My cousin, Kevin, and I were not raised with traditions. So whenever the older generations of our family or someone that we don't know that's apparently a part of the family does something out of the ordinary, my cousin and I turn into those seagulls in the movie, "Finding Nemo", and instead of constantly saying, "Mine, mine, mine," we ask, "Why, why, why"
Since the majority of the family are Buddhists, they do eat vegetarian. One time Kevin and I ordered onion rings and we offered some to our other cousin, Yen, but she told us that she was eating vegetarian that day and therefore could not eat any onions. Kevin turned to me and asked, "Why?" I shrugged my shoulders and told him "I don't know" and we both looked at yen and she just rolled her eyes and walked away.
The following week I was hanging with my other cousin, Tong, and I asked him why vegetarians cannot eat onions and/or garlic since he is more knowledgeable and more open to answer my questions. So instead he told me a story:
There was this woman who lived in a village who thought that growing rice in the rice fields was filthy. She wanted to offer Buddha "clean" rice. So in order to grow "clean rice" she grew rice in a bowl and hung it so it doesn't touch the ground. After harvesting one to two pounds of rice, the woman went to the temples and gave it to the monks. Well the monks weren't too happy about that because they wanted money donations, not food. The woman got angry at the monks because they are supposed to accept anything and not be picky to what's given to them. So when she got home, she killed her dog and made steam buns from it and went back to the temple and gave the steam buns to the monks. They all thought it was vegetarian, so they ate it. With the first bite, the tasted the meat and tossed the steam buns onto the ground. Eventually, the food decomposed into the ground where the onions and the garlic were sprouted.
The woman and the monks were in the wrong because that woman shouldn't have thought that everything has to be pure and the monks shouldn't have been so materialistic and just had accepted the rice with gratitude.
Since the majority of the family are Buddhists, they do eat vegetarian. One time Kevin and I ordered onion rings and we offered some to our other cousin, Yen, but she told us that she was eating vegetarian that day and therefore could not eat any onions. Kevin turned to me and asked, "Why?" I shrugged my shoulders and told him "I don't know" and we both looked at yen and she just rolled her eyes and walked away.
The following week I was hanging with my other cousin, Tong, and I asked him why vegetarians cannot eat onions and/or garlic since he is more knowledgeable and more open to answer my questions. So instead he told me a story:
There was this woman who lived in a village who thought that growing rice in the rice fields was filthy. She wanted to offer Buddha "clean" rice. So in order to grow "clean rice" she grew rice in a bowl and hung it so it doesn't touch the ground. After harvesting one to two pounds of rice, the woman went to the temples and gave it to the monks. Well the monks weren't too happy about that because they wanted money donations, not food. The woman got angry at the monks because they are supposed to accept anything and not be picky to what's given to them. So when she got home, she killed her dog and made steam buns from it and went back to the temple and gave the steam buns to the monks. They all thought it was vegetarian, so they ate it. With the first bite, the tasted the meat and tossed the steam buns onto the ground. Eventually, the food decomposed into the ground where the onions and the garlic were sprouted.
The woman and the monks were in the wrong because that woman shouldn't have thought that everything has to be pure and the monks shouldn't have been so materialistic and just had accepted the rice with gratitude.
Your story was entertaing and funny! I liked how instead of making it into a super scary story, you instead added humor to it. Good job! Your story does sound like something my grandma would tell me because every story she tells me there's always a moral to it and your story had a moral/lesson to it. I've never knew that you couldn't eat onion on those veggie days because I think my parents eat it anyways, but after reading your story I'm going to ask my parents if they have ever heard of this story before. Your story was well written by the way.
ReplyDeleteI actually laughed out loud at the "Finding Nemo" part! I thought your story was very easy to read, informative, and also quite enjoyable! There wasn't really anything in yours story that made it unbelievable, it seemed to be a long fable that everyone knew. Your piece was written very well, and I really enjoyed reading it. Although it wasn't a ghost story, it was something strange that affected you!
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ReplyDeleteI like the imagery of "why, why, why" and can actually visualize the seagulls asking that. I like the story also. It makes sense about the reason why Yen would not have onion rings. Great Job!
I like how you started your essay off with a reference to something that we all know, Finding Nemo. This increases the ethical appeal of your story because we all know about this movie, and it gives us something to reference throughout this story. By explaining that your family is Buddhist, this gives a different perspective to the story. Since you come from this background, this makes you a credible source, and increases the use of logical appeal to the readers, logos. Since you went on to explain why the woman and the monks were in the wrong, I think that this solidifies your argument, making it very believable.
ReplyDeleteYour story is very entertaining! I find it funny how most Asians eat rice with everything, so shouldn't the monk just take the rice? I thought that monks don't talk? I don't know much of the Buddhist religion, but I never knew they were vegetarian. Funny story! I enjoyed it!
ReplyDeleteHa good story, as well as a clever reader connection with Finding Nemo. Sounds like you really enjoyed writing this story and in my opinion, it was definitely one of the most entertaining. You did a great job at incorporating humor, culture and your own perspective in this story. Also, it was nice and refreshing to read something that was strange in your eyes, rather than spooky in some way.
