5/4/3/2/1 NOTES # 7
5) *Mai is telling us the environment going around while she was in the Pan Am Flight, an airplane in which she left her country with the illusion or proposal that she would come back.
*Once she was in the plane, she says that she saw a country in which everything it was and was before was gone and that nothing looked to be the same from high above.
*" The fear of separation I suddenly understood that day to be a fear as primordial as the fear of death." Mai expresses in page number 97 showing the profound terror she had when it came to leave her loved country.
*After the "two months" had passed, it had felt like "light years afterward" Mai says she saw her future unfold on television as many must have seen on April of 1975 when The Vietnamese country suffered the most cruel attack and all population had to just stand and wait for the bullets and the Americans left.
*America finally decided to leave the country find their own solution as it should have been since the beginning. They shouldn't have been there forcing a country to become what they wanted just like Puerto Rico.
4) *Why is this flight so important for us in order to comprehend the story?
*What really happened on April 1975?
*Who won the Vietnam War?
*How did this event on April 1975 affect Mai's future?
3) *Ether: the atmosphere.
*Clench: compress.
*Indeed: without a doubt.
*Transfix: mesmerize.
2) *Hyperbole and Simile: "The flight attendants moved back and forth, floating in and out of the cockpit as astronauts." (97)
*Metaphor: " a galaxy of electronic devices, phosphorescent squares and flashing red lights, put on tiny beeps as the captain announced our take off." (97)
1) In this part of the book, Mai has now taken the Pan Am flight and she has arrived to the house. Also, she has seen on TV what she call the her "unfold future" because of what happened in Vietnam on April, 1975 when the Vietnamese country suffered the biggest attack of all and the Americans retreated and left the country to decide their own future as it should have bee since the beginning.
Monday, April 27, 2009
5/4/3/2/1 NOTES # 6
5) *At this point, Mai is boarding an airplane heading to Hartford, where they-she and her uncle- would head to the house in Farmington.
*Before Mai left Saigon, it had been "hit by rockets several days before" (94). Perhaps this could have provoked the final decision that the family made of coming to America besides the other fact of education.
*Mai did not know any political activities going on in her country because she was thirteen when her mom first told her that there would be no debacle, but the opposite happened.
*"A communist victory was practically inevitable and preordained as early as 1973, when South Vietnam had had to sign the Paris Peace Accords under considerable American pressure."(95). This quote shows us the history behind the Vietnam war and also help us to better understand the novel because it becomes a historical context.
*During most of her childhood and juvenile life, Mai was completely into a world dominated by her mom as she explains in the quote, "mine was still an unimpaired world in which my mother's words were the complete truth.
4) *Why is this novel going like back and forth?
*How is it that Mai is now coming to the United States again?
*How involved was the United States in the Vietnam War?
*What is the Paris Peace Accords?
3) *Debacle: catastrophe.
*Tarmac: black top.
*Hum: whine.
*Stillness: motionlessness.
2) *Simile: "People sat like scarecrows in their assigned seats" page # 96
*Metaphor: "the red apricot glow of rocket fire still glued to the far end of the sky". Page # 96
1) Right now Mai apparently has going back in time and has started to tell us the story of how and why she came to the United States. Nevertheless it got me confused when she just changed setting from one chapter to another, but this change of setting wasn't only of radical places but radical time.
5) *At this point, Mai is boarding an airplane heading to Hartford, where they-she and her uncle- would head to the house in Farmington.
*Before Mai left Saigon, it had been "hit by rockets several days before" (94). Perhaps this could have provoked the final decision that the family made of coming to America besides the other fact of education.
*Mai did not know any political activities going on in her country because she was thirteen when her mom first told her that there would be no debacle, but the opposite happened.
*"A communist victory was practically inevitable and preordained as early as 1973, when South Vietnam had had to sign the Paris Peace Accords under considerable American pressure."(95). This quote shows us the history behind the Vietnam war and also help us to better understand the novel because it becomes a historical context.
*During most of her childhood and juvenile life, Mai was completely into a world dominated by her mom as she explains in the quote, "mine was still an unimpaired world in which my mother's words were the complete truth.
