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Your mentor can change the way you perceive things in life. This is shown in the quote, "'I ate she began the first of what we later called 'my lessons in living.' She said that I must always be intolerant of ignorance but understanding of illiteracy." (Angelou 244) This describes how Mrs. Flowers is teaching Marguerite to be mindful and change her views on illteracy.

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Admiring and Reserved "She acted just as refined as whitefolks in the movies and books and she was more beautiful, for none of them could have come near that warm color without looking gray by comparison."(Angelou 240) This excerpt profoundly displays Margeurite admiration for Mrs. Flowers.

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Marguerite

Mrs. Henderson(Momma)

Bertha Flowers(Mrs. Flowers)

Mrs. Flowers was the most impactful character being the woman Margeurite looked up to and showing her to communicate by speaking words. Conversations with anyone you look up to are always more meaningful and thought about.

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Her house, the store, Mrs. Flower's house, the sidewalk. All of this is in Stamps, Arkansas. "She had the grace of control to appear warm in the coldest weather, and on the Arkansas summer days it seemed she had a private breeze which swirled around, cooling her." (Angelou 238) As it explains on the quote, it exhibits how cold it would be in Arkansas.

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The main character realized that Mrs. Flowers was there to help. "I didn't question why Mrs. Flowers had singled me out for attention, nor did it occur to me that Momma might have asked her to give me a little talking to. All I cared about was that she had made tea cookies for me and read to me from her favorite book", (Angelou 245). She had realized that Mrs. Flowers knew about her past and cared enough to help her be more at peace.

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The simile is quite helpful at portraying Marguerite's feelings. "I sopped around the house, the Store, the school, and the church, like an old biscuit, dirty and inedible." (Angelou 238)

This simile reinforces that Margeurite feels ragged and useless like an old biscuit.

This imagery unveils Mrs. Flowers's looks and status quo. "Her skin was a rich black that would have peeled like a plum if snagged, but then no one would have thought of getting close enough to Mrs. Flowers to ruffle her dress, let alone snag her skin." (Angelou 238) This imagery displays how Mrs. Flowers has beautiful skin which is often a sign of the upper class, and it shows that she maintains some sort of power because no one dares to get near to her.

This piece of dialogue exposes Margeruite's inner struggles and perseverance. "Now no one is going to make you talk—possibly no one can. But bear in mind, language is man’s way of communicating with his fellow man and it is language alone which separates him from the lower animals." (Angelou 243). This dialogue is important because it shows Margerurite the power of words since she was silent because of a disastrous event. Not only does this encourage her to use her voice, but to get over past trauma.

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Don't hide the real you, instead let it shine through. "In retrospect, I think I didn't feel as if a burden had been lifted because my being gay was never actually the burden." (Jones 98), from this fragment of the story it exposes how strenuous it was to maintain a mask and hide his true self.

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The tone is worried and touching since they have a mother-son bond. This is portrayed when they talk about wanting to "hear your voice" (Jones 95). They care and worry about each other so they always want to hear each other's voice as a form of comfort, which is quite touching.

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Saeed

Saeed's Mother

All through the story Saeed is obviously the main character, but his mother has the most impact. I say this because she is the reason he had so many emotions in the story. Not only based off of him, but also of her reaction and interaction with him. "Coming out to her, then, became such a daunting prospect because I knew I would have to lie in order to tell the truth," (Jones 97) Saeed uncovers how anxious he was to tell his mother of his true homosexual feelings. Revealling that this story surrounded her and her reaction that at first was rejection and then was acceptance of her son.

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The setting in the story is on a hill and his friend's house. This is specified in the text when it states , "I called home one day while walking up the hill to class." and "I was at Rob's house with other speech kids," (Jones 96-97)

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Throughout the story, Saeed realizes that he has become a different person from the person he was with his mother. As he states, "I had come out to my mother as a gay man, but within minutes, I realized I had not come out to her as myself." (Jones 98). This indicates that his mother does not get to see him as the man he has become.

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SYNTAX-The order in which Saeed Jones formed this story is very well put. Saeed describing the anxiety he feels in his story is perfect to build up to the climax(climax being him telling his mother). "I talked myself in ircles trying to find the perfect phrasing, before I realized there was no way around it," Saeed's distress is clearly displayed here because he's overthinking by just trying to find out how to say it to his mom.

IMAGERY- Saeed Jones did an exeptional job in describing the emotions thoughts and scenes in this whole short story. It helped me get a deeper understnding of how he really felt in the moment. "After I hung up, her words seemed to hang in the air, hovering amid the fireflies," (Jones 97) This

passage from the story really helped me imagine how he felt. The amount of relief after letting his real self be revealed is so obviously and well displayed.

DICTION- The diction is very comforting or seeking comfort and closure. You can tell from the short story all Saeed really wants is the approval and acceptance from his mother. "I love you, Saeed," then, "And honestly you sound happy. If you're happy, I'm happy," (Jones 97) his mother's comforting words are so calming and relieving. Her choice of words displays not only her acceptance, but her love for her son literally and by the tone of the words.

