Amy Tan And Fish Cheeks

In the essay “fish Cheeks”, the essayist Amy Tan conveys that the main character is worried and embarrassed. “What would Robert think of our shabby Chinese Christmas? What would he think of our noisy Chinese relatives who lacked proper American manners?...” (Tan). After Amy is informed that the Minister's family is coming over for Christmas dinner, she silently begins to debate how the night will go with a multitude of what if questions. She is worried how Robert, and his family will react to some of her family's customs. “... I knew that she understood how much I suffered during the evening’s dinner” (Tan). Amy says she suffered during Christmas dinner because she was embarrassed on how her family

Everyone has had an embarrassing moment in their life at one point or another; slipping on ice in public or forgetting a coworkers name at the company picnic. Making a fool of yourself is bound to happen, especially in a setting outside of what you are accustomed to. Some people do not like reliving these moments while others have a gift for turning their embarrassment into a great story. Kellie Schmitt’s essay “The Old Man Isn’t There Anymore” is a perfect example of laughing at oneself. Throughout a cluster of Chinese do’s and do not’s, Schmitt tells the reader of one specific event and its comical conclusion. The essay is fun to read and relate to. Laughing with the author is made easy while she gracefully shares her missteps while she and her husband adapt to living in China. Learning new customs for an inevitable occasion most Americans probably are not privy too makes the essay most interesting.

To begin with, The Joy Luck Club centers its content around the lives of eight women of Chinese heritage each with their own stories to tell; yet, all striving to satisfy their aspirations in America. A concisive cross is common between the mothers’ hopes compared to those of the American born daughters. Immigrating to America for various reasons, the four mothers all had one goal in mind, to not only construct themselves a better life, but also ensure the finest future for their daughters. For the mothers in the Joy Luck Club, the American dream was to instill Chinese history, heritage, and habit in their daughters while providing American opportunities of growth, gratification, and gallantry. Carrying heavy pasts, the four original American Joy Luck Club members arrived in The United States to start anew, “America was where

Lee’s essay “Magical Dinners” and Slater’s “Tripp Lake” are two stories that allows you to see different situations that involve a parent and a child. They both struggle with different things one being with dramatic life changes that come with being a foreigner moving to the united states and one being a childhood camp experience and the mothers maternal fear of the daughter.In Magical Dinners it showcases the story of the authors mother and the frustrations of living in a place with unfamiliar food,language and faces. In Tripp Lake the author is the narrator and you see the mothers feelings convey through her daughter being able to do things she wasn 't when she was younger. In these two stories we will look at the impact both mothers had on there child 's lives and trying to please them through the events , actions and motions involved.Based on reading the two stories Magical dinners and Tripp lake i found that they have similarities that produce two different results.

So, for my essay I have decided on picking “Bonne Annee” and “Museum Indians”, because of how similar and different they are to each one another. They are similar in multiple ways like how they are both live far away from the place they call home and they also do not want to leave the place that they live at the moment. By that I mean that the children have friends and great schools that they can’t just leave behind. They also have many differences like how they live in different cities or how they're away from home for different reasons. All in all, they are very interesting memoirs.

Amy and the main character from “Carapace” both feel burdened to satisfy the expectations of their country by changing their personality and adapting to situations in specific ways. Such behavior is seen when Amy complies to Robert and the American culture by refusing to eat her favorite delicacy, fish cheeks, only because the dish is not the traditional Thanksgiving spread of her society, the United States. Amy is also stressed to conform by committing to the “dress code” of her society as told by her mother, “You want to be same as American girl on the outside.”(Tan 2) and her wish, “I prayed for...a slim new American nose” (Tan 1).

1. Schmitt’s purpose in writing this travel narrative, is to show the differences between the Chinese and American cultures, when it comes to many different things. Main examples in this narrative are; living under the same roof, loss of a loved one, and funeral etiquette. In the Chinese culture it is excepted to come into common areas in your under clothing. Where in America, this would not be appropriate at all. In most places in America, law enforcement would be called on some one outside of their living area in nothing but their underwear and shoes. The narrative shows the many differences in funeral etiquette. One such being, white floors being the

As the story develops, the reader’s thoughts are guided by the structure of the piece in a way that Tan is able to share an important lesson through the form of a personal narrative. The opening text immediately introduces the narrator and her insecurities as she wishes for a “slim new American nose” (Tan 1). The story initially takes on a negative tone as Tan proceeds to have a negative outlook throughout the entire evening. Her overwhelming anxiety can almost be felt by the reader as she worries what Robert will think of her “noisy Chinese relatives who lacked proper American manners” and overall “shabby Chinese Christmas” (Tan 1). With the tone set, Tan continues to amplify each dreadful detail of her family’s traditional Christmas Eve dinner. This includes the actual meal, that of which appeared to be

