2. The Joy Luck Club Amy Tan The novel spans from the 1920s through the 1980s, following two generations of women. Mothers, born and raised in China, find themselves in San Francisco raising their own daughters. Both mothers and daughters must navigate diverse worlds, with different languages, cultures, and habits.

3. About the author Born from Chinese immigrant parents John and Daisy. Her parents wanted Amy to become a doctor or concert pianist, but Amy had other ideas. At the age of 15 both her brother and father died due to cancer. Amy’s mother took her Switzerland to escape the poor health curse. Amy began her writing career by becoming a freelance writer for AT&T, IBM, and Northern Telecom, as well as Wells Fargo Bank, Big Eight management consulting firms.

4. About the author Amy wrote not only a variety of literary works, but also operas and Emmy awarded television shows. Amy continually struggled with her relationship with her mother Daisy throughout her early adult life. Daisy did not live long enough to witness many of Amy’s accomplishments. Daisy was diagnosed with Alzheimer's and passed in 1999.

5. The Joy Luck Club Character ListRole Jing-Mei-Woo/ JuneNarrator Suyuan WooJune’s mother Auntie YingMember of the Joy Luck Club Auntie An-meiMember of the Joy Luck Club Auntie LinMember of the Joy Luck Club

6. The Joy Luck Club The Plot Points: June’s death of her mother June becomes the “fourth corner” and takes her mother’s seat that faces “east”. June shares mother’s story from Kwelin. June’s aunts explain that Suyuan wrote to her “lost daughters” before she died. https://maps.google.com/

7. Characterization Textual EvidenceInference S. “I’m not in school anymore, though” (27). June is embarrassed that she has dropped out of school. T. When I failed to become a concert pianist…she finally explained that I was late- blooming, like Einstein”(28). June feels that she did not meet her mother’s expectations. E. A. “I am to replace my mother, whose seat at the mah jong table has been empty since she died two months ago” (5). June has been chosen to replace her mother in the chair facing “East”. L.

8. Literary Analysis “ My mother and I never really understood one another. We translated each other’s meanings and I seemed to hear less than what was said, while my mother heard no more” (27). Demonstrating June’s internal conflict with her mother.

9. Literary Analysis “When I saw the hills, I laughed and shuddered at the same time. The peaks looked like giant fried fish heads trying to jump out of a vat of oil. Behind each hill, I could see shadows of another fish, and then another and another. And then the clouds would move just a little and the hills would suddenly become monstrous elephants marching slowly toward me!”(8). Simile Metaphor

10. Today’s Targets 2/10/2014 You will be able: Collaborate with group members to create an effective lesson plan for JLC -vocabulary/lesson plan/works cited Homework: Group Presentations – be checking your calendar Paper Revisions “Best Quality” – read for tomorrow if you haven’t done so!

11. Today’s Targets 2/11/2014 You will be able: Educate classmates on assigned chapter from JLC: Demonstrate your understanding of the text along with strong presentation skills including: Developed speaking and listening skills Solid eye contact Homework: Group Presentations – be checking your calendar Paper Revisions due Friday “Red Candle” due Thursday

12. Today’s Targets 2/12/2014 You will be able: Demonstrate understanding and validity of “Folding Won Tons In” Develop and establish connections between poem and JLC Homework: Group Presentations – be checking your calendar Paper Revisions due Friday “Red Candle” due tomorrow

13. Today’s Targets 2/13/2014 You will be able: Educate classmates on assigned chapter from JLC: Demonstrate your understanding of the text along with strong presentation skills including: Developed speaking and listening skills Solid eye contact Homework: Group Presentations – be checking your calendar Paper Revisions due tomorrow

14. Today’s Targets 2/14/2014 You will be able: Analyze “Best Quality” & “Red Candle” - determine important plot elements and use of symbolism Demonstrate understanding and validity of “Women” Develop and establish connections between poem and JLC Homework: Group Presentations – be checking your calendar Read/Finish “Women”/ “Rules of the Game” – presentation TUESDAY

