The Struggle to Be an All-American Girl

1. The Struggle to Be an All-American Girl By Elizabeth Wong

2. Discussion of Paragraph 1 • Why do you think the school was newly painted? As the Chinese school is rather old, its outside must have been discolored and dirty. To make it look attractive, the school was newly painted as a kind of face-lift.

3. 2.What does the existence of the old school imply? The Chinese school is still there, which implies that still there are many Chinese children attending Chinese lessons in the school. Although they live abroad, Chinese parents never forget their own culture and their own language and require that their children learn their mother tongue.

4. Language work in Paragraph 1 1. Despite the new coat of paint and the high wire fence, the school I knew 10 years ago remains remarkably, stoically the same. Although covered with a new coat of paint and enclosed with a high wire fence, the school I knew 10 years ago continues to be the same, showing remarkable defiance of the vicissitudes of time.

5. fence n. structure of rails, stakes, wire, etc., esp. one put round a field or garden to mark a boundary or keep animals from strayinge.g.: (1)The backyard is enclosed with a high wire fence.(2) The field is surrounded with a stake fence.vt. surround, divide, or enclose a field, a garden, etc. with a fencee.g.: (1) His land is fenced with barbed wire.(2) The grounds are fenced in to prevent trespassing.

6. stoically adv. with great self-control and a strong will to endure pain, discomfort, or misfortune without complaining about it or showing signs of feeling ite.g.(1) She behaved stoically during the final phase of her husband's illness.(2)They endured all kinds of hardships stoically.

7. Analysis of Paragraph 1 This paragraph, the beginning of the narrative text, provides the background of the story. From this we readers learn that the Chinese school on Yale Street, where the author and her brother used to go 10 years ago continues to exist there, remaining remarkably and stoically the same, despite its new coat of paint and its fence.

8. Discussion of Paragraph 2-7 What do you know about the headmaster of the Chinese school according to the author's descriptions? He is a stern man who treats the children severely. He tends to punish those children who are lazy, naughty, and poor in their studies, as well as those who violate the school discipline.

9. How did the author describe the classroom where they attended Chinese lessons? There were little chairs in an empty auditorium

10. What else was stressed in the Chinese school besides the emphasis on speaking, reading and writing? • Politeness was also emphasized in the school. The lessons always began with an exercise in politeness. With the entrance of the teacher, the best student would tap a bell and all the children would get up, kowtow, and chant, "Sing san ho, " the phonetic for "How are you, teacher?"

11. What things did the writer consider to be more important and more useful than learning Chinese? • She considered the following things to be more important and more useful: doing multiplication tables, naming the satellites of Mars, writing reports on Little Women and Black Beauty.

12. Language work in Paragraph 2-7 sneak vi. go quietly and secretly in the direction specified e.g.: (1) He stole the money and sneaked out of the house. (2) The cat ate the food and sneaked off. (3) A thief took all the jewels and sneaked away. the empty lot: the vacant or unoccupied area or land

13. plead v. make repeated urgent requests; offer sth. as an explanation orexcuse, esp. for failing to do sth. or for doing sth. wrong.e.g. (1) He pleaded with his parents for a more understanding attitude. (2) She pleaded with him not to leave her alone. (3) The boy pleaded to be allowed to ride on the tractor.

14. dissuadevt. stop sb. from doing sth. by persuasione.g.: (1) He wrote a book to dissuade people from using tobacco.(2) Jim's father tried to dissuade him from marrying Mary.solidly adv. firmly and substantiallye.g.: (1) The house has a solidly-built foundation.(2) We are solidly united on this issue.

15. heritagen. such things as works of art, cultural achievements and folklore that have been passed on from earlier generations; property that has been or may be inherited by an heire.g.(1)These ancient buildings are part of our national heritage.(2) She is the only heir who is entitled to the heritage.

16. No amount of kicking, screaming, or pleading could dissuade my mother, who was solidly determined to have us learn the language of our heritage No matter how desperately my brother and I resisted going to the Chinese school, kicking, yelling, or repeatedly begging, we could not make our mother change her mind, because she was determined to get us to learn Chinese, our mother tongue, which had been passed down from generation to generation.

