on Growing up away from your home country can make it difficult to understand and accept your culture. In the book The Patron Saints of Nothing by Randy Ribay, he explores and demonstrates the difficulties of growing up without knowing your culture. The main character Jay, a Filipino-American born in the Philippines and raised in America,… Continue Reading Who are you really?
on When you care deeply about another individual, you will be willing to compromise your happiness for the sake of making the other person happy. This is true in the short story “The Paper Menagerie” by Ken Liu. This story follows Jack and his internal battle between his Chinese culture and the American society in which… Continue Reading Personal Sacrifice
on In The Paper Menagerie, the author believes that ones personal desires can often be altered as they conform to the societal norms surrounding them. Throughout the story we see the main character, Jack, slowly become more and more Americanized and stray further from the Chinese culture he once adored . As time progressed, it’s evident… Continue Reading The Sacrifices Made to Belong
on No one wants to be lonely, but when someone is, one can become desperate for any sort of human contact. As humans, we need social interaction as it is good for our mental health. Socialization and human connection promote safety, belonging, security, and feeling validated. Unfortunately, loneliness can often drive one into madness and feeling… Continue Reading I Can’t Be Alone
on Not belonging is a terrible feeling. It feels awkward and it hurts, as if you were wearing someone else’s shoes.” Pheobe Stone The idea of being unable to belong feels incredibly lonely and makes you wonder what makes you different from everyone else. When you are not included or relatable to those around you, you… Continue Reading Securing the Satisfaction of Self-Fulfillment in an Individual’s Life
on How does “The Paper Menagerie” by Ken Liu explore the ways individuals pursue or compromise their happiness? Feature Image Source: https://issuu.com/nancyzfang/docs/paper_menagerie_issuu Ken Liu uses his short story, “The Paper Menagerie”, to illustrate how insecure people learn to hate themselves through encounters with others, seek happiness in belonging by abandoning parts of their life that used… Continue Reading Discovering Happiness When It’s Gone
on The two short stories that have had the most impact on me so far are Paper Menagerie and Miss Brill. The poem Love is Not All connects both of them, despite the difference of perspective. Paper menagerie displays the impact of love when faced with external hate and pressure, how that love has the strength… Continue Reading Love is Not All, a response
on Often people who are overly ambitious make themselves feel isolated and targeted by others leading them to seek connection from others and self fulfillment. The thesis statement relates to me because I am an overly ambitious person who feels isolated and targeted every now and then. Although the feeling of isolation is self inflicted,… Continue Reading Ambition and Fullfilment