This chapter was extremely helpful with our last speech. I was really struggling with finding my voice in this speech because although it’s something I care about deeply, growing up in a small and mostly religious town, a lot of people didn’t and despised it. I’m not going to lie after reading this chapter and looking back at my dry run, I have a lot to change and also in confidence. Out of the whole chapter, my biggest takeaway was on page 171, “Success in persuasive speaking requires attention to the human psychology.” The other section of this chapter that I found Bothe helpful and interesting was “Appeal to Emotion.” If I can use my emotions and the audience that I can provide a powerful persuasive speech. Within that section it states, “Infusing parts of the speech with repetition and parallelism, which creates rhythm and drama, also arouses emotion.” Sometimes I fear that I do that too much, but it’s obviously a key aspect in persuasive speeches. Obviously I can’t state everything I enjoyed in this chapter, but those are definitely the key portions I will remember.
Ch. 24
First off this chapter talked about claims and how there are all sorts of different types of claims. I never knew that, I just thought a claim was a claim and that that was all there was to it. This was also one of the first chapters that used examples that I could relate to and connect with. In one of the examples they used the phrase that “Nikes are superior to other brands of shoes because everyone wears Nikes” (186). I know that wasn’t a good example, but it sparked off inspiration form one of my previous classes where we had to convince the audience that our company we chose was the best company out there. It made it easier for my brain to understand the aspect behind being persuasive in a manner I never thought of. This chapter also makes it extremely obvious that there are so many ways to set up a persuasive speech. Once I was done reading it was information overload in my brain, but after letting it soak in, I realize I have options when it comes to my organization and set up.
Looking back at the last four speeches, I think I improved on every speech between the dry run and the final. However, I personally saw the most growth with Speech 3 between the dry run and the final. When “teaching” a mastered skill in my dry run, I was very rushed and tried to get as much information in as possible. Instead of teaching anything, I just talked about the topic. This was also one of the speeches that I received the best feedback and advice that helped me decide where I wanted to go with the final. It was mention that I narrow down to a couple moves and explain them or even demonstrate them. It helped my speech take a turn for the better because it sparked the dance teacher part of my brain into creating a lesson plan within my outline. In the final, I slowed down my words, gave out important tips and tricks, elaborated on moves, and showed the costume. Before it was just a jumbled mess in my opinion and wasn’t really a video that was teaching something. I had to take the final video multiple times because I was critiquing myself a little too harshly. For me my specific good moments would be when I mention bending your knees and then describing two simple dance steps (1.32-2.18). I know this may sound silly, but I also adjusted the format of my video by propping my phone up vertically. With my phone being horizontal in the dry run, it cut off my movement and made me step farther away from the camera. This resulted in a strain of tone and volume because I couldn’t tell how loud was too loud. In the dry run, I think setting the phone up vertically helped the set up feel more like an instructional video. I didn’t do that in the dry run and I think that was one of the most important things missing from it. Obviously looking back it now there are still things I would change and alter to this day, but I’m happy with the improvement between the two videos.
I actually read this novel for a class and it pointed out some serious issues that are present in our country. It’s a graphic novel which is probably why it’s not a perfect ten. I’m not a big fan of graphic novels personally but I know other people are.
This novel is beautifully written with an unexpected twist.
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Summary:
This graphic novel written by Gene Luen Yang, follows three storylines in one completed piece of work. You have Jin Yang a young Chinese American student moves to a new school, noticing that he is the outsider. He gets bullied everyday for not being a white American, but he feels like it gets worse when he falls in love with an “All-American” gal. In attempt to fit in he has to overcome the racism he faces each and everyday.
In storyline two, you follow the Monkey King and his journey through life. It derives from an old Chinese fable that the author was told growing up. He struggles with greediness and power, trying to prove himself in superiority compared to all the other elders and gods. Ultimately he tries to become the one and only greatest of all gods.
Storyline three follows a teenager named Danny who’s cousin Chin-Kee comes to visit. Chin-Kee represents the ultimate worst Chinese stereotypes wrapped into one character. Essentially things like his accent, intelligence, and even clothing makes Danny feel like his life is quickly being ruined. As you continue the novel, you see how these three storyline eventually fall in line with each other.
Many people believe that this graphic novel has a resounding and loud message behind each page. You can read multiple ratings on GoodReads, but I will list a few below:
A unique message and vivid writing – I loved how he was able to weave together three stories in such a short story!
And for once in my life I was pretty happy about being awake in the early morning hours because I realized rather quickly that American Born Chinese is one of the best graphic novels I’ve read so far.
Both books are about the immigrant experience, a topic difficult to write about in ways that are (more or less) politically correct but not too obvious and predictable.
Quite a quirky book, but it benefits from it. It does it’s own thing and completely does it well. The themes were powerful and well delivered: I loved seeing the three different stories comment on racism, but more than that, self acceptance.
Man this hit me in the feels. This would have been a momentous book for me as a pre-teen. I totally identified with Jin Wang and in him recognized the need to fit in as a second generation Asian surrounded by a majority of white peers and the undercurrent of Asian stereotypes that still bubbled to the surface from Long Duk Dong to William Hung. It is a coming of age story that explores this overwhelming need to fit in while wresting with a larger cultural identity.
Apparent Themes:
This graphic novel focuses on racism and self-acceptance. The systematic racism that has dripped through generation after generation has not disappeared over the years. In fact, racism towards Asians has increased dramatically over the last year or so. Due to some of the things that our former President, Donald J. Trump, said made people believe that all Asians were the root of the pandemic.
Hate crimes towards Asian have skyrocketed recently, but not all of them are being labeled hate crimes. According the The NY Times, prosecutors and police claim that there is usually not enough evidence to prove racist motives, but there is for attempted murder or murder in general.
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You can look up any petitions or fundraisers being held to stop the hate crimes that are on the monumental rise.
Final Thoughts:
This novel was a whirlwind, but an excellently written one. In fact, there were multiple points that have occurred to me in my lifetime too. Although I am not of any Asian decent, I was born in Japan and lived there for a couple years. Growing up in a small town, once people heard that news, they would make snide racist remarks, pull their eyes so they would stretch, and mock the culture. It was painful growing up at times and I was white American. I cannot begin to imagine how painful and confusing it can be for Chinese Americans to be bullied and harassed for their culture.
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