American Born Chinese and Dragon Ball

Adam Johnson and Hannah Trumm

American Born American Born ChineseChinese

MonkeyMonkey The story of the Monkey

King in ABC is quite different from The Monkey and the Monk Focuses on Monkey Monkey’s struggle to

find self-expectance Far fewer characters Monkey’s goals aren’t to

become a Buddhist but instead just to find immortality

Religious ElementsReligious Elements A main focus in The

Monkey and the Monk is on religion, mainly Buddhist and Taoist ideas

The religious focus in ABC is on Christian ideas God/Jesus/Moses

characteristics can be found in the characters

The Lion, the Ox, the Human and the Eagle are Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

Etc.

Jin WangJin Wang The main character in ABC

who brings together all three of the stories

Fitting in is extremely important to Jin after he moves from China town, to an almost completely white school Seen as foreign although

he was born in America Wants to make friends

but most of his classmates are racist

Jin Wang and Wei-Jin Wang and Wei-ChenChen

Although there is a common theme of friendship in ABC, Jin doesn’t notice how important his friendship is with Wei-Chen until he excepted his own identity as Chinese

Transformer theme Jin wants to become a

white American Wei-Chen turns from

monkey to human Monkey transforms from

animal to civilized being

Chin-KeeChin-Kee Chin-Kee represents the

white American stereotype of Asians Buck-toothed Squinty eyes Chinese clothes Slippers Fighting style Eats cats and dogs

Chin-Kee is Monkey in disguise and is important to the book because it over exaggerates the perception of oneself for Jin of his classmates

Chin-KeeChin-Kee Breakfast at Tiffany’s

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VrO87ItXoNg

Sixteen Candles

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3aJ0FVnGzQ&feature=related

Dragon BallDragon Ball Comparing Dragon Ball

and The Monkey and the Monk: Character

development Same character

attributes Target audience is

kids for Dragon Ball Story line is different

Dragon BallDragon Ball The seven magic balls are

symbolic of the scriptures in The Monkey and the Monk

Emphasis is on the journey, every step is important just as in the novel

Technology is a hindrance to the journey Makes the story of The

Monkey and Monk modern

Akihabara – technology district of Tokyo

Dragon Ball vs. ABCDragon Ball vs. ABC

Reoccurring theme of race for Jin in ABC for Goku in Dragon Ball

Jin wants to be recognized as an American but Goku doesn’t care what other people think Goku follows his animal

instincts and acts barbaric Goku doesn’t want to fit

in, Jin does

Homeland

Team SpiritTeam Spirit An important theme in

The Monkey and the Monk is team spirit, which isn’t a theme in ABC, but is a prominent theme in Dragon Ball All characters until

under a common goal despite drastic differences