ConferencewithGeneYang

Nathan Gitter									          	         Gitter 1 English 8-4 10-24-08 Reflection of Conference with Gene Yang The conference with Gene Yang was very beneficial to my understanding of American Born Chinese. Many of the unanswered questions I had about the book were answered, and I learned many other facts too. I thought that the conference was fascinating, surprising, and thought-provoking. First of all, I thought that the conference was quite fascinating. I learned that Gene’s son has a transformer just like Jin and Chin-kee in the book. Gene actually has to change the transformer for him because it is so complex. Also, I learned that Gene based many of the characters and events off his own life and the lives of others. For example, he based the idea of Jin getting a new hairstyle off one of his friends from middle school who also had their hair changed. Secondly, the conference had many surprising facts in it. When Gene talked about how he constructed the book, he said that it took him four to eight hours to complete one page. Additionally, Gene started to write the novel as three separate stories. He then made it a challenge for himself to try to combine the three stories into one. Lastly, I found the conference to be thought-provoking. After Gene told us that his view of Jin’s transformation was up to the reader, I thought about it a little more. I then came to the conclusion that Jin transformed into Danny mentally, not physically. In addition, I thought about how Gene “americanized” the story of the Monkey King. Besides making it reader friendly and in english, Gene mixed the religious beliefs of the western and eastern worlds by making the Gitter 2 Monkey King and the other disciples into the three magi from the birth of Jesus even though the disciples in Journey to the West were Buddhist. I believe that this conference with Gene Yang helped not only me, but also my classmates. It was full of interesting facts, surprising details, and thoughtful answers. I believe that conferences with authors are very beneficial and make the book have even more of an impact on the reader’s overall understanding of the book.