They are described as heroes in the newspaper.
Hope this help.
The denotation of a word refers to the dictionary definition of a word or the literal meaning. For example if you look up the word shrewd in the dictionary you will get the denotative definition which is one having good judgement, this word has a negative connotation.
One internal conflict in this excerpt is that in the first paragraph, the narrator was hoping for things like a nose, a blond haired boy and Robert, which are internal conflicts because she cannot control them. They are things she wants, but will most likely not get. This is related to culture because she is wanting to be American, and going against her Chinese heritage. One external conflict is her mother didn't want her to want to be american, that is why she gave her daughter the miniskirt in beige tweed, while saying that she must be Chinese on the inside and to love who she is.
