- The task is to analyze a quote or certain concept in one of the texts that were given to read.
- What really stuck with me was The Woman Warrior.
The Woman Warrior: Memoirs
of a Girlhood Among Ghost
As the memoir unfolds, Maxine uses a very exquisite and exact way to express herself, the words flowing along delicately. Although this may not directly relate to what is being asked to analyze, nevertheless, it very much influenced the way in which I perceived her story, and further instigated the content of what she wrote.
The memoir focuses on her school experience in America, in comparison to her Chinese school experience. She views American school, as she names it, as a rather miserable place for her, filled with endless silence.
The reason for that was her inability to communicate using the english language, as she described it as weak and limping, a frightened deer , ready to run off at any moment of possible danger. The power of language is exemplified by her experience in American school as it completely changes her as an individual. Eventhough she is unskilled in expressing herself to her full advantage in the english language, she still is a fully capable person. However, the teachers and classmates are not aware of her and her feelings as she and other chinese girls are mostly quiet and shy ; they go unnoticed. One can see how language can have a very dramatic effect, altering them as a person as well as how people with a different language and culture perceive them to be, which is often as primitive and lower class. Maxine wasnt familiar or prepared for the cultural differences that involve language, which she had to face, and it did have a negative and lasting effect on her in terms of how she views americans and their language. This is linked to the chinese being considered subaltern as theyre forced to learn the english language in order to effectively communicate.
Chinese school seemed like a different world, all in all. She noticed how her peers would morph back into their old, daring selves, talking back to teachers and running around recess having fistfights. She appears to be more of an observant person that prefers to stay in the shadows , regardless of language. It is very clear, however, that she identifies China school as a much loser and free-spirited place, where everyone spoke loudly, proudly and confidently in their mothertongue and felt safe. Their language is no longer a barrier between people, but rather an opportunity for them to unite. They could finally step out of their 'foreign kids shell' and embrace their true selves.
So through the two schools, very different environments have been established, although the initial idea (education) is identical. Language plays a deciding role in how people chose to express themselves, or rather, are forced to. In order to survive in America, Maxine must learn the english language. From several implications in the text one can assume that her parents are immigrants, thus having come to america for a better and more prosperous future. This in turn reflects on the power of the english language, and how it reaches over remote places, exerting its power.
