Journal Write about a time where you didn’t feel like you fit in, and how you responded to the situation. You have 10 minutes – create!

Day 1: An Introduction to Graphic Novels American Born Chinese Day 1: An Introduction to Graphic Novels

Gene Yang https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYCZqt5WSOM

Yang’s American Born Chinese In 2006, Yang published American Born Chinese, a graphic narrative comprised of three storylines that eventually unite. The Story of the Monkey King The Story of Jin Wang The Story of Chin-Kee In addition to winning the Printz award for Young Adult Literature, American Born Chinese has garnered both praise and controversy.

Story 1: The Monkey King The Monkey King, or Sūn Wùkōng, is a character in an extremely important Chinese novel, The Journey to the West. Written in the 17th century, it chronicles a journey to India made by a Buddhist monk and his companions. The Monkey King is cunning in battle and has the ability to transform himself 72 ways.

Story 2: Jin Wang For the first nine years of his life, Jin lives in San Francisco’s Chinatown. However, when his parents are able to afford a home in the suburbs, Jin is ill-prepared for the identity crisis that will ensue. In addition to struggling with others’ prejudice, he has to struggle with his own insecurities. The motif of “transformation” fits nicely with the transformative powers of The Monkey King.

Story 3: The Chin-Kee Show The third storyline in American Born Chinese features a sitcom-like structure, as popular, “normal” Danny contends with the annual visits of his Chinese cousin Chin-kee. Chin-kee is the embodiment of every stereotype that many Americans hold regarding persons of Chinese nationality or descent.

Controversy "I do get some reactions to the Cousin Chin-Kee that worry me a little bit," said Yang…. "There's some people that come up and tell me, 'He's so cute, so funny, endearing.' That's definitely not what I was going for.” "I think the vast majority of the responses are positive, but I have had some Asian-Americans and come up and tell me I was perpetuating the stereotype by explicitly showing it," he said.

Identity Construction Yang notes: "I think the Asian American community right now is in the midst of defining itself. For a while I think we were all trying to be white. Then there was a period of time when we were trying to be black. And now we're finally coming up with something that's truly our own."

Important Themes Transformation Friendship Identity and Being “the other” Stereotypes and Generalizations Coming of Age

Graphic Novel Terminology Panels – shapes that contain a single scene Gutters – space between panels Dialog balloons – words spoken between characters Thought balloons – contain character’s thoughts Captions – contain information about a scene or character (often setting related) Sound effects – visual sound clues (POW!)

Caption Panel Gutter Thought Balloon Sound Effect Dialog Balloon

Left to Right like always

Dialogue Order 1 4 2 3 5

Always Left to Right Top to Bottom

Concept Based Vocabulary Perspective Prejudice Anachronism Generalization Tyranny Justice Integrity Ramification Morality Misperception Stereotype Obligation