Monday, April 27, 2009

Monkey Bridge: Chapter 10

5 Comments
1] There was an argument and Mai had awoken to it.
2] Mrs. Bay and Mai's mother was arguing.
3] Uncle Michael is trying to help with the family situation.
4] Mai is worried for her mother because she does not want her to fall back in rehabilitation again.
5] Mai went to the library to learn more about her history : the Viet Nam war.

4 Questions
1] Did Uncle Michael recently immigrated to the U.S.?
2] Will they ever find her grandfather?
3] Is he even still alive?
4] How are they gonna find him now?

3 Vocabulary
1] Vicinity: the area or region near or about a place; surrounding district; neighborhood:
2] Unfettered: to release from fetters.
3] Dissolution: the act or process of resolving or dissolving into parts or elements.

2 Literary Terms
1] "A tender slice of sweet memory." -Metaphor.
2] "We tossed spirit money in the air." -Metaphor.

1 Overview
Although they haven't found her grandfather, Mai still doesn't lose hope and struggles to learn more about her past.

Monkey Bridge: Chapter 9

5 Comments
1] Mai's mother finally got to reunite with her father.
2] Mai;s mother thinks that Mai looses herself in her thinking.
3] In one of her mother's entries, Mai's mother talks about karma and genetics.
4] Mai seems very uncomfortable with her situation in life.
5] Baba Quan seemed to be lost somewhere in Viet Nam.

4 Questions
1] How did they find her (Mai's) grandfather?
2] Did they go to Vietnam to see him?
3] Did they bring him back to the U.S?
4] What was Mai's mothers reaction?

3 Vocabulary
1] Embargo: an order of a government prohibiting the movement of merchant ships into or out of its ports.
2] Nostalgia: a wistful desire to return in thought or in fact to a former time in one's life, to one's home or homeland, or to one's family and friends; a sentimental yearning for the happiness of a former place or time: a nostalgia for his college days.
3] Incremental: something added or gained; addition; increase.

2 Literary Terms
1] "I could feel the pulsing of veins that usually precedes entry into a forbidden, private realm." -Metaphor.
2] "I continued my desire to probe for loose memory." -Metaphor.

1 Overview Sentence
Mai's mother didnt really reunite with her father. It was all in her head.

Monkey Bridge: Chapter 8

5 Comments
1] Mai's mother was finally released from the hospital and is at home again.
2] Mai and Bobbie returned back to their apartment to see her mother burning incenses and preparing a feast.
3] Mai's mother often is confused. One minute shes calm and peaceful, the next she imagines herself in the middle of the streets in Viet Nam.
4] After Mai's mother was released from the rehabilitation center, she hasn't mentioned a word about her grandfather.
5] Mai is lost between what is right for her and what she thinks is right for her mother.

4 Questions
1] Who is Mrs. Bay?
2] Why is she mentioned so many times but yet shes so unknown?
3] What is a hui?
4] Is Contufabulatory a real word?

3 Vocabulary
1] Hodgepodge: a heterogeneous mixture; jumble.
2] Disembodied: to divest (a soul, spirit, etc.) of a body.
3] Neurological: the science of the nerves and the nervous system, esp. of the diseases affecting them.

2 Literary terms
1] "I wanted to break through the membrane that kept us apart and plunge headfirst into a prenatal space where I could reach my mother's true thoughts." -Metaphor.
2] "Our apartment was generating some serious energy." -Metaphor.

1 Overview Sentence
Mai's mother finally returned from the rehabilitation center and now things are going fine for now.

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Monkey Bridge: Chapter 7

5 Comments
1] The Governors army had been massively equipped with the most up-to-date weapons.
2] There is a street in Vietnam where it is named the Street of the Trung Sisters in memory of their courageous bravery.
3] Mai was being interviewed by someone whom she does not trust. Why?
4] Mai wanted desperately to tell Mrs. Macmahon the true story of Vietnam, that its not just about rocket fires and body bags.
5] Mai wanted to further her education, so she wanted to go to a college.

4 Questions
1] Who were the Trung Sisters?
2] What was the Trung Sisters symbolizing?
3] Where was Mai heading?
4] And what is she planning to do?


3 Vocabulary
1] Counter attack: an attack made as an offset or reply to another attack.
2] Venerated: to regard or treat with reverence; revere.
3] Shrines: a building or other shelter, often of a stately or sumptuous character, enclosing the remains or relics of a saint or other holy person and forming an object of religious veneration and pilgrimage.

2 Literary Terms
1] "Americans play catch with one knife, but we've mastered the art of juggling many knives." -Metaphor.
2] "America was just beginning to stare at its bruises." -Personification.

1 Overview Sentence
When Mai went to travel with her friend Bobbie, she ended up being in an interview with Mrs. MacMahon.