Growing Up Asian in Australia: Intro + Pigs Questions

Introduction by Alice Pung

1. What were Asian-Australians referred to as when the author was growing up?

Power-points.

2. How does she interpret this title?

She thought it was meant in a way to she was smart and dweeby in a Microsoft-magnate way. As in to say she had potential.

3. What did this title actually refer to? Did the author find this demeaning? Why/why not?

Our power-points look like the stereotypical Asian face.

4. ‘All that untapped potential! All that electrifying brain power!’ What techniques are being employed by the author? How do they highlight the misunderstanding?

Repetition, they highlight the point she is making.

5. What did the teen author take away from teen fiction? What did she feel that she needed to do? Why? What does this say is essential to fitting in to a culture?

She took away the fact that all the people where good looking and white. This made her feel that she needed plastic surgery because she was different and to fit into the culture you needed to look the part.

6. Who are the authors that she turns to? Why?

She turns to John Marsden and Robert Cormier because they where honest.

7. In the third paragraph how does the author use repetition. How does it highlight the focus of this book?

The word 'first'. It highlights the 'growing up' part of the book and also shows that it is about firsts (obviously).

8. What metaphor does the author use to highlight the writers and the writing style in the third paragraph?

"The writers are the tree, and they write from its roots."

9. Why does the author use a quote in the 4^th paragraph? What does it say about her reaction to the stories in the book?

"Mutato nomine de te fabula narratur: 'Change only the name and this story is about you.'" It says that she thinks of them as her own.

10. On page 2 the author talks about the themes that she loosely choose for the collection. What are they and why is it ironic that they show up in this book?

The battler, the pioneer, the legend. They are someone who fights, someone who explores and someone who does great deeds. It's ironic we mainly think of those traits as only for white people.

11. At the bottom of pg 3 on to page 4 the author says that sociologists have described Asians as the ‘model minority’. What is meant by this? What difficulties arise out of this label for young Asian-Australians?

It means that they work hard and people should stop being racist to them but rather learn from them. It makes people have high expectations towards them and if they don't do well they aren't contributing towards society

12. What are the editor’s hopes for the collection of stories?

She hopes it will make people question instead of assuming and lead an insight into the hardships that some Asians face

Pigs from Home by Hop Dac

1. How does the author start this story which is in direct contrast to the title of the story? What effect does this have on the reader and their expectations of the story?

The author says that pigs are horrible and this makes it seem like it's about horrible people from the authors home.

2. What core Vietnamese value is instilled in the author?

A good Vietnamese family is a self sustaining one.

3. What is humorous about the mother’s ‘flair for natural medicine’ in regards to her personality?

She is obsessed with her health and she is surrounding herself with healing herbs.

4. How does the description of the killing of pigeons continue the style utilised in the introduction of the story?

They are self sustaining, they kill pigeons on there land and use them as food.

5. What is the author’s opinion of pigs? Give two quotes to support your conclusion.

The author isn't a fan of pigs. Two quotes are "the only name I've ever given to an incarnation of the porcine genus was 'breakfast'." So basically he only thinks of them as food. He also says, and I quote, "Pig shit is the most repulsive smelling of all shits." This shows that he believes that even the excrement of pigs is worse than other animals.

6. In the paragraph on pgs 53-54, give two examples of alliteration employed by the author.

"older ones" and "feeding frenzy"

7. On pg 54 what simile is used to describe pigs? How does this simile work for the situation it is used?

"A pig is like the ocean", it is useful because when the ducks back was turned the pig bit it and when your back is turned to the ocean it knocks you down.

8. What simile does the author use to describe his  grandmother sunning herself? How does this relate to the core focus of the story?

"turning herself slowly like a rotisserie chicken". It relates to the fact that they're a self sustaining family, and they live on a farm, they know how to cook there animals.

9. What does the author describe as ‘the divide between the old world and the new’? What do you think is meant by this statement?

The grandmother eating a duck she had just killed and gutted while the author refused after seeing it happen.

10. What is the author’s reaction to the slaughter of the pig at night? What statement does the author make about the neighbours which displays the way he feels about the whole experience? What is important about including this statement?

He thinks of it as a bad experience. His next door neighbours had a daughter who was the authors friend that went on the same bus to school and wondered if they heard. This shows that the pigs scream was loud and without this statement we couldn't have been sure of this.

11. Why don’t the parents have pigs any more? How does this relate to the description of the burial of the last pig they owned?
They don't need pigs any more because they have a friend who gives them pork, practically throws it at them. every time he visits. This is like how they simply threw the last pig into a hole.

12. How would you characterise the description of the mother’s treatment of the pig’s blood? Is it appetising?
She adds salt, onion, pepper and water. Then as it congeals she cuts it into cubes, then boils them. I personally seems very appetising and it sounds like a good way to not waste anything.

13. What is ironic about the way the author has a popular Vietnamese dish? What is it about the way the author describes the experience of having pigs that makes it ironic?

The author has the dish with pigs blood. It is ironic because earlier in the book he described the pigs as 'breakfast'. He also says it reminds him of home and the story is called pigs at home.

14. How does this story relate to the title Pigs from Home?

It's mainly about the pigs he had at home and at the end when he has pig blood it reminds him of his home.

15. Why do you think this story is in the Battlers section of the book?

Because they had to fight the pig at the end when they killed it.