Introduction

Introduction by Alice Pung

1. What were Asian-Australians referred to as when the author was growing up? They were refereed to as power-points because the way the power point looks is similar to the shape of a sterotypical Asians eyes.

2. How does she interpret this title? She thinks that it is cute because the way the 'eyes' are shaped.

3. What did this title actually refer to? Did the author find this demeaning? Why/why not? It refers to the way that Asians eyes look, like slit straight lines. I think this is very demeaning because their eyes are not like that and it is a common stereotype to think Asians eyes are like that. Also is makes them see less significant and more like a tool rather than a person.

4. ‘All that untapped potential! All that electrifying brain power!’ What techniques are being employed by the author? How does they highlight he misunderstanding? A metaphor is being used because it is saying something is like something else. The author states that she doesn't get the link between the actually reason and dismisses them as being cute and sticks with her first theory.

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 from teen fiction that she needed extensive plastic surgery to fit in because all of the people in the stories are perfect and you have to be this way to be accepted.

6. Who are the authors that she turns to? Why? She turns to authors such as John Marsden and Robert Cormier instead because they right with raw honesty and real feelings about coming of age.

7. In the third paragraph how does the author use repetition. How does it highlight the focus of this book? She repeats the theme of 'firsts' when you are young and this is the focus of the book because 'growing up is a funny time'. 

8. What metaphor does the author use to highlight the writers and the writing style in the third paragraph? The author uses the metaphor 'they are not distant observers, plucking the most garish fruit from the lowest-hanging branches of an exotic cultural tree. These writers are the tree, and they write from its roots'. This highlights the fact that people who write about the stereotypes and the struggles of an asian growing up in australia does not have the true story but rather a bias one based on there intension with the article/story, and by people with first hand experience writing it, it gives a more honest truth the the experience.

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? The author uses the quote 'Strine' within the forth paragraph to show the way that she looks at the stories, she views them as bing jocular stories that poke fun at the Australian society and the way in which both the asians and non-asians react to each experience.

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?  She uses the three loose themes 'the Battler, the Pioneer and the Legend'. It is ironic that she uses them because they describe key terms about non-asian Australians and the accomplishes of them be it the battling in war, the finding of Australia or the Legendary traits of Australia.

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? By saying 'model minority' the author is proposing that all Asians follow the same stereotype of working hard, education, money, career and are models to how to work hard but fit into the minority of Australia as well as fitting in the background. This can put pressure on young Asian-Australians because it pressures them to be stereotypical and fit the criteria of working hard and drifting into the background.

12. What are the editor’s hopes for the collection of stories? The editors hopes for the collection of the stories is that it will bring to the forefront the identity, place and perspective of Asian-Australians growing up in australia and there difficulties.