ReplyDeleteYou used awesome humor. I laughed in the beginning paragraph when you referred to Finding Nemo. Very funny! That immediately hooked me to the story. I enjoyed your parallel with modern day and the root of where and when this fable took place. It stimulated my mind to think of how that grain of rice could be seen as it was by the monks. Good story.
ReplyDeleteThis story was very entertaining to read. I didnt quite catch the argument you were trying to make, if the argument was about how onions are not vegetarian then I think there should have been some more emotional details appealing to the reader's pathos.
ReplyDeleteClever way to start out your story with "Finding Nemo" and make everyone laughed, Diep! Your great sense of humor makes the story more enjoyable to read. Picking the rice and the "dog meat" as the main elements of your story is very good because it tells us that "dog meat" is wrong for a vegetarian, and that make you a credible resource whom we can all relate to.
ReplyDeleteI like the way you made your story so personal. I now know how onions were made and I think that is the reason I hate them so much! Watch out for some grammatical mistakes, other than that good work.
ReplyDeleteHaha, I just read the beginning and laughed a little, also the movie "Finding Nemo" was something I knew. :p That enhanced your pathos. Your story sticks out because it's funny and unexpected. The humor was a great way to bring me into it. It was very believable because it's not impossible and those are the kind of things people tend to do when they're unhappy. I'm still curious why Yen can't eat onions.
ReplyDeleteThis is how onions and garlic came to be? I enjoyed the juxtaposition of you and your cousin being non traditional with your other Buddhist family, and how you don't understand them. It goes to show how different people can be, even from the same culture! But I like onions and garlic. If it turns out they come from meat, even dog, that makes them even better!
ReplyDeleteFunny story I like how you put yourself in the the story to seem real. Also being Buddhist helps make the story more believable because of the background knowledge from it. Also mentioning the movie Finding Nemo helps readers relate to that at the beginning. The culture in the story was useful and helped your story nice job.
ReplyDeleteGreat story! The humor of the story really helped keep my attention! The first paragraph helps the reader relate because you mention a movie, this also helps the reader know the intended audience. I also liked that your story was not just funny but had some cultural facts in it. Good job!
ReplyDeleteInteresting read! I really liked the animosity of the women toward the monks after their little incident, it made me chuckle. But the customs of the monks and the lady's desire to please them with something pure made it very believable! Your little tidbit about Finding Nemo was also quite comical.
ReplyDeleteI like the "Finding Nemo" example. I am not Buddhist but I know a little bit about the religion. Picking "dog meat" idea makes your point stronger and more credible. This is a funny piece. But I am still not clear why Yen cannot eat onion. My aunt is Buddhist and I asked her a same question before but she just said because onion has such a strong smell. I don't know. Interesting story, good job!
ReplyDeleteAwesome story! I thought it was funny and I agree with everyone on how the way you compared Finding Nemo to the way you and your cousin asks questions was great. While your story was amusing it was also informative by letting your readers know the background story of why some Buddhist’s don’t eat onions or garlic. When you said “she was eating vegetarian that day” I was curious to know if that was similar to fasting on certain days..
ReplyDeleteGood story! I found this very interesting, I never knew Buddhist won't eat onions or garlic! I guess you learn something new everyday! I really like the descriptive language you use at the beginning.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed how instead of a ghost story, your response to the "strange and unusual" prompt was answering a question that not many people know to ask. The way you delivered the story was really unique too since since you began with a characterization of how you and your cousin ask questions. It really progressed well into your cousin's answer as to why Buddhists don't eat onions or garlic. It kinda reminds me of an old native Indian story from some tribe in the upper territories of Canada. The story accounts for the creation of the different ethnicities that exist around the globe. But overall your curiosity was prevalent throughout the story before you received you answer which helped influence diction so that the reader's curiosity was also heightened ultimately strengthening pathos and logos since you claimed that your cousin, Tong, was a knowledgeable person willing to explain why.
ReplyDeleteYou answered a few of my curious question about Buddhism with this short story. Religious stories always pique my intrigue, their more than just charming folk tales, they actually explain some things that logic cannot. I find that fantastic.
ReplyDeleteThe beginning of your story was very strong and drew me in right away. I appreciate your humor in this story, it kept me focused and interested. This story also flows very well, it was easy to read and almost relatable in a way.
ReplyDeleteVery creative title and I loved the reference to Finding Nemo. I liked how you did the Finding Nemo reference because you introduced (in a clever way) your confusion about your family’s ways sometimes. It was very believable. I feel like it could have been more detailed but all in all great job. It was very interesting.
ReplyDeleteYour story is really nice. I liked it a lot but a few grammatical changed can be made. I was confused when you kept on bringing up vegetarian at the beginning but at the end I was able to put pieces together to figure out what you were trying to say. Over all I liked how you added dialect to your story, it really gave it to be real, and it was also detailed very well. Good job!
ReplyDeleteThis story sounds a lot like a scripture from a bible of some sort. Giving it great credibility. Also I like how this story had a moral to it and did not have the question is this real or is this fake. It was almost implied (at least to me) that this story is true and is why you cant eat onions. Good story!
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