Amy Tan's short story, "Fish Cheeks," explores the theme of identity and cultural acceptance through the eyes of a young Chinese-American girl named Amy. Set during a Christmas Eve dinner with her American friends, Amy experiences a clash between her Chinese heritage and the desire to fit in with her predominantly white peers. Through the vivid portrayal of her internal struggles, Tan illuminates the complexities of embracing one's cultural identity while navigating the pressures to conform to societal norms. One...
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Introduction "Fish Cheeks" is a poignant and insightful short story written by Amy Tan, a prominent Chinese-American author. Drawing from her own personal experiences, Tan explores themes of cultural identity, self-acceptance, and the challenges of assimilation. Through vivid descriptions and a powerful narrative voice, Tan invites readers to delve into the complexities of her upbringing and the clash between her Chinese heritage and American culture. This literary criticism essay will examine the significance of "Fish Cheeks," analyzing its thematic exploration,...
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Let’s dive into the intriguing realm of Amy Tan's novels. If you love getting lost in the pages of a book as relatable as chatting with a friend, you're in for a treat. Tan's writing isn't words on paper; it's like an invitation to explore the intricate threads woven through culture, family, personal identity, and her background. So buckle up and get ready to unravel the layers of emotion, history, and connection that make her novels so darn special. Amy...
4 Pages
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Individuals tend to evade things they don't comprehend, to abuse the new. This is something that Gloria Anzaldua and Amy Tan know all too well. The author of 'How to Tame a Wild Tongue' Gloria Anzaldua was an American scholar of Chicana cultural and feminist theory. She grew up on the Mexico–Texas border and incorporated her lifelong experiences of social and cultural marginalization into her work. She also developed theories about the marginal, in-between, and mixed cultures that develop along...
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In Tan's novels, her Chinese and Western culture and the ultimate attempt at balancing the two is the foundation in which her stories lie upon: the trivial matters such as the manner in which one sits at a table, of the way one speaks and behaves, as well as the rough yet cherished moments of life. These details are perfectly described due to Tan’s expert use of verisimilitude and are showcased in each and every one of her characters. A...
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Family and culture should be the two most important things in our lives. In the short story, ‘A Pair of Tickets’ by Amy Tan, the main character (Jing-Mei) evolves over the course of the story by struggling with her identity as a Chinese to being able to accept her Chinese heritage. 'My mother said when I was fifteen and had vigorously denied that I had any Chinese whatsoever below my skin' (150). As Jing-Mei was growing up, she was influenced...
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Amy Tan successfully incorporates various aspects such as Chinese values and customs in her works to create the most realistic essence of Oriental culture that she is famous for, most especially in The Bonesetter's Daughter. . She creatively intertwines pieces of both oriental culture and the mixing and clashing between east and west; she vividly displays the pathway that these cultures have caused her to take on through imposing them on the characters in her novel: the process of dealing...
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Amy Tan has skilfully interwoven her Chinese heritage and personal experiences as a first-generation Chinese-American in a multitude of her literary works . The charm of oriental culture displayed successfully showcases its virtue of emotion and the dynamic relationship Tan exhibits between her and her heritage, family, and of the mainstream culture she was pressured to conform to. As a child of an immigrant, Amy stands on the intersection precisely where Chinese and Western cultures cross, allowing her to have...
5 Pages
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There are many bilingual and multicultural people in the world today. For many, the alternatives of that language they use, and the way they use it, correspond to what social or cultural community they belong to. Amy Tan may be a Chinese yank writer she portrays this well in her short essay 'Mother Tongue.' Tan grew up in two vastly different worlds, using different 'Englishes.' The first world, which consists of her close family friends, and loved ones, how she...
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The third quarter of the book, “American Translation,” explores the stories of the four daughters. In “Rice Husband,” Lena St. Clair discusses her deteriorating marriage with her husband Harold. From the beginning of their courtship, the two had always split things--money, chores, etc. Lena doesn’t fully realize how detrimental her relationship is until her mother visits her house and subtly criticizes their relationship. The chapter ends with her mother asking why she never stopped it from happening in the first...
