Chapters 15&16- The Joy Luck Club

Literary term- dilemma: "I could choose to marry your father, or I could choose to not to marry him and go back to China." (263)

Quote- "And now I also see what part of me is Chinese. It is so obvious. It is my family. It is in our blood." (288)

In the final chapter, Jing-Mei meets her half-sisters for the first time. Throughout the story, Jing-Mei has struggled with her Chinese identity. When she meets her sisters and realizes that all three of them look like her mother, she realizes that her family was her Chinese identity. This quote is a powerful ending to this novel because the entire novel focuses on the differences between 4 Chinese women and their American-born daughters. At the end of the novel, Jing-Mei finds the connection to her Chinese roots through her half-sisters. Jing-Mei's revelation is effective in interconnecting all of the narrations in the novel. She finds the glue that unites all of the mothers and their daughter together in their identity. This story reminds me of the Bible story of Moses and his identity. Moses was born a Hebrew but raised by an Egyptian Pharaoh. Moses believes to be an Egyptian until he discovers his true identity as a Hebrew. After his revelation, he embraces his culture and identity and leaves behind his old way of life. Similar to Jing-Mei, Moses realizes what his true identity is and embraces this new life for the better.

Moses being found by Egyptian princess in the Nile

Chapters 13&14- The Joy Luck Club

Literary term- anaphora: " And on that day, I showed Second Wife the fake pearl necklace she had given me crushed under my foot.
And on that day, Second Wife's hair began to turn white.
And on that day, I learned to shout." (240)

Quote- "And now I must tell her everything about my past. It is the only way to penetrate her skin and pull her to where she can be saved." (242)

In chapter 12, Ying-Ying decides she must tell her daughter Lena about her past in order to pass off her soul to Lena. Ying-Ying claims that Lena and herself share part of their minds, but when Lena was born, she sprang from her and had been running away ever since. In the chapter, Ying-Ying reflects back on her life, her husbands and her children. Ying-Ying feels that Lena's father is a ghost and that is why she must give her daughter her own soul. Ying-Ying does this out of love for her daughter, which is evident by this quote. It shows that Ying-Ying cares more for her daughter than for herself. I think that Ying-Ying's love for her daughter is common to the love God has for all of us. He loves us so much that he gave his only son, Jesus Christ, so that all our sins may be forgiven. Similarly to Ying-Ying, God did this to save us from our sins.

Chapters 11&12- The Joy Luck Club

Quote- "And she's the only person I could have asked, to tell me about life's importance, to help me understand my grief." (197)

In chapter 12, Jing-Mei, or June, reflects back on a Chinese New Year dinner with her family and friends. Her mother had died three months ago and she remembers at the dinner that her mother had given her a pendant that was her mothers. Looking at the pendant now, she thinks about her life's importance and what it means. This quote displays how June feels about her mother's passing. She wonders about the meaning of her life now that her mother is gone. She wishes her mother was still around to help her cope with her grief and answer the questions she has about her life. This quote also shows the close bond June has made with her mother over the years and how important her mom is to her life. This quote also shows how June became dependent on her mother for understanding certain things in life. I can relate to how June feels in this quote. I also rely on my mom to help with problems and to teach me lessons about what is important in life. I can always count on my mom to be there when I need her the most. This is how June felt, but now that her mother is gone, she realizes how much her mother means to her.

Chapters 9&10- The Joy Luck Club

Literary term- adage: "She has a Chinese saying for what she knows. Chunwang chihan: If the lips are gone, the teeth will be cold." (149)
metaphor: "In her hands, I always became the pawn. I could only run away. And she was the queen, able to move in all directions, relentless in her pursuit, always able to find my weakest spots." (180)
(comparing Waverly and her mother to chess pieces)

Quote- "I wasn't so much afraid of my mother as I was afraid for Rich. I already knew what she would do, how she would attack him, how she would criticize him." (173)

