Lesson 10 Rice for Thanksgiving
Many people have a favorite Thanksgiving dish. It’s not turkey or pumpkin pie for me, but something that combines American tradition with my father’s Chinese heritage①.
Until four years ago, when cancer took my grandm a, the Chinese side of m y family, my dad’s side, spent every Thanksgiving at her house. It was always warm, heated by the oven and stove, which grandma usually had running since morning. Our family is large, but the feast she prepared was always much larger. She cooked pies, meats, vegetables, and stuffing②, which however delicious, were not my main course. My sister, my cousins and I, we came for grandma’s rice and gravy③.
And that’s what comes to m ind when I think about Thanksgiving—not pilgrims④ or gratitude, or pumpkin pie. My image of Thanksgiving consists of grandma’s eleven grandchildren pouring turkey gravy over mountains of steamed white rice.
I believe in rice and gravy because I am rice and gravy. I’m half Asian, half Anglo and completely American.
My generation learned in school that culture was something to celebrate and something necessarily foreign. Nobody ever explained to me that culture is not a set of exotic⑤ garments and foods, but something everyone has.
Back then many government applications and forms had yet to acknow ledge the shades of grey in between the major ethnic⑥ groups. I usually checked the “Asian” box even though I am equally white. It seemed like everyone expected me to fit inside that box and I sometimes worried that I wasn’t Asian enough, like I was pretending.
So I used to mourn what I saw as the loss of my Chinese heritage. Grandma never taught my dad to speak Cantonese; our holidays were the American ones; and we ate our family dinners with forks.
See, my grandma’s generation wasn’t taught that diversity was valuable. Her parents came to this country at a time when the central focus of American immigration policy w as keeping the Chinese out. Discrim inatory law s turned them into illegal immigrants. They used fake papers and adopted a fake family name in order to come here.
Until 1943, the United States would not allow Asians to become naturalized citizens. Many parts of Phoenix, where my grandma grew up and where I was raised, were designated off-limits to Chinese people before World WarⅡ. And interracial marriage remained illegal in A rizona until my dad was a teenager. Needless to say, my grandma was encouraged to downplay, not preserve her Chinese culture.
This is why I’ve come to be proud of my mixed identity. My very existence is a mark of progress and a symbol of my country—a collage⑦ of people with roots all over the planet, who, though not without strife⑧, form something new and strong together.
The now-common phrase “long time no see” came from the literal translation of a Chinese expression into English. To me, rice and gravy is a sim ilar type of translation. It’s a delightful piece of culture that arises only at that point where immigrants braid their past into the American story. And that’s what my family celebrates with rice and gravy for Thanksgiving.
(523 words)
Notes
① heritage [ˑherɪtɪdʒ] n. 传统
② stuffing [ˑstʌfɪŋ] n. 填充物
③ gravy [ˑɡrevɪ] n. 肉汁，肉卤
④ pilgrim [ˑpɪlɡrɪm] n. 朝圣者；旅行者
⑤ exotic [ɪɡ'zɒtɪk] adj. 外来的；异国的；奇异的
⑥ ethnic [ˑeθnɪk] adj. 种族的
⑦ collage [kɒˑlɑ:ʒ] n. 大杂烩
⑧ strife [straɪf] n. 斗争；冲突
Exercises
Ⅰ. How well did you read?
1. [Grasp the main idea] Choose the best statement for the main idea of the lesson.
A. The author’s Grandma loves to prepare food for Western holidays.
B. The author thinks that racial discrimination is a big concern for immigrants.
C. The author enjoys rice and gravy for Thanksgiving due to her mixed identity.
D. The author thinks cultural is something necessarily exotic.
2. [See the result] Which of the follow ing is NOT a consequence of changes in time?
A. Literal translations of expressions from other languages are borrowed by English.
B. Interracial marriages become acceptable, even popular.
C. The author no longer needs to downplay her Chinese heritage as her Grandma did.
D. The unity of people with various roots formed naturally.
3. [Evaluate the information] Before 1943, the author’s family must have___.
A. thought of diversity as a valuable treasure
B. been able to appreciate their Chinese heritage
C. hidden their identities in order to survive
D. taught kids their native language
4. [Determine the purpose] The author probably w rote this story to___.
A. share her own experience to argue for interracial marriage
B. express love and proud for her Grandma’s family
C. call for more attention on racial discrimination
D. demonstrate how the US has come to embrace mixed culture
5. [Understand the main idea] What is the main idea of Para. 5 & 6?
A. The school called the author Asian even she was reluctant to admit.
B. The author called herself Asian because culture was thought to be exotic.
C. The government did not acknow ledge the existence of bi-racial kids.
D. The author liked to pretend she was Asian to feel more privileged.
6. [Make an inference] It can be inferred from the text that rice and gravy are___.
A. typical foods from the East and West
B. traditional foods for Thanksgiving
C. more delicious than pies and meats
D. Grandma’s favorite dish to make
7. [Check the details] The author was educated that these aspects are cultural heritage EXCEPT___.
A. traditional costumes B. foreign cuisine
C. minority holidays D. personal habits
8. [Explain the similarity] The author “believes in rice and gravy because I am rice and gravy”. How is a human sim ilar to food?
A. Because it is a metaphor (比喻) for Asian-Anglo American.
B. Because American culture is a mix of two foods.
C. Because her belief is that she has two identities.
D. Because she eats too much of rice and gravy.
Ⅱ. Read for words
Choose one best paraphrase for the underlined words.
(1) And that’s what comes to mind when I think about Thanksgiving—not pilgrims or gratitude, or pumpkin pie. (Para. 3)
A. appreciation B. expectation C. recreation
(2) Nobody ever explained to me that culture is not a set of exotic garments and foods, but something everyone has. (Para. 5)
A. foreign B. attractive C. striking
(3) Many parts of Phoenix, where my grandma grew up and where I was raised, were designated① off-limits② to Chinese people before World WarⅡ. (Para. 9)
① A. noticed B. specified C. indicated
② A. forbidden B. private C. free-range
(4) Needless to say, my grandma was encouraged to downplay, not preserve her Chinese culture. (Para. 9)
A. take advantage of B. make light of C. look down on
(5) It’s a delightful piece of culture that arises only at that point where immigrants braid their past into the American story. (Para. 11)
A. roll B. weave C. knot
Ⅲ. Writing practice
Thanksgiving is a holiday celebrated primarily in the United States and Canada as a day of giving thanks for the blessing of the harvest and of the preceding year. It has also become the day for family gathering and reunions. Can you think of a similar holiday in Chinese culture? List three similarities or differences and w rite a 200-word compare and contrast of the two holidays.
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