Students should keep a running tab on Kimberly, Aunt Paula, Ma. . . . Put page numbers next to the characters. We will pick up where we left off in the morning. Post the character profile at the link tomorrow.
Freewrite:
We also spoke about a feminist reading of the character Kimberly (see Writing about Literature). How is she a heroine and how is Girl in Translation a hero's journey?
11 comments:
Giao Bui
English 1B
Professor Sabir
6 March 2012
The plot of Girl in Translation has many elements that are found in a hero's journey. Kimberley is a heroine because she had immigrate to the United States leaving behind a more familiar place, Hong Kong. Like the protagonist in a hero's journey, she is reluctant to change and therefore plays hooky. However, she knows that she is the one who must learn to become independent to help her mother and starts going to school. School is not as bad as it seems because Kimberley finds a helper and friend Annette. The rest of the book is about Kimberley proving to herself, through tests and succeeding in her education.
Marie Heide
English 1B
Prof. Sabir
07 March 2012
Kimberly, one of the main characters in Girl in Translation, can be viewed as a heroine on a hero’s journey. Kim has just moved to America from Hong Kong with her mother in hopes of starting a more prosperous life and future for herself and her mother. Kim can be looked upon as a hero because she must learn the ways of American life in order to fit in at school, and must also learn to speak English. She must quickly adapt to Western life and its ways, while at the same time, place her Chinese identity behind her in order to fit in at school and in society as a whole.
Kim is on a heroes journey because she must maintain her Chinese roots, and at the same time, pick up “new” roots if she is ever to feel a part of the American way of life. She must become and remain strong in order to survive in this new world. It is definitely a culture shock for Kim to be able to adapt to this new culture and remain strong for herself and her mom.
Sherrlyne Apostol
English 1B
Professor Sabir
7 March 2012
Kimberly is a hero to everyone who found it difficult to move into an new and unfamiliar place. As a child she was forced to be independent and be strong for herself as well as her mother. I can only imagine how difficult and scary it was to try to adapt to a place so different from home. Worst is having to go to school and being humiliated by her own teacher in front of the entire class or being ripped off with her mother when they were at the store.. It's difficult being the outcast even worst is trying to overcome a language barrier. She is forced to learn new traditions but at the same time keep the ones from her own culture. Kimberly's strength and perserverance to overcome the obsticales that come with moving to a new place is admiral. She kept moving on despite all the times she lost hope. She needed to keep pushing because she owed it to her mother to work hard because her mother worked hard. Her confidence, determination, and effort is enough for her to be considered a hero.
Billy
English 1B
professor Sabir
7 March 2012
Kimberly is clearly the hero of Girl in Translation. She is an American immigrant from Hong Kong. Kim is responsible for taking care of everything that is in English because her mother speaks only a few words. She has a tremendous amount of weight on her shoulders, because it is up to her to succeed in America, if she doesn't her mother will be trapped in her evil aunts sweatshop forever. Kim has only her mother, her father died of a heart attack back in Hong Kong. Therefore, Kim has no one to guide her through the extremely different and challenging western world. Kim is able to fight through these challenges and excels in school for the purpose of honering her family and getting her Ma out of the sweatshop.
*Billy Russell
Ryan James Gozinsky-Irwin
English 1B
Professor Wanda Sabir
March 12,2012
Period 8-8:50
Kimberley moved to New York from Hong Kong when was very young leading her to being a young lady lost in tied up in a not just verbal translation but, a cultural translation. She moved away from what was familiar to her into a completely new dirty, mice and rat infested hope for a better future. As Kimberly and her mother Ma embark on their journey together in Manhattan, Kimberly ends up having to guide her mother as she enters into school. School encouraged and served Kimberley as an outlet to fuel her knowledge about the English language and customs of the cultural. For example the comparison she made between Chinese classrooms and America about how the different cultures clean a class after the duration of the class. Being as young as she is, Kimberley is just a sponge to absorb as much information possible to take care of herself and her mother.
