The Joy Luck Club Study Guide – Flashcards
131 test answers
Unlock all answers in this set
Unlock answers 131question
The Joy Luck Club: Jing-Mei Woo (Daughter) Suyuan Woo (Mother)
answer
...
Unlock the answer
question
1. Why does Suyuan begin the first Joy Luck Club in Kweilin?
answer
In order to escape the fear and uncertainty of war
Unlock the answer
question
2. Briefly describe a typical Club meeting. (Note: Mah jong is an ancient Chinese game played with dice, tiles, and racks.)
answer
they cooked feasts, played mahjong, and traded stories into the night
Unlock the answer
question
3. Why do the women name their parties "Joy Luck"?
answer
they could hope to be lucky, and that hope was their only joy
Unlock the answer
question
4. Suyuan tells her daughter that "...to despair was to wish back for something already lost." What is the "something" Suyuan lost during the Japanese invasion of China? Why do you think she decides to finally reveal this painful part of her past to her daughter?
answer
She lost her other children. She finally reveals this because she knows that her doughter is old enough to understand
Unlock the answer
question
5. Why does the San Francisco Joy Luck Club play the stock market?
answer
Because it was the only thing they could do that required pure luck and no skill
Unlock the answer
question
6. List three of the five elements Suyuan believes comprise each person. In what way does too much of each element impact a person's life?
answer
5 elements: wood, fire, earth, water, and metal. Too much metal can weigh down someone's spirit, taking away their free-thinking
Unlock the answer
question
7. One of the themes in this novel is the inability of the Americanized daughters to understand their Chinese mothers. Find an example of this conflict between Suyuan and her daughter.
answer
Suyuan would always want her daughter to understand the Chinese way and culture, but Jing-mei was never interested and lived an American lifestyle
Unlock the answer
question
8. Define the Chinese word chaswei. To
answer
To go after with the intent to catch
Unlock the answer
question
9. How does Jing-mei Woo know which seat at the mah jong table was her mother's place?
answer
Her mother used to say "The East is where things begin"
Unlock the answer
question
10. What does the story of Auntie An-mei's trip to China reveal about Communist China?
answer
Her brother's family scrambled to stuff from the Americans because such things like that were not allowed in China.
Unlock the answer
question
11. In the following passage from the story Jing-mei Woo is talking about her problems communicating with her mother. She says: "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 more." (Pg. 27) Find an incident from the story, which supports Jing-mei's statement.
answer
Jing-mei was a school dropout and never intended to go back to finish but her mother always wanted her to and told everyone that she did
Unlock the answer
question
12. How does Jing-mei react when her Aunts tell her they are going to send her to China so she can tell her half-sisters all about their mother Suyuan? Why does Jing-mei's behavior disturb the old Chinese women?
answer
She knows that the women see their daughters through her
Unlock the answer
question
13. What is the significance of the last line in this story: "And I am sitting, at my mother's place at the mah jong table, on the East, where things begin"? (Pg. 32)
answer
she is starting a new life in her mother's place
Unlock the answer
question
Scar: An-Mei Hsu (Mother) Rose Hsu Jordan (Daughter)
answer
...
Unlock the answer
question
1. Why is An-mei taught that her mother is a ghost?
answer
They don't want her mother to ever be mentioned again
Unlock the answer
question
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?
answer
A greedy girl whose belly grew fatter and fatter. She poisoned herself so that she wouldn't tell whose child it was. Monks cut her open and found a melon. Girl who refused to listen to the elders. Shook her head to vigorously in refusal that he brain poured out of her ears.
Unlock the answer
question
3. What does it mean in Chinese to have no shou?
answer
It's how a daughter honors her mother
Unlock the answer
question
4. Why is An-mei afraid of her father's portrait?
answer
She is scared she won't honor him correctly
Unlock the answer
question
5. For what reasons do you think Popo continually tries to scare An-mei with parables and stories about her father's painting?
answer
She wants An-mei to obey authority
Unlock the answer
question
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?
answer
A pot of hot soup spilled on her. She wanted to recover quickly so that her mother would not forget her
Unlock the answer
question
7. What does Popo's daughter (An-mei's mother) do to illustrate the great bond between a mother and a daughter?
answer
She cuts a chunk of flesh from her arm to try and save her mother
Unlock the answer
question
The Red Candle: Lindo Jong (Mother) Waverly Jong (Daughter)
answer
...
