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Discussion Leader: Vincent
Bridge Builder: Nishant
Artist: Gia
Reporter: Thalia
Diction Detective: Kim

# data[].attributes.body
Discussion Leader: Nishant
Bridge Builder: Thalia
Artist: Kim
Reporter: Gia
Diction Detective: Vincent

# data[].attributes.body
Discussion Leader: Kim
Bridge Builder: Gia
Artist: Thalia
Reporter: Vincent
Diction Detective: Nishant

# data[].attributes.body
Discussion Leader: Thalia
Bridge Builder: Kim
Artist: Vincent
Reporter: Nishant
Diction Detective: Gia

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Discussion Leader: Gia
Bridge Builder: Vincent
Artist: Nishant
Reporter: Kim
Diction Detective: Thalia

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1. Based of the personal stories of the women in the first part, what can one conclude about the degree of patriarchy and the role of women in Chinese society at that time?

2. In the first chapter, how do the women of the Joy Luck Club honor the memory of Jing-Mei Woo’s mother, Suyuan Woo?

3. Throughout the course of the second chapter, what is the progression of the relationship between An-Mei Hsu and her mother? What is the conclusion and what does it symbolize?

4. What was the origin of the Joy Luck Club and what is the role of an extended family in China’s family structure?

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1. During this time period in China, there was a very high level of patriarchy that shows itself even today. The giving away of young girls to another family for marriage is still a common practice today in some outlying parts of China. Women were just expected to do as they were told and arguably to only have kids, preferably sons.

2. They not only give their condolences to June, but they also offer up her mother's spot at the mah jong table, an important honor. They also make sure that June knows that her mother was very loved and that June should try to respect her mother by living up to her expectations.

3.  An-mei doesn't initially ever speak to her mother because her grandmother has forbidden it. Later on, however, as her grandmother is slowly dying, her mother comes to visit An-mei in her house. This signifies that An-mei is finally opening up to change, especially with her grandmother not restricting her.

4. The Joy Luck Club started back when Suyuan was living in China during wartime, and she and her close friends got together to try to take off the stress. It now symbolizes the strength that the immigrants have together and that they can keep each other afloat. The extended family is also important because it stresses that you should take care of everyone, not only yourself.

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Bridge Builder:

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1. Patriarchy was the very idea that Chinese society thrived on during the times that the women of Joy Luck Club in China was around. Each character shows how men led their families for example, in "The Red Candle," the character was forced away from her family to live with her husband and followed every order to please him. It's also shown in her story that women were no-more than used for house work and birthing children.

2. The women honor June's mother by allowing her to replace her mother's spot and also not allowing this tradition to die out even after her death. They also teach June things about her mother and what she did in Joy Luck Club, also help her honor her mother's spot in the club.

3. An-Mei Hsu and her mother's relationship was frail as An-Mei never spoke to her mother and saw her as a ghost as what her grandmother would say. Their relationship was extremely weak that after a few years, An-Mei forgot about her mother. When An-Mei's grandmother becomes ill, her mother comes to visit for the first time in a long time which caused old memories to flood back into her mind. In the end, An-Mei's mother helps the grandmother which is shown as respect and An-Mei from then on loves her mother.

4. Joy Luck Club originated in China from women who wanted to escape the fear of the war that was surrounding them. Extended family has a role in the family structure as its shown in the first few section as an importance as those part of family gain respect and shows how family will last and also how you must take care of them and stay together.
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Reporter:

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1. When Waverly runs away from her mother in the marketplace, why do you think her mother was angry at her in the first place? What can you conclude about the relationship between not only Waverly and her mother, but all of the mother-daughters in the Joy Luck Club?

2. Why does Lena's mom want her to lead such a sheltered life? What incident convinces Lena's mom that she was right to protect her daughter? Why does she think she has failed?

3. What kind of symbolism does the Bible under the table have with Rose and Ted's relationship?

4. Why doesn't Jing-Mei want to be good at anything? How does this anger and embarrass her mother?

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1. In the chapter "Rice Husband", why is Lena's mother pained when she discovers the list that is displayed on Harold's and Lena's shared fridge? What can you assume from the relationship of these two?

2. Using your understanding from Waverly's character and her mother's personality, why and how did Waverly lose her ability to play chess as successfully as she used to?

3. What is the significance of "heimongmong"? Why does Rose struggle with this in her relationship with Ted and how does she overcome it?

4. Explain the symbolism behind the jade pendant Jing-Mei had recieved as a gift from her mother. Why is this crucial to the relationship she shares with her mother who had passed away?

