If you liked "The Moths"...
If you liked Helena Viramonte's "The Moths"...
then you also might enjoy ”Hell/Heaven” by Jhumpa Lahiri or "Children as Enemies” by Ha Jin. For Friday, read ONE of those stories and post a 4-5 sentence reflection/reader response here as a comment to this blog post. You also need to REPLY DIRECTLY to 2-3 of your classmates comments (think: Instagram/Facebook feed, but slightly more detailed than a series of emojis or five word responses!) as part of this assignment. There's no need to include actual textual evidence in either your original response or when you comment on classmates' work, but you certainly can. If you're having a hard time generating ideas, feel free to look back to the short story questions we used last term. I just want to get a sense of what you thought about the story you've chosen; there's no pressure, so have some fun and be creative. I can't wait to have a virtual discussion with you all!
then you also might enjoy ”Hell/Heaven” by Jhumpa Lahiri or "Children as Enemies” by Ha Jin. For Friday, read ONE of those stories and post a 4-5 sentence reflection/reader response here as a comment to this blog post. You also need to REPLY DIRECTLY to 2-3 of your classmates comments (think: Instagram/Facebook feed, but slightly more detailed than a series of emojis or five word responses!) as part of this assignment. There's no need to include actual textual evidence in either your original response or when you comment on classmates' work, but you certainly can. If you're having a hard time generating ideas, feel free to look back to the short story questions we used last term. I just want to get a sense of what you thought about the story you've chosen; there's no pressure, so have some fun and be creative. I can't wait to have a virtual discussion with you all!
The short story “Hell-Heaven” touches on the generational divide that tends to always exist between parents and their children. Specifically, the divide is very evident for first generation immigrants who struggle to integrate into American society whereas the second generation integrates are better accustomed to American society. In this short story, the narrator's mother is closely linked with her heritage back home, but the daughter seems to like American lifestyle more. This generational divide is a universal thing and a bit of a circle because younger people tend to have different values and views than their older counterparts. Bo
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed your analysis of this short story because of the way you explained the generational divide between first and second generation immigrants. I think this is also evident in a slightly different way in "Moths" through the differences between the narrator and her grandma and their traditional beliefs. I also agree that generational divides tend to be a universal thing and older counterparts often have to deal with big shifts in beliefs.
DeleteI like this, Lauren...it does seem like a different dynamic in "The Moths," where the narrator comes to understand her grandmother and their connections more than her parents or sisters are able to do.
DeleteDo you think that the family will be able to reconcile the generational differences? Which generation do you think has the toughest time? The oldest that clings to what they've known? The middle that tries to navigate both? Or the youngest who have the biggest disconnect?
ReplyDeleteI think the climax of the short story, “Children as Enemies” is when the grandparents are kicked out of their family’s house. All though it seems very rude to kick your grandparents out of the house, it may actually may be the beneficial thing to do. For the grandparents, they can’t adopt the American way of life and the differing values present here that are so drastically different from the one’s in China. For the children, they believe their grandparents are stuck in the past due to their strict and conservative rules and feel the grandparents are in the way of them being able to fit into America. The conflict between older generations and younger generations are very divisive as people don’t like change, so living separately and not dissecting every action taken by each other may be best for both sides.
ReplyDeleteThis is a tough decision...the middle generation has to decide what will be best for the family overall, and I agree that it might be best for the families to have space so that the younger generation can better assimilate and move to the future. But then I wonder if it's always good to move to the future at the expense of the past?
DeleteI liked how you mentioned the generational and cultural struggles of having foreign grandparents. I can relate to this -Akex
DeleteI agree, Alex...I think it's a relatable story to lots of multi-generational immigrant families, and it doesn't seem to matter from where they have emigrated.
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