“How could I resist?” she later said about that day. It was when everyone was fleeing when the Japanese were taking over Kweilin, and we were left on the side of the road. Mei Ching, and her husband were poor at the time, but they still picked us up off of the side of the road. Although, there was writing on the back of the photo, Mei Ching and Mei Han could not read. By the time someone was able to read the note to them, they had already grown to love us. Instead of taking us to the address on the back of the photo, they took care of us. She told us that we were born into a great family, and that she was going to take us back to see our real mom and grandparents. She showed us the picture of our parents. My sister Chwun Hwa and I felt an immediate connection to our parents.…
The story of “Peanut’s Fortune” is told by Peanut’s sister, who is involved within the plot but remains unnamed throughout her narration. Throughout the short story, Amy Tan writes in first person, allowing Peanut’s sister to personally retell the story to her daughter.…
Chapter 1 goes through the traditional birthing methods and traditions of the Hmong people. One of the most significant traditions is burying the placenta. The placenta has to be strategically buried in a specific spot under the homes dirt floor or when the person dies its soul has to travel back to the placenta. This chapter also introduces the characters Nao Kao and Foua Lee. Nao is husband and father of 13 children (some of which died at an early age). Foua is the mother and wife.…
Amy Tan has a contentious relationship with her mother perceived from her hostile tone. All mother-daughter relationships have troubles. In excerpts from Amy Chua’s memoir, Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mom, and Amy Tan’s novel, The Joy Luck Club, mother-daughter relationships can be seen through diction, and tone. The annoyed tone in the situation between Amy Chua and her daughter shows a caring relationship while the hostile and hateful tone in Amy Tan’s excerpt shows a poor relationship with a hateful past.…
Can differences in communication between men and women be defined as black and white? Deborah Tannen’s essay “But What Do You Mean” divided the biggest areas of miscommunication between men and women into seven categories, three of which caught my attention for personal reasons. As examined, women have a habit of apologizing to maintain a pleasant atmosphere. Tannen expressed how men and women react to complaints, as well. Jokes were also discussed, suggesting that men razz each other to maintain a one-up position; however, women’s jokes tend to put themselves down. Regarding Tannen’s description of these three communication categories, my personal experiences fall more within a grey area rather than assigning themselves to black and white roles.…
In the beginning of this book, it talks about where she came from, which is Taiwan. It also gives you a bunch of background information, like, how her dad was a painter/ photographer, and how he went MIA, Missing In Action, on one of his journeys to paint the Amazon river. Then she had to live with her Aunt Monita who was always trying to get her to be more lady-like, but all she wanted was to be like her father and paint and photograph things that interest her. She does not believe that her dad cannot be found, and she hopes that one day he will come back for her. The day he left for his last trip before he went MIA, he said to her, “Anila, whatever people tell you, know that i am here for you now, and forever. i will always love you and find you. Goodbye Anila.” In his taiwanese accent. But that was three years ago, and she is still waiting.…
Last Thursday I attended the on campus event in which Jane Elliot introduced her "Angry Eye" experience. Viewing this video helped me to truly understand how people of minority races are treated because of their skin color on a daily basis. During her presentation she started by informing us that most maps that we see in school are proportionately incorrect. She made the point that the maps were made to make the United States and Greenland look larger that they really are. She said the miss-education makes people who are taught with this map unconsciously perceive that our country is much larger and possibly "more important" than other countries, when in reality our country is actually much smaller than many others. She said this fallacy in…
In the short story, “Two Kinds” by Amy Tan, the concept of The American Dream is illustrated through a mother and daughter relationship. The relationship is based on the mother wanting her daughter to accomplish The American Dream. The main character Jing-mei's mother looks at life in America as living The American Dream. Jing- mei states, “My mother believed you could be anything you wanted to be in America” (Tan 46). In her mother’s mind, she believed if you dedicated yourself to anything with enough hard work it was possible. This idea inspired her mother more than Jing-mei; her mother was always pushing her to be the best. Whether she was an actress or pianist there was always the idea that if enough time and effort were put into these…
Amy Tan’s story “Mother Tongue” starts by the affirmation that she is not a scholar of English or literature. She is just a writer and the person who understand the power of language. From Tan’s observations from her daily life, she realizes that there are different types of English that she uses. The first time Tan notices the difference is when she gives a speech on her book “The Joy Luck Club” using academic English, the one that she never uses to talk with her mother. The second time is when Tan talked using “fractured” English unconsciously with her mother when walking down the street. After that, Tan recalls her memories from her early age: the phone call for her mother to the stockbroker, the meeting with a doctor in the hospital for her mother’s CAT scan result to demonstrate her mother’s realization of “limited” English. Then Tan agrees with the idea that language spoken in…
She endured consistent emotional abuse from her stepmother Niang. Niang neglected Jun-ling and her brother and sister, showing favoritism towards her own two kids. She provided them with the best money could buy. She also made her brothers shave their heads and let her boy and girl wear fashionable western clothing and haircuts. Niang also tried to turn Jun-ling’s older sister over to her side, bribing her with gifts and food and even a room on the same floor as Niang and her children.…
The most evident psychological problem Tayo’s Auntie is dealing with is her lack of self-esteem. This was brought upon by her siblings’ disappointing choices. Her siblings’ brought shame to the family and the main cause for such disgrace was Auntie’s sister’s…
One tragic event in China, which was the Tiananmen square massacre sparked the curiosity of Grace specially for the safety of Chun-mei during that event. For the first time in her life she asked a question to Kevin her adoptive dad about Chun-mei. An example is a scene that happened in the book, ”What about Chun-mei?” I asked. “I’m sure she’s alright,too.” our eyes met briefly. I look away. It was the first time I had said the name Chun-mei without anger. Because of this tragic event, it was the very first time Grace thought about the safety of her mother Chun-mei. It also sparked her interest on what is happening in China even though she hated her cultural heritage when she was a child. A few years have passed, Grace started to learn how to speak and write Mandarin with the help of Mr. Frank. After years of learning she started to appreciate the idea of being able to speak in another language Grace quoted that “Many times, I basked in the sense of superiority it gave me.” (Ting Xing Ye 121). Grace starts to appreciate the beauty and benefit of speaking Mandarin even though she abominated her culture when she was a child. She starts to feel superior of being able to speak Chinese since she is the only person in Milford that can speak it. Grace hated the idea of stereotyping other Asians saying they're all the same and she classifies all of them are different,…
The events in Amy Tan’s story, “ Two Kinds”, cause the reader to feel sympathy for both the mother and the daughter. In the story, the daughter is put through countless tests and longs to prove her importance and the mother has struggled with losing people important to her. After reading over the story, I found that I most sympathize with the daughter because of her constant struggle of failure and not feeling like she is enough. One quote that shows my claim above is in the third paragraph of the short story; “…
As we see throughout the whole movie, the family was a big part in Ponijao life because of where they lived in Namibia, and all they had was the hut they lived in and the animals that lived around them. I loved that his mom was always by his side and guiding him the best way she could, and I love that his older siblings guided him along as well because they knew his mom could not do it all by herself. So, we can thank his mom for teaching him about their culture, and show him how to survive in their world through his physical and cognitive…
1. Amy uses emotional appeals throughout her essay as she does in her first couple paragraphs. Amy says “I am a writer” to show that she simply loves to write down her mind and that is it.…