5/11 Kurup and Lowe readings

In Kurup’s reading, which seems to be that of a play, there are multiple stereotypes about Americans such as they smoke marijuana before age 12 or speak horribly slanged English.  I found it interesting that these things seem to be what Asian Americans might be apprehensive about when assimilating into American culture.  However  at the same time there are ideas shown that some Asian American traditions were some kind of inconvenience.  Such as the section about fast food compared to Indian food, where the Indian food was described as being a hassle for taking much longer to cook than a fast food restaurant.  It is also described as possibly less cleanly by showing the chicken being killed, skinned, then wrapped in newspaper, as opposed to a “hamburger neatly wrapped in a piece of wax paper.”

Lowe’s reading examined generational differences in ideas as well as clashing between them.  The first poem shows this, and I found it interesting that all three generations of Japanese Americans wanted to break away slightly from tradition, however none of them were able make each other understand the situations which led them to think the way they did.  There was also a poem about a younger Chinese American being in a higher position than an older Chinese American that was embarassed for not being able to respect her elders due to her higher position.  Both these poems, and even Kurup’s reading show that assimilating into American culture is not a simple yes or no.  There can be certain aspects of American culture that are desirable, but there might still be parts of their original culture that they still might want to respect.