My First Kiss

1. How does the author describe Malaysia in regards to showing affection? The law forbids 'indecent behaviour' which can be interpreted as any affection showed in public. This law is especially hard on the homosexuals because that was against the law. This shows that Malaysia has a very strong position in showing affection in the face of other, that being it is morally wrong.

2. What happens to the author when she hits puberty? She followed the stereotypical path of a teenage girl which is to have long hair, pimples are a crush. Where she differs is that she had a crush on girls idols rather that the heterosexual male idol. She also began to write in a diary to express herself creatively.

3. What is the author’s experience at school when she first arrives to Melbourne? Her experience when she first arrives in Melbourne is that she is stereotyped into the ESL class because she comes from overseas. She is annoyed by this because she knows English well and has spoken it all her life and is not offered the challenge that she hopes for. She does like the fact that she can make friends in a similar position.

4. What is it that made the author feel that she wasn’t Australian even though she spoke English fluently? She came from a different background to most people spoke English and thought that she sounded like she spoke a mix of cultures (Malaysian-lit, Manglish, TV-Influenced Americianisms, the Queen's English and Australian).

5. What else was it about the author that further alienated her from her peers? She is considered nerdy be the socio-economics of the school and would rather read at lunch and stay away from the gossip. She also is in the chess team with others that are alienated from the peers.

6. What does the use of description like ‘crash hot’ do to the audience’s perception of the author? The audience's perception of the author by using 'crash-hot chess player' shows that she is a victim to Australian colloquialisms and that she judges people the same to stereotypical girls.

7. What opportunity does university give the author? What is it about university which would allow her to express herself more freely? The university offers her to be more creative with her theater writing. This allows her to express her sexuality as seen through her wanting to kiss another girl and that she is in charge of how the play is written.

8. What role does creativity play for the author? Why do you think that creativity would be so important to her? Creativity plays an important part of the authors life because it gives her an outlet to her otherwise discriminated homosexuality. It is so important to her because without it she would have to 'bottle up' her emotions rather than express them freely.

Teenage Dreamers by Phillip Tang

1. What are the first two sentences of the story and how do they create a tension in the story? The first two sentence of the story create tension because it talks about a very negative six sense which is the ability to tell when someone is going to die. This creates the basis and tension within the story because it sets-up the thought that someone is going to die within the story.

2. What has happened to the author’s father as a result of his wife’s death? The author's father looked for something to care for and be passionate about which is Leslie Cheung. This made him more susceptible to be disappointed in things he believed in and the fear of death.

3. How does the description of the father removing his hands from his face as ‘unmasked’ related to the seriousness of his following statement? By removing his hands from his face by 'unmasking' them it shows that he is showing his full emotion and that it is very solemn occasion. This also shows that he rarely is serious and that he is a different person when he needs to be serious.

4. Consider how the father lives his life and conducts himself and the other people in the theatre for the film the author and his father are watching. How does this relate to the title of the story? The father lives his life and conducts himself much like a 'teenage dreamer'. This is seen through his passion for an actor/musician who is popular at the time. He also begins to cry like teenagers (the other people in the theater) when confronted with a idol in pain. He also gets very emotional when he doesn't get what he wants, shown through the author saying 'no' to going to Honk Kong to go to a predict funeral.

Conversations with my Parents by Oanh Thi Tran

1. What is ironic about the way the author and the father become close? What has to happen to the father? It is ironic about the way that the author and the father become close because they become close through the sickness and suffering of the father. It is also mentioned that the author began to like being in the hospital because it meant that the author could get closer to the father.

2. How would you characterise the conversation that the author has with her parents? You would characterise them as very brief and very cliche. They would also be characterised as very awkward and those similar to acquaintances rather than family. 

3. What is it that worries the author most about these conversations? The biggest worry about the conversations that are had with her parents is that she never tells them that she loves them and is not sure how to. 

4. There is a gap between the author’s need to express feelings common in western countries and her family’s lack of desire to express their feelings verbally. How does the family still express their feelings for their child, just not verbally? The family express their feelings for the child by reminiscing about memories about happy times and that they always try to call and listen to the child. They also pressure her to live like they did such as by buying Vietnamese groceries and talking about meals such as Banh Xeo. 

The Early Settlers by Ken Chau

• 1. How does this title refer to two groups of ‘settlers’? Who are they? The two groups are the ones who are foreign and arriving now such as the great-grandfather and the early settlers who have branded the new arrivals.
• 2. How is the first line of the poem successful at being ‘forceful’ regarding the Great-Grandfather’s presence in Australia? It shows his position in the socio-economical status within the two settling classes, him being an outsider in the early settlers guild.
• 3. What action are the ‘early settlers’ doing that gives them equally a strong presence? They are branding the new arrivals with very derogatory terms such as 'devil' and 'terrorist'. This shows there dominance and there ability to make people feel uneasy about there lifestyle.
• 4. How is the intention of the Great-Grandfather juxtaposed to the beliefs of the ‘early settlers’? He juxtaposes the early settlers because he is branding them as well by calling them 'bastards' but by saying it in his own language shows him as an outsider standing up by hypocritical means.
• 5. What action does the Great-Grandfather do that ties him both to the ‘early settlers’ and to his own culture? The great grandfathers brands others in much the same way the early settlers do, with derogatory terms such in the way the great grandfather brands 'bastard' upon someone which ties in with the early settlers branding people with 'foreign devil' and 'potential terrorist'. By the great grandfather branding in his own language he ties back in with his culture and his way of life.
• 6. How does this short poem highlight the irony of the hatred that immigrants experience when they come to a 'settled' land like Australia? It is ironic that immigrants are hated when they 'settle' because they once would have had to settle and that they all come from different backgrounds. They all have there descendants and all would have felt the hatred experience but now put the same pressure on other people

