in 2006 by the American author and illustrator Gene Luen Yang. The herbalist's wife is an old woman who uses her abacus for doing calculations. Transformation is perhaps the most prominent theme in American Born Chinese, as the desire to change... Folklore. BEING AMERICAN BORN CHINESE IN THE MODERN WORLD In book, Yang presents a world in which Jin and his Asian friends have trouble fitting in with their American peers. He and his family have just moved to a … American Born Chinese | Themes Identity and Acceptance. This Study Guide consists of approximately 27 pages of chapter summaries, quotes, character analysis, themes, and more - everything you need to sharpen your knowledge of American Born Chinese. GradeSaver "American Born Chinese Themes". Yang begins by retelling a famous Chinese fable, the Monkey King. The Written in the 17th century, it chronicles a journey to India made by a Buddhist monk and his companions. Chin-Kee, for instance, embodies every anti-Chinese caricature America has conjured since the late 1800s, and therefore encapsulates discrimination in an absurd package. Folklore plays an important role in American Born Chinese, as the entire story of the Monkey King is … As a parallel, Jin's discontent comes from feeling excluded from the mainstream white majority at his school. What makes this such an enjoyable and effective story is the way he tells it. A very obvious example is the story of Chin-Kee. Ultimately, the moral of AMERICAN BORN CHINESE is not especially profound. Cultural assimilation occurs when new members of a group become indistinguishable from other... Racism and Stereotyping. The theme of social pressure is depicted in the novel through the sometimes–overt, sometimes-unconscious pressure characters feel from their social spheres. His dissatisfaction with his identity is captured in the way he notices the scent of his own fur for the first... What role did the Herbalist’s wife play in this story? Our, "Sooo much more helpful than SparkNotes. Get Help With Your Essay In Jin's storyline, Jin learns as a child that he can grow up to be a transformer—i.e. The primary example of these stereotypes is Chin-Kee, who is the embodiment of the term " coolie," a nineteenth-century racial slur for unskilled Chinese workers. Danny was trying to change Chin-Kee and the Monkey King and Jin Wang kept trying to change who they were. "American Born Chinese" -Gene Luen Yang The Monkey King The Monkey King, or Sūn Wùkōng, is a character in an extremely important Chinese novel, The Journey to the West. Later, he tells Amelia that Jin is a bit of a "geek"; presumably, this is his coded way of socially excluding Jin because he is Chinese. To teach him a lesson, Tze-Yo-Tzuh traps him under a pile of rubble for five hundred years. At the end of the book, the Monkey King imparts his wisdom: that he learned it is good to be a monkey. American Born Chinese is a necessity in the classroom in not only the fact that it covers a great span of young adult ideas, themes, and issues, but in that the reader is presented with characters who drastically want to change their situation but can only do so through abandoning a part of their selves. Feeling that he is an outsider, Jin wishes to be able to participate in the popular mainstream culture of his school. Though the Sun Wukong character can be traced as far back as the Song Dynasty (960–1279 AD), Sun Wukong was prominently featured in the 16th-century Chinese epic novel Journey to the West. They're like having in-class notes for every discussion!”, “This is absolutely THE best teacher resource I have ever purchased. Chapter 1 Quotes When he entered his royal chamber, the thick smell of monkey fur greeted him. The original text plus a side-by-side modern translation of. My students love how organized the handouts are and enjoy tracking the themes as a class.”, read analysis of Racism and Popular Culture, read analysis of Pride, Stubbornness, and Humility, read analysis of Storytelling and Universality. the shape-shifting toy he likes to play with—if he sacrifices his soul. Betrayal in American Born Chinese isn't just a matter of screwing over someone you ought to be loyal to—it's about betraying yourself. American Born Chinese tells three interweaving stories: those of the Monkey King, Jin Wang, and Danny. Prejudice. Later, he makes good on this advice when he escapes his shameful identity as an American-born Chinese boy and adopts the Danny alter-ego. Gene Luen Yang. Discrimination also functions in the novel in more nuanced ways: using euphemistic and indirect language, Greg intervenes to keep Jin from dating Amelia, as Greg believes they aren't suited for each other. Chin-Kee’s name, itself, denotes a derogatory term. Wei-Chen "I will spend the remainder of my days in the mortal world using it for my pleasure." Chapter 2 Quotes “Class, I’d like us all to give a warm Mayflower welcome to your new friend and classmate Jing Jang!” Self-Identity Central Themes Cont'd Characters Wei-Chen Sun Jin Wang Wei-Chen Sun is a Taiwanese immigrant who slowly becomes Jin's best friend. (including. Even more insidious than the casual racism Jin experiences is the incidental pressure to integrate into and absorb mainstream American culture. He’d never noticed it before. American Born Chinese: Book Summary, Analysis & Themes The Monkey King. A Topic Of Cultural Identity In Gene Yang’s American Born