novel study exam Flashcards
(12 cards)
who is Jin Wong
main character, chinese american boy struggling with his chinese identity and fitting into an american/white school
who is Wei-Chen Sun
Jins friend who is more in touch with his heritage and is confident with it and himself
who is Danny
Jins alter ego, white version of himself, who Jin wants to be to escape from his chinese
who is chinkee
exaggerated chinese stereottypical character, dannys cousin who shows the stereotypes of what jin fears
who is the monkey king
a powerful, mythological figure who seeks to be seen as more than just a monkey
themes
identity - search for self acceptance of cultural background
stereotypes - impacts of racial stereotypes and how they affect self perception
transformation - characters undergoing significant changes to find their true selves
acceptance - learning to accept oneself and others cultures
monkey kings plot
powerful being who is rejected by the gods because he is a monkey. Angry and ashamed, he sets out to prove he is worthy of respect by mastering kung fu and changing his identity. Eventually to be humbled and learns to accept who he is
Jin wangs plot
chinese american boy who moves to white suburb and struggles to fit in. At school, he faces racism and stereotyping. He befriends a new student, wei-chen sun, but is embarrassed by his own cultural background. Jin develops a crush on a white girl, amelia and tries to change himself to fit in, even wishing to be someone else
danny and chinkees plot
danny is a white highschool student whose life is distrupted by the arrival og his cousin chinkee every year. Chinkee is over the top stereotype pf a chinese person. Chinkee embarrasses danny leading to shame and frustration about his association with chinese identity
all the plots are connected by
danny is revealed to be jin wang, to ignore his chinese identity
chinkee is revealed to be monkey king in disguise, to help jin accept himself
wei chen revealed to be monkey kings son
ending of story
ends with jin and wei-shen reconnecting and beginning to accept their culture
