Chinese Food In Jade Snow Wong's Fifth Chinese Daughter

1. What is Leah’s attitude to her Chinese identity as she travels to China? How do we know? (page 10)

Amy’s parents are the authoritative figures keeping their Chinese traditions and cultures alive. Rather than appeal to the American tradition even though they invited the Minister’s family, they decided to stay true to who they are, by making a menu according to their traditions. “What terrible disappointment would he feel upon seeing not a roasted turkey and sweet potatoes but Chinese food?” (Tan, 110). Amy describes how her family will stick to their normal chinese menu rather than cook American Christmas eve food.

Being that she was adopted, she has no relation to her Chinese culture, yet still wants to belong to it. I feel she is judged because she lacks connection with her culture, and that is why she has this sense of determination to learn more

As a young boy, food served as a connection to his heritage. His mother would pack him a lunch with Chinese dishes and on American holidays, his family had their own Chinese twist. He writes about one Thanksgiving in particular. His mother cooks Chinese dishes such as cha siu, which is completely different from what the family of one of his childhood friends, Warren, makes. They had casserole, turkey, mashed potatoes and other traditional American Thanksgiving food.

The third most important aspect in her metamorphosis in to “being Chinese” is tasting authentic Chinese food. Jing-mei is excited to taste the food showing her internal yearning to understand her heritage. She experiences true Chinese hoisin sauce. Now that she has tasted foods that seems common to Chinese people Jing-mei connects more with the culture. She feels more Chinese than

She feels very embarrassed and wishes she were American. In the end of the story, she writes a quote that her mother actually told her, “You want to be the same as American girls on the outside. But inside you must always be Chinese. You must be proud you are different. Your only shame is to have shame” (Tan). In the end the character understood and knew that her mother was right. Tan was not confident with her Chinese identity when she was young, and that influenced some of her works like “Fish Cheeks”.

In Amy Tan’s The Joy Luck Club, Jing-Mei (June) Woo, having neglected her Chinese heritage for the majority of her life, struggles to reconcile both of her backgrounds. As a Second-Generation American, June understands that being Chinese is a big part of her identity, but being an American also takes her attention. Still, the death of her mother propels her on a journey of self-discovery that includes bridging the gap between the past and the present as well as the gap between her Chinese and American identities.While Jing-Mei Woo struggles to incorporate a new lifestyle that respects her Chinese ancestry as well as her new American identity, she finds her Chinese heritage is an integral part of her life.

Lisa See grew up in L.A’s Chinatown, with her Chinese grandparents living and working there, and she was taught the Chinese traditions throughout her life. A lot of her novels take place in China and/or deal with China. The book being a fiction and according to the author’s familial background, she might approach the topic here as a way for her to carry her family history, people and places with her forever.

The biographical connection that the author “Amy Tan” draws in her short story “Two Kinds” with her main character Jing-mei, crosses in more than one side. First of all, they both are Chinese American whose struggle in their identities with their Chinese immigrant mothers. “Due to a cultural conflict and lack of proper understanding of each other’s perceptions” (Priya 1), and as a big gap developed between the two daughters and their two mothers, in which resulted a complex relationship between them.

Four Chinese mothers have migrated to America. Each hope for their daughter’s success and pray that they will not experience the hardships faced in China. One mother, Suyuan, imparts her knowledge on her daughter through stories. The American culture influences her daughter, Jing Mei, to such a degree that it is hard for Jing Mei to understand her mother's culture and life lessons. Yet it is not until Jing Mei realizes that the key to understanding who her

Wong feels that she needs to fit into the dominant culture from an early age. The reason for this is because society stresses the dominate culture, promotes the dominate culture and pressures immigrant children to fit in. Wong uses herself as an example of the tremendous pressure children of immigrants are under to fit in, which is a burden placed on them by society. The pressure is so great that many are embarrassed by their roots and their heritage. Wong experiences this burden, and this is what drives her to want to become the stereotypical All-American girl. She learns to hate her culture so much that she does not want anything to do with it and she wants a divorce from her ethnic roots, “Wong’s adolescent embarrassment of her ethnic

Mary’s culture has not been very significant in her life. Although her parents sometimes speak Chinese in their home, they speak English as their primary language. Mary says that her parents sometimes celebrate Chinese traditions to bring some of their culture back into their busy lives. Mary’s Dad is a doctor, and her mom is a house wife who is starting a decorating business.

In the story “Two Kinds”, author Amy Tan, who is a Chinese-American, describes the conflicts in the relationship of a mother and daughter living in California. The protagonist in this story Jing-mei Woo’s mother is born and raised in China, and immigrates to the United States to escape from the Chinese Civil War. For many years she maintained complete Chinese traditional values, and has been abided by it deliberately. This kind of traditional Chinese culture has also affected her daughter profoundly. However, Jing-mei is born and raised in the United States. Despite she has a Chinese mother; she is unfamiliar and uncomfortable with Chinese

Daughter was raised in the United States. Finally, Amy Tan further demonstrates the cultural conflicts and confusions between the narrator's mother, a Chinese immigrant and her first generation Americanized daughter. For example, like all Chinese mothers of that time, the narrator's mother had high expectations for her and as such she wanted her daughter to become a prodigy. The narrator would take tests from her mother every night. However, she was frustrated with every test and the drive inside her began to vanish as she decided to be disobedient to her mother and a feud ensued. Thus conflict emanates between them when their cultures and goals collide.

In the story "A Pair of Tickets" by Amy Tan, talks about the story of Jing-Mei, the narrator, going to China to fulfill her mother's dream. This story was based on Tan's life experiences when she went to go learn more about her background and see her sister in China. Going to China for the first time made her feel as she was "transforming" and feeling the Chinese in her that she never knew she has. She later finds out how much she cherishes her family and learns how important her culture is to her. Knowing who she is and where she comes from is an important aspect of her inner self.