17. forcibly adv. done by or involving the use of physical force; forcefullye.g.:(1)The policemen entered the building forcibly.(2) The pirates forcibly seized our ship as well as the cargo on it.deposit vt. lay or put sth. down; put money in a bank, esp. to earn intereste.g.: (1)He deposited his papers with his lawyers.(2)He deposited the books on the desk.(3) The money he's deposited in the bank is enough for a new car

18. defiantadj. openly opposing or resisting sb. or sth.e.g.:(1) The trade union adopted a defiant attitude toward the boss's threat.(2) The hardliners are angrily defiant of the government's refusal and threaten to take action.the stern principal: the very disciplinary head of the school;

19. Forcibly, she walked us the seven long, hilly blocks from our home to school, depositing our defiant tearful faces before the stern principal. From our home to school there are seven long groups of buildings bounded by streets on all sides and erected on hilly slopes. She forced us to walk past these blocks, leaving both of us in front of the grim and serious headmaster, our faces showing rebellious reluctance and wet with tears

20. sway v. waver, oscillate irregularly • e.g.:(1)She swayed her body in time with the music.(2) The wind is swaying the tall grass.(3) She swayed the cradle with her foot until the baby went to sleep.(4) The trees were swaying gently in the wind

21. claspvt. hold sb. or sth. tightly in the hand; hold sb. tightly in one's armse.g.: (1) She was clasping a knife.(2) The couple clasped hands briefly before saying good-bye.(3) He clasped her to his chest.witching hands: hands that were moving spasmodically痉挛地; hands with muscles moving rapidly and involuntarily; hands that were violently jerking

22. maniacaladj. violently mad; extremely enthusiastice.g.: (1) We hate his maniacal behavior. (2) The maniacal expression on his face scared his wife to death.(3) These young men are maniacal about football matches.

23. I recognized him as a repressed maniacal child killer, and knew that if we ever saw his hands we'd be in big trouble. In my opinion, the principal was a man who suffered from suppression of emotions and who was so stern and severe that he would be liable to beat up a child. And I knew if we ever saw his twitching hands, we would be in for severe physical punishment, extreme pain, anxiety and worry, etc.

24. The room smelled like Chinese medicine, an imported faraway mustiness. The room gave off a smell very similar to that of Chinese medicine, a stale, mouldy, and damp smell drifting in from a faraway place.

25. mothballn. a small ball made of a strong-smelling substance, used for keeping moths away from stored clothes, books, etc. e.g.(1) She regularly puts mothballs in her wardrobe. (2) She placed two mothballs in the pockets of each of the woolen sweaters and jackets. closet n. a cupboard or small room for storing things e.g.This is a very spacious apartment with three big bedrooms, a large hall, a sitting-room, two toilets, a big kitchen, a closet, and twobalconies.

26. Like ancient mothballs or dirty closets. • This is a prepositional phrase, but it stands alone like an independent clause. In fact, it is part of the previous sentence. We can incorporate it in the previous sentence: The room smelled like Chinese medicine, an imported faraway mustiness, or like ancient mothballs or dirty closets. This structure is known as a sentence fragment, which has a stressed falling tone. Therefore, its meaning is given prominence. The writer intended to make it stand alone like a sentence, because she wanted to emphasize the permeation of the room with a very bad smell just like that given off by mothballs or found in dirty closets.

27. Like the soft French perfume that my American teacher wore in public school. • This is another prepositional phrase. It can, of course, be included in the foregoing sentence. A sentence fragment is believed to be more attractive, more impressive and more emphatic. Here, this prepositional phrase provides a vivid example of the writer's favored scents.

28. tap a bell:strike a bell lightly • chantvt. say, utter, talk or repeat monotonously; sing or intone (a psalm) e.g. (1) The pupils chanted, " How are you, teacher? " (2) She is chanting a melody. (3) They are chanting a psalm.

29. ideographn.ideogram; symbol used in a writing system that represents the idea of a thing; any sign or symbol for sth. e.g.(1)Chinese characters are ideographs. (2) The dictionary includes some ideographs. blotchn. a large, discolored mark, usu. irregular in shape on skin, paper, material, etc. e.g.(1)His face is covered in ugly red blotches. • (2)To me, that picture of his, though said to be a masterpiece in the world of fine art, is merely a mess of blotches.

