Background

Laurence Yep, the author of Dragon’s Gate, is also the author of several other novels that make up the Golden Mountain Chronicles. These novels describe the lives of generations of Chinese living in China and the United States. Dragon’s Gate examines life and changes in life as seen through the eyes of a young Chinese adult. He sees his family struggle while working on the transcontinental railroad.

• List what you think are the challenges of coming to America to build a railroad. Put a star next to the challenges for anybody. Put a checkmark next to the challenges for someone new to the country.
• Locate Kwangtung Province in Southern China on the South China Sea. Locate California in the United States. Compare the route you would take between Kwangtung Province and California to the route taken.
• Describe the experience of Chinese American immigrants. Include the time of the immigration. How did immigration change people’s lives? What prejudices did these immigrants face? What were the reasons behind the prejudice? Is the situation any different today? Write a report about what you discover and share your report with the class.
• Research the technology needed to build the first locomotive and the transcontinental line. Be prepared to present your findings to the class.

The Novel

The Journey Begins
Dragon’s Gate begins when Otter’s adoptive father and his Uncle Foxfire return to China from the Golden Mountain. Otter desperately wishes to join them as they prepare to once again journey to America where they will build a tunnel through the mountains for the transcontinental railroad.

Here are some questions to guide your reading:

• Why is Otter first told that he cannot travel to the Golden Mountain with his uncle and father?
• What are the social divisions of Three Willows Village?
• Who are Otter’s real parents?
• What happens that causes Otter to have to go the Golden Mountain?

As a class discuss: Uncle Foxfire says, “You can learn to change the world or go on being changed by it.” What is Foxfire referring to? Can people really change the world? How? Explain. Are more people changed by the world or do more people change the world? Explain.

As the book continues, Otter finds out about the horrible working conditions for the Chinese who are tunneling through the mountain. He learns that his uncle, greatly admired at home, is just another worker. Otter has to come to terms with being treated differently from westerners.

• What are some of the first social differences Otter must learn to deal with?
• Why is Otter so disappointed in his uncle when he sees him on the Golden Mountain?
• Why does Sean walk around outside of his cabin until late at night?
• Do you think Sean’s father loves Sean?
• What happened to Sean’s mother?
• Why do you think Sean and Otter become friends?

As a class discuss they following: Otter accuses his Uncle Foxfire of lying about everyone being free and equal in America. Foxfire replies, “They’re [meaning Americans] better in theory than in practice.”

What does Foxfire mean by this statement? Is it true? Can you think of other instances in which Americans might be accused of being better in theory than in practice?

Journey’s End

Otter volunteers to do something dangerous to save the lives of many others. His uncle volunteers to go with him with disastrous results. From this experience, Otter gains new understanding about what his role in life may be and understands his Uncle Foxfire as a hero and an ordinary man.

• What happens to Otter’s father? Doggy? Sean? Uncle Foxfire?
• Why do you think Otter volunteers to go up on the mountain?
• Why does Otter not return to China with his father?
• Why does Otter stay so long after he earns the right to leave the mountain?

As a class discuss

• Why do the Chinese continue to work on the mountain when it is so dangerous for them? What does Otter’s father mean when he says, “It’s war…. Because the mountain can kill you in a dozen different ways before you blink an eye. And victory is twenty centimeters a shift.”
• Do you think Otter will always be a “guest”?’ Explain. Someone tells Otter that once you start guesting you’ll be a guest all your life—whether here or back home. Is the statement true? What does this statement mean to you? How could it apply to people of any race?

Activities

Literature. Many times authors give extra background information so readers can make comparisons as they read. Yep shows us Otter’s life in China and then shows us Otter’s life on the Golden Mountain. From this we are able to understand the confusion and anger that Otter experiences. Compare and contrast Otter’s life in China with his life in America on the graphic organizer.

Reading Activity

Compare and Contrast Life in China and in the United States

Point of View

Dragon’s Gate is told in the first person. What if it had been written in the third person or another character’s point of view? Choose a character from the novel and rewrite a passage of the book expressing that character’s point of view. Consider:

• Does the theme of prejudice and alienation change when the story is told by another character?
• How does changing the point of view change the theme of courage in this novel?

Select information from the text that describes the problems faced by each group of people. Describe the causes of these problems and then identify the actions each group takes to resolve its problems. Fill in the chart based on this information.

Conflict and Solution Chart. Select information from the text that describes the problems faced by each group of people. Describe the causes of these problems and the action each group took to resolve its problems.

Character Analysis

Describe Otter’s character. Cite text to support your selection.List Otter’s personality traits. Refer to the text to support your choices.