Chinese November 2, 2020 by Essay Writer American Born Chinese is a graphic novel written by Gene Yang that focuses on the characters Jin Wang, the Monkey King, and Chin-Kee. American Born Chinese is a graphic novel authored by Gene Luen Yang in 2006. Jin Wang is the titular Chinese-American boy. Below you will find the important quotes in American Born Chinese related to the theme of Racism and Popular Culture. American Born Chinese study guide contains a biography of Gene Luen Yang, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis. Teach your students to analyze literature like LitCharts does. This leads Jin to fantasize about transforming into Danny, a popular white boy. American Born Chinese Themes & Motifs. Just like the Monkey King, Jin overcomes discontent and finds peace through acceptance. Danny is a white high school student whose life is…, Racism and the idea of the foreign “other” are woven in throughout the book in a variety of ways, one of the most significant of which is the way that the book handles the intersection between racism and popular culture, specifically when it comes to television media. The Monkey King isn't satisfied with his identity as a monkey, and so does everything he can to transform into a being who is bigger and stronger and more invulnerable to attack. from then I know everything's okay." There are many examples of the danger of stereotyping in American Born Chinese. 4 pages at 400 words per page) View a FREE sample. Similarly, Jin struggles with identity as an ethnically Chinese American; he wishes to escape this identity by refusing his Chinese heritage and trying to act like a mainstream white American—a struggle that is metaphorically represented in his alter-ego Danny. In American Born Chinese, two themes dominate: "be yourself" and "appearances can be deceiving." According to Min Hyoung Song, American Born Chinese possesses strong themes of racial stereotypes, particularly American stereotypes of the Chinese and other East Asian ethnicities. Cultural Assimilation. Not affiliated with Harvard College. Adopting this idealized identity, Jin loses touch with his true identity. It includes three different storylines. dissatisfaction with one's circumstances—is one of the major themes in American Born Chinese. In the same year, it would be nominated in the National Book Awards under the category of the Young People’s Literature. Below you will find the important quotes in American Born Chinese related to the theme of Pride, Stubbornness, and Humility. The book begins with the story of the Monkey King ("Sun Wukong" in Chinese), who is one of the main characters in the 16th-century Chinese novel Journey to the West. Practically, this means that the Monkey King and Jin…, American Born Chinese’s unique format as a graphic novel that utilizes three unconventional narrative techniques—pairing visual illustrations with text, switching among three interconnected stories, and simulating the form of a sitcom TV show—shows that Gene Luen Yang is acutely aware of the importance of telling a variety of stories in a variety of ways. One day, the Monkey King goes to a Resist the urge to assimilate. As a punishment and lesson for the vengeance he seeks, the creator of the universe traps the Monkey King under a pile of rubble for five hundred years. Through the story we see Jin, the main protagonist go through his school years while being a minority and trying to fit in. American Born Chinese tells a story of technically three stories that all eventually merge together by the end of the graphic novel. Folklore plays an important role in American Born Chinese, as the entire story of the Monkey King is a retelling of the Chinese folktale of Sun Wukong. In the Monkey King storyline, the Monkey King's dissatisfaction with not being recognized in heavens as a supreme being leads him to grow angry and vengeful. Jin kisses his best friend's girlfriend, but the only reason he does this is because he can't deal with his Chineseness. The Monkey King did not like being discriminated for being a monkey so he kept trying to be a human which he didn't need to do. Jin wants to be a Transformer but says that's impossible. Identity and Prejudice American Born Chinese tells three interweaving stories: those of the Monkey King, Jin Wang, and Danny. The Monkey King Jin Wang is a Chinese American boy With this lesson, Jin accepts his own true form. Through acceptance, Jin overcomes his discontent and meets with Wei-Chen as a symbolic means of reconnecting with Chinese culture and true friendship. He is actually the Monkey King's son in disguise. Though he is the Monkey King's son and has been tasked with the challenge of living a mortal life for forty years while avoiding human vice, Wei-Chen loses faith in humanity and devotes himself to a life of pleasure-seeking. American Born Chinese has the theme of the will to survive but in a different way. In the first section, the humiliation the Monkey King experiences causes him to become self-conscious, self-loathing, and discontent. American Born Chinese: The Monkey King Based on a Chinese folktale, the Monkey King tells a story of a monkey, who was born from a rock, that saves the other monkeys from a tiger-spirit who haunted the Flower-Fruit Mountain for many centuries. American Born Chinese study guide contains a biography of Gene Luen Yang, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis. As