Leander Meyer
Essay III
ENGLISH 2150-KTRE
Prof. D. Hohl
Topic Sentence Outline
1. Kingston, a first-generation Chinese-American, struggles to reconcile her Chinese cultural heritage with her emerging sense of herself as an American.
2. In Kingston’s search to uncover her Chinese cultural history, she alters the stories her mother tells her about her family’s past.
3. Brave Orchid’s talk-stories passed on valuable lessons for proper conduct and integrity to Kingston.
4. Unbeknownst to Kingston, her mother hopes to emotionally strengthen her by providing her with a sense of who she truly is and where she comes from.
5. In the third chapter, Kingston draws a favorable comparison between herself and her mother, and finally acknowledges the many similarities they share.
6.…show more content… Kingston interprets her mother’s stories according to her moral values, and the qualities of a woman that define her.
7. For Kingston to remain silent about her aunt would be counterintuitive, synonymous with rejecting herself.
8. Kingston’s main purpose for writing “The Woman Warrior” is to reunite cultural paradoxes.
9. Brave Orchid uses the story of Fa Mu Lan to explain to Kingston that by sacrificing oneself for the village and your family, is a far greater achievement than getting straight A’s.
10. Kingston’s fear and anxiety to speak English derives from her parents’ mistrust of Americans, who, they believe, will one day force them out of the country.
11. The talk-story about Ts’ai Yen implies Kingston’s acceptance of her past, and Brave Orchid’s recognition of American cultural influences on her daughter.
12. Kingston uses her gift of writing to fight the many paradoxes in her