Gene Luen Yang video chats with Mrs. Matthusen and her AP Lit class
Questions for Gene Yang: September 24, 2014
Gene Yang, author of graphic novel American Born Chinese.
Ben: Was the novel "American Born Chinese" somewhat related to you? How did you create this story?
Angel: What inspired you to create the character Chin-Kee?
Jirawat: Are there any messages you wanted to tell us behind this book?
Juhao: Who is your favorite character in the story and why?
Pritom: Did the stereotypical Chin-Kee represented many Asian people's insecurity of rumors or is it something much more than that?
Casey: What was the real reason behind for Greg telling Jin not to go out with Amelia?
Ricky: Why did you portray Chin-Kee as a Asian Stereotype and not the other Asians such as Jin Or Wei-Chen?
George: Does Wei-Chen ever return to his true form or live out the rest of his life as a human?
Jorge: Is there a reason you decided to mix the story of Jin with the story of the monkey king? If so why?
Yin: Do you think there is a (huge) difference between American born Chinese and other Asian Americans? Do the stereotype in your book also apply to other Asian Americans?
Niko: Did you have to grow up hearing stereotypical comments about your ethnicity? If yes, how did it make you feel?
Wilfred: Why did Jin kissed Suzy? Is there any real reason behind this action or did he just felt like doing it?
Shatima: Do you feel like Wei-Chen should have forgiven Jin after he kissed Suzy?
Calvin: When you were writing this book, who did you imagine as your audience?
Antony: What are some of the current projects you’re working on?
QUESTIONS FROM PERIOD 1:
Lupe: Did you get any hateful feedback when your work was published? If so, how did you handle those comments?
YuanZhi: Why/how did you decide to combine the three story lines?
Gaby: Do you think some of the discrimination characters experienced in American Born Chinese is still happening today?
Dianxin: How did the success of this book change your life?
Suya: What was the greatest challenge in writing this book, and how did you overcome it?