4) *Why is this novel going like back and forth?
*How is it that Mai is now coming to the United States again?
*How involved was the United States in the Vietnam War?
*What is the Paris Peace Accords?
3) *Debacle: catastrophe.
*Tarmac: black top.
*Hum: whine.
*Stillness: motionlessness.
2) *Simile: "People sat like scarecrows in their assigned seats" page # 96
*Metaphor: "the red apricot glow of rocket fire still glued to the far end of the sky". Page # 96
1) Right now Mai apparently has going back in time and has started to tell us the story of how and why she came to the United States. Nevertheless it got me confused when she just changed setting from one chapter to another, but this change of setting wasn't only of radical places but radical time.
5/4/3/2/1 NOTES #5
5) *Mai's mom is a very devoted catholic. She became a catholic in a French boarding school.
*Mai's mom says that her in America everything changes at a point that everything turns all the way around of what we are used to see and feel. She says in page number 60 " In Vietnam, the saying used to be 'parents point, children sit.' In this country, it's become 'Children point, parents sit.' "
*Mai's mom says in her letter that it was because of her long, long ears that she was first tugged from her mother's womb.
*Mai also says that college is the "American equivalent of the Shaolin Temple and the bo tree and the emperor's court and other, similar nonsense." Pg. number 53
*Baba Quan is described as a "not big man, and although he could look delicate and slender like an impeccable specimen of driftwood, it would be more accurate to compare him to a bamboo.
4) *Why does our narrator tell us her mom's religion?
*Why does the narrator tell us about Baba Quan's features and character until now?
*Why is Baba Quan very a religious character?
*What does Baba Quan mean when he says " the farther we wander from the earth and water of the burial ground, the weaker our ties to our ancestors become" on page number 59?
3) *Burial: interment.
*Bulge: protuberance.
*Reassure: encourage.
*Sleek: glossy.
2) *Simile: " and slender like an impeccable specimen of driftwood." Page number 59.
*Hyperbole: "it can get so cold that dragons have to blow fire into the sun so hard their scales drop off." Page number 48.
1) In this chapter number 6, a little of background and exposition is shown with the exposition of Baba Quan' features and character. Also, we discovered that Mai's mom is a devoted catholic because of the school she went to, and her more of the story of her ears.
5) *Mai's mom is a very devoted catholic. She became a catholic in a French boarding school.
*Mai's mom says that her in America everything changes at a point that everything turns all the way around of what we are used to see and feel. She says in page number 60 " In Vietnam, the saying used to be 'parents point, children sit.' In this country, it's become 'Children point, parents sit.' "
*Mai's mom says in her letter that it was because of her long, long ears that she was first tugged from her mother's womb.
*Mai also says that college is the "American equivalent of the Shaolin Temple and the bo tree and the emperor's court and other, similar nonsense." Pg. number 53
*Baba Quan is described as a "not big man, and although he could look delicate and slender like an impeccable specimen of driftwood, it would be more accurate to compare him to a bamboo.
4) *Why does our narrator tell us her mom's religion?
*Why does the narrator tell us about Baba Quan's features and character until now?
*Why is Baba Quan very a religious character?
*What does Baba Quan mean when he says " the farther we wander from the earth and water of the burial ground, the weaker our ties to our ancestors become" on page number 59?
3) *Burial: interment.
*Bulge: protuberance.
*Reassure: encourage.
*Sleek: glossy.
2) *Simile: " and slender like an impeccable specimen of driftwood." Page number 59.
*Hyperbole: "it can get so cold that dragons have to blow fire into the sun so hard their scales drop off." Page number 48.
1) In this chapter number 6, a little of background and exposition is shown with the exposition of Baba Quan' features and character. Also, we discovered that Mai's mom is a devoted catholic because of the school she went to, and her more of the story of her ears.
5/4/3/2/1 NOTES # 4
5) *The only reason why Mai wanted to leave was because she wanted to attend to college as she says in one of her quotes in page number 32. "I tricked her into believing the reason I wanted to leave was to attend to college, not to flee from a phantom world that could no longer offer comfort or sanctuary."
