Essay+Outline

In what way is a daughter the “American Translation” of her mother? Choose a mother/ daughter pair and discuss

Waverly Jong & Lindo Jong  -They are both arrogant -They are both systematic -They are both competitive

 -Waverly thinks her mom is trying to compete with her -Waverly is more mature, whereas Lindo is immature

Ying-ying St. Clair & Lena St. Clair  -They are both pessimistic -They both think about the worst -They both can’t connect with each other -They can’t really communicate with each other

 -Lena tries to get out of the dark side, whereas her mom only thinks about the worst -Lena is more American than Ying-ying -Ying-ying can predict what’s going to happen -Lena knows what’s going happen, but doesn’t try to prevent it

Pick at least one mother-daughter pair, and examine to what degree each has fulfilled the American Dream. How does the importance and/or definition of the American Dream change between generations?

Suyuan Woo & Jing-mei “June” Woo -Suyuan tries to find the American Dream, but fails later -Jing-mei doesn’t try to find the American Dream, but later tries to find it