Lessons from my school years

1. There is a stark contrast created in the opening of this story between what the narrator had been doing before entering school and what will be expected at school? What is this contrast and what does it immediately create in the story?The contrast is between the school and what people do there, and her parents fruit shop and what she does there. It immediately creates juxtaposition between what she will do at school compared to what she does at home.

2. The author continues this theme of contrast at the start of the story. How does he do this in his description of his experience of Sydney’s North Shore? He describes the fruit shop as clean and friendly and that there were streets out back and the train station behind that and he explains that he has become very familiar with his town. Whereas when he explains the school he says that its leafy and there are houses made of solid brick and that he doesn't belong there

3. What was the father’s background in business before he opened the fruit shop? What has helped him become successful? The book explains that the father came to Australia when he was seventeen and knew nothing about business and no English. Then to go from nothing to opening a fruit shop and becoming very successful, it shows that he has become successful.

4. The narrator’s description of his father is complex. What makes the father a complex character?The father is described as complex because he has many different aspects about him. He is 'happy, chatty, friendly', but is also a hard worker, as he had no business or English skills when he arrived in Australia

5. (91) How does the author describe his role in doing ‘things that counted’? He described his role in the family as he had to listen and watch what his siblings had to say about school in order to learn for himself what is acceptable and what isn't in a schooling life.
6. What experience does the author have at school while keeping to himself? What does he learn from this experience? He gets into trouble by keeping to himself. Its no just because he's a different race or colour, but also because he doesn't talk to anyone and keeps to himself.

7. How would you characterise the narrator’s tone in regards to the events that are occurring around him? He uses a mono tone, which is a single tone, meaning he sees the world in one major way which is that the world is a horrible place.

8. How does the narrator characterise the ways that one could ‘get the strap’ and ways that one could avoid it? He characterizes that the 'Strap' is very easy to get, but very hard to avoid. It was very easy to get the strap, mis-spelling a word, walking to slow/fast, and there was very few ways to avoid it

9. What event evokes a racist speech to the class by the teacher? The event was that there was a boy who couldn't swim, so his mom wrote a note excusing him from the carnival. The teacher read it out to the whole class and at the end said 'like Chinese people never contribute'

10. What effect did the author’s experience with ‘Strap Happy Jack’ have on him? It made him think about the minority of Asians in the area.

11. What was the one advantage school provided the author? That when he was going through high school some teachers saw some talents.

12. What did the author do at his school? What was his motivation for doing it? What did he feel was lacking at school? The author started a workshop program which he found interesting and enjoyable, and he felt that school was lacking the ability of him being able to choose his own future.

13. What did the parents want their son to do at school? What did the author fear would happen by obeying his parents? His parents wanted him to learn something of a specific profession, in this case a doctor, something which he hated and feared. The parents wanted him to learn what was being taught at school, and then what he wanted to learn after, which he feared he would miss if he followed his parents.

14. At school, what did the author learn about his own type of thinking and how to use it?He learned that his style of thinking is different and if he wanted to use it to its up most potential, then he has to do what he wants

Relative advantages of learning my language

1. The author opens the story with an anecdote. What is the anecdote and what effect does it have on the reader?

The anacdote is that when her grandfather sits down,, she says 'i hope he doesn't sit down'. It lets the reader know what the story is going to be about (grandfather) and that she was pretty harsh to her grandfather.

2. What is the author’s view of the Chinese language in the 2^nd paragraph? 

That its not needed very much when growing up in a English country.

 What is ironic about the inhabitants of this house?

3. What is symbolic about the house that the Grandfather mistakes for his own? What does it say about the assimilation of his family into Australian culture? What does it say about his understanding of Australian culture?

Its symbolizes the similarity in of living standards Australian culture. The Pakistani family symbolizes that other cultures also live the same as other cultures, ie. Chinese and Pakistani.

4. What does the death of her grandfather inspire the author to do? To learn Chinese again and realize that she should have listened to her grandfather a lot more than she has over the years.

5. Why is she motivated to know Chinese? What is it she wants to ensure she is able to, regretting that she couldn’t do it with her grandfather? She wants to be able to speak in Chinese so that the next time she meets a relative, she can listen to what they have to say in there native tongue.

Why does it matter 2-The year of the rooster- Bon-Wai Chou

In this story the author portrayed a very deep story about the stages of her father’s death in great detail.

The story started off by cutting to the chase. The second line in it states that her father has terminal cancer.  From the very beginning the story it could be seen as a very sad one, with the soft way the author writes and the calm way she thinks, the story could be seen as a very deep one. The author goes into the stages of her father’s death in great detail, examples of how his mind started to fade away, saying things out of context, out of line and not on the same topic at all. The honesty and detail that the author put into this, clearly stating how she felt and what he thought was very sad as for someone who hasn’t experienced death before could see that it was not a thing you want to experience.

