English Finals

              For our English finals we have to write about the similar or differences on the stories, " Hunger of Memory" and "An American Story." By reading both stories, there are definitely similar things and different things. The tones on both stories are also different as one is much more serious than the other one.

              The first story, "Hunger of Memory," is an autobiography of Richard Rodriguez and his early days in America. He struggles with learning English and being the only Spanish speaker in his class. His family wasn't really welcome to the neighborhood as he states that 2 - 3 neighbors tried to make them unwelcome.

               The second story, "An American Story" is a news article by Anthony Lewis about a family during the Vietnam War. The Dinh family arrived to the U.S. as refugees. They were called boat people because they left Vietnam on a small fishing boat. It lost it's engine during a storm so they drifted for days until they reached Malaysia. They swam in the night to avoid patrol boats that shot at them. Two members of the family were left behind in Vietnam : the father and the oldest daughter. Eventually the father escaped however the oldest daughter couldn't. She was locked in a Hong Kong camp for 3 years! She finally arrived to the U.S. at September 1992.

              The comparison of both stories are that both families are from different countries and immigrated to the U.S. Although it doesn't say, everyone knows both families had to learn a completely new language. They both struggled since English is their secondary language.

              The difference of both stories are that "Hunger of Memory" is probably set back in the past since obviously prejudism still exists during his childhood. In "An American Story," the Dinh family was more welcome into the states and a big name news company even helped their family reunite again. Also "An American Story," they had a much more tougher time than in "Hunger of Memory." The Dinh family was in the middle of a big war and struggled to escape it.

              In the end both families finally found their "peace" and the main characters of both stories were accepted into society after all. Both stories were an interesting read since it shows 2 different time periods and showed us that society has changed a lot since it used to be. Near the end of "An American Story," it even states that, "There is no other country that has accepted so many people from so many places and cultures. To turn away from that tradition now would do the U.S. great damage." clearly showing how the U.S. has changed.