How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
There was something more foreign about the principal than about any other foreigner she had seen so far. What was it? It was not the blue eyes. Many others had them too. It was not the high nose. All foreign noses were higher than Chinese ones. It was not the blue hair. Hair came in all colors in America. (3.2)
When Shirley meets the principal of P.S. 8, Shirley compares her to other Americans she's met so far. The important thing is that Americans come in all different shapes, colors, and sizes, which isn't like what she's known in China. Each person she meets receives an interesting comparison—like a water jug or white like a powdered baby—that's characteristic of Shirley's imagination. She is the outsider looking in at the strangeness of others.
Quote #2
"Be extra good. Upon your shoulders rests the reputation of all Chinese." (3.13)
No pressure… Shirley's mom tells her she has to be good because she's representing every single Chinese person. Not only is that a lot of weight for Shirley to carry, it also helps set her out, in her own mind, as "the other." How can she ever fit in with her new American classmates if she's always setting herself apart as a Chinese ambassador?
Quote #3
Not the silvery catches that swam and somersaulted in the wooden basins that lined the market at the foot of the Mountain of Ten Thousand Steps. Dead fish. So long dead that Cook would probably not even throw them out to the cats. (4.7)
Americans do so much differently than the Chinese, including food. They pickle some yucky fish, Shirley observes. As she ducks away from the kids who ignore her, everything seems different to her…. even the food.