15. Based on your comments… You should be taking notes everyday… it will benefit you!!!!!!!!!!

16. The crab/The pendant June’s mother tells her that the feistiest crabs are of the best quality; even beggars would reject a crab that has died before being cooked/broken leg The cooking of the crabs (225-226) Suyuan explains that she did not eat the legless crab because it had died before she cooked it. She teases June for choosing the worse of the two remaining crabs, because anyone else would have taken the better one—the “best quality” available. June’s way of thinking differed from that of most people – her mother points this out. June chooses the worse of the two remaining crabs because she wants her mother to enjoy the better one – everyone else gives June a jade pendant, telling her that it is her “life’s importance.” She advises June not to worry about Waverly, whose words always “move sideways” like a crab. She has the choice to move in a different direction – be a different person

17. The crab/The pendant a missing leg on a crab is a bad sign on the Chinese New year connection between a crab’s movement and the way Waverly conducts her life, always looking sideways out of the corner of her eye at potential competitors/insulting June thinks that the pendant is given by her mother out of sympathy due to Waverly’s insults and attitude. June’s mom has worn the pendant against her skin, thus if June wears it she can embrace the connection and retain some of who her mother is/was June’s mom had high expectations/originally saw lack of ambition Humility = selflessness. At times, this is the “best quality” one can have…

18. The pendent At first, June sees it as unstylish/different than the others she sees =Represents the cultural differences between herself and her mother. After Suyuan’s death, june begins to see it as a symbol of her mother’s love and concern. **with this she also begins to understand her mother’s actions in general – why she gave it to her While June used to interpret many of her mother’s words as meaningless she now sees them as manifesting a deep maternal wisdom and love.

19. The red candle If the candle burns all night without either end extinguishing prematurely, custom says that the marriage will be successful and happy. The candle has a symbolic meaning—the success of the marriage—within the Chinese culture, but within the story it also functions as a symbol of traditional Chinese culture itself – marriage beliefs Lindo desperately does not want to marry, but she cannot go against the promises her parents made to her husband’s family. By blowing out the flame, Lindo takes control of her own fate – rebellion to gain self control by playing upon the traditional beliefs and superstitions that Lindo convinces her mother-in-law to annul the marriage. Her act of blowing out the candle would have been meaningless without an underlying, pre-established network of belief. Thus the candle = a symbol of tradition & the use of tradition in claiming one’s own identity and power.

20. Today’s Targets 2/18/2014 You will be able: Demonstrate understanding and validity of “The Gift” Develop and establish connections between poem and JLC Homework: “Rules of the Game” presentation and reading due tomorrow Poem Packet Questions due Friday! “Magpies” you are still teaching on Thursday!

21. Today’s Targets 2/18/2014 You will be able: Demonstrate understanding and validity of “The Gift” Develop and establish connections between poem and JLC Homework: “Rules of the Game” presentation and reading due tomorrow Poem Packet Questions due Friday! “Magpies” you are still teaching on Thursday!

22. Today’s Targets 2/19/2014 You will be able: Educate classmates on assigned chapter from JLC: Demonstrate your understanding of the text along with strong teaching skills including: Developed speaking and listening skills Solid eye contact Homework: Group Presentations – “Magpies tomorrow” Those of you on the field trip, “The Gift” with annotations are due tomorrow!! Packets are due FRIDAY! (one per group)**

23. Today’s Targets 2/20/2014 You will be able: Educate classmates on assigned chapter from JLC: Demonstrate your understanding of the text along with strong presentation/teaching skills including: Developed speaking and listening skills Solid eye contact Homework: Group Presentations – be checking your calendar Poetry packet due tomorrow!

24. Today’s Targets 2/21/2014 You will be able: Analyze “Rules of the Game” & “Magpies” - determine important plot elements and use of symbolism Collaborate with group members to demonstrate your understanding and validity of “Women” &“The Gift” Develop and establish connections between poem and JLC Homework: Calendars… “Pair of tickets” Graded discussion

25. Rules of the game The universal struggle between children and parents over issues of independence—the struggle over when a child should obey and admit her parent’s wisdom Versus when a parent should let go and allow the child to discover life Like the little girl in the parable: Waverly attempts to defy her mother. She clashes with Lindo because she misunderstands her mother’s pride Waverly wants chess to be strictly her own achievement, part of her own separate identity She feels invaded, as though her mother is somehow taking credit (invisible support)

26. Rules of the game Red Candle & Rules:  Waverly uses the wind as a metaphor for this invisible strength, thus aligning herself with the same element her mother had identified with when facing her arranged marriage in China.  When she lashes out at her mother, Waverly breaks her own rule. She essentially puts herself “in check” by revealing her secret weakness, her insecurities about her mother and her need to believe that her chess talent is hers alone.