The story was very confronting in a way that something so sad and happens to everyone is explained so clearly and detailed that it makes you feel cold. “He was in two minds; he didn’t want to stay but didn’t fell like going just yet”. The way the author writes that in a third person way makes the readers feel like they know how they feel and can feel that the pain that both the author and father feels. And finally, when her father dies, the way that she describes how she felt and what she was feeling and what she wanted to do was written so calmly that it made the reader feel sorry for her lose. The story gives readers an insight to what it feels like to lose someone at such a young age, and what you do to try make them happy and how happy it makes them to see them happy. She describes it in such a way that it makes the readers feel like they have experienced it. This story to me shows that even thought they are immigrants, and that they are of a different culture, their not so different in the way that they may look, speak and sound different, but they can still have family members die and that the pain that they feel from it is the same as if another Australian families dad died. They can still feel pain and hurt inside, even if they are different from us on the outside.

Why does it matter-The courage of soldiers

This story is based off what life is like living in one of those families which are mean and don't care what there children think. Its about a father who runs his children's lives. He doesn't let them out with friends and he doesn't let them get bad marks. If they do get bad marks, then they beat them. Then, the olders child, his daughter, runs away from home in her teens. Even though its onhat  a pretty sad and dark topic, i found it quiet a good read. I didn't want to put the book down until I finished the story.
It makes you see that if you think your life is bad, there is someone else out there who's is worse. While reading it I felt sorry for the author. She put a lot of detail in the story explaining what it was like, how she felt and what she thought about what she had done. I think you should read it because it is a good story detailing about what it would be like to live in one of those stereotypical Asian families where you have to do well in you exams and your studies or else you will get in heaps of trouble.

My first kiss

1. How does the author describe Malaysia in regards to showing affection? its censored, it doesn't show people kiss in public and all in all not a very affectionate place.

2. What happens to the author when she hits puberty? She lost her footing in her tom-boy world,  her dynamics of he r male playmates changed.

3. What is the author’s experience at school when she first arrives to Melbourne? The only people who approached her were the other overseas Asians. None of the white kids took interest in her.

4. What is it that made the author feel that she wasn’t Australian even though she spoke English fluently? She went to the ESL class, English Second Language, with all the other overseas people.

5. What else was it about the author that further alienated her from her peers? The fact that she was still Asian and still referenced her self as a tom-boy. All her characteristics were different. The way she talked, she never said g'day or anything like that.

6. What does the use of description like ‘crash hot’ do to the audience’s perception of the author?

7. What opportunity does university give the author? What is it about university which would allow her to express herself more freely?

8. What role does creativity play for the author? Why do you think that creativity would be so important to her?

Teenage dreams

1. What are the first two sentences of the story and how do they create a tension in the story? The first two sentence of the story create tension because it talks about a very negative six sense which is the ability to tell when someone is going to die. This creates the basis and tension within the story because it sets-up the thought that someone is going to die within the story.

2. What has happened to the author’s father as a result of his wife’s death? The author's father looked for something to care for and be passionate about which is Leslie Cheung. This made him more susceptible to be disappointed in things he believed in and the fear of death.

3. How does the description of the father removing his hands from his face as ‘unmasked’ related to the seriousness of his following statement? By removing his hands from his face by 'unmasking' them it shows that he is showing his full emotion and that it is very solemn occasion. This also shows that he rarely is serious and that he is a different person when he needs to be serious.

4. Consider how the father lives his life and conducts himself and the other people in the theatre for the film the author and his father are watching. How does this relate to the title of the story? The father lives his life and conducts himself much like a 'teenage dreamer'. This is seen through his passion for an actor/musician who is popular at the time. He also begins to cry like teenagers (the other people in the theater) when confronted with a idol in pain. He also gets very emotional when he doesn't get what he wants, shown through the author saying 'no' to going to Honk Kong to go to a predict funeral.

Conversations with parents

1. What is ironic about the way the author and the father become close? What has to happen to the father? It is ironic about the way that the author and the father become close because they become close through the sickness and suffering of the father. It is also mentioned that the author began to like being in the hospital because it meant that the author could get closer to the father.

2. How would you characterise the conversation that the author has with her parents? You would characterise them as very brief and very cliche. They would also be characterised as very awkward and those similar to acquaintances rather than family. 

3. What is it that worries the author most about these conversations? The biggest worry about the conversations that are had with her parents is that she never tells them that she loves them and is not sure how to. 

4. There is a gap between the author’s need to express feelings common in western countries and her family’s lack of desire to express their feelings verbally. How does the family still express their feelings for their child, just not verbally? Reminiscing about memories about happy times and that they always try to call and listen to the child are how they express there feelings. They also pressure her to live like they did such as by buying Vietnamese groceries and talking about meals such as Banh Xeo. 