In chapter 10, Waverly tries to tell her mother that she is getting marries to a man named Rich. She knows that her mother would disapprove of him and be upset with Waverly for marrying him. This quote shows how Waverly felt about telling her mother of her marriage to Rich. She was concerned for Rich because she knew her mother would criticize him, and she did. At dinner, Waverly's mother criticized Rich's appearance, mannerisms, and behavior. Waverly knew her mother would do such things, that is why she wanted to protect Rich from her mother's disapproval. This quote also shows the distance in Waverly and her mother's relationship. It shows the fear Waverly has for her mother and their varying views of culture. Waverly's mother is very much consumed in the Chinese culture in all aspects of her life, while her daughter is accustomed to the American way of life. This theme of parental disapproval is also common in the movie "The Notebook". The two main characters, Allie and Noah, fall in love, but Allie's parents disapprove of Noah. Allie's mother criticizes Noah in many fashions, just as Waverly's mother did to Rich. Both Allie and Waverly try to convince their mothers that Noah and Rich are good men and to not judge them. 

Chapter 8- The Joy Luck Club

Literary term- dialect: " 'Who ask you be genius?' she shouted. 'Only ask you be your best. For you sake. You think I want you be genius? Hnnh! What for! Who ask you!' " (136)

Quote- "When my mother told me this, I felt as though I had been sent to hell. I whined and kicked my foot a little when I couldn't stand it anymore." (136)

Jing-Mei's mother was persistent about Jing-Mei becoming a prodigy. Her mother forced her to take piano lessons and learn to play. Jing-Mei did not want to take lessons or become a prodigy. This quote shows how Jing-Mei feels about taking piano lessons. While her mother just wanted Jing-Mei to be successful, she failed to consider Jing-Mei's feelings and forced her to do something she did not want. A similar situation occurs in the movie "Double Teamed". In the movie, two twin sisters move to a new school. One sister, Heather decides to play basketball, while the other sister, Heidi, gets involved in theatre. The girl's father forces Heidi to give up theatre and play basketball because it would be beneficial in receiving college scholarships. Heidi did not want to play but her father forced her, just as Jing-Mei's mother forced her to play the piano.

Chapter 7- The Joy Luck Club

Literary term- cliche: " 'Don't dig so hard. You'll bust a hole in the wall and fall all the way to China.' " (125)

Quote- "But somehow, when you lose something you love, faith takes over." (131)

In chapter 7,Rose Hsu watches her four year old brother, Bing, fall into the ocean. Rose was supposed to be watching Bing, but she couldn't react fast enough to Bing's fall. Rescue and search teams look for Bing all night, yet they cannot find him and call the search off. Rose and her mother return to the beach the next morning in hopes of finding Bing's body, but they leave without finding him. Rose blames herself for Bing's death because she let Bing walk along cove wall, where he fell. At the end of the chapter, Rose reflects on the death of her brother. This quote portrays Rose's faith and and understanding of the situation. It shows how Rose has grown spiritually and how she has learned not to blame herself for this accident. This quote can relate to my life as well. When my aunt passed away, I was devastated. Experiencing the loss of a loved one is tragic, but my faith really helped me get through it. My faith gave me strength to cope with my loss and better understand it, just as Rose's faith did for her. 

Chapter 6- The Joy Luck Club

Literary term- irony: "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)

Quote- "And I knew that was not true. I knew my mother made up anything to warn me, to help avoid some unknown danger." (105)

Lena St. Clair's mother was very protective of her daughter. She often told her untrue stories to protect Lena from danger. She would tell Lena harsh consequences of certain actions, however, these were not true answers. Lena's mother had Lena's best interest in mind when she told her these stories. She was just trying to protect her daughter from danger. This quote shows that Lena's mother would say anything to warn Lena of any type of danger. This reminds me of something my father told me once when I was a young girl. He told me that if I swallowed my gum, my intestines would stick together. When he told me this, I was frightened and told him I would stop swallowing my gum. I now know that he made up that story to get me to stop swallowing gum. Although he made up the consequence of this act, he did it for my benefit, similar to what Lena's mother did.