devaluing Chinese culture and influences by an American culture, while developing her own identity as a Chinese-American. Using William R. Schroeder's model of interpretation will help to define the struggles and complications experienced by Kingston as relevant to my interpretation.

Schroeder's model of interpretation presents eight interpretive elements: explicit statements, imagery, narrative point of view, plot/action, characters, notable effects, horizons, and world. The most important interpretive elements used in my interpretation were imagery, plot/action, and characters. Using these interpretive elements helps to give basis to my interpretation. Kingston's novel abounds with imagery, from the ghosts and barbarians, to the

different colors (black, white, and red). Every "talk-story" has a place and meaning and every character is presented in a way to clarify Kingston's motives for writing. His model also presents seven evaluative criteria to which my interpretation applies: consistency, proportionateness, adequacy, completeness, depth, sensit

("No, I haven't," I would have said in real life, mad at the Chinese for lying so much. "I'm starved..." (p.21)

The differences between the Chinese and American cultures creates enormous barriers to be faced by Chinese-Americans. Language is one such barrier that Kingston struggles to overcome, and her silence initially causes her to flunk kindergarten. The difference in languages causes Kingston to experience difficulties in learning English. "It was when I found out I had to talk that school became misery, that the silence became misery" (p.166). As a child, Kingston's efforts to be heard within her home and family were ignored by the difficulty she experienced communicating out loud in English. She realized that "the other Chinese girls did not talk either, so [she] knew the silence had to do with being a Chinese girl" (p.166), especially since young girls had been raised to lack confidence and a feeling of self-worth.

"Have you eaten rice today, little girl?"...

However, Kingston recognizes that women in particular cultures are silenced and they have no real voice. "Women in the old China did not choose. Some man had commanded her to lie with him and be his secret evil... She obeyed him; she always did as she was told" (p.6). Kingston is taught that women have no control over their lives; that they are mere puppets. So insignificant

"That's what we're supposed to say. That's what Chinese say. We like to say the opposite." (p.203)

breathe; I could hardly walk, limping my way around the White Ghosts and their cars" (p.96-97). Kingston uses the word machines to signify the bombing planes of World War II which haunted her in her childhood dreams. Along with the "ghosts," America truly signifies a place of evil. However, America is Kingston's home. She's confused about how she can live in a place which

It is evident that the narrator, Kingston, has many conflicts with what is being taught at home and what is experienced in the American society. Through the myth and reality stories Kingston tells, she establishes her beliefs and values of the Chinese culture and contrasts them with the expectations of the American culture. The older generation, her mother, uses their native language to instill the traditional values and the idea of becoming an individual - a

Some common words found in the essay are:
William Schroeder's, Chinese-Americans Language, Woman Warrior, That's Chinese, Women China, Mu Lan, Brave Orchid, America Chinese, America American, Name Woman, chinese culture, american culture, woman warrior, becoming individual, traditional chinese, traditional values, american society, interpretive elements, becoming cheerleader, becoming cheerleader pompon, getting married, individual woman warrior, becoming individual woman, cheerleader pompon girl, fa mu lan,
Approximate Word count = 1937
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)