30. Being ten years old, I had better things to learn than ideographs copied painstakingly in lines that ran right to left from the tip of a moc but, a real ink pen that had to be held in an awkward way if blotches were to be avoided. • As a ten-year-old girl, I had more interesting things to learn than ideograms which were to be written by hand after models, one stroke after another, in lines that ran right to left, from the tip of an ink pen which I had to clasp in a clumsy way if large ink marks, instead of Chinese characters, were not to be made.

31. disassociatevt.separate people or things in one's thoughts or feelings e.g.(1)The teacher disassociated the two ideas. (2) You cannot disassociate the government's actions from the policies that underlie them. dissociate oneself from sb. or sth.: say that one does not agree with or support sb. or sth. e.g.(1)I wish to dissociate myself from those views. (2) She is determined to dissociate herself from the marriage.

32. nag v. scold or criticize continuously; worry or hurt sb. persistentlye.g.(1) She nagged at her child all day long.(2)The problem had been nagging me for a long time.(3) Everybody knows that he's got a nagging wife. fragileadj. easily damaged or broken; delicate; weak, not strong or healthy. e.g.(1) This is a fragile vase; please handle it with care. (2) A fragile girl is vulnerable to illness. (3)The old lady is increasingly fragile after her operation.

33. raunchyadj. coarse or obscene; having or showing a sexual desire e.g.(1) He seldom feels raunchy. (2) That man often tells raunchy stories and cracks raunchy jokes. lilting romance:romance characterized by a light, lively or very cheerful rhythm; works of a literary genre with romantic love or highly imaginative unrealistic episodes forming the central theme, marked by a light sprightly rhythm

34. refinement n. refining or being refined; culture or elegance of manners, taste, language, etc. e.g.(1) The refinement of oil, sugar, etc. has been improved. (2) He is a gentleman of great refinement. (3) All the refinements of the 20th century technology are very surprising. pedestrianadj. dull, lacking imagination or inspiration; of or for pedestrians e.g. (1) The text provides a pedestrian description of the events that were actually very exciting.

35. More times than not, I had tried to disassociate myself from the nagging loud voice that followed me wherever I wandered in the nearby American supermarket outside Chinatown. The voice belonged to my grandmother, a fragile woman in her seventies who could outshout the best street vendor. Her humor was raunchy, her Chinese rhythmless and patternless. It was quick, it was loud, it was not beautiful. It was not like the quiet, lilting romance of French or the gentle refinement of the American South. Chinese sounded pedestrian. Public.

36. Quite often I had made efforts to escape from the annoyingly loud voice that accompanied me wherever I roamed in the nearby American supermarket outside Chinatown. It was my grandmother following me and talking at the top of her voice. Already over 70 years old, she was physically weak and feeble, but she was able to speak loudly, even more loudly than the loudest of the street vendors. She was coarse, and her Chinese was without any rhythm or pattern or proper way of expression. She spoke Chinese quickly, loudly and unpleasantly. Her Chinese was quite different from the elegant and romantic French or the graceful, cultured sounds of the American South. Chinese sounded very dull, incapable of arousing imagination or inspiration. It sounded average and commonplace, without any distinctive or noble characteristics.

37. Detailed Study of Paras 8-11 • (1)What did the author think of her grandmother's Chinese? • She thought that her grandmother's Chinese sounded rhythmless and patternless, that it was quick, it was loud, and it wasn't beautiful, and that her Chinese sounded pedestrian.

38. (2) What do you know about the author's English proficiency? • She spoke English very fast and very well so that she was able to keep up with the world outside Chinatown. • (4) How was the author's mother's level of English? • She was not able to speak English well. She spoke pidgin English, and she had trouble pronouncing some words, particularly words with the "r" sound.