Unlock the answer
question
1. What does Lindo Jong mean when she says her daughter's promise to come to dinner is "only fourteen carats"?
answer
a promise of fourteen carats will not be honored; only a twenty-four carat promise is worth anything
Unlock the answer
question
2. Why does young Lindo's mother refer to her daughter as Huang Taitai's daughter?
answer
She does not want to refer to her as her own child because she feels she would be stealing something she cannot have back
Unlock the answer
question
3. What is Lindo's first impression of the Huangs' home? Why does Lindo work very hard learning to sew and cook in the Huangs' servant's quarters?
answer
She was in awe of the magnificent mansion. She became a servant to honor her parents' wishes for her to be a good wife
Unlock the answer
question
4. In what ways is Lindo like the wind?
answer
Her thoughts are powerful even though they are invisible
Unlock the answer
question
5. What is the significance of the red marriage candle? Under what circumstances does Lindo decide to blow out her husband's end of the candle?
answer
If the ends of the candle blow out then the marriage is doomed, but if it doesn't then they shall be wed forever. Obviously she didn't want to marry this guy and blew it out.
Unlock the answer
question
6. Why does Huang Taitai remove all of Lindo's gold bracelets? How does Lindo feel without her gold bracelets?
answer
Because she had "too much metal". She feels lighter and can move more freely without them
Unlock the answer
question
7. List the three parts of Lindo's dream that convinces Huang Taitai to end Lindo's marriage to her son.
answer
The wind blew out the candle, Tyan-yu got a servant girl pregnant, and the girl had imperial blood
Unlock the answer
question
8. Why does Lindo buy another gold bracelet for herself every time she gets some extra money? For what reasons does she remove all of her gold on the day of the Festival of Pure Brightness?
answer
They are a symbol of her own purity. She takes them off once a year to remember the day she became true to herself
Unlock the answer
question
The Moon Lady: Ying-Ying St. Clair (Mother) Lena St. Clair (Daughter)
answer
...
Unlock the answer
question
1. Why do you think Amah makes up the story of the five evils when Ying-Ying asks about the stink from the burning incense?
answer
So that she would think she was safe from the evils
Unlock the answer
question
2. What is the definition of a secret wish? Why is the Moon Lady special?
answer
A secret wish is something you want but cannot say. The Moon Lady grants the wish.
Unlock the answer
question
3. Why does Ying-Ying love her shadow? What do you think the shadow might represent in this story?
answer
Her shadow is just like her in every way. It represents her being pulled toward obedience
Unlock the answer
question
4. For what reasons can the story of the Moon Lady be called a myth?
answer
It is a belief of the Chinese culture but is not true. If you believe it that's cool. Do what you want.
Unlock the answer
question
5. Use the following passage from the story to illustrate how the story of the Moon Lady can also be considered to be a parable: "For woman is yin," she cried sadly, "the darkness within, where untempered passions lie. And man is yang, bright truth lighting our minds." (Pg. 82)
answer
her mistake banished her to the moon
Unlock the answer
question
6. One of the themes in this novel is the idea that appearances are often different from reality. Find an incident from this chapter that helps to illustrate this theme.
answer
The Moon Lady was a dude
Unlock the answer
question
7. Another theme in this novel is the inability of the Chinese mothers to communicate with their Americanized daughters. What do the following lines from the beginning of this chapter tell the reader about Ying-Ying's relationship to her daughter? In what ways are Ying-Ying and her daughter alike? "And I want to tell her this: We are lost, she and I, unseen and not seeing, unheard and not hearing, unknown by others." (Pg. 64)
answer
they don't see each other clearly; they don't have the same understanding
Unlock the answer
question
PART II: THE TWENTY-SIX MALIGNANT GATES
answer
...