5. What correspondence do Lena's, Waverly's, Rose's, and Jing-Mei's all share together in the "American Translation". Given these 4 stories, why do you think that this section is called "American Translation"?

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1. In the An-Mei Hsu section, what do you think this section focuses on? What power/status does each wife have in the household?

2. In the Ying-ying St. Clair section, what do you believe that the tiger symbolizes? Could the symbol also be used for Lena, how?

3. In Lindo Jong’s section, it’s shown that mother Lindo and Waverly both have crooked noses what could this show about how Waverly thinks?

4. In Jing-Mei's section, explain how the three sisters are like their mother but aren’t at the same time.
What did the author try to imply with this?

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1. After reading the book, why do you think the author chooses to put a parable before the start of each section of the book?

2. What significance and lesson does the parable add to each chapter?

3. What does the Swan in the parable "Feathers From a Thousand Li Away" represent?

4. How does the structure and narration of the story help the reader understand the significance behind a mother-daughter relationship?

5. What is the role of fate in this book and how do the Chinese mothers depict the image of fate?

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1. Before their argument, Waverly's mother was boosting about Waverly which cause Waverly to be upset. Waverly's mother took it as she was ashamed to be seen with her daughter so therefore Waverly's mother got angry. in Waverly's section, she explains her and her mother relationship as a chess match as they both just have different views on thing and can’t seem to get each other. this can also be seen in other mother and daughter relationships in the book because the mothers are immigrants from China and they both just have different views.

2. Because Lena’s mother came to america after WWII and is scarred by things from the past, it causes her to be cautious around lena. the incident that causes Lena’s mother to assume she has a right over Lena is when Lena and her mother encounter a drunk man on the street. She believes that she has failed because she thought she could have done a lot more for the unborn child.

3. The bible symbolizes faith and fate because rose believes that fate was the reason behind everything. she also believes that faith (good luck) has nothing to do with it and that she doesn’t have any.

4. Jing-Mei doesn’t want to try anything because she has no desire to cooperate with her mother. Jing-Mei’s mother is angered and embarrassed by this because her mother believes that Jing-Mei is talented and can become a prodigy so with Jing-Mei not trying upsets her.
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Bridge Builder:

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1. When Waverly decided to take off at the market place, her mother was hurt and angry because Waverly made it seem like she didn't want to be associated with her mother and that she was embarrassed of her mother's pride and love for her daughter. All the young girls that had descended from Chinese immigrants in Joy Luck Club don't understand how their mothers express affection to them. As a conclusion, creating a barrier of misunderstanding and miscommunication between the daughters and their mothers.

2. Because Lena's mom experienced a scarring past, she wants to make sure that Lena is always safe and out of harm's way, resulting in Lena living a sheltered life under her mother. One of the instances of this was when a drunk man approached both Lena and her mom frightning both of them. As a result, her mom rearranged the whole apartment to restore "balance" in the apartment and protect her family. She thinks that she has failed because she had failed to prevent the death of her unborn child whilst living in their apartment.

3. The bible signifies the prevalence of faith and fate in Rose and Ted's relationship. As the bible symbolized faith and was under the table, it was usually forgotten about. This means that Rose had no faith in their relationship all along, she let fate decide the way not knowing that faith could alter the future resulting in their relationship ending.

4. Jing-Mei doesn't want to be good at anything because she feels forced by her mother to be someone who she isn't. This angers and upsets her mother because she only wants the best in her child and wants her to achieve big achievements in life. She is embarrassed that her oblivious child doesn't see this and ends up not trying at all - such as her display at the talent show.

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Art Explanation: Top left corner is dedicated to Waverly. I drew a blvd sign because she was named after the street she lives on. The big chess piece symbolizes how proud her mother is concerning the accomplishments she achieves in chess. I made sure to put Waverly's dedicated corner on top of Jing-Mei Woo's corner because she feels superior in talent when compared to Jing-Mei. Top right corner is dedicated to Lena's mother. The prison bars symbolize how locked up and sheltered her mom has kept herself and her daughter from the dangers of the outside world. The baby boy on the clouds represent her dead son. The sword of a thousand cuts is also there because it's mentioned twice in Lena's story and it holds a lot of importance. Bottom right corner is dedicated to Rose's struggles. The Bible represents the constant struggle to find balance between fate and faith in her life. The 8 triangles and the one triangle lost in the ocean symbolizes Bing's death. And I drew the pier to look like a table because Rose's mom usually kept the Bible under one of the legs of the table. Bottom left corner is dedicated to Jing-Mei. I drew Shirley Temple (or what is supposed to be her) to represent her mother's want for her to have a talent or to be successful in something. The piano keys stop at the end, unfinished, because Jing-Mei never finished learning and mastering the piano, and the Peter Pan hat represents her "Peter Pan hair" and her defiance towards her mother.

