3_joyluckclub

The following is a study guide that I use with my students at Greenwood High on the novel The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan. Feel free to use it
for your own personal study of the novel or for classroom use. For the answer key, please write me from your school address and I will
gladly e-mail it to you. Happy Reading!!!

DEFINE THE FOLLOWING WORDS/PHRASES:

. Somber        . Cultivate        . Concubines        . Invaded        . Illusion        . Eluded        . Chasm        . Sentinel        . Trivial        . Mesmerizing        .
Laments        . Podiatrist        .Sonorous        . Vulnerable        . Foyer         . Covenant        . Nirvana        . Smirk        . Spouse        . Drab        . Meager
. Translucent        . Insolent        . Felicitous        .Remorseful        . Acrid       . Transparent        . Presumptuous       . Illusion        . Deftly        . Toted
. Malodorous        . Jauntily        . Verbatim        . Taut        . Mesmerizing         . Pristine        . Covenant        . Revered        . Devious        . Forage

KEEP A RUNNING LIST OF CHARACTERISTICS FOR THE FOLLOWING PEOPLE:
. Waverly
. Tyan-yu
. Chong
. Wu Tsing
. Harold
. Suyuan
. Ted
. Lena

JOURNALS:
Write at least 1 full page on the following journals - Choose and complete At Least 10.

1. How is point of view used in the book, and what effect does using it this way have?
2. Discuss the use of setting in the book.
3. Are the characters in The Joy Luck Club stereotypes? If so, explain the usefulness of employing stereotypes in the book. If they are not, explain how they
   merit individuality.
4. What are the main conflicts in the story? Are they resolved? If so, how? If not, why not?
5. Amy Tan uses the words “and” and “but” often to start sentences. What is the effect of this stylistic device?
6. Compare and contrast the four daughters.
7. Compare and contrast the four mothers.
8. Compare and contrast any of the minor characters that you find particularly interesting, including the fathers.
9. Compare and contrast the relationships of the daughters with the mothers.
10. Explain the significance of the title The Joy Luck Club in detail.
11. Explain the significance of the titles of the stories of the book and why the stories that are included in each section fit there.
12. Explain the significance of each of the titles of the stories.
13. Discuss the structure of the book. In what order are the stories told? Why are they told that way?
14. Make a list of the most important secondary characters in the book and explain how each is important.
15. Describe Amy Tan's writing style. How does it influence our perception of the story?
16. Who is the main character of the book? Defend your choice.
17. What themes are present in The Joy Luck Club? Explain each.
18. What is one of the main points of the book The Joy Luck Club? Explain with details from the text.

STUDY GUIDE QUESTIONS:

1. Why was Jing-Mei joining in the Joy Luck Club?
2. How many Joy Luck Clubs have there been?
3. Why was the Original Joy Luck Club formed?
4. Why is the meaning of “Joy Luck”?
5. What did Jing-Mei finally learn from her mother’s story?
6. Why did “the aunties” give Jing-mei money?
7. What do “the aunties” want Jing-mei to tell her sisters in China?
8. What does Jing-mei tell her “aunties” about her mother?
9. What did An-mei’s mother do to be called a ghost?
10. What did it mean to become a ghost?
11. Why did An-mei’s grandmother say bad things about her own grandchildren?
12. What happened to the greedy girl in the grandmother’s story?
13. In the grandmother’s story, what happened to the little girl who refused to listen to her elders?
14. Why was An-mei told never to speak her mother’s name?
15. What does An-mei remember about her mother from her childhood?
16. After An-mei was burned, what did her grandmother tell her that made her get better fast?
17. What does An-mei’s mother do to show her love and respect for her mother?
18. In the story, what does An-mei learn from her mother?
19. How did Lindo Jong become engaged to Tyan-yu?
20. How did Lindo become a member of the Huang household?
21. What gift did Lindo’s mother give to Lindo when the family moved away?
22. How did Tyan-yu make Lindo cry?
23. What did Lindo’s mother-in-law instruct the servants to teach Lindo?
24. What promise did Lindo make to herself on her wedding day?
25. Why was Lindo brave when she was led down a path on her wedding day?
26. What was the significance of the red candle?
27. What lie did the servant tell?
28. What did Lindo use as “proof” that her marriage was rotting?
29. How did Lindo escape from the marriage?
30.What was Ying-Ying’s first memory?
31. Why does the Amah tell Ying-ying that she must keep her wishes secret?
32. How did Ying-ying wind up in the water?
33. What is the ultimate fate of the Moon Lady?
34. What does the Moon Lady represent for Ying-ying?
35. What wish did Ying-ying ask from the Moon Lady?
36. How does Ying-ying’s story reflect her life and that of her daughter?
37. What was “the art of invisible strength”?
38. How did Waverly’s mother demonstrate the art of invisible strength?
39. How did Waverly learn to play expert chess?
40. What would Waverly’s mother say when she attended Waverly’s chess exhibitions?
41. Why did Waverly run away?
42. How did Waverly’s mother treat her when she returned home after running away?
43. What was Waverly’s mother’s view of “rules”?
44. At the end of the story, who is Waverly’s imaginary chess opponent?
45. What does the dead beggar say when he returns?
46. How did the American immigration authorities categorize Lena’s mother?
47. Why does Lena want to know “the worst possible thing that can happen” to her?
48. Why did Lena start telling lies?
49. What was Lena’s great hope when the family moved out of Oakland?
50. What did Lena hear through the wall of the new apartment?
51. Why did the girl from next door leave her own apartment?
52. What happened after the girl and her mother had argued?
53. What did Rose’s mother used to carry to church services?
54. What makes Rose sure that her mother knows the Bible is still under a table leg?
55. How did the decision making start and then change in Rose’s marriage?
56. What was the name of Rose’s mother’s little Chinese book and what was in it?
57. What did Rose and her mother do early on the morning after Rose’s brother drowned?
58. Why did Rose’s mother throw her blue sapphire ring into the water?
59. Why did Rose’s mother throw an inner tube attached to a fishing pole into the water?
60. When her mother gave up finding Bing, what emotion did Rose feel?
61. When Rose took the Bible out from under the table leg, what did she find written in it?
62. What made Jing-mei’s mother think that Jing-mei could be a prodigy?
63. What did Jing-mei’s mother lose in China?
64. How did Jing-mei first envision herself as a prodigy?
65. What would perfection have meant for Jing-mei?
66. List the kinds of prodigy Jing-mei’s mother thought she should be.
67. What was wrong with Jing-mei’s piano teacher and how did it affect her playing?
68. What piece did Jing-mei select for the talent show in the church hall?
69. Who thought Jing-mei’s performance was good? Why?
70. What did Jing-mei realize about “Pleading Child” and “Perfectly Contented”?
71. What does the saying, “If the lips are gone, the teeth will be cold,” mean?
72. What does Lena’s mother see?
73. What are the three things that Lena’s mother predicted that came true?
74. What does Lena think her mother will see during her visit?
75. What physical aspect of Lena’s house does her mother connect with a feeling?
76. What food does Harold not realize that Lena doesn’t eat?
77. Why does Harold hate it when Lena cries?
78. Why does the marble end table collapse?
79. When Lena says, “I knew it would happen,” what question does her mother ask?
80. What did Waverly want to tell her mother at lunch?
81. What did Waverly’s mother do when she found that Waverly had eloped?
82. Why did Waverly first stop playing chess as a child?
83. What special thing could Waverly’s mother do to change Waverly’s view of a person?
84. What mistake did Rich make about the wine at the dinner with Waverly’s family?
85. Why was Waverly so anxious that her mother was the queen while she was the pawn?
86. In what way was Waverly confused about where her mother came from?
87. What trip is Waverly contemplating and with whom would she travel?
88. When Rose was little, what did she believe?
89. Why did Rose’s mother say that Rose was “without wood”?
90. Why did Rose stay in bed for three days?
91. Where did Rose tell Ted she was going to live?
92. When Rose says that Ted is hulihudu, what does she mean?
93. What is Jing-mei’s gift from her mother?
94. Why did Jing-mei’s mother not want to eat the crab that had lost a leg?
95. Why did Jing-mei leave the room while the crabs were being steamed?
96. How do Jing-mei and her mother disagree about Waverly?
97. How did Waverly insult Jing-mei?
98. Who got the crab with the missing leg?
99. In what way does An-mei say that all people born girls are alike?
100. What did it mean to An-mei to be raised “the Chinese way”?
101. How did An-mei’s mother dishonor her widowhood?
102. What did the turtle in the pond do to An-mei’s tears?
103. What happened to the eggs that poured out of the turtle’s beak?
104. What emotion is usually associated with the magpies?
105. What did the turtle tell An-mei’s mother as he drifted back into the pond?
106. Why did An-mei’s mother send her out of their bedroom at night?
107. Why did An-mei’s mother become Wu Tsing’s concubine?
108. How did An-mei’s mother die?
109. What promise did Wu Tsing make to An-mei’s mother after she died?
110. What does An-mei say that her daughter’s psychiatrist is?
111. How did the tired Chinese peasants get rid of the birds?
112. How has Lena unknowingly insult her mother?
113. What did Lena do when she was born?
114. What does lihai mean?
115. When did Ying-ying begin to know things before they happened?
116. What sign happened to convince Ying-ying that she would marry the guest at her house?
117. Why did Ying-ying’s husband leave her?
118. What is the difference between what Lena sees in her mother and what her mother really is?
119. Why, according to Ying-ying, is the tiger gold and black?
120. Why does Ying-ying abort her first child?
121. What did Ying-ying do for ten years at the country home of her cousin’s family?
122. What did Ying-ying give up when she married St. Clair?
123. At the end of the story, what does Ying-ying want to do for her daughter?
124. Why does Waverly Jong want to go to China?
125. Why does Waverly want to be Chinese?
126. Why could Lindo’s children not have American circumstances and Chinese character?
127. Who first taught Lindo about America?
128. What kind of job did Lindo get in the factory?
129. What was the fortune inside the cookie that Lindo gave to Tin?
130. Why does Waverly like the fact that she and her mother have crooked noses?
131. At the end of the story, what is Lindo wondering about?
132. Why does Jing-mei feel different as her train enters Shenzhen, China?
133. Where is Jing-mei meeting her two half-sisters?
134. How did the half-sisters learn that their mother was dead?
135. How did Jing-mei learn the details of what happened to her half-sisters?
136. Why did Jing-mei’s mother actually leave the babies?
137. Who found the babies?
138. What are the two different Chinese meanings of Suyuan, Jing-mei’s mother’s name?
139. What are the meanings of Jing-mei’s name?