June May lived her life for thirty-six years without really exploring her family history and heritage. She never took and interest in who she was or where she came from until her mother passed away later in her life. Her mother was very passionate about embracing their Chinese culture, but June May could not comprehend why it was so important, sometimes even embarrassed by it. June May spent her life surrounded by people who did not share her culture and customs. Because of this, she never questioned why her culture was insignificant most of her life. It is ultimately uniting with her family, connected through blood and history, provokes June May’s attitude towards her heritage. At age thirty-six, June May tells the reader, “My mother is dead and I am on a train, carrying with me her

This story begins to drive the sense of emotion with the very surroundings in which it takes place. The author starts the story by setting the scene with describing an apartment as poor, urban, and gloomy. With that description alone, readers can begin to feel pity for the family’s misfortune. After the apartments sad portrayal is displayed, the author intrigues the reader even further by explaining the family’s living arrangements. For example, the author states “It was their third apartment since the start of the war; they had

In “Who’s Irish”, Gish Jen demonstrates a family that has Chinese root and American culture at the same time. The main character is a fierce grandmother who lives in with her daughter’s family, and then ironically forced to move out because of her improper behavior during she raises her granddaughter. The author uses some unpleasant language and contents to describe the situation, which are effectively demonstrate how difficult and how struggle for people who lives in the gap between two different cultures. I can’t say who is right or who is wrong, but feel sorry for the grandmother.

In the personal essay “My Mothers Tongue” (1990), Amy Tan, widely known author explains her insights on language and culture identity using details and memories from her own life experiences. Tan conceals that the language in which her mother used with her “was the language that helped shape the way [she] saw things, expressed things, made sense of the world” (1208) and in the process it made her who she is today as an author. Tan illuminates the euro centricity of the Master Narrative by retelling stories of her mother being treated poorly because of her “broken” or “limited” English. She recalls many past experiences where her mother suffered from bad service and treatment from restaurants, stockbrokers, and even hospitals. Using examples from her personal life Tan gets her point across about language and culture characteristics in order to show how Chinese culture is affected by the master narrative and also encourages others to include a variety of cultures in order to overcome bias opinions. Tan’s apparent audience can be ranged from the child of an immigrant to a doctor and offers an authentic and rich portrayal of Chinese history through her conflicting experience of her Chinese and American cultures.

"Fish Cheeks" and "Broken Chain" both address a common theme about belonging. Both stories show that people act unlike themselves when they are trying to impress others or fit in. In the essay "Fish Cheeks" Amy Tan is embarrassed about her family's culture because it is different from her American neighbors. As a result Amy tries to hide it away and become something she is not. In the short story "Broken Chain" Alfonso meets a girl that he really likes. He believes that in order for her to like him back, he has to look and act like people on T.V. In both stories the main characters care about their image and what people think.

Amy’s mom invited the minister with his family for Chrismas dinner. However, the 14-year-old Amy has a crush on Miniter's son Robert. She is appalled and embarrassed about her own cultural differences compare to here understudying of a perfect American Christmas dinner. Amy’s family is Chinese and her mother is planning to cook a traditional Chinese cuisine. Her mom brought out a tofu, eyeballs, and fish everything still intact, and other meals that Amy is afraid that the minister's family will find unusual. All the sudden Amy’s dad started poking fish cheeks and announcing it was her favorite meal. Also, her other family relative who lacks proper American manners. Especially her dad belches loudly after a meal. In Chinese culture considered

This creative writing piece will depict a travel narrative of my first day in New York City. In this piece, I will be mimicking the styles of Mirza Abu Taleb Khan and Lady Mary Wortley Montagu. Both writers use first hand impressions and vivid descriptions to inform and educate readers about the cultures of the places they visited as well as how the people from those respective places behave differently in comparison to where Montagu and Mirza Abu were from. They criticize the cultures and behaviors for how different they are. However, they also work to convey what they found remarkable because of those differences from their own countries of origin. This emphasis and analysis on mannerisms, behavior, and culture reflect my own when I first stepped foot in New York; I was confused by the mannerisms of the people in the city as well as how different it was from my home back in Georgia. I hated it at first, yet I grew to understand and appreciate it by the end of the day.