Art Discussion:
Gia: I like how you dedicated a part of the page to each person presented in this section on the story, the pictures depicts the stories really well.
Nishant: The separation of the sections make it easy to understand that each of their lives were separate but by putting them in the same piece of art, you show that they were interconnected as well.
Thalia: Nice incorporation of each chapter and showing how each daughter was raised by their mother.
Vincent: The incorporation of each chapter in the part depicts the whole section under the one idea of mothers raising their daughters.

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1. When Waverly takes off at the marketplace, her mom was hurt and angered by the fact that Waverly was "embarrassed to be her daughter" when she should be thankful for her mother for supporting her and not understanding she is boasting her daughters achievements because she is proud of her. Waverly instead thinks that her mother is just living through her experiences and using her as a trophy to show off to others which angers her and causes her to storm off. This creates a rift in the relationships between the mothers and daughters of the Joy Luck Club due to their American-Chinese differences which leads to constant miscommunication and wrong interpretations that cause these misunderstandings to occur between mother and daughter.

2. Because of the experiences that Lena's mom had gone through in the past, Lena's mom becomes overprotective, especially after their interaction with the drunk man on the street which only raises her superstitions and levels of protectiveness for Lena. She believes that she fails by bringing bad omens and luck to herself and her family after the occurrence with the drunk man and the death of her baby, causing her to start becoming mentally unstable.

3. The Bible under the table symbolizes the faith that Rose has for her and Ted's relationship and also symbolizes the presence of fate and how there is a reason for everything to occur like how she had lost her younger brother, Bing, as a child.

4. Jing-Mei does not want to be good at anything, not because she doesn't have the capability to do so, but because of the amount of pressure and amount of work and time forced on her to achieve her mothers goals, Jing-Mei starts to counter with her moms actions and rebel against her due to the feeling that her mother is attempting to transform her into someone she's not which makes her feel like she isn't good enough in her moms standards. This angers and embarrasses her mother because she believes that Jing-Mei has potential and talent embedded within her, but the talents can't be shown due to the fact that Jing-Mei has no motivation to do well and doesn't try to do the best for herself.
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Reporter:

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Gia Tran Reporter - Week 2 Waverly Jong: "Rules of the Game" Lindo's daughter Waverly Jong starts off this chapter by stating that when she was six years old, her mother had taught her "the art of invisible strength" which is a lesson that not only helped her win arguments and respect, but also e...

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1. Waverly's mother was mad at Waverly after she ran away from home because she couldn't believe that Waverly was "embarrassed to be her daughter," and had the audacity to run away and possibly confront potential danger. Judging from Waverly's relationship with her mother, the rest of the mothers of the Joy Luck Club also have problems with disobedient daughters.

2. Lena's mom makes Lena have a sheltered life due to her overprotectiveness. After the incident with the drunk man, "she grabs back Lena's hand so fast," which conveys that she feels guilty that she couldn't protect her daughter. This also suggests that past events may have scarred Lena's mother, making her jumpy around certain situations.

3. The Bible under the table symbolizes the faith in Rose's and Ted's relationship, along with fate, as demonstrated in her past.

4. Due to her mother's Chinese standard of "'anyone can be a prodigy," this mindset puts too much pressure on Jing-Mei until she breaks, which causes her to wish that she "wasn't her daughter." This angers and embarrasses her mother because other people's kids, especially her friend Linda Jong, are way more talented and also due to Jing-Mei's lack of motivation.

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Diction Detective:

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1. Lena's mother is pained when she discovers the list posted on Lena and Harold's fridge because love isn't supposed to be so perfectly balanced and divided. This creates a sense of an artificial love between Lena and Harold because even though how they may be splitting the way their living expenses is stable and even, their relationship itself is unstable and will end in turmoil if it turns unbalanced.

2. After Waverly's mother changes her attitude towards Waverly, she tries to recoil and do the same thing to her mother in hopes that she will go back to her old pessimistic ways, only to have it backfire onto Waverly and causes her to lose her concentration on the game and after her first lost at a competition, her confidence in her playing ability completely diminishes and she is never able to go back to how she played before, losing her prodigious skill of chess.

