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An Analysis of Marilyn Chin’s How I Got That Name
Divided into four stanzas, Marilyn Chin’s poem “How I Got That Name” is the story of a
Chinese-American woman named Marilyn Mei Ling Chin. Narrated in first person, each of its
four stanzas focuses on a different part of the narrator’s journey into assimilation in the
American society and her connection to her Chinese roots. The first stanza narrates her father’s
ordeal as he makes his way into America and how within that journey her name was born. The
second stanza explores her struggles as a minority in America and her daily life dealing with
stereotypes such as the ‘model minority’ (used to describe the Chinese minority in the United
States, mostly to justify the failings of state to serve all of society equally). The third stanza is a
reflection of the narrator’s connection with her roots and ancestors. She imagines her own death
and proceeds to wonder how she would be remembered, in the last stanza, figuratively
completing the circle of her life; her birth to a father obsessed with an American blonde, her
struggles of identity in a society that sees her as a tool and her after life and impact on those who
she’ll leave behind. In her diverse tone and informal but seamless flow, Marilyn Chin portrays
the difficulties and struggles of an American of Chinese roots who tries to assimilate to one
without losing the other.
Name
Course
Tutor
Date
An Analysis of Marilyn Chin’s How I Got That Name
Divided into four stanzas, Marilyn Chin’s poem “How I Got That Name” is the story of a
Chinese-American woman named Marilyn Mei Ling Chin. Narrated in first person, each of its
four stanzas focuses on a different part of the narrator’s journey into assimilation in the
American society and her connection to her Chinese roots. The first stanza narrates her father’s
ordeal as he makes his way into America and how within that journey her name was born. The
second stanza explores her struggles as a minority in America and her daily life dealing with
stereotypes such as the ‘model minority’ (used to describe the Chinese minority in the United
States, mostly to justify the failings of state to serve all of society equally). The third stanza is a
reflection of the narrator’s connection with her roots and ancestors. She imagines her own death
and proceeds to wonder how she would be remembered, in the last stanza, figuratively
completing the circle of her life; her birth to a father obsessed with an American blonde, her
struggles of identity in a society that sees her as a tool and her after life and impact on those who
she’ll leave behind. In her diverse tone and informal but seamless flow, Marilyn Chin portrays
the difficulties and struggles of an American of Chinese roots who tries to assimilate to one
without losing the other.
