Chapter+18

By: Harry Metz

=**Chapter 18**= In chapter 18, Da gets down on his poor performance on his academics and tries to improve. He gets a really bad grade on the mid-term and his teacher posted his test outside the classroom for everyone to see. He is angry at his teachers, but when he tries to learn they turn him down. They have given up on him for awhile now. Dia, his best friend at school tells him what his family’s secret is about their tobacco. They pee on it in the morning. When Da, finally gets down on his studies he wakes up every morning at 5 a.m. with his Mom and goes to study and try to catch back up in 18 months before the college exams. His cousin Tan also tries to study for the exam but had to miss work and had to stop studying for a little bit. Another important part is when Professor Wei finds cigarettes in his backpack and also finds out he was smoking with Dia. An important them in this chapter would be determination and education. Da Chen uses only a few metaphors and similes this chapter. One is “I was breathing a dead body. There was no dignity, shame, or respect left in me, only regrets, tons of them.” (Page 198) Another quote that helps describe the chapter is “All my enemies, old and new, would be rejoicing over my downfall.” (Page 198) This is on how bad he did on his mid-terms exams and he used to be the brightest kid at school. A quote that supports the determination theme is “I asked Mom to wake me at five the following day on and every day afterward.” (Page 200) Da’s point of view for this chapter is sad for him at this point, but he knows it’s his fault and can’t blame anyone but himself.

By: Conor Montgomery

=**Chapter 18 (continued)**=

=While Da is trying to knuckle down and study hard for his exams, his teacher (nicknamed the fat teacher) tells students that need help with their work must come to his dorm. Dia, one of Da’s very closest friends, goes to see the teacher to receive help. The teacher did not even open the door to him, however, he did to 5 pretty young girls from his class. This is a dent to Da’s studying plans. After the dorm room incident, Da’s bad test results are posted all over the wall in the hallway. There is a snippet of comic relief towards the end of the chapter, when Da goes to visit Professor Wei for the fifteenth time. Professor Wei is his English teacher. He makes up a creative dialogue to go with a staring contest between himself and Professor Wei’s dog. To conclude the chapter, Professor Wei shows a twist to her behaviour and digs out a box of cigarettes from Da’s backpack.= =“Young Dia had been there and the fat teacher wasn’t helpful. In fact, he hadn’t even opened the door after looking through the peephole. Dia had waited in the bushes by his dorm room; not five minutes later, he saw several girls being ushered in by the fat teacher.”(197)= =“Professor Weir opened the door with the same smile she’d given me fourteen times before. The dog gave me his usual glare, sleepy, bored, and mean. //Here comes the loser again//. If I did anything different, like walk a little faster or snap my fingers, he would frown like an old man and growl a warning. //Don’t piss me off, you brat//, he seemed to be saying. It was he who set the tone of the day.”= =“She stuck her hand into my bag and came out with a handful of Flying Horse. She shook with rage and seemed totally disgusted by the tobacco in her hands. My face went pink, red, and pale at the same time. What a feisty lady! I had underestimated her by a big margin. I felt shaken with embarrassment.” (207)=