American Born Chinese and Dragon Ball Adam Johnson

American Born Chinese and Dragon Ball Adam Johnson and Hannah Trumm

American Born Chinese n Three separate stories: Monkey, Jin and Chin-Kee n Together the stories show the complexity of being an American born Chinese n n finding identity and culture n finding a balance n fitting in Audience is young Americans, but the author makes references that only Chinese born Americans would understand

Monkey n The story of the Monkey King in ABC is quite different from The Monkey and the Monk n Focuses on Monkey’s struggle to find self-expectance n Far fewer characters n Monkey’s goals aren’t to become a Buddhist but instead just to find immortality

Religious Elements n A main focus in The Monkey and the Monk is on religion, mainly Buddhist and Taoist ideas n The religious focus in ABC is on Christian ideas n God/Jesus/Moses characteristics can be found in the characters n The Lion, the Ox, the Human and the Eagle are Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. n Etc.

Jin Wang n The main character in ABC who brings together all three of the stories n Fitting in is extremely important to Jin after he moves from China town, to an almost completely white school n Seen as foreign although he was born in America n Wants to make friends but most of his classmates are racist

Jin Wang and Wei-Chen n Although there is a common theme of friendship in ABC, Jin doesn’t notice how important his friendship is with Wei-Chen until he excepted his own identity as Chinese n Transformer theme n Jin wants to become a white American n Wei-Chen turns from monkey to human n Monkey transforms from animal to civilized being

Chin-Kee n n Chin-Kee represents the white American stereotype of Asians n Buck-toothed n Squinty eyes n Chinese clothes n Slippers n Fighting style n Eats cats and dogs Chin-Kee is Monkey in disguise and is important to the book because it over exaggerates the perception of oneself for Jin of his classmates

Chin-Kee n Breakfast at Tiffany’s n http: //www. youtube. com/watch ? v=Vr. O 87 It. Xo. Ng n Sixteen Candles n http: //www. youtube. com/watch ? v=K 3 a. J 0 FVn. Gz. Q&feature=rel ated

Dragon Ball n Comparing Dragon Ball and The Monkey and the Monk: n Character development n Same character attributes n Target audience is kids for Dragon Ball n Story line is different

Dragon Ball n The seven magic balls are symbolic of the scriptures in The Monkey and the Monk n Emphasis is on the journey, every step is important just as in the novel n Technology is a hindrance to the journey n Makes the story of The Monkey and Monk modern n Akihabara – technology district of Tokyo

Dragon Ball vs. ABC n Reoccurring theme of race for Jin in ABC for Goku in Dragon Ball n Jin wants to be recognized as an American but Goku doesn’t care what other people think n n Goku follows his animal instincts and acts barbaric n Goku doesn’t want to fit in, Jin does Homeland

Team Spirit n An important theme in The Monkey and the Monk is team spirit, which isn’t a theme in ABC, but is a prominent theme in Dragon Ball n All characters until under a common goal despite drastic differences