3. "Heimongmong" directly translates to "black fog in Chinese" which when interpreted, means dark fog. Rose uses this phrase to describe her relationship and upcoming divorce with Ted and how in her mind, she is unclear with her thoughts on how to go about the situation. This is an internal conflict Rose holds where she lost in a state of confusion and not knowing where to go in terms of what she should do. She eventually overcomes it by clearing her thoughts, ridding her mind with this "fog" and makes her own decisions by going against her usual attitude towards things and overthinking her decisions, eventually standing up for herself when coming face to face with Ted.

4.The jade pendent represents given to Jing-Mei by her mother shows that a piece of her mother will always be with her even after her passing, though not there to give her direct advice, her mother can only hope that Jing-Mei will make good decisions by being reminded of what her mother would advise her from remembering the pendent.

5. All their stories relate in some way through all of the girls going through a hard time in their life and having their mothers there with them to give them advice and try to lead them in the direction of what they think is best for their daughters. This section is called "American Translation" because of how the Chinese oriented mothers would handle the situation and how the Americanized daughters take that advice and turn it into how they would deal with their situation.
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Bridge Builder:

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1. Her mother is hurt and pained by this because she knows that love isn’t suppose to be like where you split 50-50. Also because lena doesn’t like ice cream yet the husband continued to buy ice cream anyway. You can assume that their relationship in Harold eyes is all about equality and lena follows Harold through with that. This also shows us that their relationship isn’t stable and could collapse.

2. Because she created this wall between her and her mother because she doesn’t want to disappoint her mother. Also because of this, it causes her to think that she wants to be and that a prodigy and not be someone ordinary with this she begins to lose her supreme confidence and begins to lose tournaments.

3. “heimongmong” means dark fog; to Rose this describes her emotions through this divorce of how “everything around her seems to be heimongmong” or dark fog. She struggles inner relationship with Ted because Ted controls everything in her life; like how they owned a garden, Ted would get rid of the weeds every week. She overcame this by realizing that she wanted the weeds to stay and that she didn’t want to be a delicate flower anymore; she didn’t need him anymore to stay alive or survive.

4. The jade pendent is given to June by her mother to show June that she believes that June has her own freedom and can think for herself; that June is a leader. The necklace would remind June of her mother’s belief and would keep the mother and daughter bond/relationship there. This is crucial to their relationship because june’s mother belief is kept in the pendent and it would keep June close to her mother even after her death.

5. Most of the daughters are all going through troubling times and the mothers are there to help and bring them luck and a future which is what we see in part 3 stories all have in common. also with the beginning part, the mother hangs a mirror in front of the daughter and shows her that the mother sees grandchildren in the mirror so this could also be talking about heritage and showing the bond between generation gap. It’s called American Translation because instead of seeing how the mothers view things, we see how the daughters view things and all the mothers are born in china while the daughters are born in America.
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Art Explanation: The drawing shows a bed with a mirror hanging about it with peach blossom growing from it and children in the mirror. This drawing represents american translation as the mother gifts the daughter the hanging mirror which would give more peach blossom luck in hopes for grandchildren.

Art Discussion:
Gia: I like how you incorporated the flowers to show blossoming and fertility. Nice representation for the parable and what the mother was trying to state to her daughter.
Kim: The contrast in color with the white is super pretty. The choice of medium you chose was really great since watercolor is very delicate and free - which can contribute to the significance of this art.
Nishant: Your art is very vivid and shows a clear depiction of whats going on in the house. Your art itself is also very unique and colorful. Good JOB!
Vincent: The depiction of the flowers along with the colors really symbolizes what the daughters had to face in America.

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1. Lena’s mother is pained due to their love being divided to the point that Lena’s husband does not know that she doesn’t like ice cream. This creates the assumption that even a slight unbalance will ruin their relationship.

2. When Waverly’s mother changes her attitude towards her daughter, Waverly becomes scared and loses her concentration on her game.

3. "Heimongmong" literally translates to black fog in Chinese, which represented Rose wandering around in a lost state of confusion and indecisiveness. She ultimately overcomes this by making her own decisions and standing up to Ted.

4. The jade pendant stands for a mother’s inheritance to her daughter and the thought that June’s mother’s spirit will always be with her.

5. Their stories are all about them dealing with difficulties in America, especially about relationships, which contributes to the the title American Translation.
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Reporter:

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1. Lena’s mother is pained when she sees the list on the fridge because she is disappointed that the two of them live their lives in halves, splitting costs for everything and making sure everything is equal, when in fact marriage should be a harmony. I assume from this list on the wall that Lena and Harold’s fridge that they have to be in perfect equilibrium to have a continuing relationship, and any one thing can throw them off.