Unlock the answer
question
1. What lesson or moral is taught by the parable at the beginning of Part II?
answer
Sometimes there are perils you cannot see
Unlock the answer
question
2. In what ways does this parable help to illustrate the following theme from this novel? The generation gap, including age and heritage, between mothers and daughters makes communication between them difficult.
answer
A mother will do whatever it takes to protect her children but they don't always listen and get themselves into more trouble
Unlock the answer
question
3. What might the book, The Twenty-six Malignant Gates represent in this story?
answer
The book represents trust because the daughter can't read it and has to believe what her mothers says
Unlock the answer
question
Rules of the Game: Waverly Jong (Daughter) Lindo Jong (Mother)
answer
...
Unlock the answer
question
1. What is the "art of invisible strength" Waverly learns from her mother?
answer
Not asking or being obvious about what you want
Unlock the answer
question
2. Find two incidents in this chapter where Lindo demonstrates her fierce Chinese pride.
answer
She would show off her daughter in public and gave her special treatment
Unlock the answer
question
3. State a generalization about life Lindo is trying to teach Waverly in the following passage from this chapter. "This American rules," she concluded at last. "Every time people come out from foreign country, must know rules. You not know, judge say, Too bad, go back. They not telling you why so you can use their way go forward. They say, Don't know why, you find our yourself. But they knowing all the time. Better you take it, find out why yourself." (Pg. 95)
answer
They think you need to find out things on your own instead of asking
Unlock the answer
question
4. In what way does the wind mentioned in the following selection from the story relate back to the wind mentioned in the story about the red candle?
answer
The wind is strong even though it is invisible. Her thoughts and stuff ya know.
Unlock the answer
question
5. When Waverly returns home after running away, her mother says with a triumphant smile. "Strongest wind cannot be seen." (Pg. 103) For what reasons do you agree or disagree with Lindo's belief that she is the victor in her battle with Waverly? Cite incidents from the story to support your answer.
answer
Well Waverly had that dream or something that had her mom beating her in chess. So clearly the mom won.
Unlock the answer
question
6. One of the themes in this novel is the conflict between the Chinese heritage of the mothers and the American heritage of their daughters. Find an example of this conflict in this story.
answer
The mothers get upset when the daughters have white boyfriends and stuff
Unlock the answer
question
The Voice from the Wall: Lena St. Clair (Daughter) Ying-ying St. Clair (Mother)
answer
...
Unlock the answer
question
1. What is Lena saying about her mother in the following passage? In what way is Ying-ying similar to An-mei's mother from the story, Scar?
answer
Lena saw her mother become very depressed. Both ying-ying and an-mei were saddened by the loss of family.
Unlock the answer
question
2. List three ways, Ying-ying behaves like an unbalanced woman.
answer
She changed her name, lost her year of the tiger, and never expressed her feelings. Plus she was preggo.
Unlock the answer
question
4. How does Lena define the "worst possible thing that could happen" in her life? In what way is Ying-ying's decline into insanity an example of the "worst possible thing that could happen"?
answer
When her mother lost the baby she experience the worst possible thing, but her experiencing this means that things can only improve over time
Unlock the answer
question
5. What lesson is taught by the parable about the mother who must die the death of a thousand cuts?
answer
You have to experience the worst possible thing in order to appreciate what is yet to come
Unlock the answer
question
6. Why is Lena both jealous of and sorry for the girl in the next apartment?
answer
She is sorry that the girl has a terrible life but jealous that her life was worse than hers
Unlock the answer
question
Half and Half: Rose Hsu Jordan (Daughter) An-mei Hsu (Mother)
answer
...
Unlock the answer
question
1. What does the white Bible under the table leg in An-mei's home represent in this story?
answer
The bible represents An-mei's faith, which is isn't consistent but is there for her when she needs it.
Unlock the answer
question
2. What is the main reason Ted wants to divorce Rose?
answer
She doesn't make any decisions
Unlock the answer
question
3. Briefly describe the importance the book The Twenty-Six Malignant Gates has for Anmei.
answer
She would find a way to protect her children from all twenty six of the dangers
Unlock the answer
question
4. How does the following excerpt from the story relate both to Bing's death and to Rose's impending divorce? What generalization about life does it teach?
answer
In both she saw the signs of danger but didn't do anything about it. You have to pay attention to your life and the life around you.