ESSAY QUESTIONS: these are not optional. Write at least 1 double spaced page on each.

1.        Which mother is your favorite and why? Which is your least favorite and why? Use details from the text.
2.        Which daughter is your favorite and why? Which is your least favorites and why? Use details from the text.
3.        Which if the husbands is your favorite and why? Which is your least favorite and why? Use details from the text.
4.        Think of your relationship with your mother. Good or bad, describe your relationship with descriptive details.
5.        Think of your favorite game. In detail, describe exactly how to play the game from beginning to end. Do not leave anything out, including turning it
   on, placement of pieces, colors, who goers first, when it ends, the goal, each step along the way.
6.        Write a friendly letter to one of the characters. Discuss their relationship with the other characters in detail and give them advise on how they
   should proceed. Keep in mind the desires of that character and their personality traits. Mention the character's desires and traits in the letter as a
    means of persuasion and write to them in a way that will make them want to take your advise.

FINAL PROJECT: "Life House"

Lindo's In-Laws lived in a large house on a hill. Think about the stories of the house and who lived in them. Think about the construction of the house and
the strength of each story in Comparison to who lived on that level. Also, think about the environment around the house and the purpose of that
environment. In your life you place importance on certain things and rank things based on their importance to your stability. What one thing is your
foundation? What is not your foundation but is the next most important thing in your life? Make a list of the 5 things that you consider to be most important
in your life and the environment that you feel surrounds your current life: season, landscape, weather, foliage, etc.

Express your life in the form of a house and it’s environment. You will build the house with a foundation that is strong and relates to the foundation from
your list. The first story will be a related building material that is not quiet as strong but strong enough to hold the floors above it and that story will express
the second most important thing in your life. Continue to the roof, using the description and meaning of the stories in Lindo’s In-Law’s home as your guide
to relate to your life. Then, place your house inside an environment that you feel expresses your environment.

Detail is very important in this project. You MUST be able to EXPLAIN the building products you used, the environment, the floors, why they are where they
are, and why the are made of the materials of which they are made. There is no size restriction, but houses most be at least 6 inches square to properly
express the building material and strength. The total size, including your environment, must be at least 12 inches square.

In addition to the house, you will construct a speech in which you will explain your house and environment. You must explain each floor, roof, and
environment and why they are important to you and why they are placed in the positions in which you have placed them. You must explain your symbolism
and choices.