2. Waverly lost her ability to play chess as well as she used because she refused to do something that pleased her mother. She just wanted to be independent and that she didn’t want her mother to use her as an idol to parade around. Waverly faces an internal conflict between pleasing her mother and also making sure that she has the ability to do whatever she chooses to do with her life.

3. "Heimongmong" means a deep fog. Rose has always had Ted make the important decisions in their relationships, and when Ted doesn’t want to make those decisions anymore, Rose falls into a deep fog. She doesn’t know what she wants to do in their
relationship, but when presented with the ultimatum of a divorce, Rose decides to clear this fog on her own and make it clear that she will not be leaving their marriage.

4. The jade pendant represents the bond between mother and child. June (Jing-Mei) doesn’t understand its significance and others who have the pendant don’t understand it as well. However, there is a still an importance to the relationship between her mother and the pendant because the pendant represents the advice that a mother hands down to her child.

5. I think the title to this section of the book is important because it shows that the girls have lost many of their mother's Chinese traditions in their transition/translation in to the American culture. This perfectly represents the phrase "Lost in Translation".
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Diction Detective:

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1. In this section, it mainly focuses on the upbringing of An-Mei and the correlation between how similar a daughter is to their maternal figure. Similar to Chinese family structure and hierarchy, each of the concubines in Wu Tsing's household held different power. Shockingly, the first wife refused to live in the same household as Wu Tsing, so she held no authority over anyone in the household whereas the second wife held the most influence since she knew how to manipulate Wu Tsing into doing her bidding. After the second wife, the third wife held the second most dominance. As the amount of wives increase, the power that each new concubine possess is less than the one before them.

2. The tiger is a symbol for one the Chinese zodiac signs that is apart of the Chinese calendar. These zodiac signs each hold different personalities and predictions for the future. Many believe that tigers are outspoken, valiant, and stubborn at times. This symbol could also be used for Lena because she was born on the year of the tiger and her personality is very much similar to one (her defiance towards her mother and her confidence). This could mean that Lena will follow the same path and actions that her mother might've taken at her age.

3. As explained by Waverly in the book, having a crooked nose means that you are "devious" or "two-faced". This represents the struggle between two conflicting faces, an American face and a Chinese face. This could mean that Waverly has trouble deciding on which side she resonates with.  She has tried to push away her Chinese culture as far as possible in the past whereas now, she wants to be Chinese - but can never be fully.

4. The reunited three sisters are similar to her mother in physical features, but are slightly differentiate from their mother in personality (resulting from the way these girls were raised). This implies that their mother has left a piece of herself in each of her daughters, and by fulfilling her mother's wish, June has finally understood the significance of what it means to be Chinese and understood her mother as a whole through meeting her half-sisters.

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Bridge Builder:

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1. An-Mei Hsu's section focuses on the defining factor in her life that influences her character. Each wife had the power/status of the mistress of the household, with servants, but some have more authority than others. The First Wife held no power but was respected, the Second Wife held the most power due to her devious ways, the Third Wife held the second most rule in the household, and so on so forth.
2. The tiger symbolizes the characteristic of a Chinese tiger mom, being strict, powerful, loving, and enforcing discipline to her child. This bravery and caring nature are passed on to her daughter, Lena, who is like her mother being born in the year of the tiger and possessing the same traits.
3. The similarity between mother and daughter through their crooked noses portrays that Waverly thinks like her mother. They are both two-faced, having experienced both Chinese and American cultures but unable to choose and fit into one.
4. The three siblings look like their mother physically but were raised in different backgrounds, producing different cultures. The author implies that even though June came from America, she still possesses the cultural root that the twins have, which ties back to their mother. From the definition of their mother's Chinese name, the three sisters are truly her long-cherished wish.
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Art Explanation: This last scene in the book depicts Jing-Mei Woo finally meeting up with her abandoned half sisters, Wang Chun Yu and Wang Chun Hua, in China after her mother's death. They smile because they are finally united and they cry for their dead mother. The camera depicts their  dad in the background taking a picture to display the similarities of the daughters to their mother and to capture the moment of grieving and joy.

Art Discussion:
Gia: This is a good depiction on the scene in the book, easy for the readers to understand what is happening.
Kim: The background doesn't take away from what the art is supposed to capture and the emotions are demonstrated pretty well and accurately.
Nishant: This is a really good representation of what their meeting on the tarmac was really like. It truly depicts a picture perfect moment.
Thalia: Truly shows how the moment was when the sisters met each other. Also I think the camera in the corner is really funny but good way to show others how the moment looked like.

