The Woman Warrior

Use these links to supplement and complement students’ reading of the work and to increase their overall enjoyment of literature. Challenge them to discern parallel themes, engage through visual and aural stimuli, and delve deeper into the thematic possibilities presented by the title.

Recommended Texts for Pairing

Toni Morrison’s Beloved

• Morrison’s novel uses ghosts as a motif and symbol to explore similar themes of Lineage and Family and Language and Storytelling.
• Courses centered on writing techniques might focus on the scene in which the character Beloved first appears out of thin air.
• Beloved on SuperSummary

May-Lee Chai’s Useful Phrases for Immigrants

• Chai’s short story collection paints portraits of the contemporary Chinese Diaspora and scenes from current-day China.
• Chai’s depictions add context and nuance to the culture and stories depicted in Kingston’s memoir.

Maxine Hong Kingston’s China Men

• Like The Woman Warrior, this book by Kingston blends myth, memoir, and fiction to create a genre-bending work that furthers her exploration of Language and Storytelling, Lineage and Family, and the Chinese immigrant experience in the United States.
• Where The Woman Warrior focuses on female figures in Kingston’s life and imagination, China Men centers male figures.
• China Men on SuperSummary

Other Student Resources

Joint Interview with Maxine Hong Kingston and Celeste Ng (PBS NewsHour)

• Kingston and Ng discuss their motivations for writing, including unveiling family secrets.
• They also discuss the long-standing impact of The Woman Warrior.

“Maxine Hong Kingston on Memory, Meditation and Magic (Part One)”

• Bill Moyers profiled Maxine Hong Kingston in 1990; this archival interview discusses Storytelling as art, memory, Lineage and Family, and more.

“The Missing Images of Chinese Immigrants” by May-Lee Chai

• Chai’s essay traces the images of Chinese immigrants in US media from their arrival to today.
• The article features photos from archives and film.