PART 3 Extending and Remaking Traditions The Museum of Modern Art, 1973. Malcah Zeldis. “We became filled with a hunger — I call it now, sometimes, Latino Hunger. A hunger to see ourselves, our families and friends, our values and lives and realities reflected in something other than our own minds.” — Carmen Tafolla, “Mi Familia” 1257 Malcah Zeldis / Art Resource, NY 1257 U7P3-845481.indd 1257 4/17/06 9:53:21 PM BEFORE YOU READ from The Woman Warrior MEET MAXINE HONG KINGSTON inding meaning was Maxine Hong Kingston’s growing up female and Chinese American in primary mission when she began to write California . it is antinostalgic; it burns the fat FThe Woman Warrior: Memories of a Girlhood right out of the mind. As a dream—of the ‘female among Ghosts. The American daughter of Chinese avenger’—it is dizzying, elemental, a poem turned immigrants, Kingston had long been fascinated by into a sword.” the differing ways in which women were viewed by her parents and by other Chinese immigrants of their generation. In talking to her parents, Kingston discovered that cherished myths about “I have no idea how people who don’t powerful warrior women existed side by side with write endure their lives . words and what Kingston perceived as sexist ideas. Kingston’s stories create order. And some of the mother often sang the Ballad of Mu Lan, about a young woman who took her father’s place in bat- things that happen to us in life seem to tle. She also talked about her own experiences have no meaning, but when you write training and working as a doctor in China at a time when few women could gain an education, them down you find the meanings for take on a profession, or work outside the home. them . .” Nevertheless, Kingston’s mother would often say, “It’s better to raise geese than girls.” —Maxine Hong Kingston A Life of Her Own KingstonKingston beganbegan writingwriting poetrypoetry whenwhen sheshe waswas nnineine yyearsears old.old. A While she was still writing The Woman Warrior, talentedtalented student,student, sshehe attendedattended thethe Kingston began another work, China Men, which UniversityUniversity ofof CaliforniaCalifornia atat BerkeleyBerkeley later won the American Book Award. She consid- beforebefore marryingmarrying EarllEarll Kingston,Kingston, aann ers the two books one big book. The first is the actor.actor. SheShe taughttaught EnglishEnglish andand ccre-re- story of the women in her family, the second, the ativeative writingwriting forfor almostalmost a ddecadeecade story of the men. beforebefore submittingsubmitting herher wwritingriting In recent years, Kingston has written articles, nov- forfor publication.publication. els, nonfiction, and many short stories. In addition WritingWriting as a WayWay of to her writing, Kingston teaches English and math. Life Kingston’sKingston’s firstfirst bbook,ook, She has said, “I get a recurring dream in which my TThehe WWomanoman WWarrior,arrior, won mother appears and she says to me: ‘What have thethe NationalNational BBookook CCritics’ritics’ you done to educate America? Have you educated CircleCircle AwardAward andand waswas America yet? And what about the rest of the namednamed oneone ooff thethe tenten bbestest world? Have you gotten them educated yet?’ . nnononffictioniction bbooksooks ooff tthehe Those are my orders!” 1970s by Time magazine. In the Maxine Hong Kingston was born in 1940. New York Times, John Leonard wrote, “As an Author Search For more about account of Maxine Hong Kingston, go to www.glencoe.com. 1258 UNIT 7 INTO THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY Doug Menuez/CORBIS 1258-1267 U7P3APP-845481.indd 1258 4/17/06 9:54:09 PM LITERATURE PREVIEW READING PREVIEW Connecting to the Story Reading Strategy Making Inferences About The following story describes the thoughts and atti- Characters tudes of family members on the day of a long-awaited When you make inferences, you use your reason and reunion. As you read the story, think about the experience to understand what an author does not say following questions: directly. Inferring helps you look more deeply at char- • How does a person change over time? acters and points you toward the theme, or overall • When family members have been raised in different message, of a selection. cultures, how does it affect their relationships with one another? Reading Tip: Character Web Use a web like the one below to record details about the main character Building Background in the selection, Brave Orchid. Then record the infer- ences you make based on these details. The main character in this selection is Kingston’s mother, Brave Orchid. When Brave Orchid came to the United States, she left her younger sister, Moon Orchid, behind in China. Moon Orchid later joined her Thoughts sister in 1969. During that time, the Vietnam War was Words and conversation Actions under way, and the U.S. military