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I believe the message is to understand and forgive people for falling short of perfection. The story articulates this when it expresses, "What a rich wisdom it would be, and how much more bountiful a harvest, to gain pleasure not from achieving personal perfection but from understanding the inevitability of imperfection and pardoning those who also fall short of it" (Kingsolver 857). This establishes the forgiveness you provide for people's shortcomings gives pleasure not just because you are doing a good deed, but also because you understand that people make mistakes.

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The story maintains a humorous tone. When the main character thinks. The way the author uses the words "mortified" and the phrase "Brake-Naked legs," (Kingsolver 856) portrays the comicalness of her situation in the thoughts of the main character.

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Great Aunt Zelda

Main Character

Japanese Friend

Pilot

The most significant character is the Japanese friend. When the main character visits her friend, she is taught '"To forgive, for us, is the highest satisfaction'" (Kingsolver 857). That message left a huge impact on her and helped her realize that we learn from every mistake we make.

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The setting of Kyoto Japan, exacerbates the conflict because of the high contrast between Japanese, and American traditions. In Japan, the narrator "crossed my arms when I listened, which turns out to be, in Japanese body language, the sign for indicating brazenly that one is bored" (Knightsolver 857). In Japan, the actions a person may have done in their country have different meanings. This caused foreigners like the narrator to make additional blunders. This increased the conflict of feelings like a foolish, ignorant, and ugly American.

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The narrator realized that understanding and forgiving is a greater satisfaction than the error. "What a rich wisdom it would be, and how much more bountiful a harvest, to gain pleasure not from achieving personal perfection but from understanding the inevitability of imperfection and pardoning those who also fall short of it" (857 Kingsolver). This moment shows that the narrator now understands that making mistakes is a normal part of life, and they should not be too frustrated about it.

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The author used a simile to showcase how uncomfortable the narrator felt. On the train, the narrator felt as if she "blended in like Igor would blend in with the corps de ballet in Swan Lake" (Kingsolver 856). This simile shows that the narrator feels like Igor a clumsy assistant, compared to many elegant normal people which are swans.

The dialogue to apologize profusely is significant in the text it contributes to how she feels she is doing everything wrong. She apologizes using the Japanese phrase "'Moshi wake gozaimasen,'" (Kingsolver 857). By apologizing to such a great extent, her guilt and feeling of incongruity are increased.

The diction kept the tone humorous. The narrator explains, "I managed to wrestle these creatures to my lips" (Kingsolver 857). By using the word wrestle which is usually used as a form of force, with the context of noodles adds a humorous twist to the sentence. Additionally, the usage of the word creatures also turns the difficulties into humor.

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`The message is to love yourself even while others don't. This passage definitely shows the impact of a mother on her young daughters image of herself and it's saddening how many cases in which things like these actually happen. "I once asked my mother whether I was beautiful by Chinese standards. I must have been twelve at the time, and I believed that I was not attractive accoring to an American aesthetic based on Marilyn Monroe as the ultimate sex goddess. I remember that my mother carefully appraised my face before concluding 'To Chinese person you not beautiful. You plain.' I was unable to hide my hurt and disappointment," (Tan 1)this excerpt demonstrates the impact on the daughter only by a small comment made from her mother.

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The tone is disappointing and hopeful, I say this because the daughter is upset throughout the story because of her need to be pretty and her consistent hope her mom will finally think she is beautiful. "If beauty is bad luck, why do I still want it? Why do I wish for reasons to be vain? Why do I long to look like my mother?"(Tan 3) this excerpt demonstrates her longing and her need to be beautiful. It shows how it stresses her out to be rejected so much by her own mother.

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the mother

the daughter

the father

the grandfather

the grandmother

The most impactful character was the mother. Her opinion on her daughter was the most relevant part in the whole story. “Although my mother chastised my adolescent beauty, she sometimes lamented my lack of it,” this excerpt explains how much she cares about what her mother thinks of her.

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Oakland, California

Assisted living residence

This takes place in California and her moms assisted living residence. “She whispered back that some of the other women in the assisted living residence were just jealous of her for the same reason,” explaining how on the lady days of her mothers life she was still sure she was beautiful.

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At the end of the story she realizes how much she really cares about her looks and asks to herself why she cares so much even if its said to be bad luck. “How else is my face changing? If beauty is bad luck, why do I still want it? Why do I wish for reasons to be vain? Why do I long to look like my mother?” From this fragment of the story she explains of her worries and questions about her feelings now that her mother is gone.

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SYNTAX- Amy Tan includes flashbacks in her story and I think they help a lot to add onto the story and give more background knowledge. “She was innocent, she said, and her husband was bad man.” The flashbacks help add background to why her mother thinks it is bad luck.

DICTION- The diction is very serious and unwanted. The choice of words is rude from the mother to her daughter and shows that she’s not very accepting. “Too bad you got your father’s feet,” her mother says this negatively to her adding onto more reasons why she is unaccepting.”

IMAGERY- Amy Tan uses descriptive adjectives to describe how alike the woman and daughter are after the mom gets old. “Now we had the same lines formed by cautious half-smiles. We had the same loss of fat above the innocent eye, the same crippled chin holding back what we really felt. My psyche had molded itself into my mother’s face,” she described that this was the most connected she felt with her mother.