Bone
One would say that America is the land of opportunity, in the book Bone, a Chinese-American family tries to get through with their everyday lives. Leila Leong, the main character and her family are trying to figure out why her sister, Ona, committed suicide. The book also deals with the problems of immigration and assimilation. These issues are a part of society today, which fits into the definition of Contemporary. Contemporary is what is considered modern and current in the world today. The book, Bone was written in the current time period and address issues of today, which allows it to be under the contemporary title. Faye Myenne Ng's life was similar to the book she wrote. It is almost the story of her own childhood in America (Arias 1). American is something or someone that is related to America by language or culture who reside in the U.S. In the book, the Leong family lives in the Chinatown of San Francisco (Ng 3). Many Chinese immigrants today choose to live in Chinatown like the Leong family because it is where they feel comfortable because of the surroundings (Ng 4). Everyone comes to America to get the be successful as did the Leongs. The themes listed in this book are all found in society today. Literature is defined b
y creative and scholarly writing. The author wrote this book using the modern dialect of today to reflect the lives of the characters in the book (Stetson 87). This book was well written and the style that she used was imaginative and artistic. At times, she integrated Chinese sayings to make the book seem realistic. Faye Myenne Ng's highly acclaimed novel, Bone, should be considered on the class reading list of American contemporary literature because it addresses the issues of today's American society. Faye Myenne Ng's book, Bone, includes many themes of modern America and at the same time is scholarly. Her book should be on the reading list of American contemporary literature for an English class at a University because it is associated with each category and is worth reading and analyzing. The story ends with no solution of why Ona jumped off the building. Each one of the family members thought of what they could've done to prevent it. They all felt guilty and didn't know how to react (Ng 50). Journalist Ching-Ching Ni writes, "Suicide is a devastating blow to any family. It is an especially sensitive subject in Asian-American families as cultural, language and generational differences complicate open discussion (Ni 1). It was difficult for the parents to understand, especially since they worked so hard to get to America just for their children and then when they got there, they found out that it made their middle daughter kill herself. "Lana Mar, a Chinese-American counselor who specializes in Asian-American issues says that, "Suicide shows somehow the family has failed" (Ni 3). This is true for the Leongs because if the people back in China found out that America wasn't really the land of opportunity, they would never want to come to the U.S., especially if it means losing a loved one. Ona's family found out that she was taking drugs and it may have lead to the jump (Ng 14). David Cole from the University of Notre Dame states that teenage girls are more likely to commit suicide than teenage boys and that Asian-Americans in the U.S. have lower rates as adolescents too (Cole 1113). Suicide is one of the leadi
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1438
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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