Reading Notes A, Week 17, Wong

From Fifth Chinese Daughter by Jade Snow Wong (593-603)

Chapter: A Person as Well as a Female

After graduation from the Chinese school, Jade Snow seriously sought a solution to her money problem. (593)

Jade Snow  worked in seven different homes and was exposed to a series of candid views of the private lives of these American families. (593)

“Education is your path to freedom,” Daddy had said. “In China, you would have had little private tutoring and no free advanced schooling. Make the most of your American opportunity.” (596)

“But Daddy, I want to be more than an average Chinese or American girl…..”If you have the talent, you can provide for your own college education.” (597)

No, his answer tonight left Jade Snow with a new and sudden bitterness against the one person whom she had always trusted as fair to her. (597)

She was trapped in a mesh of her tradition woven thousands of miles away by ancestors who had had no knowledge that someday one generation of their progeny might be raised in another culture. (597)

Chapter: “Learning can never be poor or exhausted” – Chinese Proverb

Jade Snow’s years at Mills College were inseparably colored by living at “Kapioani,” the dean’s little brown-shingled home. This simple structure located on a hillside road wore a charming crown: a garden of gaily colored fuchsias, bamboo….(598)

Now, living became fun! The fun was partly in being able to participate in the home activities of one of the campus’ central figures. (599)

Jade Snow though hard, wove her best Chinese and English knowledge into the paper, and felt satisfied with her work……. He told her that he had chosen the paper for reading at an English conference to be held at the college…. Jade Snow heard this announcement, smiled, but could find no words to answer when her classmates congratulated her. (603)

Reading Notes A, Week 16, Ramona by Helen Hunt Jackson

Ramona by Helen Hunt Jackson, chapter 4

·         As he brooked over sad memories and still sadder anticipations, - the downfall of the Missions, the loss of their vast estates, and the growing power of the ungodly in the land. The final decision of the United Sates Governent in regard to the Mission-lands had been a terrible blow to him. (269-270)

·         The fairer this beautiful land, the sadder to know it lost to the Church, - alien hands reaping its fullness, establishing new customs, new laws. (270)

·         The plant is tyrant and a nuisance, - the terror of the farmer; it takes riotous possession of a whole field in a season; once in, never out; for one plant this year, a million the next; but it is impossible to wish that the land were freed from it. Its gold is as distinct a value to the eye as the nuggest gold is in the pocket. (271)

·         Her hair was like her Indian mother’s, heavy and black, but her eyes were like her father’s steel-blue. (272)

·         “Ah, Father, I knew you would come by this path, and something told me you were near!” (272)

·         ..have perceived, perhaps, what would have saved him sorrow, it he had known it, that a girl who looked at  a man thus, would be hard to win to look at him as a lover. But being a lover, he could not see this. He saw only enough to perplex and deter him. (274)

·         … Senora had resigned herself to the inevitable; piously praying, however, morning and night, and at odd moments in the day, that the Father might arrive before the Indians did. (276)

Reading Notes A, Week 15, Orientation: A Short Story by Daniel Orozco

An employee is hired at a company. It is first day and is having an orientation about his workplace. The employee is being shown around the office and is even way too much information regarding his job, his surroundings, and co-workers. As I was reading it, I felt overwhelmed, I could not imagine being the employee. I also thought it was funny because of all of the details included.

Quotes from the reading:  

·         Those are the offices and these are the cubicles. That’s my cubicle there, and this is your cubicle. This is your phone. Never answer your phone. Let the Voicemail System answer it.

·         You must pace your work. If you have twelve hours of work in your in-box, for example, you must compress that work into the eight-hour day. If you have one hour of work in your in-box, you must expand that work to fill the eight- hour day.

·         Feel free to ask questions. Ask too many questions, however, and you may be let go.

·         Russell Nash, who sits in the cubicle to your left, is in love with Amanda Pierce, who sits in the cubicle to your right.

·         This is the fire exit. There are several on this floor, and they are marked accordingly. These are precautions only. These things never happen.

·         This is the micro wave oven. You are allowed to heat food in the microwave oven. You are not, however, allowed to cook food in the microwave oven.