Ryan James Gozinsky-Irwin
English 1B
Professor Wanda Sabir
March 12,2012
Period 8-8:50
Kimberley moved to New York from Hong Kong when was very young leading her to being a young lady lost in tied up in a not just verbal translation but, a cultural translation. She moved away from what was familiar to her into a completely new dirty, mice and rat infested hope for a better future. As Kimberly and her mother Ma embark on their journey together in Manhattan, Kimberly ends up having to guide her mother as she enters into school. School encouraged and served Kimberley as an outlet to fuel her knowledge about the English language and customs of the cultural. For example the comparison she made between Chinese classrooms and America about how the different cultures clean a class after the duration of the class. Being as young as she is, Kimberley is just a sponge to absorb as much information possible to take care of herself and her mother.
Maribel Arrizon
English 1B
Professor Sabir
22 March 2012
Kimberly’s life, the protagonist of “Girl in Translation by Jean Kwok is the perfect example of a hero’s journey. Kimberly is taken from her home and comfort, forced to be strong and independent to survive and care for her mother in a world where at first she doesn’t even speak the language.
One of the most important steps in a hero’s journey is going through the abyss, which is when the hero has lost practically all hope and is in danger of failing. Kimberly also experiences this when she gets pregnant with Matt’s child. She is forced to make a decision that will have bad consequences in many ways. She has to decide whether or not to give up on becoming a doctor to be with Matt because of Matt’s desire to be the sole provider.
“Girl in Translation” is an extremely good example of a hero’s journey, not only because Kimberly overcomes her economic and language barriers but also because Kimberly becomes a successful woman in a time when the feminist movement is young. She goes through two hero’s journey in fact.
Mariam Assana
English 1B
Professor Wanda Sabir
March 12,2012
Period 8-8:50
Kimberley moved to New York from Hong Kong when was very young leading her to being a young lady lost in tied up in a not just verbal translation but, a cultural translation. She moved away from what was familiar to her into a completely new dirty, mice and rat infested hope for a better future. As Kimberly and her mother Ma embark on their journey together in Manhattan, Kimberly ends up having to guide her mother as she enters into school. School encouraged and served Kimberley as an outlet to fuel her knowledge about the English language and customs of the cultural. For example the comparison she made between Chinese classrooms and America about how the different cultures clean a class after the duration of the class. Being as young as she is, Kimberley is just a sponge to absorb as much information possible to take care of herself and her mother
Brittney Brunner
Prof. Wanda Sabir
Enlgish 1B
Girl in Translation is a hero's story. She came from a place that was different than where she ended up at like Superman, She had to fight off her enemies like Batman, She gained a super cool sidekick, Annette, like Robin, and she grew into a young woman, with more knowlege and a little more power as she went on like Wonder Woman. She did what some other people would fear to do. She set an example, and others may feel that if she can do it, they can do it as well. She was someone to look up to.
Vanessa Dilworth
Professor Sabir
English 1B
16 May 2012
Lost in Translation- Kim the Heroine
I believe that Kim is a heroine because she is the sole antagonist in Lost in Translation that radically excels in school and weeds her and her mother out of extreme poverty. Lost in Translation can be looked at as a heroine’s journey because of all the things that Kim overcomes. First, Kim leaves Hong Kong for the Big Apple, and her life begins anew in a foreign land. Although, Kim was a gifted student in Hong Kong she doesn’t excel at first in American schools because of the language barrier. In order to get her and her mother out of poverty she must grab hold of the American dream and excel in school by learning the language. This hardship, however, beings to wane on Kim she begins skipping school. Refusal of the call. However, this passes and she goes to school determined to learn English and excel as she once did before. Kim then is accepted into Harrison, a private institution, which is even more foreign to her to assist herself to further her journey. The final step in a heroine’s quest is the death of the old the separation into the new that can be seen as a dark point but is in fact a transformation. Kim gets pregnant and is torn between not living up to her highest potential with her lover Matt or leaving him forever and raising their child alone. In the end, she chooses to leave and live her life without him and takes care of her family by becoming a pediatric heart surgeon.
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