Vignette Project Review

In the vignette project our class recently finished, there were many personal stories. I found a similarity that ran through several vignette. It was that people talk about their names and the origins of them. I think that this is because peoples’ name can define who they are. I think it is interesting to here about the names of my peers because it gives me insight about their background.

I found a quote on Victor Liangs vignette that described what his name meant to the person who gave it to him and what it means in languages.

“My first name, Victor, was given to be by my father. It means “winner”, something my father wants me to be. My middle name, Tao, means large waves. It is also my Chinese name, and is pronounced tou in Cantonese. There isn't much behind my father giving it to me for he gave it to me just as randomly as he gave my first name to me.”

It is interesting to see what Victor’s name means in English as well as in Chinese. I think that the definition, large waves, can partially describe Victor’s personality.
    Yen has a different story to tell about his name.
“My parents picked this because they thought that it would be easier to fit in to the  community, but I have always found it more difficult because I always want to correct people, but they think that they have already pronounced it correctly.  You see, when someone has a really Asian name, the teacher or anyone new would ask if they pronounced it correctly, but with yen, they pronounce it like the Japanese currency and move on.”
Yen also has some background about his name. The troubles that he has had with the pronunciation and integrating into the community. He indirectly brings up the point that when parents are choosing a name for their kids they should consider the repercussions that the kid might have to face later in life regarding the name.
    I enjoyed looking at my peers’ blog posts and it was interesting to make connections between them.