Jeff's+Plot+Question+answers+for+ABC

=My answers for the plot questions =

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 At the beginning of the first chapter, the Monkey King is very happy with his role as the sovereign ruler of flower friut mountain. He is proud of his skill in ancient Chinese disciplines and all of the power that he posesses. However, when he gets rejected from the dinner party of the gods, he gets very angry and turns to violence. He becomes very dissatisfied with his position, and starts planning ways to become better.





 In the parable, the little boy always tries to fit in, wherever his family moves to. The relevance of this to the story is that each character tries to fit in, no matter what the situation is, because in society, fitting is looked at as desirable.

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 2. p 27 - 28 What is the significance of the conversation with the herbalist? His response? Her "warning?" How does this work as a foreshadowing device? ======


 When the herbalist's wife asks what Jin wants to be, he says he wants to be a transformer, but that is not possible because little boys do not grow up to be tranformers. I think that this is important, because later on in the book, Jin does transform. The herbalist's wife says that you can be anything you want as long as you forfeit your soul. Later on in the book, this comes back to Jin, and he uses it.


 When Jin lived in San Francisco's Chinatown, he had people that were like he was, not only in race but in interest as well. But when he moved, he did not have any friends. Since he was not used to this, he became very sad, and was willing to be friends with anyone just to fit in. Referring back to the parable, he was trying to shift his way of life to fit in to his surroundings. Unfortunately, this did not work. It must have been very hard for him to shift his way of life this much.

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<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace;"> I think that this is to show that the people who insulted Jin were really just hypocrites looking for a way to insult someone, and when someone of a minority came along, they saw the perfect opportunity. The fact that the kid who called him "bucktooth" had buckteeth himself showed that these people were not going on the basis of what they saw at all, just on the basis of what background someone is from.

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<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace;"> When Wei-Chen arrives, he is in the exact same position that Jin was in when he arrived, only a little worse off because he just came from Asia. Jin does not want to be associated with Wei-Chen at all because he feels that it would eliminate whatever progress he has made in his social standing.

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<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace;"> 1. What does the use of the clap clap clap and ha ha ha mean to you? Why does the author do this? What about the title, "Everyone Ruvs Chin-Kee?" ======

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<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace;"> I think that the "clap clap clap" and "ha ha ha" are to show how the world perceives Chin-Kee, and also how he perceives himself. I think it seems that Danny can hear these, but Chin-Kee can't, or he simply doesn't understand them. It kind of puts Danny's life in a very frivolous light, and makes it seem like his life can be put into those two words. Another way of interpreting it is as a sitcom, which explains both the title and the laughing and clapping.

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<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace;"> Chin-Kee dresses in traditional Chinese clothing, has suitcases that look like Chinese takeout containers, and talks with a stereotypical Chinese accent. Danny is stereotypical in that he seems to be Xenophobic, and also he is attracted to the girl that is there, which implies that he is likely to be attracted to many girls, which is kind of the stereotype for the American teenage boy.

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<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace;"> 1. p 62 - 63 examine the way that the Monkey King is illustrated. In what way does his transformed appearance reflect his transformed character? ======

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<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace;"> The Monkey King is now illustrated as more human like. This reflects his character because now that he has a problem, and something to strive for, he acts more like a human.

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<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace;"> The Monkey King gets infuriated each time he laughed at by another god. He also probably starts to feel insecure, because, even though he has many powers, he can't get rid of the fact that he was once a monkey.

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<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace;"> Here, the monkey king is experiencing shock. He cannot believe that there is someone who has proved that he is just a monkey. Despite his extreme surprise, though, he still contradicts Tze Yo Tzuh.

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<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace;"> 1. Look at the Melanie in the Chin-Kee chapters and Amelia Harris in Jin's chapters, they are nearly identical. What other connections can you trace between these two story lines? ======

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<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace;"> One connection between the two story lines is the fact that Danny's parents seem to be the same as Jin's, even though you can see very little of them. Also, the color of the walls is often the same in the two stories.

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<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace;"> 2. p 89 What differences are there between Jin and Wei Chen in how they are represented? What psychological information can we infer about Wei Chen when he dates Suzy Nakamura? What lesson is Wei Chen teaching Jin? ======

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<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace;"> At first, Wei-Chen laughs at Jin for liking a girl. But then, Jin reminds him that they are in America, and people don't do that. Because of that, Wei-Chen realizes that he is able to admit that he likes Suzy, so they start dating. Jin, however, being raised in America, feels the pressure of talking to someone that he likes, and is afraid and also jealous of Wei-Chen and Suzy's relationship.

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<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace;"> 3. p 90 - 92 Why the dashed lines around the speech balloons? What other kinds of lines are around the speech balloons throughout the story? What information does the line convey? ======

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<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace;"> The dotted lines around the speech balloon signify whispering.

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<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace;"> The author shows that everything is a blur by erasing the edges of the drawing. He also only shows very close up drawings to make it a bit more disconcerting.

