FREE Woman warrior Essay (original) (raw)

The Woman Warrior is a tale of a Chinese American girl-child, called Maxine, born in the United States. Transplanted from their roots in China, her parents naturally drew from their Chinese culture and traditions in raising Maxine. These traditions have been passed on from generation to generation, dating back to 221 BC. The Chinese culture and traditions have many facets, a weaving of reality and fantasies. In The Woman Warrior, Brave Orchid utilizes the Chinese traditions of talk story to shape and affect the life of her daughter Maxine, who is growing up in America. .
Maxine's mother uses several talk stories for parental instruction just as the Chinese have done for centuries. She still drew from her ancestors" culture, even after living in the United States for years. The idea of ever returning to China was a distant dim hope cherished by Maxine's parents. She still thought of her true home as being China. Rufus Cook's critical essay agrees with my interpretation of using a past culture to raise children. " when it came to bringing up their children, they tended to pass on attitudes and values appropriate more to Guandong fishing village- (Cook 136). Brave Orchid's own disrupted memories, or talk stories, of the past dominate Maxine's life. In the first chapter, Brave Orchid uses the talk story "No Name Woman" to teach Maxine about how the Chinese people handle adultery. Before she even begins the story she warns Maxine ""You must not tell anyone-" (Kingston 3). .
Kornemann 2.
I agree with Rufus Cook on his point of the children always being cautioned about not telling, but for a different reason. Cook cites, " Kingston's parents were always cautioning her as a child, although in most cases she had no more idea than anybody else what it was she wasn't suppose to tell"( Cook 140). In contrast, I think Maxine knows what she is not supposed to tell, but she does not know why.

1. A Literary Analysis of The Woman Warrior

The strong characterization of The Woman Warrior demonstrates the empowerment of women. ... The dragon that The Woman Warrior encounters symbolizes the role of women in society. ... The Woman Warrior is inspired by her mother's words, "She said I would grow up a wife and a slave, but she taught me the song of the warrior woman, Fa Mu Lan. I would have to grow up a warrior woman" (Kingston 34). ... When her quest is nearing its completion, The Woman Warrior becomes enlightened. ...

2. The Debate over Beloved by Toni Morrison

There are other novels, such as "The Woman Warrior," by Maxine Hong Kingston, that include instances of infanticide, but they are not depicted in such a way that turns the reader away. "The Woman Warrior" is a novel that includes a mixture of an autobiography of Kingston's life and traditional Chinese folklore. ... Other novels, such as, once again, "The Woman Warrior," depict ghosts, but it is done in such a way that the credibility remains intact. In "The Woman Warrior," the reader knows that the belief of ghosts is realistic because of the setting and the time period. ... "The Woman Wa...

3. Vulgarity in The Woman Warrior

"Vulgarity" in The Woman Warrior -----A Stylistic exploration Abstract: The Woman Warrior is a book written by the great contemporary Chinese American woman writer Maxine Hong Kingston. ... Keywords: Vulgarity postmodern readerly writerly The Woman Warrior is a book written by the great contemporary Chinese American woman writer Maxine Hong Kingston. ... Really we could find purely beautiful and utterly poetic descriptions scattered throughout the pages of The Woman Warrior. ... After we have examined through the book, we find ...

4. Diversity Issues in the The Woman Warrior

Analysis Paper One In The Woman Warrior, the author chronicles her successful struggle to rectify her Chinese heritage and her American upbringing; the acceptance of the resulting combination turns her into a modern day warrior woman. ... Warrior Woman opens with the first talk-story, "No Name Woman", the story of the shame Kingston's aunt brought to the family by having a child while her husband was in America and obviously not the father of her child. ... She adapts the ancient legend of Mu Lan, the warrior woman to Fa Mu Lan, incorporating elements from another tale so that the swo...

5. once were warriors

introduction ONCE WERE WARRIORS is a powerful, explosive film that captures the reality of domestic violence and alcoholism within a family home. ... Jake is from a line of slaves and he is constantly annoyed at the fact that Beth is a proud Maori woman that accepts her heritage. ... "Our people once were warriors. ... -Beth- The film is basically focused on Beth so therefore it is from a woman's point of view. ... ONCE WERE WARRIORS contains many brutal scenes which critics debated over. ...

6. jane eyre and woman warrior

In The Woman Warrior, Maxine Hong Kingston struggles with her identity which reflects her gender and cultural ideas. ... She wants to show the responders that she is a woman warrior. ... In The Woman Warrior, Kingston uses many techniques typical of Chinese writing, suggesting some of the influences on her of her Chinese roots. ... Woman Warrior can be viewed as Kingston's inner journey of self-discovery of struggles at the margin and power gained through adversity. ... In the end, it becomes obvious that The Woman Warrior is neither a purely American book nor a purely Chinese book. ...

7. Review Of The Woman Warrior

Review of: The Woman Warrior When I first picked up the book and read the title, The Woman Warrior, I feared for my life that this was going to be another boring book that had been assigned because it was the only book the professor could find that was dealing with the material we cover in class. ... It amazed me to read how the little girl was taken from her home and trained for many years to become a warrior just like a man would be. ...

8. Woman Warrior

East Meets West Children raised in a culture different from their parents' often present an interesting viewpoint. The Woman Warrior: Memories of a Girlhood Among Ghosts is no exception. Maxine Hong Kingston masterfully blends the mythical storytelling of Old China with her past and present exp...

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