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10/4 Jennifer: Who is in the wrong in these mother-daughter relationships? Is there a greater pattern seen throughout these stories?

10/04 Kaitlyn: Why do you think it takes so long for the family to tell our character the past of their mother?

10/4 Faith: Do the main characters feel disconnected from their culture? How do their marriages affect their mothers view of them?

10/4 Jasmine: How much of an impact does marriage and mother-daughter relationships have on the characters?

10/5 Kimberly: How do the mothers' ideas affect how the daughters view the world?

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10/4 Jennifer: Mothers always believe they have their daughter’s best interests at heart

10/04 Kaitlyn: Mothers sacrifice themselves for their kids even when there are times of resentments and adversities, they will always push aside their interests for others

10/4 Faith: Parents want the best for their children. A parent might be harsh and critical of their child's actions, and though it might make the child feel down and unloved,   it is their way of showing that they care and love them by looking out for them.

10/4 Jasmine: A mothers love is harsh, but in the end they just want what's best for their children. They give up so much for the sake of their kids and put them before themselves.

10/5 Kimberly: Mother's want the best for their children and believe they know what is best even if their daughter does not see it that way.

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9/27 Jennifer: A mother’s attempt to help a situation only makes it worse in their daughter’s eyes.
9/27 Kaitlyn: Sometimes, mothers can see more clearly than their daughters who may view life with rose-tinted glasses
09/28 Kimberly: Reunions and family
9/28 Jasmine : Family relationships
9/28 Faith: self-respect, pride, reconciliation

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09/27 Jennifer: What does the author want us to understand about our mothers through these stories?

09/27 Kaitlyn: Why do you think Amy Tan focuses on the different relationships? Whether it's marital, platonic, or family relationships, why does she focus on how these relationships sour? What does she want us to learn from these toxic relationships?

09/28 Kimberly: Why does the story give us the story of the mother's childhood and then the mother's opinions on what is currently happening with their daughters lives?

9/28 Jasmine: The relationships between mother and daughter are pretty clear, do they have any deeper meaning?

9/28 Faith: What does mahjong symbolize in this story?

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09/27 Jennifer: My favorite quote of this week was “I know this, because I was raised the Chinese way: I was taught to desire nothing, to swallow other people’s misery, to eat my own bitterness.” (121) When I saw the phrase, “I was raised the Chinese way”, it immediately resonated with me. I believe with my mostly Chinese upbringing I am also conflicted between my Chinese and American heritage. The core values of desiring nothing, helping others in misery, and ignoring your own sadness are what my parents and grandparents taught me, but I don’t know if I can completely agree despite their best intentions.

09/27 Kaitlyn: "I was obsessed with revenge." (106) This is my favorite quote this week, because it reveals our character's thinking and mindset. Her emotional attachment to her husband was toxic. It also reveals how she was blinded from the divorce and she  was confused. She was lost in the relationship. It reveals how she was oblivious to what Ted, her husband, was hinting at.

09/28 Kimberly: "I know we all see it: Together we look like our mother" (pg 166). This is my favorite quote because Jing-Mei Woo meets her sisters for the first time and they all see the resemblance they have to their mother. Jing-Mei was very nervous to meet her sisters, but upon meeting them, she is immediately treated like family and welcomed.

9/28 Jasmine: "I sat there quietly, trying to listen to my heart, to make the right decision. But then I realized I didn't know what the choices were. And so I put the papers and the check away, in a drawer where I kept store coupons which I never threw away and which I never used either." (107). I really liked this quote, and I find it funny that she could put something as important as legal divorce documents into a drawer with useless, every day coupons.

9/28 Faith: "I was crying hard, so many tears, but they drank and drank, so many of them, until I had no more tears left and the pond was empty." (p135) I liked the metaphor of tears being something for others to drink up. I agree with the mother that sitting in sadness and misery is unproductive. However, I do think it can be needed so you can fully see what is hurting you and what can help you move forward--to admit to yourself what is wrong, because only you know what you need. Others can only do so much for you.

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9/20 Jennifer: Are the mothers represented in the story same throughout the entire book? Or do they also go through change like their daughters?

9/20 Kaitlyn: What does the rice symbolize in the Rice Husband chapter? What does it show our character?

9/20: Faith: Why are all of the daughters' marriages failing?

9/20 Kimberly: How do the mothers' opinions and statements affect her daugher?

9/20 Jasmine: What is the relationship like between mother and daughter, as well as relationships in general (failing marriages, family)

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9/20 Jennifer: The internal and external conflicts between American and Chinese ideologies inflicted on Asian Americans.

