HCIS English B The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan

Instructions for students:

Read the book and prepare answers to the following questions. The questions
may not have absolute answers - make logical inferences and be creative. You
may write or type out your answers in point form. Do upload your completed work
onto ManageBac and keep to the deadlines given.

Be ready to present your answers coherently in class, and be prepared for a brief
Q&A.

Adapted from:
https://cdn5-ss9.sharpschool.com/UserFiles/Servers/Server_228598/File/CCHS/
Students/Required%20Reading/The%20Joy%20Luck%20Club%20summer
%20reading%20packet.pdf

Study notes:
https://www.sparknotes.com/lit/joyluck/
https://www.studypool.com/studyGuides/The_Joy_Luck_Club/
Chapter_Summaries
https://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/j/the-joy-luck-club/about-the-joy-luck-club
https://www.litcharts.com/lit/the-joy-luck-club
https://www.shmoop.com/study-guides/literature/joy-luck-club/summary

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Part 1: Feathers from a Thousand LI Away

Chapter - An-Mei Hsu: Scar

Mother: An-Mei Hsu; Daughter: Rose Hsu Jordan

VOCABULARY
Concubines - wives of a lower status
Dowry - money or property given to the groom (from the bride’s family) at marriage
Insolent - rude, disrespectful, arrogant
Settee - a small or medium-sized sofa

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
1. Why is An-mei taught that her mother is a ghost?
To let An-mei forget about her mother.
2. Briefly summarize the parables about the pregnant girl and the girl who refuses to
listen. What lessons do the parables teach young An-mei?
HCIS English B The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan

A greedy girl whose belly grew fatter and fatter. This girl poisoned herself after refusing
to say whose child she carried. When the monks cut open her body, they found inside a
large white winter melon. A person who is greedy will never satisfy. A girl shook her
head so vigorously to refuse her auntie’s simple request that a little white ball fell from
her ear and out poured all her brains, as clear as chicken broth. Ask others for opinions.
3. What does it mean in Chinese to have no shou?
Show no respect to the elderly.
4. Why is An-mei afraid of her father’s portrait?
He is watching if An-mei is being rude or naughty.
5. For what reasons do you think Popo continually tries to scare An-mei with parables
and stories about her father’s painting?
To make An-mei behave herself, and not be like her mother.
6. How did An-mei’s neck become scarred? What evidence is there in the story that
Popo knows how strong An-mei’s love is for her mother?
A pot of hot soup spilled on her. She wanted to recover quickly so that her mother would
not forget her.
7. What does Popo’s daughter (An-mei’s mother) do to illustrate the great bond between
a mother and a daughter?
She cuts a chunk of flesh from her arm to try and save her mother.