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<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace;"> Many stereotypes are portrayed in this chapter. For example, Chin-Kee's accent is the stereotypical Chiese accent. Also, for lunch he has fried cat with noodles, which is a very offensive stereotypical portrayal of Chinese. He also plays a joke on Steve by peeing in his Coke. Danny is portrayed as the stereotypical American teenager in this chapter. He is on the basketball team, he has big muscular friends, he slacks off in class and gets to school late, etc. This chapter is like a battle of the stereotypes.

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<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace;"> Danny tries to distance himself from Chin-Kee because, in the past, Chin-Kee has caused him to have to transfer schools. He distances himself by telling Chin-Kee not to talk in class, which doesn't work, and he pretty much ignores Chin-Kee.

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<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace;"> Chin-Kee says that he visits because he loves America. He does not seem aware that America does not love him back.

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<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace;"> I think that Danny says this because he feels bad about what Chin-Kee did. He also is showing Steve how he becomes "Chin-Kee's cousin" at every school and everyone starts to hate him.

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<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace;"> Tze-Yo-Tzuh love Lai-Tsao even though Lai-Tsao says he is no more worthy of love than anyone else.

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<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace;"> Lai-Tsao tells the Monkey King that returning to his true form is not an exercise of his kung fu, which he has been prevented from doing, but a release of it. This is interesting because the Monkey King has been trapped all this time in humanoid form, but he would have been able to get out had he just become a monkey again.

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<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace;"> The Monkey King sees that Lai-Tsao needs him. Also, Lai-Tsao is the Monkey King's last chance at freedom, and when the Monkey King realizes that this is the only thing to do, he releases himself to save Lai-Tsao.

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<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace;"> One of the voices, the narrative one, is shown in rectangles at the top of the panel. The other one is shown in speech balloons. They both belong to Jin. In the narration, Jin is explaining why his mother won't allow him to date anyone, and in the balloons, he is asking Wei-Chen to lie to his mom and tell him that he is not out on a date.

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<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace;"> 2. p 175 panel #4 The author shows kids laughing while Wei-Chen is talking to Amelia. What does the juxtaposition of this panel with the other panels on the page do for the reader? ======

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<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace;"> This is showing that many people are conversing while Wei-Chen is talking to Amelia, and how this is not the only thing that is going on.

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<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace;"> The author shows Jin's emotions by thought balloons and, more prominently, lightning bolts coming out of his head. Also, the whole background is black to show that he is angry.

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<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace;"> Suzy says she feels embarrassed all of the time because she doesn't ever fit in to the stereotype. I think Jin kisses her because he feels it is the only thing he can do, with her crying and his not being able to date Amelia. Also, he feels that his life is already ruined, so what else can go wrong?

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<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace;"> Jin rejects Wei-Chen because he wants to take his anger out on someone, and since Wei-Chen is already angry at him, he takes takes it out on him. Jin feels like he has broken his life, and he must distance himself from what he knows to change it.

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<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace;"> 6. 193 - 194 What is the significance of the dream? Make sure you look at all the illustrations carefully and study them for subtle meaning. ======

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<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace;"> In the dream, Jin realizes that by distancing himself from his life, he has sold his soul. The herbalist's wife then asks him what he would like to be. The Chinese symbol next to her is the same one that the Monkey King uses for shape shifting, and that is what happens to Jin.

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<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace;"> In this moment, Jin has turned into Danny, resolving his problems and also tying together the whole story. I felt kind of relieved when this happened, and the whole story suddenly made sense.

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<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace;"> Danny is actually Jin, and Chin-Kee is actually the Monkey King.

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<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace;"> 2. p 215 As it turned out, the star was the star of Bethlehem and the three boxes were the three gifts from the three wise men. What significance does this hold for the story American Born Chinese? ======

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<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace;"> I think that this is very interesting, connecting ABC to a commonly known story. It kind of gives some perspective about how important Tze-Yo-Tzuh and his emissaries are.

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<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace;"> Jin had sold his soul, and that made him reject Wei-Chen, the Monkey King's son. When the Monkey King realized this, he knew it was wrong, and tried to stop him.

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<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace;"> The Monkey King is making an analogy to his own life, and telling Jin that he can save himself a lot of trouble by just being himself.

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<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace;"> Jin has been stereotyped for being of Chinese decent, and has worked his life around it, yet he can't even read his "home" language. This shows that he was wronly stereotyped.

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<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace;"> Jin goes to the bakery every night because the Monkey King told him to, so he knows that there is something important to do there.

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<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace;"> 7. This book ends with a conversation about milk tea. Wei-Chen is speaking Chinese. Why does the book end like this? What can we infer about these two characters? What predictions do you make about each of them? ======

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<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace;"> I think that Wei-Chen is going to turn around and allow his father to visit him. He will probably complete his task and become an emissary. As for Jin, I think that he will lead a good life and always keep an eye on his morals, this having taught him a lesson. <span style="font-family: 'Lucida Console',Monaco,monospace;">

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