There are numerous parts of Bich Minh Nguyen's essay that I can relate to as a child. I can recall how the gold stars in some classrooms made students stand out on a daily basis; how they made one feel at the end of the day. I was a pretty average student for the most part, neither poor nor great, but the stars constantly reminded me where I stood in comparison with the other students. At times the stars would fill with me with a sense of achievement and accomplishment, but other times they would leave me envying other students who seemed to be excelling at a far quicker rate than I. Nguyen's essay contains many truths that are evident throughout her work, specifically when she discusses how the teacher often singles out one student presumably because of their race or ethnicity. I can also remember being very shy when I was younger, much like Nguyen. I can recollect memories of earlier grades where I would say absolutely nothing in fear of the teacher calling on me or shining the spotlight in my direction in any way. I vividly remember others kids, such as Cory Park, with their defiant attitude towards authority and anything it might represent. I always wanted a bit of that insubordinate nature that they possessed.
Bich Minh Nguyen does an excellent job of incorporating personal experience into her essay. Almost the entire essay is founded upon her experiences as a Vietnamese child growing up in a predominately white America in the 1970s. The essay flows at a pace that keeps one interested and is filled with a substantial amount of her own character development as well as her family, teachers, and classmates. The language and emotion conveyed within the essay appears to be very authentic and filled with a lot of sentiment. Nguyen presents multiple situations that the majority of readers can readily identify with growing up in schools across the US and abroad.
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3 comments:
The very beginning of your response was really amazing! I felt like you really had your own authentic voice, as good as or better than Nguyen's. Especially when you explained how it really annoyed you as a younger student to have the gold stars; and be labeled either as a teacher's pet or a dunce. It was really rough in elementary school.
As for your explanation on the essay, I could tell you sort of went off on a summary rather than a response. Otherwise you kept me interested in what you had to say. It was noted that she had an authentic voice due to her personal experiences as an immigrant student. You could of discussed a little more on narrative coherence and communal relevance but I still thought it was a well written response. All you really need to know for that is that she used very vivid descriptions of her childhood and the suffering that she went through, and in the end she sort of had an understanding of why people are the way they are; identity.
Every time I hear gold stars, and school, I think of "School of Rock." But you have a great response to the story as well. You share that talent of authenticty that Nguyen has, that makes your story very believable. When you compared yourself with Bich and how you both were very shy and didn't want to stand out from the crowd, because of the fear to be different. I think that everyone can relate to that and you do a great job on explaining the emotions that you feel. It made me recall on a certain time in my own experience when the same sitation happened to me.
You are a talented writer and sound very articulate when you write. I enjoyed your linking together with Nguyen on your own personal experiences. You both have good authentic voice and narrative coherence, which makes it interesting in what you have to say.
hey hey Brandon. I was really drawn to your responce on the story. I had the same experience as you did with the stars...always being compared to the other students, constantly reminding you that you were just average. I personally hated it. It didn't really help me to strive to be a better student ya know? kind of the other way around. From what you said you seem like the eager to learn student who didn't mind a little attention. I really liked your view on the story. I agree that the way she wrote the essay just gives it a flowy type of feel and that it probably relates to many other students and their difficulties in the US.
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