The Leaving
Rules of the Game- by Amy Tan
The setting:
Background information on San Fancisco's Chinatown where the story takes place.
San Francisco's Chinatown is the oldest Chinatown in North America and the largest Chinese community outside Asia.
Since its establishment in the 1840s it has been highly important and influential in the history and culture of ethnic Chinese immigrants to the United States and North America. Chinatown is an active enclave that continues to retain its own customs, languages, places of worship, social clubs, and identity. Popularly known as a "city-within-a-city", it has developed its own government, traditions, over 300 restaurants, and as many shops. There are two hospitals, numerous parks and squares, a post office, and other infrastructure. Visitors can easily become immersed in a microcosmic Asian world, filled with herbal shops, temples, pagoda roofs and dragon parades. In addition to it being a starting point and home for thousands of Chinese immigrants, it is also a major tourist attraction — drawing more visitors annually to the neighborhood than the Golden Gate Bridge.
Main Characters: Waverly Jong- Meimei, (her Chinese name "little sister") Lau- Po- the chess teacher, Waverly's mother- Lindo.
Minor characters: Waverly's brothers Vincent and Winston Waverly's father
The time: The story takes place during Waverly Jong- Meimei's childhood and adolescence. She is to be born on March 17, 1951 from this text, “I said I was born on March 17, 1951” (Tan 1112). In addition, in the story she says that she is eight years old. Therefore, when one looks at the clues and sees that she is eight and that she was born in 1951, the time would be around 1958. In the late 1950’s Chinese-Americans had a harsh life in America due to Chinese immigration laws. This has a very hard impact on the way the story is told due to the time and the tone and atmosphere around back in those times. “Rules of the Game”- Summary of the story
The setting:
Background information on San Fancisco's Chinatown where the story takes place.
San Francisco's Chinatown is the oldest Chinatown in North America and the largest Chinese community outside Asia.
Since its establishment in the 1840s it has been highly important and influential in the history and culture of ethnic Chinese immigrants to the United States and North America. Chinatown is an active enclave that continues to retain its own customs, languages, places of worship, social clubs, and identity. Popularly known as a "city-within-a-city", it has developed its own government, traditions, over 300 restaurants, and as many shops. There are two hospitals, numerous parks and squares, a post office, and other infrastructure. Visitors can easily become immersed in a microcosmic Asian world, filled with herbal shops, temples, pagoda roofs and dragon parades. In addition to it being a starting point and home for thousands of Chinese immigrants, it is also a major tourist attraction — drawing more visitors annually to the neighborhood than the Golden Gate Bridge.
Main Characters: Waverly Jong- Meimei, (her Chinese name "little sister") Lau- Po- the chess teacher, Waverly's mother- Lindo.
Minor characters: Waverly's brothers Vincent and Winston Waverly's father
The time: The story takes place during Waverly Jong- Meimei's childhood and adolescence. She is to be born on March 17, 1951 from this text, “I said I was born on March 17, 1951” (Tan 1112). In addition, in the story she says that she is eight years old. Therefore, when one looks at the clues and sees that she is eight and that she was born in 1951, the time would be around 1958. In the late 1950’s Chinese-Americans had a harsh life in America due to Chinese immigration laws. This has a very hard impact on the way the story is told due to the time and the tone and atmosphere around back in those times. “Rules of the Game”- Summary of the story