post 2

The quotes that you choose to analyze and write about must pertain to one of the following questions:
1. Why have the characters in your book come to America?
2. What was the journey like coming to America?

5. What hardships do the characters endure as they make a new life?
6. How do the characters maintain their cultural ties to their homeland while living in America? 7. How do Americans treat the characters? (Specifically those born/raised in US)



1a. Quote; Maxine's mother and her teachers, 64

Older people were expected to be smarter; they are closer to the gods. She did not want to overhear students or teachers say, "She must be exceedingly stupid, doing no better than anyone else when she is a generation older. She's so dumb, she has to study day and night."

2a. Chinese people expected more of the elderly and they also based a lot of things on their gender and age. It would've been hard on mostly women, especially how her mother had to fake her age to be able to learn. Women in that region had to deal with a lot, and they still get judged. Unless they were a warrior, but even then they needed to live up to a certain expectation.

3a. I think that people shouldn't judge one another by their age and gender. Everyone is different, some in big ways, others in smaller. If they compare themselves to the requirements then they all have huge things wrong with them. One rule will always contradict another in some way. Maxine's mother was a brave women, then went to extremes to achieve her goal, but I admire that about her. If more people were like that, then the environment and economy would be better.

4a. Question: If your dreams were slightly out of reach, then would you give up? Or go the distance to achieve it?

1b. Maxine, 104
The silk dresses she gave me are tiny. You would not think the same person wore them. This mother can carry a hundred pounds of Texas rice up- and down stairs. She could work at the laundry from 6:30 a.m. until midnight, shifting a baby from an ironing table to a shelf between packages, to the display window, where the ghosts tapped on the glass.

2b. Chinese people didn't have to work so hard, because they usually worked in the medicine field. If they are to make a living in America, then they would have to work twice as hard for about minimum wage. It compares her mother's old life style in China, to the one she has now.

3b. I think that the mother should stop working if she's already 80 years old. If a normal American were that age, then they would've gone into retirement already. I also think that she should let her daughter make her own life, and not let her mooch off of her anymore, even if it's a little bit.

4b. What would you do if your life changed from a delicate one, to a hard labor one?