the reader looks at him, especially outside of context, the reader can see and analyze the different ways he is stereotyped. Themes. The American Born Chinese quotes below all refer to the symbol of Transformers. American Born Chinese Themes Transformation. The way the content is organized, LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in. Through three interweaving stories that span from the 16th century to the present, the novel explores issues of Chinese American identity, anti-Asian racism, and assimilation. Jin later wields social pressure against Wei-Chen: in reaction to the way bullies make Jin feel like an outsider whose culture isn't acceptable, Jin tells Wei-Chen to act less like he is "fresh off the boat.". In fact, Jin resents being Chinese because of this and wants to embrace the parts of himself that he "But my first day in school here I meet Jin. The Monkey King feels a social pressure to wear shoes and not to be a monkey, while Jin feels the social pressure to conceal his Chinese cultural background while at school—unless he is comfortable being made an object of humiliation. Struggling with distance learning? Discontent that arises from being frustrated with one's circumstances is another of the novel's major themes. Throughout the story, the … Wei-Chen Wei-Chen "it's easy to become anything you wish, so long as you're willing to forfeit your The Question and Answer section for American Born Chinese is a great For the Monkey King, dissatisfaction festers when he isn't recognized by the heavens as a supreme being. The Herbalist's wife teaches Jin that he... What are the psychological transformation the Monkey King experiences in the first chapter? The themes of identity construction and social relationship exploration are relevant to processes that all adolescents go through, and therefore American Born Chinese is relevant beyond its themes of multiculturalism and minority identity. Also, his two large teeth and closed eyes, yellow skin, and long braid are just the physical elements. Meanwhile, the Monkey King also betrays his monkey subjects when he forces them to wear shoes like the gods and goddesses. American Born Chinese Gene Luen Yang Chelsi Amos Hali Chung Jen Cwik Jamie Black Summary Passage “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.” -pg. The Monkey king is a Chinese deity who, after being denied entrance to a party in Heaven for not wearing shoes, goes to great lengths to make himself more human. This section contains 1,494 words (approx. Yang blends this folklore source material with his semi-autobiographical depiction of Jin, using the Monkey King's desire for transformation and eventual self-acceptance as a parallel to Jin's journey through adolescent self-loathing toward a mature acceptance of his true identity. Jin has to deal with the stereotypes, the names, and rude jokes that people call him and his friends because they are Asian. The theme of racial discrimination surfaces consistently throughout the novel. Discrimination is usually practiced in the form of casually racist comments directed toward Jin, Wei-Chen, or Suzy, though discrimination is sometimes handled in more overtly. What are the psychological transformations the monkey king experiences in the first chapter of the novel? Detailed explanations, analysis, and citation info for every important quote on LitCharts. Be proud of your heritage and stop trying to deny it. Several characters struggle with their identities. With in the graphic novel, Yang tells the stories of the Monkey King, Jin Wang, and Chin-Kee. American Born Chinese essays are academic essays for citation. GradeSaver, Read the Study Guide for American Born Chinese…, Gene Luen Yang and Toni Morrison, On the Triumvirate of Identity, Legends as Guides: Routes to Cultural Discovery in 'Ceremony' and 'American Born Chinese', Creating Between Cultural Dichotomies—Cai Guo Qiang, Interpreter of East-West Dialogues, View the lesson plan for American Born Chinese…, View Wikipedia Entries for American Born Chinese…. Jin is a second-generation Chinese American junior high school student in a primarily white California suburb. This novel may be viewed as mature in artistic design and extremely visually engaging, yet it has a narrative depth that makes it appealing to both young and mature readers. The graphic novel, American Born Chinese, is an award as combination of all three protagonists dealing with same conflicts. Among them, the life of Jin Jang and his experiences as an Asian in the United States offer some interesting insights into the concept of otherness and racial melancholia. By using such a wide range of communication tools and modes, American Born Chinese suggests that one of the best…, Instant downloads of all 1427 LitChart PDFs Wei-Chen also struggles with identity. American Born Chinese tells three interweaving stories: those of the Monkey King, Jin Wang, and Danny. Later, Jin's desire to blend into his social surroundings leads him to dissociate from his Chinese identity through the alter-ego Danny, an embodiment of the conventional white American teenager. Identity—particularly the desire to escape one's identity—is another of the novel's major themes. Was it an important one? The struggle to find—and accept—one's personal identity is at the core of American Born Chinese. 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