·         Barry Hacker, who sits over there, steals food from this refrigerator. His petty theft is an outlet for his grief. Last New Year’s Eve, while kissing his wife, a blood vessel burst in her brain.

·         Do not touch the shredder, which is located over there. The shredder is of no concern to you.

·         If you have problems with the photocopier, see Russell Nash. If you have any questions, ask your supervisor. If you can’t find your supervisor, ask Phillip Spiers. He sits over there. He’ll check with Clarissa Nicks. She sits over there. If you can’t find them, feel free to ask me. That’s my cubicle. I sit in there.

Cited work
https://fsgworkinprogress.com/2011/05/17/orientation-by-daniel-orozco/

Reading Notes A, Week 14, The Joy Luck Club

Magpies 215-241

An-Mei Hsu - Mother left, raised by grandmother, Uncle, Aunt, Grandmother died

Daughter- Rose Hsu Jordan (divorce from Ted)

Rose told her mother, An-Mei her marriage was falling apart, Rose did not speak to her mother about her issues, but would talk to a psychiatrist, with tears of shame.

“She cried, “No choice! No choice!” She does not know. If she doesn’t speak, she is making a choice. If she doesn’t try she can lose her chance forever. I know this, because I was raised the Chinese way: I was taught to desire nothing, to swallow other people’s misery, to eat my own bitterness. And even though I taught my daughter the opposite, still she came out the same way!”(215)

In this chapter An-Mei tells a story about when she made a choice to leave her uncles house and follow her mother. Her mother was happy as they traveled home but once they reached her home as the third wife of an older man, she changed. An-Mei learned that her mother had no power or respect as the third wife and she actually gave birth to a son that the first wife claimed as her own. The second wife pretended suicide so she was treated well. An-Mei’s mother could no longer handle the suffering she had so she poisioned herself with opium. “…she whispered to me that she would rather kill her own weak spirit so she could give me a stronger one.”(240)

Waiting Between the Trees

Ying-ying St. Clair – quiet, husband died.

Daughter - Lena St. Clair – unhappy marriage,  quite, nice house, split everything 50/50

“This is the guest bedroom,” Lena said in her proud American way. I smiled. But to Chinese ways of thinking, the guest bedroom is the best bedroom, where she and her husband sleep. I do not tell her this.” (242)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

Reading Notes A, Week 13, The Joy Luck Club

Rules of the Game: Waverly Jong daughter of Lindo Jong

I was six when my mother taught me the art of invisible strength. It was a strategy for winning arguments, respect for others, and eventually, though neither of us knew it at the time, chess games.(89)

At home, she said, “Wise guy, he not go again wind. In Chinese we say, Come from South, blow with wind-poom!- North will follow. Strongest wind cannot be seen.” (89)

“Some boy in my class said Chinese people do Chinese torture.” “Chinese people do many tings, she said simply. “Chinese people do business, do medicine, do painting. Not lazy like American people. We do torture. Best torture.” (91)

During an annual Christmas party help at the First Chinese Baptist Church near their home, her older brother, Vincent was given a chess set, Waverly got a 12 pack of Life Savers. Her older brothers played chess and she watched them and begged them to let her play, she used her Life Savers as replacements for the missing pieces they allowed her to play. Waverly studied and learned the rules for the game.

I loved the secrets I found within the sixty-four black and white squares. I carefully drew a handmade chessboard and pinned it to the wall next to my bed, where at night I would stare for hours at imaginary battles. Soon I no longer lost any games or Life Savers, but I lost my adversaries. (95)

Waverly found a man at the park to play, Lau Po, she played, learned a lot from him, and became an even better chest player.

Waverly started playing in local tournaments, and won trophy’s .

By my ninth birthday, I was a national chess champion. I was still some 429 points away from grand-master status, but I was touted as the Great American Hope, child prodigy and a girl to boot. (97)

Lindo was very proud of her daughter, Waverly, and bragged about her often to people, and she did not like that. One day she told her mom that she wished she did not do that, her and her mother argued and Waverly ran off, she was in the alley by her house. When she went home she though she would be in a lot of trouble, her parents did not yell at her, which made her unsure of the situation. She went to her room and thought about her mom and chess.