09/20 Kaitlyn: How Chinese superstitions play a big factor into Chinese Culture

9/20 Faith: Tensions in relationships, passive contempt

9/20 Kimberly: Trouble in relationships

9/20 Jasmine: Relationship and cultural struggles

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09/13 Jennifer: What does all the symbolism in the recent chapters suggest?

09/13 Kaitlyn: There's been a lot of family conflict within each chapter, what do you think Tan's trying to convey about our main characters?

09/13 Kimberly: What are the Twenty-Six Malignant Gates and what role does it play in the rest of the book?

9/13 Jasmine: Family problems arise, and a lot of symbols start to appear. What do they mean, ad what exactly are these conflicts? (Do they have deeper meaning?)

9/13 Faith: Where do all these superstitions originate from? Are they common in this culture?

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09/13 Jennifer: Beliefs of ancestors versus belief of the present

09/13 Kaitlyn: How a traditional mindset/lifestyle contrasts with the current

09/13 Kimberly: The relationship between mothers and daughters

9/13 Jasmine: Family relationships and the cultures and traditions

9/13 Faith: Obedience and success

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September 7th — section 1 (4 chapters)
September 14th — section 2 (4 chapters)
September 21st — section 3 (4 chapters)
September 28th —  section 4 (4 chapters)

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10/04 Jennifer: “Your life is what you see in front of you.” (123) This quote stood out to me in my reading this week. What you surround yourself is, will be or already is your life. If one is surrounded (“see[ing] in front of you) by negativity, that negativity infects their entire life and consumes them.

10/04 Kaitlyn: "I suffered so much after Yan Chang told me my mother's story. I wanted my mother shout at Wu Tsing, to shout at Second wife." (135) This is the first time where we really get our character to be empathetic towards her mother. She finally understands her mother's struggles before coming to America. The quote highlights how we need to more empathetic as everyone is going through something or were. In doing so, we need to be kinder.

10/4 Jasmine: "And so, while everything seemed peaceful, I knew it was not. You may wonder how a small child, only nine years old, can know these things... I can remember only how uncomfortable I felt, how I could feel the truth with my stomach, knowing something terrible was going to happen." (129 pdf) I could relate to this quote, being a young child exposed to all these arguments between parents. My parents never got along which was followed by a divorce, but I'm glad to see them happier now.

10/4 Faith: "I will use this sharp pain to penetrate my daughter's tough skin and cut her tiger spirit loose. She will fight me, because this is the nature of two tigers. But I will win and give her my spirit, because this is the way a mother loves her daughter. " (144 pdf) This quote reminds me of my relationship with my mother. Because she has been out of my life for a while, I have become independent and I feel that I know what is best for me. When she visits and acts like a mom, I will stand up to her, and sometimes harshly. She can become furious because she feels disrespected, but she wants what she thinks is best for me and I can see that through her anger.

10/5 Kimberly: "Together we look like our mother" pg 166. This quote is my favorite because all of Jing Mei's fears of meeting her sisters leave.

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The theme section that you'll use to track and discuss emerging themes:

09/07 Kaitlyn: Family trauma/tension
09/07 Faith: Expectations and pressure
09/07 Kimberly: Chinese culture and beliefs
09/07 Jennifer: Perserving family history
09/07 Jasmine: Generational trauma/culture

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Your favorite quote from that week's section, the page number(s), and a brief explanation (2-3 sentences) of why that is your favorite quote of the week.

09/07 Jennifer: My favorite quote of this week is “Why do you think you are missing something you never hand?” And then she told a completely different ending to the story.” (25) I chose this quote, because I believe it marks the beginning of her journey to find her mother’s daughters and slowly uncover her past. It also shows us that we may never truly understand what our mothers went through, and their memories will be lost the longer they are away from us.

09/07 Kaitlyn: My favorite quote this week -- "When you lose your face, An-mei... it is like dropping your necklace down a well. The only way you can get it back is to fall in after it." (44) Growing up in a Chinese household, I know the importance of always showing face. It often reminds me of how now we all tend to romanticize our lives despite how broken we may feel on the inside.

09/07 Kimberly: My favorite quote is "I made a promise to myself: I would always remember my parents' wishes, but I would never forget myself" (53). In Chinese culture, it is important to honor your family and their wishes, however, this character makes a point to make sure she does not lose herself to try to please her parents.

