Homework Questions for Wong

Homework Questions for Wong’s “All American Girl”

Be sure to write your answers in complete sentences, rather than bullet-point lists. Your replies to each question should be a few sentences or more in length.

1. According to Wong, what is the struggle to be an all-American girl? Another way to help you answer this question is to closely examine the story for what she offers for why she struggles on the path to becoming an all-American girl. Is “this struggle” the purpose of her narrative? Or does she provide some other insight or reflection as her purpose?

 

2. What do you think is the most effective writing strategy that Wong uses to make the story feel real to you? Explain why this writing strategy had such an impact on you as the reader.

 

3. Writers employ a variety of writing strategies to encourage readers to identify with characters.  Identification with characters can mean many things. (1) Identification can be a matter of feeling emotionally aligned with a character; ultimately, you feel the feelings that they feel. (2) You might recognize experiences that the character experienced that you’ve experienced. (3) You might share similar values as that of the character. Essentially, identification for some readers is “I am that character” because of the shared values and experiences. (4) At the same time, identification can be partial because you may share just a specific value or experience with the character. (5) Lastly, some readers can identify with a character just for a moment to feel sympathy or empathy for the character because their values and experiences are quite different from your own.  So, the question is: Do you identify with Wong? If so, what section or part of the story compelled you to identify with her? If not, then what kept you from identifying with her?