American Born Chinese

Use these essay questions as writing and critical thinking exercises for all levels of writers, and to build their literary analysis skills by requiring textual references throughout the essay.

Differentiation Suggestion: For English language learners or struggling writers, strategies that work well include graphic organizers, sentence frames or starters, group work, or oral responses.

Scaffolded Essay Questions

Student Prompt: Write a short (1-3 paragraph) response using one of the bulleted outlines below. Cite details from the text over the course of your response that serve as examples and support.

1. A bildungsroman is a work of literature that follows a protagonist as this person comes of age.

• In what ways does Yang’s graphic novel meet the definition of a bildungsroman? (topic sentence)
• Find and discuss three examples from the text to substantiate your topic sentence.
• How does the novel’s bildungsroman connect with the theme Growing up in America as the Child of Immigrants?

2. Several characters seek to transform their identity in the novel.

• Why do the characters want to change their identity? (topic sentence)
• Select one of these characters and explain why they want to undergo a transformation. Evaluate the extent to which they change in the story.
• Based on the ending of the story, what point is Yang making about one’s Identity and the Limitations of Transformation?