*Mai is the kind of person who does not believed in the spiritual world. As she clarifies in page number 46 " If I were the kind of person who believed in the spirit world, I would describe the feeling as that of someone who had come upon the presence of an enormous ghost."
*Mai has found a letter that her mom had hidden for a long time. In this letter her mom clarifies how she got her ears to be like they are, deformed.
*Mai's mom says that she inherited her grandmother's ears from a strange ritual they used to do when Mai's mom was little.
*Besides, in this letter Mai's mom declares that she is very worried about what Mai does and wants because she is the most important part of her life.
4) *Why is the story of her ears involved in the situation?
*When did they start to talk about their ears?
*What does Baba Quan have to do with all these story of the ears?
3) *Stupor: state of unconsciousness.
*Tassel: decoration.
*Pummel: punch.
*Monsoon: torrential rain.
2) Hyperbole: "it can get so cold that their breath does acrobatics in the air just to keep warm."
*Personification: "its muscular letters, erect and vertical, marched across."
1) At this point of the book, we have been shown that Mai, which for the first time was name-mentioned, is completely the opposite of her mother. First because Mai is not a spiritual girl at all, meaning that she doesn't have the same believes of her mother. Secondly because Mai does not want to stay in the same situation as her mother, Mai wants to go to college and become something else. Also, in this part of the book the story of the deformed ears is presented to the reader and we now know that is inherited from generation to generation. Since the strange rituals from a long time ago.
5) *The only reason why Mai wanted to leave was because she wanted to attend to college as she says in one of her quotes in page number 32. "I tricked her into believing the reason I wanted to leave was to attend to college, not to flee from a phantom world that could no longer offer comfort or sanctuary."
*Mai is the kind of person who does not believed in the spiritual world. As she clarifies in page number 46 " If I were the kind of person who believed in the spirit world, I would describe the feeling as that of someone who had come upon the presence of an enormous ghost."
*Mai has found a letter that her mom had hidden for a long time. In this letter her mom clarifies how she got her ears to be like they are, deformed.
*Mai's mom says that she inherited her grandmother's ears from a strange ritual they used to do when Mai's mom was little.
*Besides, in this letter Mai's mom declares that she is very worried about what Mai does and wants because she is the most important part of her life.
4) *Why is the story of her ears involved in the situation?
*When did they start to talk about their ears?
*What does Baba Quan have to do with all these story of the ears?
3) *Stupor: state of unconsciousness.
*Tassel: decoration.
*Pummel: punch.
*Monsoon: torrential rain.
2) Hyperbole: "it can get so cold that their breath does acrobatics in the air just to keep warm."
*Personification: "its muscular letters, erect and vertical, marched across."
1) At this point of the book, we have been shown that Mai, which for the first time was name-mentioned, is completely the opposite of her mother. First because Mai is not a spiritual girl at all, meaning that she doesn't have the same believes of her mother. Secondly because Mai does not want to stay in the same situation as her mother, Mai wants to go to college and become something else. Also, in this part of the book the story of the deformed ears is presented to the reader and we now know that is inherited from generation to generation. Since the strange rituals from a long time ago.
5/4/3/2/1 Notes # 3
5) *The narrator was told that she would just stay temporarily with Colonel Michael McMahon and her Aunt Mary and she would return to Vietnam when the communist offensive was pushed back.
*A few months before she came to the United States of America, the war ended in Vietnam but our character never went back to her loved country.
*The narrator stayed separated from her mother for six months because mom was trying to convince Baba Quan, her father, to come to the United States, nevertheless as we know old people always want to stay where they are and die in the same place.
*Apparently, her mother has had issues with the Americans because in one quote she says " you have to stand up to the Americans if you want anything in this country". This means that perhaps in someway she has confronted conflicts in this country already.
*According to her father, "one wrong move" was what decided or conduced the course on one's life. It is something like "think before you leap" meaning.
4) * Who is Ho Minh?
*What type of war was going on in Vietnam by that period time?
*Why did the family never return to Vietnam?
*Who governed the United States by that time?
3) *Impend: be about to happen.
*Hex: curse.
*Prowl: hang around.