Reading Notes A, Week 12, The Joy Luck Club

The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan

The Mothers                              The Daughters

Suyuan Woo                               Jing-mei “June” Woo (36YO)

An-mei Hsu                                 Rose Hsu Jordan

Lindo Jong                                   Waverly Jong

Ying-ying St. Clair                      Lena St. Clair

When Suyuan Woo was young, she was married to an officer, with two small children, people from many different lifestyles all fled to Kweilin to escape the Japanese. Suyuan Woo started the Joy Luck Club when she was in Kweilin. “My idea was to have a gathering of four woman, one for each corner of my mah jong table. I knew which woman I wanted to ask. They were all like me, with wishful faces.” (23) The woman would gather weekly, they took turns hosting the party, to raise money and their spirits. They would eat and play mah jong.

Suyuan Woo started the Joy Luck Club in San Francisco in 1949.

Suyuan Woo died and her daughter Jing-Mei Woo was asked by her father to sit in her mothers spot, at the fourth corner of the mah jong table.

Suyuan Woo would tell her daughter Jing-mei about her time in Kweilin, as Jing-mei grew older the story had different endings, until one day when it ended with her mother having to leave Kweilin with her two young children slinged to her, with a wheelbarrow to push any of her belongs that would fit, one of the items was her mah jong table. As she pushed toward Chungking to be with her 1^st husband, she slowly started loosing her stuff, the wheel broke, she used slings and bags, but by the time she arrived at Chungking, she only had three fancy silk dresses that she was wearing. Suyuan Woo only said that the babies were not Jing-mei, but did not speak about them again.

Jing-mei’s father said that Suyuan Woo died she had a thought in her head but before it came out, it grew too big and busted. The doctors said she died of cerebral aneurysm.

Jing-mei played mah jong with her aunts and after a long time she tried to leave but before she could the aunts had to tell her something. They told her that her mothers children were alive in China and they were daughters. The aunts gave Jing-mei $1200 to go to China to meet her sisters.

Week 11, Reading Notes A, Henderson

California 13 is a poem describing where Hwy 13 can lead you. It is a freeway between Berkeley and Alameda. Hwy 13 can lead you to Ashby Ave in Berkeley. “A patch of connecting highway thru the village of a philosopher’s theory, where nothing exists in pure logic.” (119) And describes the landscape seen while driving down Hwy 13, silver gleam of the bay, mountain range headings for L.A. Hwy 13 takes you to Hwy 5 to the Grapevine, which will lead you to L.A.

Lost Angeles is a poem describing Hwy 5, four lanes wide, from LAX to Hollywood to the ancient road to old Mexico. A couple meets on Hollywood Blvd, they look like movie stars, they go out to a movie and then go back to where they met, and parted their ways.

San Dijuana is a poem about a highway that leads to La Mesa, a mini-city in San Dijuana. It describes a series of events with a drunk couple. “a hyper filmic reality the latina and the black man often plastered in the placid night two drunken considerate clowns amid the lush vegetation lights from the window..” (129)

91 Bus is about a person on a bus driving down Sunset Blvd, towards Beverly Hills. While on the bus the person observes what is going on around him on the streets. “Santa Monica Boulevard West Hollywood to the sea the number 4.” (127)

In these poems by David Henderson, he uses imaginary to describe what is going on around him, he does this by describing the landscape, people, and events. Henderson uses one common symbol in all of these poems, which is a highway and where it leads.

Week 10, Reading Notes A, Mori

The Woman Who Makes Swell Doughnuts by Toshio Mori, is a story of an elderly woman.

“..she has lived her life: given birth to six children, worked side by side with her man for forty years, working in the fields, working in the house, caring for the grandchildren..” pg 584

“.. all that could be for her no was to sit and be served: duty done, work done, time clock punched; old-age security; easy chair; soft serene hours till death take her.” pg 584

“And I think it would be a shame to talk of her doughnuts after she is dead, after she is formless.” pg 585

I enjoyed reading this story of a woman, who is the neighborhood, “Mama”. She is described as a woman that has lived her life to it’s fullest and still wants to please others. She does this by the delish doughnuts she makes fresh for her visitors. The visitor then shares how she makes him feel and even though they may not always speak they know and understand what they are thinking. The visitor also says that he wants to talk about her doughnuts now and not wait until she has died because people should know how good they are.

