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Bojanowski 1

Anastasia Bojanowski ENC 1102 Reader Analysis Essay: Outline September X, 20XX ! Introduction, Proem: Liminal characters often find themselves trapped between two worlds, often bridging generational and cultural gaps. The resulting situation causes these liminal characters to live in a state of Diaspora, in which they struggle to find a sense of belonging and identity (include research from Evelyn Hu-Deharts article). This internal conflict often divides the character with a feeling of displacement, where they find themselves without a sense of home living between two cultures. Oftentimes, these characters must negotiate the differences of the two cultures to overcome their internal conflict and arrive at a sense of wholeness. Introduction, Exordium:! Amy Tan (1989) addresses this state of Diaspora in the protagonist of the short story, A pair of tickets, giving an insiders perspective to a dual-nationality experience. Tan is herself a 1st generation Chinese-American (include research from biography posted in ANGEL) The protagonist, Jing-mei, must negotiate her American-ness with her Chinese heritage given to her through her mother to resolve her internal conflict.
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Traveling to the Unknown

Statement of Fact: In the short story, A pair of tickets, Tan reveals the challenges of individuals as they search for their identity while living in a state of Diaspora. Jing-mei must negotiate a dual identity of being Chinese and American as she travels to the familiar yet foreign China. There she must reconcile her two identities through the referential of her mother and extended family.
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Confirmation: 1. Initially in story, Jeing-mei is in a state of conflict (quotation page 267). Her mother initiates the sense of duality, by claiming that she is Chinese (quotation from page 2. 267). Jeing-meis sense of identity initially refuses her Chinese heritage (page 267). [paragraph each] 3. When traveling to China, the narrator experiences the familiar (hotel and food: page 277) yet the foreign (relatives and stories of her mother) [paragraph each] 4. Her father tells Jing-mei her mothers history, which allows the protagonist to connect with a past in China through her mother; she also wants to hear the story in Chinese. 5. Realizes her Chinese heritage when confronted with her step-sisters (sees mother in them initially, yet sees them for her sisters afterwards: page 288). Comes to revelation that meeting family has recovered the lost identity of being both Chinese and American.

Conclusion: Amy Tan presents the reader with a story of Americans caught in the Diaspora so that the reader can better understand this aspect of American culture from an insiders perspective. Such insights can dispel assumptions some Americans have of others, who have dual nationalities.