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Part 1:
Although the internment of Japanese-Canadians is in itself not a major contributor to the understanding of the story, the underlying racism it created is in fact significant. The grandfather's diminished outlook on life and his country following their treatment created tension in the family: his wife and Naomi did not suffer from his inability to make amends with their situation and move on, which created a rift that separated them to a degree. This caused the grandmother to pull away and distance herself from reality, as represented by her famous silence: "Obasan . . . does not dance to the multicultural piper’s tune or respond to the racist’s slur. She remains in a silent territory, defined by her serving hands." This distant quality to the title character is the basis for much of the family dynamics in the narrator's present.
Part 2:
My first piece of advice when writing an essay: be concise. When I look back at some of my earlier essays, It makes me cringe to realize the over-the-top language I used. Don't make it too "academic," but stick to the point. It makes it easier to read and stay focused.
Also, have a healthy disregard for the word count. If you don't feel shoehorning your essay into a limited space, don't. Proof? A+ in English 12 with the English award from Claremont, and A+ last semester. Both those final essays were probably 400-500 words longer than they were allowed to be. I should put a disclaimer on that: we're emailing these in, so Brenda, you're going to be able to check exactly how many words are actually in there. Scary stuff!
This semester, I'd like to work on conforming precisely to the word count. Why? Read the section immediately above this.
Although the internment of Japanese-Canadians is in itself not a major contributor to the understanding of the story, the underlying racism it created is in fact significant. The grandfather's diminished outlook on life and his country following their treatment created tension in the family: his wife and Naomi did not suffer from his inability to make amends with their situation and move on, which created a rift that separated them to a degree. This caused the grandmother to pull away and distance herself from reality, as represented by her famous silence: "Obasan . . . does not dance to the multicultural piper’s tune or respond to the racist’s slur. She remains in a silent territory, defined by her serving hands." This distant quality to the title character is the basis for much of the family dynamics in the narrator's present.
Part 2:
My first piece of advice when writing an essay: be concise. When I look back at some of my earlier essays, It makes me cringe to realize the over-the-top language I used. Don't make it too "academic," but stick to the point. It makes it easier to read and stay focused.
Also, have a healthy disregard for the word count. If you don't feel shoehorning your essay into a limited space, don't. Proof? A+ in English 12 with the English award from Claremont, and A+ last semester. Both those final essays were probably 400-500 words longer than they were allowed to be. I should put a disclaimer on that: we're emailing these in, so Brenda, you're going to be able to check exactly how many words are actually in there. Scary stuff!
This semester, I'd like to work on conforming precisely to the word count. Why? Read the section immediately above this.