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1. An-mei's section mainly focuses on her upbringing as a child. She had a decent upbringing; however the competition in her mother's house was intense between the wives. The 2nd Wife had the most power because she faked suicide, and then the 1st Wife because she was the first wife. An-mei's mother has no power and she decides to change that with a pretend suicide; however she dies and it indicates that she was never able to increase her power in the household because of the advances of the 2nd Wife.

2. Ying-Ying is represented by the tiger because it indicates that she is strong but works in the shadows. She was never satisfied with her first husband, just as a tiger is never satisfied with its kill. She is not gullible to the point where she immediately falls for the cheap gifts of the Mr. Saint-Clair. The tiger shows her personality throughout life and how it evolved.

3. The crooked nose indicates that Waverly never wanted to be the same as her mother. She never agreed with the customs as her mother, yet they are both so similar. She doesn't have a choice in her Chinese heritage, but she wants to have her American culture stand out. She never wants to be restrained by the culture of her mother yet the crooked nose is that restraining order. It always reminds her of her Chinese heritage.

4. The author says that the three sisters are alike but not alike at the same time. This indicates that they all came from the same mother, yet their upbringings were so different, two of them in China and June in the United States. This also symbolizes that even though you cannot leave your heritage behind, it is always possible to change because of interactions with new environments. They may all be the same in heritage, yet they all change based on their environments.
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Reporter:

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1. The An-Mei chapter for this section focuses on the shift of her childhood from leaving behind her aunt and uncle's average household to go with her mother to go live a rich and lavish life compared to what she originally had, living with servants and other concubines. Each wife held a different amount of power and status in the house, Second Wife having the most power because of her scheming and playing with the idea of suicide and faking her death in order to get what she wanted, second in terms of power was the First Wife because of her constantly going off and not being around the house much, living out in the countryside, and lastly was the Third Wife, An-Mei's mother holding the least power in the house (almost no power at all) although she was the one who beared a son for Wu Tsing, only to have the child be taken and presented as the son of the Second Wife, An-Mei's mother also toys with the idea of a fake suicide but ends up over dosing, indicating her failed attempt to raise in power at all.

2. The tiger in terms of Chinese Zodiacs represents strength and diligence, bravery, cruelty, forceful, terrifying, and vengeful, all adding up to hold the symbol of power and lordliness. This symbol can be used for Lena (being born the year of the tiger) and her confident personality and defiance to her mother, also born the year of the tiger, meaning that Lena will most likely become like her mother in the future based on her current traits, which are similar to those of her mother at her age.

3. Waverly explains to her mother that having a crooked nose meant that you are two-faced, possibly showing her Chinese face and her American face, Waverly being stuck deciding on who she truly is, now wanting to be more Chinese though pushing that thought away as a child. Her crooked nose also shows how inevitably similar she is to her mother, regardless if she wanted to be or not. The crookedness of her nose represents the Chinese side that will always be rooted within her no matter how Americanized she is.

4. The three reunited sisters are similar in terms of their physical traits, yet different due to their upbringing as children, the twins being raised to a different mother in China whereas Jing-Mei was raised in the Americas by her birth mother. The author implies that though not raised all the same, each daughter held a piece of their mother within them and symbolizes how you cannot throw away or conceal your true heritage and this can be seen through the meeting of the three sisters.
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Diction Detective:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/106WnbdDynaOZwwnluCFIYi5R8DwvvACkucbHnyzD4oY

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Gia Tran Diction Detective "Maybe it is because she was born to me and she was born a girl. And I was born to my mother and I was born a girl. All of us are like stairs, one step after another, going up and down, but all going the same way" (Tan 215).

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1. The author starts off each part with a Chinese parable to give insight or introduction on the motif for each chapter of the section.
2. The first parable represents the culture the mothers learned from their past that they want to bequeath to their daughters. The second parable conveys how the daughters will be brought up by their Chinese mothers. The third parable portrays the grown-up daughters experiencing life struggles in America. The last parable illustrates the most prominent events in the mother's lives that shape their character and how they raise their daughters.
3. The swan in the first parable symbolizes the Chinese culture the mother learned with hopes to teach it to her daughter. She wants to bestow it upon her with love and intentions that the daughter's life will be better than her mother's, which she sacrificed.
4. The division of each part into different perspectives makes a special structure that induces the reader to ultimately tie together the mother-daughter relationships and make connections throughout the whole story.
5. The Chinese mothers look upon fate to make decisions for their daughters. They, in turn, want their daughters to learn how to read fate and act upon it. Fate is depicted upon birth and with signs throughout their lives.
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Bridge Builder:

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1. I think the author chooses to put a parable before each section to preface what the life lessons that are learned by the girls are.