27. Magpies Protecting a child from the same suffers An-mei’s mother teaches her two different lessons. The first, which she teaches through the story of the turtle, is to swallow her tears and suppress her bitterness. The second, which she teaches by crushing a pearl from Second Wife’s necklace, is to see beyond appearances. This second lesson: as it teaches her to be on guard against deceit. An-mei in turn passes this lesson on to her daughter Rose, so that Rose sees through manipulative ways An-mei remarks that only after her own mother’s suicide did she learn “to shout”—to assert herself An-mei’s mother sacrifices herself for the sake of her child. When she sees that her declining status in Wu Tsing’s household would mean a lower status for An-mei as an adult, she commits suicide, forcing Wu Tsing to promise to give An-mei a respected rank in his household and removing her from Second Wife’s clutches.

28. Today’s Targets 2/24/2014 You will be able: Demonstrate your understanding of the JLC and verbally share developed connections between the novel and poems: “Folding Wont Tons In” “Women” “The Gift” Homework: “A Pair of Tickets” due tomorrow! Test Thursday!

29. Today’s Targets 2/26/2014 You will be able: Demonstrate your understanding of the JLC and verbally share developed connections between the novel and poems Analyze “A Pair of Tickets” - determine important plot elements and use of symbolism Details for the coming days… Homework: Test moved… In class essay JLC questions

30. Won tons, women, & the gift WON TONS: The metaphor of misshapen flowers suggests that the speaker’s skills at making won tons are not as strong as his mother’s. The won tons are imperfect, hence misshapen. Appealing to sight and touch His attempt at making won-ton soup while living on his own for the first time…living in a NY apartment passed down through the family that was filled with many of his memories. Chang “folded” the memories of his family’s customs and culture, his anxiety, and his new independence into those won tons: thus he nourished himself. They represented that he cherished his past, kept his focus on the present, and stirred hope for his future by creating something for himself – even though it was only dinner at this point WOMEN: Tone: a positive portrayal showcasing the strength of women Military metaphor: how hard the women worked to reach their goals along with the importance of their efforts “we” = the women’s children & future generations Alice walker – the author – dedicated the poem to her mother: describing her mother’s generation who wanted educational opportunities for their children. The women knew that education could be a key aspect to their children’s success in American society.

31. Won tons, women, & the gift continued THE GIFT: The speaker recalls an incident from his childhood that is similar to him removing the splinter from his wife’s hand He remembers the tenderness more than the pain Love transforms the operation – the metal splinter is imagined as a gift (“when he’s given something to keep, I kissed my father”) planted in the boy’s hand by his father. Something that seemed “evil” allowed him to perform the same operation on his wife years later – a lesson learned.

32. “a pair of tickets” June learns a lesson about the nature of Chinese American identity. June wants to reject her Chinese identity in her adolescence because she wanted to be absolutely American. Now, traveling to China to meet her sisters for the first time, she worries that she is not Chinese enough. She fears a bit of the language barrier, but also the cultural one. She fears that she did not appreciate her mother enough, while her sisters, who will now never know Suyuan as adults, have honored Suyuan in their hearts for all these years. Yet, June comes to recognize the Chinese heritage that lies deep within herself; she happily perceives that the American culture she has embraced for so long does not preempt/prevent a Chinese consciousness as well. Seeing her sisters for the first time makes her realize that her identity need not be “proven” to anyone When June sees that the sisters together resemble Suyuan, the novel comes to its true conclusion. The real challenge for June has been not to find these long- lost sisters, but to find her inner Chinese identity, and to use that as a bridge to her mother. In finding her sisters, June accomplishes both! Wohoo! This achievement serves as a hopeful example for the other characters in the book, as they continue to struggle for closer mother-daughter bonds despite gaps in age, language, and culture.

33. Today’s Targets 2/28/2014 You will be able: Determine important plot elements and use of symbolism in JLC Understand expectations and format for JLC in-class essay Comma Rule #5… Homework: Test Monday In-class essay Tuesday Notes online

34. jlc recap