had drafted hundreds of thousands of young men to fight in it. The war was Inferences becoming increasingly unpopular, and many draft-age men went to Canada to avoid going to Vietnam. The war was on Brave Orchid’s mind as she waited at the airport to welcome her sister to a new country. Vocabulary downy (doun e¯ ) adj. soft and fluffy, like the Setting Purposes for Reading feathers of young birds; p. 1261 With their Big Idea Extending and Remaking downy feathers, baby birds look innocent and cute. Traditions inaudibly (in o də ble¯ ) adv. in a manner not As you read, notice that Kingston’s subject matter, the able to be heard; p. 1263 We could see her lives of immigrants and their families, allows her to mouth moving, but she was speaking inaudibly. present a fresh take on U.S. culture and history. gravity (ravə te¯ ) n. seriousness; importance p. 1263 He wanted to laugh but didn’t because he Literary Element Exposition recognized the gravity of the graduation ceremony. Exposition in nonfiction presents information that oblivious (ə blive¯ əs) adj. without conscious readers will need to understand the characters, the awareness; p. 1263 We jumped up and down in setting, and the situation discussed in a narrative. As joy, oblivious to the stares of the people around us. you read, identify sections where Kingston uses expo- dusk (dusk) n. the time of day just before night- sition and sections where she requires you to make fall; p. 1264 We returned home before dusk. inferences to understand the story. • See Literary Terms Handbook, p. R6. Vocabulary Tip: Synonyms Words that have the same or similar meanings are called synonyms. Knowing synonyms for a word can help you add Interactive Literary Elements interest and variety to your writing. Handbook To review or learn more about the literary elements, go to www.glencoe.com. OBJECTIVES In studying this selection, you will focus on the following: • analyzing exposition • distinguishing different literary forms • making inferences and supporting them with evidence MAXINE HONG KINGSTON 1259 1258-1267 U7P3APP-845481.indd 1259 1/12/07 1:43:40 PM SuperStock Maxine Hong Kingston When she was about sixty-eight years old, Brave Orchid took a day off to wait at San Francisco S11-279-01C-635423 Kent U7 T12 A Sunny Day with Gentle Breeze, 1993. Zifen Qian. Oil on canvas, InternationalSassafrass Airport & for the plane that was 42 x 56 in. Private collection. bringing her sister to the United States. She had not seen Moon Orchid for thirty years. She had begunLucida this waiting Grande at home, Regular getting up(from a half-) If her son thought he could hide in the men’s hour before Moon Orchid’s plane took off in room, he was wrong. Hong Kong. Brave Orchid would add her will “Are you all right, Aunt?” asked her niece. power to the forces that keep an airplane up. Her “No, this chair hurts me. Help me pull some head hurt with the concentration. The plane chairs together so I can put my feet up.” had to be light, so no matter how tired she felt, She unbundled a blanket and spread it out to she dared not rest her spirit on a wing but con- make a bed for herself. On the floor she had two tinuously and gently pushed up on the plane’s shopping bags full of canned peaches, real 1 belly. She had already been waiting at the airport peaches, beans wrapped in taro leaves, cookies, for nine hours. She was wakeful. Thermos bottles, enough food for everybody, Next to Brave Orchid sat Moon Orchid’s only though only her niece would eat with her. Her daughter, who was helping her aunt wait. Brave bad boy and bad girl were probably sneaking Orchid had made two of her own children come hamburgers, wasting their money. She would too because they could drive, but they had been scold them. lured away by the magazine racks and the gift shops and coffee shops. Her American children could not sit for very long. They did not under- 1. Taro (tar o¯) is a tropical Asian plant with broad leaves. It is stand sitting; they had wandering feet. She customary in Chinese cooking to wrap rice, vegetables, or hoped they would get back from the pay T.V.’s or fish in the leaves for steaming. the pay toilets or wherever they were spending Reading Strategy Making Inferences About Characters their money before the plane arrived. If they did What does this detail tell you about Brave Orchid’s not come back soon, she would go look for them. character? Big Idea Extending and Remaking Traditions From Literary Element Exposition What details help you Brave Orchid’s thoughts here, what can you infer about dif- understand the situation of Brave Orchid and her family? ferences between Brave Orchid and her children? 1260 UNIT 7 INTO THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY 1260-1264 U7P3SEL-845481.indd 1260 4/17/06 9:58:27 PM Many soldiers and sailors sat about, oddly calm, downy yellow on baby chicks.