2. The first parable represents the change that a daughter undergoes while her mother is just trying to catch up to the ways of the Americans; it represents how each of the mothers struggle to keep up with how much their daughters are changing. The second parable represents the protection that the mothers want to offer their daughters. They are all afraid of what the outside world of the new world of America may hold and how it could hurt their kids. The third parable represents the troubles in relationship each of the daughters are having with their significant others. Their mothers are their to support them but they can't do anything unless their daughters put in an effort as well. The final parable represents the ability of all the mothers to detect danger that lies in wait for their daughters. They want their daughters to maintain their innocence forever, yet they know that this will never happen.

3. The Swan represents the Chinese heritage that the mother's bring with them to the United States. They start with much and by the time they want to give some to their daughter, they have only one feather of heritage left to hand down to their children.

4. The book is organized in a way that juxtaposes the relationships between the mothers and daughters that signifies that they all have their differences and that they won't always see eye to eye on what they want to do with their lives.

5. Fate is represented through the ancient Chinese traditions which the mothers follow throughout the book. The mothers want their daughters to follow this fate, yet they refuse. The mothers are trying to force their daughters onto a path which they may resist because they want to follow their new American traditions.
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Art Explanation: This is a comic strip that depicts the actions that occur in the first parable with a little bit of artistic license. The swan is snotty because he holds himself in high esteem. The lady herself ages throughout the comic and she ends up taking care of her daughter in store, where she is just drinking soda. The top right frame is her at immigration getting her beloved swan away. There was a little artistic license applied. Sorry for the watermark, it wouldn't give me the clean version without paying. Enjoy!

Art Discussion:
Gia: This comic is creative and its funny and it interprets the parables in a less serious manner as it does in the book!
Kim: This is super creative!! Also very funny :). It presents the parable in a different light, other than the serious tone that the original used.
Thalia: It was very funny! It shows off the parable in a creative and easy way to understand.
Vincent: The interpretation of the first parable into a comic is very creative, with comedic relief adding on to the representation of what happens.

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1.The author chooses to put a Chinese inspired parable before each page to foreshadow the upcoming events between the daughters and mothers and to unify the section all together under one lesson or theme.

2. In the first section, this parable foreshadows the upcoming struggle for the mother's to convey their thoughts to their daughter due to either the language barrier, cultural barrier, or even the misunderstandings that take place. The second parable teaches the lesson of listening to your mother and the dangers that could arise if you were to become too disobedient, the third parable focuses on the idea of bad omens and how to mend them (foreshadowing the bad luck of the upcoming stories), and the last parable teaches you that you have to lose your innocence in order to grow thick skin - but that doesn't mean that you should lose hope.

3. The swan represents the old lady's past and memories. The old lady wants this swan to be gifted to her child for the child to understand how much she is loved and all the sacrifices that the old lady has given up for her. This swan is eventually stripped away from her, leaving her with only a feather that might be perceived as worthless to her daughter, but in reality actually signifies her good intentions and hopes for her child's bright future.

4. The structure and the way that the whole book is laid out allows for the dramatic irony between the mother-daughter relationships to be seen by the readers. Each story offers a look inside the thoughts one of the character's mind that no other character can access. From these stories, the reader understands  that even though there might be a wall of misunderstanding set between a mother and a daughter, the love that they share for one another will always prevail.

5. Fate plays a huge factor as to why the daughter's mother have raised them in a certain way. They want their daughters to be able to pick up signs and act on it before it is too late. These Chinese mothers know that fate is unavoidable, but they do believe that it can be altered by acting on certain actions.
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Reporter:

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1. The author puts parables for the start of each part to foreshadow what is to come in the section and give a central main idea that connects the section together.

2.  In part 1, the parable shows us that of the section and parable is transformation where  the daughters are transformed in chinese-american women which their mothers can no longer communicate with because of their transformation like the swan changing from the duck. In part 2, the parable shows us that the section has a theme of communication or more so lack of communication because between each mother and daughter there's a barrier to where they are unable to communicate with each other. In part 3, the parable shows us the gap between generations or the gap between the mothers who are chinese immigrants and want something that is long lasting and the daughters who are americanized and are more materialized. In part 4, the parable shows us the difference between innocence and experienced which is shown throughout the book where the mothers are trying to teaching their daughters life lessons that they have learned through traumatizing experiences.

