Growing Up Asian in Australia Introduction

Introduction by Alice Pung

1. What were Asian-Australians referred to as when the author was growing up?

Power points

2. How does she interpret this title?

By thinking it mean they were so smart they were dynamic in a Micro-soft-magnate sort of way.

3. What did this title actually refer to? Did the author find this demeaning? Why/why not?

It refers to Asian people's eyes being really small like a power point socket. Yes the author finds it demeaning but tries to deter this by saying making the racist joke seem like a compliment. 

4. ‘All that untapped potential! All that electrifying brain power!’ What techniques are being employed by the author? How does they highlight he misunderstanding?

This highlights a misunderstanding of the joke calling Asian people power points. It is suppose to relate to their eyes being really small but it is being related them being smart.

5. What did the teen author take away from teen fiction? What did she feel that she needed to do? Why? What does this say is essential to fitting in to a culture?

That most of the teen faces were like lead characters. (not real) She felt most of the books made her think she needed plastic surgery because of how she looked. This is not good because everyone is different and this relates to their culture as they fit in there but don't fit in, in other culture's because they look different.

6. Who are the authors that she turns to? Why?

John Marsden and Robert Cormier because they wrote with raw honesty and real feeling about coming of age.

7. In the third paragraph how does the author use repetition. How does it highlight the focus of this book?

The author repeats the word first to reflect experiences when growing up in Australia. 

8. What metaphor does the author use to highlight the writers and the writing style in the third paragraph?

The authors are the tree and they write from their roots. This relates to the detailed writing style of the author. 

9. Why does the author use a quote in the 4^th paragraph? What does it say about her reaction to the stories in the book?

The author uses the quote as it is like a saying and it shows us how she felt when she read many of these stories.

10. On page 2 the author talks about the themes that she loosely choose for the collection. What are they and why is it ironic that they show up in this book?

The battler, the pioneer, the legend to show these heroic characteristics are not confined to those with white faces and First Fleet Heritage. 

11. At the bottom of pg 3 on to page 4 the author says that sociologists have described Asians as the ‘model minority’. What is meant by this? What difficulties arise out of this label for young Asian-Australians?

''Model minority'' is written to describe the Asians working hard, studying hard and conforming to the expectations and ideals of the dominant culture. Before these Asians grow up into the person that they are going to became they are already labelled because of the way they look which reflects back to their culture. 

12. What are the editor’s hopes for the collection of stories?

That the loose themes will help bring to the forefront questions of identity, place and perspective. As the stories deal so insight fully with the challenges of coming to terms with multiple identities, they move beyond crude labels such as ''bananas'' and ''coconuts.''