Humanities Homework Help

Instructions:

Prompts for Topic on “Chang”

As discussed in class, usually the narrative of a short story leads to a sudden “epiphany”—a moment of revelation in which the narrator or protagonist reaches a profound understanding of something significant about life, society, the self, or others. Although the ways in which this moment arrives differ from story to story, often the narrative point of view and a series of events play a most important part in leading the narrative and narrator toward a sudden realization about something profound, or an unexpected recognition of a blind spot, anoversight, or a misunderstanding, etc. What is the “epiphany” of “Chang”? How does the narrator achieve it for herself and the reader? What are the narrator’s oversights and blind spot before achieving the “epiphany”? What contributed to her blind spot and oversights?

Discussing the epiphany of “Chang” will inevitably involve an examination of the narrator’srelationship with her parents. In what ways does this relationship reflect social relations and racial identities? Why is it that the father—the sole bread-earner in the family—is alienated and marginalized at home? In other words, in what way does the father’s position at home reflect larger racial hierarchy and racialized power relations? How is his position at home influenced by his racial identity and social status in the U.S.?