The Relative Advantages of Learning my Language by Amy Choi

1. The author opens the story with an anecdote. What is the anecdote and what effect does it have on the reader? An anecdote is a story within a story which adds meaning and information to the original story. It makes the story have more depth and has more a better understanding of the stories complication or meaning.

2. What is the author’s view of the Chinese language in the 2^nd paragraph? The authors view on the Chinese language is that it is useless in a English speaking society such as Australia because she speaks English all day at school and watches television in English.

3. What is symbolic about the house that the Grandfather mistakes for his own? What does it say about the assimilation of his family into Australian culture? What does it say about his understanding of Australian culture? What is ironic about the inhabitants of this house? The grandfather mistakes the house for being his which symbolises the similarity and uniformity of living standards within Australian culture. It also shows that all migrants are treated the same way seen through the Chinese background of the main family and the Pakistani background of the other family. It is ironic that they are both of asian descendant and that they have similar living standards i.e. the same, or similar looking house. 

4. What does the death of her grandfather inspire the author to do? The death of the authors grandfather encourages and motivates her to get to know people more and to learn about there culture through the fact that she is trying to learn chinese.

5. Why is she motivated to know Chinese? What is it she wants to ensure she is able to, regretting that she couldn’t do it with her grandfather? She is motivated to learn Chinese because she wants to ensure she is able to talk to an elderly relative next time sees them to learn about there life, which she wasn't able to do with her grandfather and regrets this.

The author makes us consider what it really means about understanding someone's language? What basic human skill/ability is the author highlighting that cuts across all cultures? The basic human ability/skill is communication which allows us to get an insight into someones culture based on someone who has lived it as opposed to a third person looking on. This also shows all people want communication and the fact that people judge people and mostly only see difference based on genetics and only want to be with people that we can 'survive' best with.

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.

Pigs from Home

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 begins the story by stating different positives about pigs and there presence in the world. It is a contrast to the title because it states pigs in situation that are away from home. It than goes on to tell the negatives about pigs and illustrates to the reader that pigs would make horrible house animals.

2. What core Vietnamese value is instilled in the author? The core Vietnamese value that is instilled in the author is that 'any good Vietnamese family was a self-sustaining one'.

3. What is humorous about the mother’s ‘flair for natural medicine’ in regards to her personality? It is humorous that the mother has a flair for natural medicine because she is a hypochondriac and is very pedantic and always thinking she is unhealthy and has an unhealthy obsession with her house.

4. How does the description of the killing of pigeons continue the style utilised in the introduction of the story? The style of killing pigeons continues with the style of brutally killing for a source of food.

5. What is the author’s opinion of pigs? Give two quotes to support your conclusion. The authors opinion of pigs is that they are unimportant and only used for food 'no pig has ever been a friend of mine' and that she thinks they are greedy.

6. In the paragraph on pgs 53-54, give two examples of alliteration employed by the author. 'blowing raspberries on the bellies of babies' 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 an ocean is the simile used and it works because you can't turn you back on the ocean or you will get dumped by the wave and can't turn your back on a pig because it will bite you.

8. What simile does the author use to describe her mother sunning herself? How does this relate to the core focus of the story? 'She suns herself by standing in the drive way and slowly rotating like a rotisserie chicken'. This relates to the core focus of the story which is killing animals for food.

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? She began to see the harshness of killing animals for food and what happens in order to save money and not waste food.

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? The author feels shocked by the slaughtering and the brutality of the task and the blood spurting out of its neck. 'I thought about our neighbours, the girls who caught the school bus with us, and wondered if hey had heard all the commotion'. This is important because the author believes that the situation was down wrongly and to harsh as well as the fact that the author didn't want anyone else to be involved in the murder.

11. Why don’t the parents have pigs anymore? How does this relate to the description of the burial of the last pig they owned? The parents don't have pigs anymore because they have a neighbour who is a pig farmer. This relates to the final description because the pig is killed by a snake and was buried and the people wouldn't want other pigs to die and not for them to be able to eat them.

12. How would you characterise the description of the mother’s treatment of the pig’s blood? Is it appetising? I would describe it as a lot of effort for a very unappealing, unappetising add in to dishes.

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? It is ironic that the dish is made of beef which is the only animal that wasn't on the farm. It is also ironic that the worst situation of the pigs that the author experienced which was the blood is something that the author carries on with and enjoys.

14. How does this story relate to the title Pigs from Home? The author eats soup with pig's blood which reminds him of the cooking done by his mother back at his home.

15. Why do you think this story is in the Battlers section of the book? I believe it is in the battlers section of the book because it shows a situation where they have trouble and battle certain situations such as the slaughtering of the pig by the neighbours.