IDS analyzing primary sources

SAMPLE PRIMARY SOURCE ANALYSIS ASSIGNMENT

Student Name IDS 494 Dr. Padoongpatt Summer 2020

Primary Source Analysis #1

Yam, Kimberly. “What The American Dream Means To Chinese Restaurant Families.” HuffPost, HuffPost, 12 Oct. 2017, www.huffpost.com/entry/chinese-restaurant- families_n_59de3229e4b01df09b77e33a.

This source details the experiences of two Chinese Americans who were raised by parents

that owned Chinese restaurants. The first interviewee, QingWai Wong, grew up in

Manchester and Norwich, Connecticut. Neither of those places had large Asian American

communities. The second interviewee, Wilson Tang, was raised in New York City. As a result,

they had vastly different experiences that influenced how they felt about their parents’

occupations. As one of the few Chinese children in her community, Wong was often singled

out by her white classmates, and would be made fun of because of what her parents did for a

living. While Tang also experienced prejudice while growing up, he was experiencing it

alongside a community of people similar to him, and he says that his parents tried to do their

best to shelter him from it. As a result, there were times in her life when Wong was

embarrassed by what her parents did for a living, while Tang stated that he was never

ashamed of his parents’ occupations. Both Wong and Tang agree that these experiences

influenced their future career choices. While Wong decided that she would never get into the

food industry, Tang was proud of the work that his family put in, and that influenced him to

become a restaurant owner himself. Despite these contrasting opinions, both Wong and

Tang ultimately appreciate that working in a restaurant was a part of their childhood, and

credit the experience as contributing to the work ethics that they have today.

SAMPLE PRIMARY SOURCE ANALYSIS ASSIGNMENT

Kimberly Yam wrote the article and conducted the interviews. Yam is an Asian American

Affairs Reporter for the Huffington Post, and graduated from Georgetown University’s School

of Foreign Service. She routinely writes about issues facing the Asian American community,

and given her credentials she appears to be a credible and informed source of information.

The article was published as a part of a series called The Stories We Share, which aims to

inform the reader about different communities by comparing and contrasting the

experiences of two different members of that community. The Huffington Post is a popular

news website, and since the article mainly consists of interviews, it is safe to believe that the

information being recounted is factual. In the preface to the interviews, Yam explains that she

believes that Asian Americans who grew up working in restaurants create a subculture within

the Asian American community. Through these differing stories, Yam is trying to convey that

there is a bond and understanding that is shared amongst Asian Americans that grew up in

similar conditions, despite some differences in their experiences.

Wong and Tang’s stories are both valuable because they show that the same

experience can make a person feel both culturally isolated and connected depending on the

location. Therefore, I can argue that the community and cultural ties that are created through

restaurants are actually twofold. First, there are the direct community ties within the Asian

American community in the same city. Then, there is the experience of facing discrimination,

and building up a work ethic from a young age that is shared by Asian Americans that grew

up working in family restaurants.