Nonfiction Reaction Paper

ENG/125
February 8, 2012

Nonfiction Reaction Paper
The nonfiction stories I have decided to write about are; “Who Will Light the Incense When Mother’s Gone?” by Andrew Lam and “Salvation” by Langston Hughes. Both of these stories are about a significant event in the authors lives in which they choose to write about. “Salvation” is a story about the author trying to find his way into the church and finally see the light or Jesus so his soul will be saved and his sins forgiven. ; “Who Will Light the Incense When Mother’s Gone?” was a writing about his mother having a hard time with the American culture and how her son, the author Andrew Lam, will be when he leaves home and how the traditions she raised him …show more content…

I understood they did not want me to make the same mistakes as they once did, but as a teenager I did not understand that concept and rebelled a little just a Lam did. The mother would label a rebel as a cowboy “You’ve become a little American now, haven’t you? A cowboy.” (Lam 2003 p. 1078) A cowboy is referred to as a rebel or outlaw, something teenagers can relate too. “A cowboy in Vietnamese estimation is a rebel who, as in the spaghetti westerns, leaves town-the communal life-to ride alone in the sunset.” (Lam 2003 p.1078) This is just as I explained above, the author is labeled this by his mother because he left town or the communal life rather than stay with the same traditions his mother were brought up on. Lam can still use her experiences and teachings from his upbringing but he chooses the how he wants to use this in his life. I use plenty of things from my childhood and upbringing to live life daily but I use them how I feel best, not how the person that taught and raised me may want them done.
What Makes Selections Nonfiction?
“Who Will Light the Incense When Mother’s Gone?” was nonfiction based not only on the author being the narrator but because he used himself within the story. Lam was born in South Vietnam in 1964 and his family came to America to live. And you can clearly tell the story is nonfiction by the way it relates towards Lam himself. Also