Unlock the answer
question
5. Why is it significant that Bing's name is written in the Bible in erasable pencil?
answer
That Bing is now with the others on the list in heaven and An-mei will always remember
Unlock the answer
question
Two Kinds: Jing-Mei Woo (Daughter) Suyuan Woo (Mother)
answer
...
Unlock the answer
question
1. List the ways Suyuan tries to make her daughter into a prodigy. Why does she settle on Jing-Mei becoming a great pianist?
answer
She tried to make her a Chinese Shirley Temple and have her memorize a bunch of random facts. She settles on the piano because she saw a girl on tv with Jing's characteristics.
Unlock the answer
question
2. In what ways does Jing-Mei fail her mother by falling short of her mother's expectations and asserting her own will?
answer
She wouldn't try very hard and promised herself that she wouldn't become something she wasn't.
Unlock the answer
question
3. What do you think the piano might represent in this story?
answer
It represents not being perfect but perfectly contented
Unlock the answer
question
4. Why is it significant that the song Jing-Mei refuses to memorize has two parts, one called "Pleading Child" and the other called "Perfectly Contented"?
answer
She thought her mother wanted her to be perfect but she really wanted her to be perfectly contented
Unlock the answer
question
PART III: AMERICAN TRANSLATION
answer
...
Unlock the answer
question
1. What is peach-blossom luck?
answer
Something that attracts love
Unlock the answer
question
2. Briefly state the moral or lesson this parable is teaching. Notice the phrase "twice- used Macy's bag" and compare it to the lush condominium large enough for a fancy armoire.
answer
Not only the poor have problems but the rich do also
Unlock the answer
question
Rice Husband: Lena St. Clair (Daughter) Ying-ying St. Clair (Mother)
answer
...
Unlock the answer
question
1. Define Chunwang chilhan. What kinds of things can Ying-ying predict? Why is Lena worried about her mother's opinion of their new home?
answer
One thing is always a result of another. Ying-ying predicts bad things that affect the family. She doesn't want to hear her mother's criticism because she doesn't want to think there will be a problem in her marriage, even though there is.
Unlock the answer
question
2. Why does Lena, as a young school girl, begin leaving food on her plate?
answer
She wanted the snotty boy Arnold to die
Unlock the answer
question
3. Define anorexia. What does Lena's husband's ignorance of her dislike for ice cream suggest to the reader about the quality of their marriage?
answer
Anorexia is when someone become unnaturally skinny from not eating. He just says "oh well" like he doesn't care about Lena's personal stuff or even the marriage.
Unlock the answer
question
4. List two ways Lena helps Harold to establish his business. In what ways does she share or not share in his success?
answer
She is the one who told him to start his own business and later suggested the more avant-garde thematic restaurant designs. Harold gets about 7x more profit than she does and none of the credit for the ideas.
Unlock the answer
question
5. Find the sentences in this story which help to connect it to the whole collection of stories by once again referring to one of the characters as a "ghost."
answer
"She became so thin now you cannot see her," says my mother. "She like a ghost, disappear."
Unlock the answer
question
6. Why does Ying-ying refer to the small bedroom table as Chunwang chihan? What does this small table represent in this story?
answer
Putting something on the table will result in it falling. It represents the marriage and how it can easily collapse.
Unlock the answer
question
What is Lena referring to when she says, "And it's such a simple question"?
answer
The question is why she didn't fix the problems with her and Harold earlier on. Or it could be the question of what she really wants.
Unlock the answer
question
8. In what way is this story connected to the parable at the beginning of Part III.
answer
The parable was about the peach blossom luck, which is something that attracts love, and the story was about the problems Lena and Harold had with their love.
Unlock the answer
question
Four Directions: Waverly Jong (Daughter) Lindo Jong (Mother)
answer
...
