Fifth Chinese Daughter

A detailed Summary of Fifth Chinese Daughter

Chinatowns were formed for many of the same reasons as other areas of large cities like the Irish areas in Boston and the little Italy section of North Beach. The immigrants were not accepted readily by Americans and needed a place to congregate with others who shared the same beliefs and traditions.

Racism was visible in Jade Snow's life. I first noticed it in the very beginning of the book on page 51 when the family is moving into the basement. Her father "hired Negroes to chisel out part of the brick walls." The rest of the workers involved in the move did no harsh physical labor. Also, Jade experiences racism against herself when she goes to her new school. A boy named Richard harasses her by calling her "chinky." Jade Snow does not respond to him because she knows that she is smarter than he is and feels that he can not help his insensibility.

The sex roles were divided in Jade Snow's culture. Little boys were celebrated more than girls were in families. Jade Snow's younger brother, Forgiveness from Heaven was given much attention and Jade Snow recalled that other female babies did not receive that kind of attention. Women did most of the cooking and cleaning and assisted the men whene

Jade Snow shows her first sign of individualism and independence when she gets caught passing a note during a church sermon. Instead of silently taking the punishment, she says that the rest of the girls were just as guilty as she was for passing the note and she did not feel that it was fair for her to accept punishment on behalf of an entire row. The disciplinarian was shocked at her boldness and let her off with a warning. That was the first time she asserted the beliefs instilled in her by her father and stood up for what she thought was right. Also, at family portrait time, Jade Snow refused to curl her hair like the rest of the women in the family. The ridiculed her and teased her for keeping her hair boring and straight, but she stood her ground. Even though she looked different than the rest of her family, she did what she wanted to do. She also wanted to work to earn her own money so she could buy personal belongings.

ver they could. Men were responsible for making most of the financial and family decisions. In the Wong family, the father gave the mother a lot of input on the family. He felt that an educated woman was of more use than one who was not. He said, "since sons and their education are of primary importance, we must have intelligent mothers. If nobody educates his

Some common words found in the essay are:
Jade Snow, Jade Snow's, Family Chinese, North Beach, jade snow, jade snow's, Daughter Chinatowns, Irish Boston, Forgiveness Heaven, chinese culture, snow husband, wong family, intelligent mothers, jade snow husband, passing note,

Approximate Word count = 879
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Novels

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Fifth Chinese Daughter

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