So many times in life we don’t say things to people that we want to such as, thank you, tell them why they are special or important to us, then the time may come when they die or something happens to them. So many times people have regrets because they didn’t get to say what they wanted to for many different reasons. It can even be something that is bothering you and you are fearful that it may cause an argument, but you should have the conversation because it might end up being a good and positive thing. This is a great example, that you should always say the things you have to say or feel because there may come a time that it is too late and those words are lost.

Reading Notes A, Week 9, Thurman

Emma Lou was a young girl who came to California to go to college at the University of Southern California from her hometown of Boise Idaho. “..in the colored social circles of Los Angeles, Emma Lou was certain that she would find many suitable companions, intelligent, broad-mined people of all complexions, intermixing and being too occupied otherwise to worry about either their own skin color or the skin color of those around them.” pg 438 This quote describes how Emma Lou felt about wanting to meet others that had the same skin color has her own but they also needed to be from a higher class, which she felt they would have because of attending the same college as her. Finding others that were the same colored face as her was difficult.

Emma Lou ended up meeting two girls, Hazel Mason and Grace Giles. Hazel from Texas, her father became wealthy due to oil being found on his land. Hazel was not the type of person, Emma Lou wanted to be around, she was not pretty, was loud and embarrassing, she even tried to leave her but they ended up as friends. Grace was also a student at the school, but was not on campus often, because her classes were located off of campus. These three girls were not popular and not invited to campus events or parties, they mainly stayed with each other off campus.

“Besides being disappointed at the drabness and lack of romance in college routine, Emma Lou was also depressed by her inability to make much headway in the matter of becoming intimately associated with her colored campus mates.” pg 442 This selection from the story tells me that Emma Lou really went to college to look for colored campus mates and the education was not her main focus, she was good at it, but it did not make her happy.

After Emma Lou’s first year of college she returned home for the summer, discouraged and depressed, her college experience was not what she wanted it to be. “There was no place in the world for a dark girl.” pg 446 Emma Lou could not escape the challenge of being born a dark skinned girl.

Reading Notes A, Week 8, London

The passage from, From Matin Eden, by Jack London, left me feeling very sad. The passage started with Martin in his apartment frustrated that his writings were being returned from the publishers. He then share his childhood memories about being bullied and beat up on and off for many years, which ended in a huge gang fight that left him with a broken arm and so angry that he could not stop punching his attack, Cheese-face, he had lost control of himself. These memories tell moments when he was as young as six years until he was eighteen and how these moments made him a fighter in life and not give up.
The passage then goes to later in Martin's life, when he becomes famous for his writings and has a lot of money, but he talks about how unhappy he is in life and he does not like to be around others. He goes to the doctors because he feels like something is wrong with himself, he he told that he is psychical healthy. "It was his "thinking machine" that had gone wrong, and there was no cure for that except to get away to the South Seas." pg 366 He boards the Mariposa and is a first class passenger, something he had wanted in the past and thought would be so great, but he was still unhappy. "There was no satisfaction in being awake." pg 367 Martin was miserable, nothing around him made him happy.
One evening Martin picked up a volume of the Swinburne and he found himself interested and happy. "That was the meaning of it all: he had been drifting that way all the time, and now Swinburne showed him that it was the happy way out."pg 369
"Life was ill, or rather, it had become ill-an unbearable thing."That dead men rise up never! That lined stirred him with a profound feeling of gratitude. .... When life became an aching weariness, death was ready to soothe away to everlasting sleep."pg 369 Martin climbed through the porthole in his room and went into the milk sea and drowned himself.
Martin gave up on life, he was not happy and although he became a successful writer, he was not happy, the money and all the things he wanted and was able to have were not enough for him in the end.

