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Transcript

A Step From Heaven

An Na was born in Korea and grew up in San Diego, California. A former middle school English and history teacher, she is currently at work on her third novel. She lives in Vermont.

In Korea, the last name or surname is always presented before the first name/given name.

In Korea, women do not traditionally lose their last names after being married. In America, of course, it is a common practice. As a way of preserving her Korean heritage, her parents used her entire name—An Na—as a double-syllable first name. Then, when she got married, she could always keep her last name as she was meant to. And her given name evolved into the Americanized “Anna.”

The initial stirrings for the story stemmed from one of my memories.

"I remember getting my hair permed, and being told that all Americans have curly hair. But as the novel grew, it became Young Ju’s story."

A STEP FROM HEAVEN

When Young Ju is four years old, she learns that her family is leaving their small fishing village in Korea to live in Mi Gook. Young Ju has heard enough about Mi Gook to be sure the place they are moving to is paradise, that she and her family are going to heaven.

After flying through the sky for a long time, Young Ju finds out that Mi Gook is actually a regular earthly place called America. And it doesn't feel at all like heaven. A STEP FROM HEAVEN follows Young's life from the age of 4 all the way up until she is ready for college, as we watch her change from a hopeful girl into a hardened young adult.

THEMES

  • VIOLENCE
  • PASSIVITY
  • FAMILY
  • DUTY
  • FORGIVENESS
  • RELIGION
  • WOMEN AND FEMININITY
  • DREAMS AND HOPE

QUOTES

“I do not see Apa's hand. It is too fast. I only hear the slap, loud as breaking glass. I bite my bottom lip. Hard. I cannot cry. It will only make it worse. I close my eyes and start to pray, Please, God, please make everything better. What did I say, Apa yells. Slap. I open my eyes and look at Uhmma. She covers her lips with her hand. A little blood comes out from between her fingers. My tears are falling onto my knees. I hold my breath so I will not cry out.” (9.22-25)

“Only now when I sit in the back seat I have to cover the parts that say a little mouse has been here because I am the only Mouse in the family. Everyone else has important signs like Tiger or Dragon. (8.2)”

“I look at Harabugi's picture on the table with the candles all around. He has sleepy eyes like cats in the sun. They are nice eyes. My Harabugi. Apa has the same eyes. Also the same black hair sticking up straight in the front and flat in the back. (3.12)”

“The teacher holds her chin. I play with my color sticks and pretend I do not see her thinking about eating me. After a very long time, the teacher gets up and goes to her desk. She comes back with a bag filled with big yellow crumbs. They are just like the car seat crumbs I am not supposed to pick at. I am worried. The teacher knows I disobeyed Uhmma. (8.25)”

“ Who is that girl? She cannot be me. Her hair is too big. It stands up big as a bush, just like the hair of the toy man with the rainbow face. Uhmma did not tell me this was curly hair. She said it would look like the sea. But it does not. I am a Mi Gook girl with big ugly toy-man hair. (5.58)”

“Halmoni, where is heaven?

Heaven is where your Harabugi is. He is with God in a place where there is only goodness and love.

Can I go there?

Someday. If you pray and love God. Do you love God.

Yes, I say, even though at church the picture of his face with the dark round money eyes makes me hide behind the bench. But I want to see heaven and Harabugi, so I try to love him. (3.2-6)”

“An ahjimma will curl your hair so you will look just like a real Mi Gook girl. (5.16)"

“Outside the important place that will make me pretty, Uhmma fixes the bow in my hair. She tucks my hair behind my ears. Good, she says and then opens the door. We step inside. My nose wrinkles iee! This cannot be the special place. There are ugly smells inside. Worse than Halmoni boiling clothes in soapy water. Uhmma sees my nose and gives me the squinty eye. I push my nose back down. (5.34)”

Sociocultural Status

Socioeconomic status can be defined as a person’s social standing or class in society. It is greatly determined by a person’s education, income, and occupation. A Step from Heaven depicts the impact that the socioeconomic status of the Park family plays on each individual family member.

Young Ju has the immediate realization that America, Mi Gook, is far from heaven, especially for people with a low socioeconomic status. The socioeconomic differences of people in America become apparent to Young Ju when she is enrolled in school.

SETTING - KOREA (1980s) and AMERICA (1980s-2000s)

Korea- where we get to see the beginnings of the chaotic family dynamics that shape the rest of the book, the dynamics that make Young Ju's little hen-like Korean home seem far from ideal. It's where she learns how to hide with her Halmoni and Uhmma from her Apa "because when Apa is too quiet with the squinty eye, it is better to hide until he falls asleep or else there will be breaking everywhere" (2.4).

America is the opposite of Korea, with "many jobs, big houses, good schools" (7.35). At least, that's what it seems like at first, which is why Young Ju keeps thinking it's literally heaven.

But America is also where Young Ju's (and Apa's and Uhmma's) dreams go to die.

Ending

"I study these lines of history [on Uhmma's hand] and wish to erase them… She stares for a moment at her callused skin and then says firmly, These are my hands, Young Ju" (18-19).

It's kind of like An Na is making the whole idea of valuing your history so important that the lesson has to feel timeless and universal. Which is why this chapter has to end the book—it's like the moral of the entire story.

Literacy Support

Young Ju’s mother and father showed different views in supporting their children’s education and learning. The mother, Uhmma, wanted to come to America for her children so they could have the best education.

Proficiency happened later on. Her family only spoke Korean and limited English.

Her family doesn’t encourage and motivate Young Ju to pursue her dreams nor urge her to study or do homework—Young Ju is self-motivated. She does this all on her own without being told and without the help of others. Apa doesn’t see how hard Young Ju works in school, he only can see his daughter becoming ‘Americanized’ and how American girls are a bad influence on her.

Whatever their educational backgrounds were in Korea, it was not supported in the United States. Due to their linguistic differences, Young Ju’s parents were forced to take low-wage jobs.

Psychological (Emotional) Dimension

and Cognitive Dimention

Young Ju Park

Uhmma

Apa

Joon Ho

Other Books by An Na

The Fold

Wait for ME

Novel by An Na

ELL Connection

KOREAN LANGUAGE vs ENGLISH LANGUAGE

The significant differences between Korean and English, particularly in sentence structure and morphology (word structure), make it hard for most Korean ESL students to acquire English at the same rate as, for example, their European peers.

Alphabet

Phonology

Grammer

Vocabulary

An Na

THE AUTHOR

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