Monday, January 10, 2011

The Latehomecomer, 1/10/2011

From Melissa Nguyen:

How is the author able to care so much about her grandmother when their
interaction is so limited to be able to describe her so well? How is your
interaction with your grandmother?

From Jeremy Shih:

How is it that the mom's family seemed more prosperous?

From Ana Marie Dequinia:

How Yang mother and grandmother survives in the enemy camp and was able to unite
with yang father that escape them from the said camp? for those married student
how is your relationship to your mother in law?

From Kelly Kanemori:

What does the birth of babies mean in a time where food is scarce and tomorrow
is unknown?

19 comments:

  1. The author is able to care so much about her grandmother I think because she was born in the time that the war wasn't end. My grandmother is a great grandmother. She loves me and I loves her as a grandmother. But I don't live with her or close to her since I was 8 years old. So I have so little memories about her when I was a kid.

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  2. The author is able to care for her grandmother for she live with her when they were in Ban Vinai Refugee camp in thailand she had good memories of her late grandmother. My grandmother is the best grandmother, she was able to take care of me when i was a little kid for both of my parents are working i have so much memories of her and even up to now we're still communicating.

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  3. What does the birth of babies mean in a time where food is scarce and tomorrow is unknown?

    The birth of a baby during a time of war meant little to no nutrition for the development of the baby. Yang talks about her sister, Dawb, and how she struggled to walk because her legs were uneven. Due to malnutrition and their mother and family on the run, food was scarce. Their mother should have eaten as if she were still pregnant to produce milk for her baby, but was not able to. The lack of food may have contributed to the development of Dawb's legs, "Everywhere she went, she limped her way there. Whenever there was a wall close where she stood, she placed a small dirty hand on it for support (Yang, 66)." Even though Dawb had this condition, Yang emphasized the love from their family.

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  4. 1.I believe that she was given very well descriptions of her grandmother from people who had interactions with her. These descriptions could have been from her uncles or her own parents. My grandparents live very close to me and I see them every week. When I was living in Taiwan I saw my other grandparents every week too.

    2.It is simply because they were able to be picky about their food had something made of silver to give to the daughter. These things just give a sense of prosperity.

    3.Yang’s father knew where Yang’s mother was at. So he was able to plan the escape.

    4.It means that they will have a very little chance of surviving.

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  6. 1. Even though the interactions were limited, her memory was vivid, probably because she was born at the Ban Vinai Refugee camp and that was HER "first" home; the home in which her grandma and parents played a significant role in raising her. I think that her observations were more detailed since there were little interactions. Observations and thoughts about the interactions as well!
    My interaction with my grandmother, well i've never had any. I was born in the United States, and my grandmother had passed away in Vietnam long before i was born.

    2. The mother's family seemed more prosperous, it think because to marry, i believe that women must have dowry, like how men have brideswealth. It seemed that the mother's family was more prosperous because when the father's family was described, we should take into account that there were over seven males in that family , and to marry off, there must be some kind of exchange to the bride. That is a lot! Plus as the woman leaving, i think the mother's mother wanted her to remember her original family, so the items given were more of sentimental value.

    3. I'm not sure how the mother and grandmother survived the camp, and then happened to be united with the father. I think that each person believed that the would reunite, or pray that they would be together. It was a reall unfortunate time period where death was on the other side waiting for them, so them reuniting, having faith and what not is a miracle, to me.

    Im not married, but i feel like as a woman, i would probably want to do anything i could to please my mother in law, because after all, she is a woman who raised the young man i would marry.

    4. i think the birth of babies meant hope. Even though food was scarce, and tomorrow was unknown, the birth of babies was something fortunate. Being able to bear these babies, giving life means that there is a reason for their being. I think that the birth of babies meant that good things will come a long. she writes something like, what is life without giving life?

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  7. The author is able to remember her grandmother because of how people described her. Also, I believe their are picture of her in the book. My gma is the best!

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  8. I don't remeber how they got what they had, but they definatly had more goods. The mom was even given a necklace by the grandmother. The mom wanted to be a nurse. The dad's family was a farming family.

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  9. Babies born during this time had a harder time surviving. The babies would be malnourished. Also, this means another mouth to feed.

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  10. 1.I think the author is able to care her grandmother so much because she was born in in Ban Vinai Refugee camp and live with her grandmother during war time. She also has good memory of living with her grandmother. When i was living in china, i saw my grandmother every week. After i come here, we always commucate with phone.

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  11. How is it that the mom's family seemed more prosperous?

    I think that the mothers family seemed more prosperous because women has the bigger role to run the house and make sure that the husband is satisfy. In the Hmong culture the women has to make sure that their husband was happy and that they had what they need. So the women had to make sure she knew how to cook and just about everything else.

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  12. 1. The author care so much about her grandmother because she been thru hard times with her in the refugee camp they were in. I get along pretty well with my grandmother just like the author does too.

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  13. The birth of babies at a time when food was scarce meant little to no chance of survival for infants. It was difficult for them to receive the proper nutrition. It was also tough for parents and adults because they had to sacrifice the food they had to feed their little ones.

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  14. It was already a struggle to feed each family member and having another person to feed must have been overwhelming. Due to the lack of food, the mothers milk wouldn't have enough nourishment for the baby which caused many babies to be malnourished.

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  15. The author cared so much about her grandmother because of the vivid memories she had of her. and from all the people that had interacted with her also helped. Even though I don't remember anything about my grandmother, my parents often spoke of her and how she cared for me when I was little.

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  16. I think that she cares a lot about her grandmother because she played a very significant and important role in her life, she was present during the Ban Vinai Refugee time and she care about her a lot. That event marked the life of the author a lot, and that's the reason why she cares so much.

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  17. I personally don't think that her interaction with her grandmother was too limited for the most part of her childhood life she lived with her grandmother and was basically raised because every time she fell asleep in class she would be with her grandmother and every time she was ill the grandmother was there. For me it's around the same my grandmother had raised me and she was a very dear person to me.

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  18. I agree with Alexander. Kao Kalia Yang grew up under the care of her grandmother. Even though she was young at that time, but the memories of her grandmother who was always there for her cannot be forgotten. That is why even though she wasn't able to leave with her grandmother when she was older. She definitely have a clear image and understanding of her grandmother in her head. For instance, in 2003 I went back to Vietnam to visit my grandmother. I was never raised by my grandmother or had much time to spend with her, so that year when I returned. It felt as if I was meeting her for the first time. For the short 1 month I was able to spend time with her and even now her image in my head is still very clear. It's been 8 years since I've gone back to Vietnam.

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  19. I had a unique relationship with my Grandmother. Although she passed away when I was young but I remember every time I met her, she would care for me and for a older person caring so much creates a special bond. I guess same was the case with the author.

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