The early settlers by Ken Chau

• 1. How does this title refer to two groups of ‘settlers’? Who are they? The two groups are the ones who are foreign and arriving now such as the great-grandfather and the early settlers who have branded the new arrivals.
• 2. How is the first line of the poem successful at being ‘forceful’ regarding the Great-Grandfather’s presence in Australia? It shows his position in the socio-economical status within the two settling classes, him being an outsider in the early settlers guild.
• 3. What action are the ‘early settlers’ doing that gives them equally a strong presence? They are branding the new arrivals with very derogatory terms such as 'devil' and 'terrorist'. This shows there dominance and there ability to make people feel uneasy about there lifestyle.
• 4. How is the intention of the Great-Grandfather juxtaposed to the beliefs of the ‘early settlers’? He juxtaposes the early settlers because he is branding them as well by calling them 'bastards' but by saying it in his own language shows him as an outsider standing up by hypocritical means.
• 5. What action does the Great-Grandfather do that ties him both to the ‘early settlers’ and to his own culture? The great grandfathers brands others in much the same way the early settlers do, with derogatory terms such in the way the great grandfather brands 'bastard' upon someone which ties in with the early settlers branding people with 'foreign devil' and 'potential terrorist'. By the great grandfather branding in his own language he ties back in with his culture and his way of life

Growing Up Asian in Australia: Intro + Pigs Questions

Introduction by Alice Pung

1. What were Asian-Australians referred to as when the author was growing up?power points

2. How does she interpret this title?with caps lock and a -

3. What did this title actually refer to? Did the author find this demeaning? Why/why not?The author thought it was because it was because Asians  had electric brain power. She wasn't quiet sure though

4. ‘All that untapped potential! All that electrifying brain power!’ What techniques are being employed by the author? How does they highlight he misunderstanding?She uses !, making it seem that she is exaggerating or speaking with enthusiasm.

5. What did the teen author take away from teen fiction? What did she feel that she needed to do? Why? What does this say is essential to fitting in to a culture?

6. Who are the authors that she turns to? Why?

7. In the third paragraph how does the author use repetition. How does it highlight the focus of this book?She uses repetition to show that school is a big time in a child's life. There first day of school, first friend, it shapes there whole life

8. What metaphor does the author use to highlight the writers and the writing style in the third paragraph?She says that the authors are the tree, comparing them to distant observers

9. Why does the author use a quote in the 4^th paragraph? What does it say about her reaction to the stories in the book?The quote means that if you change the name, it would be about you because everyone experiences these things and feelings, Asian or not. 

10. On page 2 the author talks about the themes that she loosely choose for the collection. What are they and why is it ironic that they show up in this book?Tom Cho, Vanessa Woods, Paul Nguyens, Chi Vu's. The main themes she uses is Aussie slang, which is ironic because she uses Australian slang when she comes from an Asian background

11. At the bottom of pg 3 on to page 4 the author says that sociologists have described Asians as the ‘model minority’. What is meant by this? What difficulties arise out of this label for young Asian-Australians? Model minority is like that because there small and different, but mostly smarter than everyone else on average because they study more and all that stereotypical stuff, that people should look up to them and model them because of it

12. What are the editor’s hopes for the collection of stories?

Pigs from Home by Hop Dac

 

1. How does the author start this story which is in direct contrast to the title of the story? What effect does this have on the reader and their expectations of the story? The author starts the story by stating the positives of pigs, which is in contrast because the title says go home

2. What core Vietnamese value is instilled in the author? its that any Vietnamese family is a self sustaining one

3. What is humorous about the mother’s ‘flair for natural medicine’ in regards to her personality? its humours because the mother was good with medicine and thinks that her house is very messy.

4. How does the description of the killing of pigeons continue the style utilised in the introduction of the story? Its utilized with the style of brutally killing pigeons for food.

5. What is the author’s opinion of pigs? Give two quotes to support your conclusion. That there unimportant and are only used for food

6. In the paragraph on pgs 53-54, give two examples of alliteration employed by the author. 'Blowing raspberries on babes bellies' and 'feeding frenzy'

7. On pg 54 what simile is used to describe pigs? How does this simile work for the situation it is used? a pig is like a wave, and you can't turn your back on a wave because you'll get dumped and if you turn your back on a pig it'll bite you

8. What simile does the author use to describe her mother sunning herself? How does this relate to the core focus of the story? 

She suns herself by standing in the drive way and slowly rotating like a 'rotisserie chicken'. This relates to the core focus of the story which is killing animals for food.

9. What does the author describe as ‘the divide between the old world and the new’? What do you think is meant by this statement? She starts to see that the way there killing and slaughtering pigs and animals like that is bad.

10. What is the author’s reaction to the slaughter of the pig at night? What statement does the author make about the neighbours which displays the way he feels about the whole experience? What is important about including this statement? She was shocked by the display of killing the pig with the blood coming out of its neck and she wandered if the neighbours had heard the commotion and the killing. She thought it was bad and wrong and that she didn't want anyone else to be involved in the murder of the pigs

11. Why don’t the parents have pigs anymore? How does this relate to the description of the burial of the last pig they owned? They stopped having pigs because there neighbour is a pig farmer and this relates to the description of the last pig dying and they buried it and stopped having pigs because they didn't want pigs dying so they could eat them

12. How would you characterise the description of the mother’s treatment of the pig’s blood? Is it appetising? It makes it seems a lot of effort for an unappealing effort

13. What is ironic about the way the author has a popular Vietnamese dish? What is it about the way the author describes the experience of having pigs that makes it ironic? Its ironic because it was a meal with beef and its the only animal they don't have on there farm.

14. How does this story relate to the title Pigs from Home?

15. Why do you think this story is in the Battlers section of the book?