Reading Notes A, Week 7, Eaton

In the Land of the Free, by Edith Maud Eaton, takes place in San Francisco. A Chinese couple were living in the San Francisco, the wife, Lae Choo, returned to China to give birth to their child, The Little One. Her husband, Hom Hing stayed in San Francisco and continued to work as a merchant, he owned a store and they lived above it. Lae Choo and her son had stayed in China longer than they expected because Hom Hing’s parents were ill and she needed to take care of them. Hom Hing had never met his son, who was 20 months old. Lae Choo and The Little One arrived under the Golden Gate bridge aboard, Easter Queen. Hom Hing met his son and as they were leaving the ship the family was stopped by two men with the intials U.S.C. on their caps. The Little One did not have any papers and none of the papers about Lae Choo had mentioned anything about a child, because he was not born when the papers were filed. Against the parents will they had to hand their son over to the men, until they could get approval from the government to let the child in to the US.

The next day Hom Hing when to get his son, when he returned home, he did not have his child. Lae Choo was devastated.

After 5 long months, Lae Choo was withdrawn from everyone, and Hom Hing felt his wife would die if she did not get her son back. “Her food she takes only when I bed her and her tears fall continually. She finds no pleasure in dress or flowers and cares not to see her friends. He eyes stare all night. I think before another moon she will pass into the land of spirits.” Pg 326 A young man, who was a lawyer, brought a letter from the government but it said the same as before. The young man said he would go to Washington to get the needed papers for Hom Hing to bring his son home, but it would cost him $500, he would not take anything less and the couple had no money. Lae Choo gave him all of her jewelry in exchange for her son.

After 10 long months Lae Choo was able to get her son from the missionary where he was taken care of. She was so happy to see him but he did not know who she was when he saw her. “But the Little One shrunk from her and tried to hide himself in the folds of the white woman’s skirt. “Go ‘way, go ‘way!” he bade his mother.”pg 329

Reading Notes A, Week 6, Markham

God made men in His own image, in the image of God mad He him. –Genesis

 

The Man with the Hoe

..the weight of centuries he leans, Upon his hoe and gazes on the ground, the emptiness of ages in his face, And on his back the burden of the world. Who made him dead to rapture and despair, A thing that grieves not and that never hopes pg 294

 As I read this section of the poem, I envisioned a man working in a field of some type of crop, the man is hunched over using his tool to get his required job done. He does this with no sense of excitement, joy, or with dignity. You can tell with his posture and the emptiness look on his face he is unhappy.

The poem then goes on to question if this is the world that God made, envisioned, and wanted?

How will you ever straighten up this shape; Touch it again with immortality and the light, rebuild in the music and dream pg 295.

The poem then asks God to come and save the world and bring it back to the way he envisioned it.

 

The Sower

Who is it coming on the brown slop, pg 296

Flinging their foolish glory on the air – He hides their nakedness, he give them bed, and by his alms their hungry mouths are fed. Pg 297

This poem is describing a empty dirt hill, that is then planted with seeds and once the seeds grow the hill is no longer empty. With the seeds that grew into plants or crops, they are now able to feed the people that are hungry.  He is then described as a “Earth-god,” someone that is here on earth and able to help feed the hungry with the land, seeds, and crops that are grown.

Reading Notes Part A, Week 5, De Burton

"The Squatter and the Don," Maria Amparo Ruiz De Burton pg 244-253

Main characters:
William Darrell (The Squatter)living in Alameda County, took over Spanish people's land in Napa and Sonoma Counties, (Squatter's Sovereignty) he became rich and promised his wife he would only claim land that belonged to the United States. He went to San Diego to claim land that he believed belonged to the US, however it belonged to Don Mariano Alamra.

Don Mariano Alamar was a Spaniards that owned land and cattle in San Diego, although the Mexicans thought their claims to their land prior to the Treaty of Guadalupe in 1848 (A Treaty that was thought to be created in the spirit of peach and friendship) was going to remain, however the laws did not protect the land owners, "but in reality to destroy cattle and ruin the native Calfornias." pg 248. Don had already lost some of his land to Mathews and Hagar, two squatters, who left and decided to bring a few more men to squat and claim land that does not belong to the US. Darrell was one of the squatters, Don knew about and thought that he was no longer claiming land. Through out the story Don believed Darrell was a man that knew he was taking land from him, he assumed the worst about him and told his family.
In the end Darrell claimed 320 acres of Don's land as Don and his family watched from their home, and said nothing. "There would have been bloodshed then. Now tears only flowed, silent tears of helpless discouragement; of a presentiment of impending desolation." pg 253
I believe that Darrell did not know he was taking Don's land and if Don would have approached him they could have discussed the misunderstanding. Don did not believe he could stand up for his family and land. I believe that this makes him a strong but weak man. Strong because he does not want to cause any issues or fight with other's since he believes the law is not on his side. However I also believe he is weak because he is not fighting for his land and his family, he is allowing others to push him out.