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United States has embraced of the most diverse population in the world today. It is diverse in terms of its ethnic makeup and religious practices for immigrants. Immigrants from different nation congregate upon the United States in Seeking for a better life for family or simple to fulfill a long-life dream. Therefore, we discover the loss of social or family support, the need to afford a new unknown life style and many times harsh alleged environment, or languages/communications problems. In...
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The first quarter of the book, Feathers from a Thousand Li Away, primarily focuses on four Chinese mothers, and their past lives. In the first chapter, The Joy Luck Club, the narrator, Jing-Mei Woo, describes her late mother, Suyuan Woo, who has died of an aneurysm. She recounts the story of her mother’s past from her perspective: she had abandoned her two babies in China when the Japanese attacked and lost her husband to the war. Then, she started the...
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Amy Tan is a Chinese American writer and novelist, whose works explore mother-daughter relationships and the Chinese-American experience. Her story. “Rules of the games” is partly inspired by the stories of her own family. In this story, Amy Tan uses chess as a tool of symbolism to show the damage caused by toxic, controlling relationships among family members, reflecting the way the character was degraded, and experienced a life different than her peers due to the bad treatment she received...
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In “Rules of the Game” Amy Tan helps to understand that when trying to obtain independence, patience to experience growth can hinder any obstructions from stalling this sought-after element of growing up. By the end of the story, Waverly recognizes that she “had nowhere to go” and “was not running away from anything,”(507). She didn’t have an “escape route”(507) and therefore possessed no strategy in winning this fight against her mother. Waverly realizes that she cannot escape because she is...
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Literature is an ocean in which the greatest thoughts have been cultured like the most profound wisdom of the ages. The source of all literary thought is life with all its manifold complexities and dimensions. The literary landscape has been continually growing and flourishing through the interaction of various schools of thought and disciplines. The frontiers of learning have widened to such an extent that learners are pulled into exciting new arenas of thoughts that enrich the reading experience. Literature...
7 Pages
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Have you heard of the phrase “same-same, but different”? It is usually used to describe people, situations, or things that are similar in one aspect but different in another. The unique thing about this phrase is that it contains words that contradict themselves but perfectly explain our life experiences. For example, if I was comparing myself against my fellow Chinese-Malay classmate, we are the same but different, in that we are both students and from Singapore but I am pure...
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The first quote from both essays is related to time. As in both stories ‘Mother Tongue’ and ‘Once More to the Lake’ shows a glimpse of time passage and the impact of time on the characters of the story. It matters a lot for both A.Tan and E.B.White the way time has affected their life. Nothing seems to be changing for them, everything has been the same over the years. Both stories expresses memories and mainly the twist of language....
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Title of Work: “Mother Tongue” Author: Amy Tan Occasion: Explain the context of the piece. What has caused the speaker to say what s/he says? Minimum of 3 sentences. Include 3 quotes as evidence and explain what each quote tells us about the occasion. The Genesis of "Mother Tongue": A Personal Revelation “Mother Tongue” was inspired by Tan’s realization of the certain type of English she uses with her mother in comparison to her formal diction. As she was speaking...
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How do the languages that one speaks at home influence social identity? In Tan’s article ‘Mother Tongue’, she expresses her recognition and concern over the difference in social attitudes towards her mother’s use of English and American society’s standard English. By introducing her recent realization of her use of standard English in public but not at home, and giving detailed examples of how she speaks with her mother in English and how her mother speaks in English, she reiterates her...
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Through the novel, The Joy Luck Club, the author Amy Tan conveys the importance of finding joy and luck in the darkest of times. As mentioned in “Feathers From A Thousand Li Away,” the four mothers, who experienced their own trials and went through much pain, came together in Kwelin and held parties to try to escape from their harsh realities. At these parties, they would have extravagant feasts, play numerous games, and tell glorious stories. These parties came to...
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