Critical Thinking Journal 2

Name: Natalia Wingo Time of day your class meets: 5:30-6:50

1.Who is the author or artist or musician of the original work and what influenced them to write what they did?

The author of this piece is Eric Liu. He wrote this piece because he believed that the American Dream was attainable to anyone. No matter if they were black, yellow, or white.

2.What is the full title of the piece? What is the meaning of the title?

The full title is A Chinaman’s Chance: Reflection on the American Dream. The first part “A Chinaman’s Chance” is a statement than originated from the Gold Rush in California in 1948-55. It came from the fact that many Oriental people were not able to live successfully in America and had to work almost all the time to have a smidgen of a chance of survival. I believe that Liu used this as part of the title as almost a joke, because his parents were able to make it successfully in America and his Dad often used the phrase whenever a sports team was losing too much to catch up. While the last half of the title is just what the work is about. It’s a reflection on the American Dream.

3.What was the historical context within which the work was produced? How does the context affect the meaning and interpretation of the work?

Liu was born into a time of intense racism. 1968. This was the year that Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated. This piece though was written in 2001. Liu, who had just lost his job working for President Clinton the year before, had most likely written this to explain that he still has a Dream of making something out of his life even if he did lose a very high ranking job. 2001 is also the year of 9/11. Yes, the year that terrorists from Syria destroyed the World Trade Center. (And might I add, it was one group going after the WTC, not the whole country. So Hillary Clinton can go screw herself for wanting to destroy ALL of Syria.)

4.Who do you think the intended audience or audiences might have been at the time the work was created? How does the audience affect the meaning and interpretation of the work?

I feel like the intended audience is anyone who is of any ancestry that isn’t white (i.e. Asians, Africans, etc.). I feel this way, because it seems as if he’s trying to tell them that they can indeed make something of their lives in America with the “American Dream.”

5.What do you think the work’s main argument, point, or conclusion might be? How would you analyze the “argument”? How would you compare this specifically to other artistic works you have seen both in class or outside of class? What is your personal response to the work?

I think that the work’s main argument is that anyone can work toward their dreams in America. That it is the country of possibilities and no matter what gender, class, or race you are, you will be able to go for your dreams no matter what other people have to say about it. As he says, you really don’t have to go after a house that’s bigger and better than your parent’s house, but you can go after something that is similar to what your parents did.

My personal response is that I liked this piece. It was quite inspirational for someone my age who is looking for something more in life, but doesn’t know exactly how or where to start. I felt like Liu was basically saying that everyone has a chance in this country, just work towards it and you’ll have a fighting chance. And I love that. Sometimes it’s nice to get a pep talk from someone that isn’t your mom, even if it is just from some guy you’ve never heard of until today. But anyway, I quite enjoyed reading this, Liu’s backstory was quite interesting, being as I’ve heard the horror stories of oriental people coming to America looking for something better but getting something worse. I feel like Liu’s family is of the small percentage that didn’t crash and burn when coming to America.

Works Cited

http://davidantonseneportfolio.weebly.com/humanities-1010.html

http://www.hyperhistory.com/online_n2/History_n2/a.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinaman's_chance

Reflection

So, I didn't feel quite as great about this one. I didn't honestly feel quite as strongly about this passage compared to the first one we had to do. Though it was a lot easier to read compared to the first one, it just didn't seem to have the same effect on me as the Buddha one did. I will admit though, it was interesting to see how his family survived in such a racist time.

#humanities #Fall2015