 Community Reflection Paper Due 11/12!  Papers are to be 3-4 pages long, typed, double-space, 12pt font, with works cited.  Students will briefly summarize the event they attended. Pertinent details may include date, location, sponsoring organization, occasion, and audience.  Students will relate the event they attend to any of the readings, overarching questions, and key themes of our course.  The two major questions to consider: How does this event present a sense of Asian American identity and community? How is it an attempt by Asian Americans to make home in San Diego? announcements

{ the gangster we are all looking for the language of bones and pebbles

 the Buddhist gangster from the North and the Catholic school girl from the South  “War is a bird” (87)  Destruction of parents’ dreams by actual war and also its legacies  Persisting desire to survive, rebel, and dream  “When I grow up I am going to be the gangster we are all looking for” (93)  Destruction of home in Vietnam & San Diego by capitalism  “There is not a trace of blood anywhere except here, in my throat, where I am telling you all this” (99) the gangster

{ question 1 What kind of father is the narrator’s dad? What is their relationship like?

 “The rumors about him are mysterious and mundane…but somehow he alone managed to crawl here, on his hands and knees, to this life” (103)  What memories haunt Ba (105)?  How does the narrator remember their departure (108)? How is Ba affected by it (109)?  The failure of words & loss of identity ( ) memory & trauma

{ question 2 Why does the narrator believe that she sees her future in her father? (116)

 Why does the father become prone to rages (116)?  What does the narrator attempt to forget and why does she think that will protect her ( )?  What does Ba apologize for (118)? And why does the narrator get mad at others for judging her Ba (119)? forgetting & forgiveness

 “ He spread his hands wide open, and said, in Vietnamese, to anyone who could understand, there were things he had lost grasp of” (118)  “’I don’t understand you’” (119)  “’Do you understand?’” (122)  Can you ever understand?  Can you ever name a loss so large that it seems to swallow you whole?  “He made himself small” (122) the failure of language

{ question 3 Why is the father linked to the image of the bones of birds? (124)

I stood outside, looking in through the open window. He looked small. I thought of the bones of birds. I thought of a prized pebble in my palm. I closed my hand into a fist and pressed it hard against my body. (124) the bones of birds

 What are the settings of the last chapter and how could that explain why the author entitles it “nu’o’c”?  Why does Ba constantly consider the image of the woman on the news? Why does he want to go help her (152)?  What is the final image of the novel? Why do you think the author chooses to end the story in this way? nu’o’c