09/07 Jasmine: My favorite quote this week is "At all hours of the night and day, I hear screaming sounds. I didn't know if it was a peasant slitting the throat of a runaway pig or an officer beating a half-dead peasant for lying in his way on the sidewalk. I didn't go to the window to find out" (23). The brutality in this scene sheds light on reality and how it still correlates to present day issues with police brutality. The screaming being compared to a throat slitting sound of a pig is chilling, and what makes it worse is how it is a normal occurance.

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A general “big question” you want to discuss with your book club for that section (group members will all respond to the question in the comments)

09/07 Kaitlyn: What is the significance of Popo being introduced?

09/07 Jennifer: How do the different perspectives later coincide?

09/07 Faith: Will telling her siblings about their mother make any difference in their lives, or will June have only carried out her mothers will?

09/07 Kimberly: How much of each character will we learn?

09/07 Jasmine: How are each character perceived as and how do their perspectives differ?

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9/20 Jennifer: In my opinion, the most memorable quote in this section is: “Then why you don’t stop it?” (91) It empowers the woman in the current situation to want to change the issues that have been obvious to her. Sometimes people find comfort in the familiar, no matter how unfair the familiarity may be. The quote reminds us that we should never settle and we will always have a choice to help ourselves.

09/20 Kaitlyn: For this week, my favorite quote was, "And when I think about it, how much I get paid, how hard I work, how fair Harold is to everybody except me, I get upset." (87) This quote revealed to me how relationships start on trust and have different definitions for everybody. It also revealed how Harold is not the perfect husband as our character assumes as she doesn't marry her bully. By keeping count of who pays for what, it highlights Harold's  lack of trust and he limits our character from a promotion.

9/20 I liked when Rose came to this realization about her ex husband: "I didn't miss him at all. I just missed the way I felt when I was with him." (pdf page ) Its easy to think higher of someone of them when they are gone. Your attachments can delude you into thinking you need what you lost. You hold on to the fond memories, forgetting the bad or mundane parts that you wanted to get away from. You cannot rely on people to complete you.

9/20 Jasmine: My favorite quote was "I wanted to ask him who, what woman, had hurt him this way, that made him so scared about accepting love in all its wonderful forms." (PDF) I like the dynamic between the characters, how Harold has limitations on her and the actual truth being he doesn't trust her.

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The Joy Luck Club was published by Amy Tan in 1989.

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09/13 Jennifer: My favorite quote of the week is “So our ancestors said they would plant the signs, to show our marriage is now rotting.” (64) The quote is the most memorable of the week because it shows their belief in ancestry, and how ancestors play a big role in your future. But, I think that this belief is slowly becoming obsolete.

09/13 Kaitlyn: My favorite quote this week was, "I was stunned. I could almost see them hugging and kissing one another. I was crying for joy with them, because I had been wrong." (115) This quote reminds me that people often make assumptions about other people. We often only reveal the best parts of our lives on social media even though inside, it could be a different story. In this case, the quote highlights how we only know parts of a story and sometimes, it's not good to assume.

09/13 Kimberly: My favorite quote this week was "A little knowledge withheld is a great advantage one should store for future use."  This quote is used in the context of playing chess, but also applies in real life. Any knowledge that you have that someone does not is an advantage.

9/13 Jasmine: My favorite quote from this week is "At home, my mother looked at everything around her with empty eyes. My father would come home from work, patting my head, saying, 'How's my big girl,' but always looking past me, toward my mother. I had such fears inside, not in my head but in my stomach. I could no longer see what was so scary, but I could feel it. I could feel every little movement in our silent house. And at night, I could feel the crashing loud fights on the other side of my bedroom wall, this girl being beaten to death." (114?) It reminds me of my personal life and I know many children may have dealt with similar things before.

9/13 Faith: Favorite quote: "Such a sad, ugly girl! I made highpitched noises like a crazed animal, trying to scratch out the face in the mirror..I won't let her change me, I promised myself. I won't be what I'm not." (73 of the pdf)

Jing-Mei Woo finally has enough of her mother's obsession with bringing out the 'prodigy' in her. Though her mother wants her to be successful, she is indifferent toward how her forceful attitude affects her daughter and tries to drill discipline into her. Jing-Mei slacks off her piano lessons to rebel against her mother, punishing her by putting her to shame. This pettiness benefits no one, and just hurts their relationship even more. I think often the child's feelings do not influence the decisions that the parent makes when planning for their future. A healthy relationship should be communicative and supportive. When there is no compromising with the parent, the child will be hurt and want to reject them.