39. (3) What do you know about the author's brother? • Her brother was even more fanatical about speaking English. He was especially hard on his mother, criticizing her, often cruelly, for her pidgin speech. Sometimes his mother might leave out an occasional "the" or "a", or perhaps a verb of being. He would stop her in mid-sentence: "Say it again, Mom. Say it right." However, when he tripped over his own tongue, he'd blame it on her: "See, Mom, it's all your fault. You set a bad example." Clearly, her brother spoke very good English. He was very strict with his mother when she made grammatical errors.

40. Language Work • chaotic and frenzied: completely disorganized and wildly excited, agitated, or frantic; in a state of complete disorder or confusion and extreme excitement or wild activity • talking gibberish:talking nonsense; talking unintelligibly; engaging in unintelligible talks • sweetlyadv. amiably, pleasantly; charmingly,attractively e.g.(1) She smiles sweetly whenever she comes across her colleagues. (2) She smiles and nods sweetly before she begins to talk.

41. cluckvi. make a noise that a hen makes when calling her chicks; express sth. by making a similar sound e.g.(1) The hen is clucking, while calling her chicks. (2) Whenever she has made progress, her mother will cluck and say, "You are a nice girl." • do well: be successful or prosperous; be making a good recovery from an illness e.g.(1) Simon is doing very well at school. (2) The patient is doing pretty well after the operation. (3) Mother and baby are doing well.

42. "My, doesn't she move her lips fast, " they would say, meaning that I'd be able to keep up with the world outside Chinatown. • "My goodness, doesn't she speak English fast?" they would say, meaning that I would be able to keep pace with the world outside Chinatown. // "My God, how fast she speaks English!" the people in my culture would say, indicating that I would be able to move or progress at the same rate as the world, and that I would be able to stay well informed and live an active social life outside Chinatown.

43. pidginn. a blending of languages resulting from contact between European traders and local peoples, e.g. in West Africa and Southeast Asia, containing elements of the local language(s) and esp. English, French, or Dutch, and still used for international communication e.g.(1)Her mother speaks pidgin English. (2)There are still many people who speak in pidgin. • chop suey: the English transcript for the Chinese characters "杂碎" A chop suey is a Chinese-style dish of meat stewed and fried with bean sprouts, bamboo shoots and onions, and served with rice.

44. He was especially hard on my mother, criticizing her, often cruelly, for her pidgin speech -- smatterings of Chinese scattered like chop suey in her conversation. • He treated my mother with severity, criticizing her, often mercilessly, for her speech containing elements of both Chinese and English -- words and expressions of Chinese dispersed like chop suey in her conversation.

45. When he tripped over his own tongue, he'd blame it on her: "See, Mom, it's all your fault. You set a bad example." • When he committed a minor error in speech, he would find fault with her, "See, Mom, you're to blame for it. You so often make errors that my speech is affected."

46. infuriate vt. make sb. extremely angry e.g.(1)The man was finally infuriated by her never-ending nagging. (2) They infringed the contract, which infuriated me. corner vt. get (a person or animal) into a position from which it is hard to escape; put sb. into a difficult situation e.g.(1) The escaped prisoner was cornered at last in the dead alley. (2) The interviewer cornered the politician with a particularly tricky question

47. What infuriated my mother most was when my brother cornered her on her consonants, especially "r". • What made my mother extremely angry was when my brother put her into a difficult or awkward situation by asking her to practice her consonants correctly, in particular the consonant "r". // My mother was extremely enraged when my brother put her into an embarrassing situation by finding fault with her consonants and demanding that she pronounce them again and again, in particular the consonant "r".

48. After two years of writing with a moc but and reciting words with multiples of meanings, I finally was granted a cultural divorce. I was permitted to stop Chinese school • After two years' endeavor to write with an ink pen and recite the Chinese words with endless meanings, I finally was allowed to stop. I was given permission not to go to Chinese school any more.

49. I thought of myself as multicultural. I felt that I had been brought up in a home where Chinese and American culture both had an influence on me. • I preferred tacos to egg rolls. I liked tacos better than egg rolls. // I enjoyed tacos more than egg rolls.

50. At last, I was one of you; I wasn't one of them. --- In the end, I became one of you; I was no longer one of them. In this sentence, the author was indicating that she remained a Chinese in spite of all the efforts she had made in order to become an American.