3. The swan represents change or transformation as the old lady moved to America in hopes to change into an American who and also where her daughter would be able to gain respect. This could also be applied to the daughter can transform too.

4. The way the story is structured helps the reader understand the story/bond between mother and daughter because it's structured into where you can go into the mind of each character and understand their story better.

5. Each of the mothers want their daughters to follow their fate because they believe that either way their choose fate is bound to happen. Also, not every mother in book wants their daughter to follow their fate as June's mother believed that June had a chance to have a choice in her life and that she can lead her life.
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Diction Detective:

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1. Patriarchy had always been advent in the society of Chinese culture. During the time of the setting of Joy Luck club, the presence of patriarchy continues to follow the women from their time in china to america. Women consistently have to follow through the orders that the men imposed onto them, from listening to the men in the army during their time in Asia, to having to listen to the orders of their husbands without objecting during their time in America. This shows that patriarchy continues to rule over the lives of women in Chinese society from the lack of change over time.

2. The women of the Joy Luck Club honor the memory of Jing-Mei Woo’s mother by continuing the legacy of their club and respecting her mother for being the founder by passing down her mothers spot to her at the Mahjong table, continuing their traditions with one who shares the same blood and DNA as if they are still connected with her though she is not physically with them anymore.

3. An-Mei Hsu and her mother's relationship was so weak to the point that she would not even acknowlege the exhistence of it. But as their story progresses, the readers can see that An-Mei is finally willing to open up to change and sacrficing her grudges by visiting her mother after the slow passing of her grandmother in attempt to fix their relationship.

4. The origin of Joy Luck Club started back when the story was set in Asia, and Suyuan had started this club during their hard times in war with her close friends in hope to shield their hardships with some happiness and fun to relieve them of their stress. The role of the extended family symbolizes strength and endurance that the immigrants shared because their past experience shows how they need to stay together and take care of not only themselves but take care of each other to help one another through hard times.

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Art Explanation: I drew an asian woman to depict the image of an asian woman surrounded by her culture and the title "joy luck club" translated and written in calligraphy, all this represented on a mahjong piece to show that they keep and preserve their culture through playing mahjong, taking this with them from china to america.

Art Discussion:
Kim: Gorgeous!! I really like how you incorporated ideas of Chinese culture and put it on a mahjong tile to tie the book all together.
Nishant: The details really bring all the aspects of the culture the girls and their mothers are following in San Francisco. The depiction perfectly incorporates elements of the Chinese and American culture.
Thalia: It's so pretty, I liked how you tried to show much of Chinese culture as this section was all about the mothers and their hardships in china before moving out to America.
Vincent: The embedding of the image depicting the Chinese cultural relationship between the mothers and their daughters onto a mahjong piece was really intriguing, along with the appealing calligraphy of the Chinese characters for Joy Luck Club.

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1. The presence of patriarchy was very much alive and thriving in Chinese society. In one of the personal stories labeled as "The Red Candle" the leading character was forced to "obey" her newly wedded husband. The author makes a conscious choice to use this word to indicate that Lindo Jong's role will be more as a servant rather than as someone who is respected in the perspective of her new husband, Tyan-yu.

2. Auntie An-Mei exclaims "Your mother is in your bones!" to explain to Jing-Mei the importance of Suyuan Woo's role in her life. Suggesting that not only is her mother's DNA in her bones, but is also the reason why she is the person she is today. Auntie An-Mei wants Jing-Mei to know that she owes her whole life to her mother for sacrificing a part of herself for her daughter. Even all the other Aunties join in and honor her memory through praising Suyuan Woo by mentioning "her kindness" and "her smartness".

3. Initially, An-mei Hsu's and her mother's relationship seemed like it was nonexistent. She even referred to her mother as a "ghost", someone who should be forgotten, implying that the memory of her mother haunted her. Although, as the chapter progressed, the readers can see her mother trying to repair their lost relationship. The conclusion of the story was when An-Mei Hsu's mother cut her own flesh to honor her "Popo" (grandmother) symbolizing sacrafice and respect to popo.

4. The Joy Luck originated from Chinese immigrant family and friends wanting to push aside the "past wrongs" they had endured each week to come together and celebrate each other's happiness. From reading this book, the extended family seems to be very staged in a hiercharcal system with the elders receiving most of the respect and honor while the young ones would earn little. This contributes to the way the young girls, June and An-Mei especially, behaved around their elders in the book.
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Diction Detective: