55 pages • 1 hour read
The Fortunes
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Essay Topics
How does this novel engage with the history of Chinese American communities, particularly those on the West Coast and in the Midwest? What impact does history have on the novel’s story and its themes?
The queue serves as an important recurring symbol in The Fortunes. What does it represent? Which of the stories depict characters who wear the queue, and how does the queue connect them to their Chinese heritage?
How does the novel depict anti-Chinese discrimination and racist violence? What are the connections between person-to-person prejudice and systemic inequality?
How does this novel depict the way that Chinese and American history have shaped Chinese American individuals and their communities?
What role do railroads play in The Fortunes, and how does this speak to the broader history of Chinese American immigration?
What kinds of racism were pervasive in the early days of Hollywood, as evidenced by the career of Anna May Wong? What impact might the representation of Asian Americans have had on real-life Asian American individuals and their communities?
How does the laundry function as a motif within the novel? Which of the book’s themes does it speak to?
Discuss the characterization of Anna May Wong. What kind of person is she? What motivates her? In which ways can she be said to assimilate or to hold onto her Chinese heritage?
Discuss the novel’s representation of gender. What kinds of female characters does the author depict and how are their experiences different from those of male immigrants?
How does the novel’s final story engage with the real-life history of China’s one-child policy and the resulting wave of Chinese adoptees?
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