An American Brat By Bapsi Sidhwa

1. How does Manek's self-loathing in An American Brat compare to that of Jin in American Born Chinese? Is it telling/significant that the self-loathing only occurs in male characters that we've read about, or are there female characters who experience this as well? 2. Bapsi Sidhwa, the author of An American Brat, received some negative attention for privileging Western culture, ideals, and ideologies in the novel. In what ways does Sidhwa's novel go out of its way to emphasize an American, European, and/or Western exceptionalism? This is worthwhile to spend time thinking about, especially since the novel's very premise sees Zareen send Feroza to America as a corrective measure. 3. How would you compare The Girl in the Tangerine Scarf and An American Brat in terms of their pro- or anti-American attitudes, perspectives? 4. In this and other novels we've read this semester, do you see Americanization as consented to or coerced? In other words do characters willfully choose to Americanize or are they forced to do so? Have we read of characters who do Americanize themselves but are nonetheless rejected by America? 5. We know why immigrants come to America, but - based on the novels we've read this semester - why do they stay?    

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