Reading Notes A, Week 4: The Life and Adventures of Joaquin Murieta, the Celebrated California Bandit

This was a story about Joaquin Murieta, he was Mexican and born in Mexico. He was described as, "remarkable for a very mild and peaceable disposition"pg 162 Joaquin moved to California, after the war with Mexico, he was upset with his native people and wanted to venture away from his home and live among the American people. At the age of 18 years old he was engaged and made his by a rich mining claim. He was was described as handsome, loved and respected by his community. During this time not everyone felt that any/all Mexicans should have this level of class, they were called lawless men. These men went into his home, hit him, tied his hands and feet up and rape his fiance' in front of him. They left their home and went up north of the mines and started a farm. There he looked for peace again, but this did not last. He again was driven away from his home, "with no other excuse than that he was, "an infernal Mexican intruder!"pg 165. They moved again, this time he ended up at Murphy's Diggings and started to mine again and then started a Mexican game, "Monte." He was accused of stealing a horse, he was tied to a tree and he was publicly shamed.

"It was then that the character of Joaquin changed, suddenly and irrevocable." pg 166

He ended up murdering the men that tied him to the tree and shamed him. He became a robber, murderer, an outlaw, and a bandit.

The saying, 'Don't judge a book by it's cover," is the theme of the story to me. Joaquin left his home and country to make a better life for himself and did three times. All three times his honest way of life was taken from him because he was not American, he was Mexican. These men did not look at Joaquin as a person that was making an honest living from himself but instead judged him because of being born a Mexican. 

So many times in life we judge people because of the was they look, ethnic background or culture and not because of who the person is or what they have made of themselves.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don%27t_judge_a_book_by_its_cover

Reading Notes A, Week 3, The Luck of the Roaring Camp

Roaring Camp was a male only camp, with one woman, Cherokee Sal. The men at this camp were "rough", missing fingers, toes, and eyes, strong, and a close cluster of men that stuck together. Cherokee Sal was a woman, that was coarse, feared and a very sinful woman, she was abandoned, isolated, and alone at a time that she needed another woman. Cherokee Sal was pregnant and in labor, with only rough men around her and helping. Stumpy was a man that went to help deliver the baby. Once the baby was born, Cherokee Sal died. The men were invited into the cabin to see the baby boy and contribute anything they wished for the newborn baby. Kentuck was walking by and the baby boy grabbed his finger, this interaction affected him, he thought about it and checked on the baby. 

The men talked about who was going to take care of the baby, suggestions were to give him to another village or to have another woman come to the village, both were decided against and they decided that they would keep and care for him. Stumpy was his caregiver and they names him Tommy Luck. It was thought that he brought luck to the camp. 

Tommy Luck was given a cabin that was keep clean and had improvements to make it a comfortable. Regeneration started at Roaring Camp, a change happened over the camp, they started to improve their personal hygiene. It was a honor and privilege to hold the baby, even the roughest of men, Kentuck came in a clean shirt and was cleaned up.

"With the prosperity of the camp came the desire for further improvements." The camp decided that they would build a hotel the following spring and have a family or two come and stay, they thought it would be good for Tommy. Most men agreed but there were a few that were hesitant. 

That winter there was a lot of rain, a camp near by, Red Dog, was under water twice and Roaring Camp was warned. One day the water from the river rose above the bank. The next morning, Stumpy's cabin was gone and his body was found, but Tommy Luck was missing. A relief boat came with Kentuck and he was holding Tommy Luck in his arms, he was dead. Kentuck was dying and was upset Tommy Luck was dead. He continued to hold Tommy Luck in his arms and died with him. 

A camp that was full of rough men, raised a baby for a year, changed their culture to be cleaner and not as rough around the baby, they were open to improving their camp and inviting others, but with one bad winter the camp was destroyed and Luck, the baby who brought their camp luck was gone.