*Plaster: make public.
2) *Simile: " his beard, my father described, silver and majestic like a thunderbolt in a dark night.
*Vocabulary word: in page number 20, there is a word from our vocabulary book. The word is "ominous."
1) in this part of the book, we see that the narrator has told us the story of how and why she came to the United States. She has also showed us the reason her mom gave her so she would come to the country. Her mom told her that after the war was done they would go back to their home country. Nevertheless the war ended and they never went back to Vietnam.
5) *The narrator was told that she would just stay temporarily with Colonel Michael McMahon and her Aunt Mary and she would return to Vietnam when the communist offensive was pushed back.
*A few months before she came to the United States of America, the war ended in Vietnam but our character never went back to her loved country.
*The narrator stayed separated from her mother for six months because mom was trying to convince Baba Quan, her father, to come to the United States, nevertheless as we know old people always want to stay where they are and die in the same place.
*Apparently, her mother has had issues with the Americans because in one quote she says " you have to stand up to the Americans if you want anything in this country". This means that perhaps in someway she has confronted conflicts in this country already.
*According to her father, "one wrong move" was what decided or conduced the course on one's life. It is something like "think before you leap" meaning.
4) * Who is Ho Minh?
*What type of war was going on in Vietnam by that period time?
*Why did the family never return to Vietnam?
*Who governed the United States by that time?
3) *Impend: be about to happen.
*Hex: curse.
*Prowl: hang around.
*Plaster: make public.
2) *Simile: " his beard, my father described, silver and majestic like a thunderbolt in a dark night.
*Vocabulary word: in page number 20, there is a word from our vocabulary book. The word is "ominous."
1) in this part of the book, we see that the narrator has told us the story of how and why she came to the United States. She has also showed us the reason her mom gave her so she would come to the country. Her mom told her that after the war was done they would go back to their home country. Nevertheless the war ended and they never went back to Vietnam.
Monday, April 13, 2009
5/4/3/2/1 Notes #2
5) * The characters, the protagonist and Bobbie are heading to Canada in order to call Baba Quan and tell him that Mama is sick.
*Background: in 1975 thousands of Indochinese began settling in Virginia. They came to the country as refuges from the Vietnam War.
*Their mission in Canada was to phone the post office from Vietnam and have the Baba Quan located, and tell him that his daughter was in the hospital with a blood clot in her brain.
*Apparently, Baba Quan had never assumed his role as father or had never gotten his fatherhood as the writer says in the quote" He would assume a new form and step into the ways of fatherhood."
*Our main character is heading to college and needs her grandfather to come to America to take care of her daughter in order for her to can go to college.
4) *Why do they have to travel all the way to Canada to call Baba Quan?
*How did the Indochinese refugees come to America?
*Who else lives with the character and her mom?
*How old is the character? Because they are driving.
3) *Cozy: pleasant.
*Tug: jerk.
*Jiggle: waggle.
*Gust: blast of air.
2) *Personification: " But the vast vacant sky was shrinking fast." The author has given the sky characteristics of living organisms.
*Allusion: in page number 21, the author makes reference of a major league baseball team, The Orioles.
1) At this point, our characters are heading towards Canada to call her grandfather and tell him that Mom is in the hospital with a blood clot in her brain so he could now " assume a new form and step into the ways of fatherhood" the author says in page number 17. Also, now we now what the real purpose of this trip is for; she wants Baba Quan to come to America so she can go to college while he takes care of her sick mom at home.
5) * The characters, the protagonist and Bobbie are heading to Canada in order to call Baba Quan and tell him that Mama is sick.
*Background: in 1975 thousands of Indochinese began settling in Virginia. They came to the country as refuges from the Vietnam War.
*Their mission in Canada was to phone the post office from Vietnam and have the Baba Quan located, and tell him that his daughter was in the hospital with a blood clot in her brain.
*Apparently, Baba Quan had never assumed his role as father or had never gotten his fatherhood as the writer says in the quote" He would assume a new form and step into the ways of fatherhood."
*Our main character is heading to college and needs her grandfather to come to America to take care of her daughter in order for her to can go to college.
4) *Why do they have to travel all the way to Canada to call Baba Quan?
*How did the Indochinese refugees come to America?
*Who else lives with the character and her mom?
*How old is the character? Because they are driving.
3) *Cozy: pleasant.
*Tug: jerk.
*Jiggle: waggle.
*Gust: blast of air.
2) *Personification: " But the vast vacant sky was shrinking fast." The author has given the sky characteristics of living organisms.
*Allusion: in page number 21, the author makes reference of a major league baseball team, The Orioles.
1) At this point, our characters are heading towards Canada to call her grandfather and tell him that Mom is in the hospital with a blood clot in her brain so he could now " assume a new form and step into the ways of fatherhood" the author says in page number 17. Also, now we now what the real purpose of this trip is for; she wants Baba Quan to come to America so she can go to college while he takes care of her sick mom at home.
Monday, March 30, 2009
5/4/3/2/1 NOTES # 1 Monkey Bridge
5) *Setting: the story is happening at Arlington Hospital some day around 1978.
*It seems that the narrator has immigrated to the United States when he/she was very young. She moved from Saigon, Vietnam.
*The narrator explains that she/he moved fro that country because of military issues.
*The narrator's mom apparently suffered a domestic accident five years before this, and this accident provoked the deformation of her face. Also, the narrator introduces us to Bobbie, the narrator's best friend from High school.
*During most of this very first chapter, the narrator has described his/her mom and the story of the accident and also the description of where they are right now, Arlington Hospital.
4) *What was happening in Vietnam by the 1970's?
*How was the environment during those military problems?
*Why is the narrator describing his/her mom a lot?
*Why is the narrator so scared of Saigon, Vietnam?
3) *Languidly: energetically.
*Sturdy: powerful.
*Subvert: destabilize.
*Hollowness: empty space.
*Coax: persuade.
2) *Exposition: in this chapter, the narrator has introduced us to the setting of the story and also some background that could explain and give more sense of why the situation is happening. Also characters such as Bobbie, mom, and Baba Quan are introduced.
*Imagery: "The smell of blood, warn and wet, rose from the floor and settled into the solemn stillness of the hospital." Page # 1. This quote shows imagery because it gives us a sense of images and makes the reader sense in almost the five senses.
1) In chapter number one, we have been introduced to the story with some background to better understand what is going on in the story. The characters are at Arlington Hospital taking care of mom's accident that now has to be revised at the hospital. Also, mom has some dreams that involve the narrator's grandfather, Baba Quan, who could have maybe been a very important part of this family's life.
5) *Setting: the story is happening at Arlington Hospital some day around 1978.
*It seems that the narrator has immigrated to the United States when he/she was very young. She moved from Saigon, Vietnam.
*The narrator explains that she/he moved fro that country because of military issues.
*The narrator's mom apparently suffered a domestic accident five years before this, and this accident provoked the deformation of her face. Also, the narrator introduces us to Bobbie, the narrator's best friend from High school.
*During most of this very first chapter, the narrator has described his/her mom and the story of the accident and also the description of where they are right now, Arlington Hospital.
4) *What was happening in Vietnam by the 1970's?
*How was the environment during those military problems?
*Why is the narrator describing his/her mom a lot?
*Why is the narrator so scared of Saigon, Vietnam?
3) *Languidly: energetically.
*Sturdy: powerful.
*Subvert: destabilize.
*Hollowness: empty space.
*Coax: persuade.
2) *Exposition: in this chapter, the narrator has introduced us to the setting of the story and also some background that could explain and give more sense of why the situation is happening. Also characters such as Bobbie, mom, and Baba Quan are introduced.
*Imagery: "The smell of blood, warn and wet, rose from the floor and settled into the solemn stillness of the hospital." Page # 1. This quote shows imagery because it gives us a sense of images and makes the reader sense in almost the five senses.
1) In chapter number one, we have been introduced to the story with some background to better understand what is going on in the story. The characters are at Arlington Hospital taking care of mom's accident that now has to be revised at the hospital. Also, mom has some dreams that involve the narrator's grandfather, Baba Quan, who could have maybe been a very important part of this family's life.
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