Unlock the answer
question
1. Why does Waverly think she and her mother are incompatible because her mother is a Horse and she is a Rabbit?
answer
1. Why does Waverly think she and her mother are incompatible because her mother is a Horse and she is a Rabbit?
Unlock the answer
question
2. For what reasons does Waverly want her mother to see her apartment?
answer
She wanted her to see that she and Rich were living together
Unlock the answer
question
3. After her fight with her mother, why do you think young Waverly is unable to regain her earlier success at chess?
answer
She didn't know it at the time, but she really only did well to please her mother, and now that she doesn't care, her subconscious mind doesn't see the need to do well anymore
Unlock the answer
question
4. How does Waverly trick her mother into inviting Rich over for dinner?
answer
Waverly wrote to Suyuan that Rich said she had made the best Chinese food he had ever tasted. Lindo would then have to one-up Suyuan and cook a better meal for them.
Unlock the answer
question
5. List three important Chinese customs Rich violates at dinner which Waverly believes are insults to her mother.
answer
He brought wine and drank two glasses of it, spilled food on himself when he tried to use chopsticks, got huge servings of food instead of small polite ones, refused to get seconds, and agreed when Lindo said that the food was not salty enough. This guy is a mess.
Unlock the answer
question
6. Find a passage in this story in which Waverly finally learns to accept her mother as a person instead of always seeing her as an adversary.
answer
But in the brief instant that I had peer over the barriers I could finally see what was really there: an old woman, a wok for her armour, a knitting needle for her sword, getting a little crabby as she waited patiently for her daughter to invite her in.
Unlock the answer
question
7. State a theme of this novel from the following passage: "The three of us, leaving our differences behind, stepping on the plane together, sitting side by side, lifting off, moving West to reach the East." Pg. 205
answer
The daughter will accept the Chinese heritage of the mother and the mother will accept the American culture of the daughter
Unlock the answer
question
Without Wood: Rose Hsu Jordan (Daughter) An-mei Hsu (Mother)
answer
...
Unlock the answer
question
1. Who is Old Mr. Chou? Why is young Rose afraid to go see him?
answer
Mr Chou was the guardian of a door that opened into dreams. Rose was afraid because he took her to bad places
Unlock the answer
question
2. Define the Chinese words "hulihudu" and "heimongmong." In what ways is Rose both hulihudu and heimongmong?
answer
"confused" and "dark fog". Rose is both because of her feelings and thoughts about Ted.
Unlock the answer
question
3. What does An-mei mean when she tells Rose she is without wood? What does Anmei think Rose can do so she has wood?
answer
She means that Rose listens to too many people. She has to stand tall and only listen to her mother.
Unlock the answer
question
4. It is clear that Rose's husband wants a divorce. Why then does An-mei tell her daughter to stop talking to a psychiatrist and talk to her husband?
answer
She wanted her to speak up
Unlock the answer
question
5. At the end of the story, why do you think Rose dreams that her mother is in the garden planting weeds? What does the garden represent in this story?
answer
Rose has taken root like the weeds and will survive through life's blows. The garden represents Rose's life.
Unlock the answer
question
6. In what way is An-mei correct when she wants Rose to listen to her mother?
answer
Of course Anmei wants Rose to listen to her mother because she is her mother
Unlock the answer
question
Best Quality: Jing-Mei Woo (Daughter) Suyuan Woo (Mother)
answer
...
Unlock the answer
question
1. Why did the bartender's mother give him a jade pendant?
answer
To tell him that he was still worth something after his divorce
Unlock the answer
question
2. What does Jing-Mei's inability to watch the crabs cooking reveal to the reader about her character?
answer
She doesn't like to see her friends get hurt
Unlock the answer
question
3. List two reasons Jing-Mei feels humiliated at the dinner.
answer
Waverly makes her feel poor and think that her hair is gross
Unlock the answer
question
4. What is Suyuan trying to tell her daughter in the following passages from the story? Why does Suyuan want to give Jing-Mei the pendant?
answer
That she thinks differently and that make her special. To prove to June that she is not like the rest
Unlock the answer
question
5. In what ways, at the end of this story, is Jing-mei like her mother?
answer
She reacts to the cat on the sill the same way that her mother did
Unlock the answer
question
PART IV: QUEEN MOTHER OF THE WESTERN SKIES
answer
...
Unlock the answer
question
1. What generalization about life does the parable at the beginning of this section teach?
answer
Recognizing evil in others puts evil in yourself; one must lose one's innocence but not one's hope
Unlock the answer
question
Magpies: An-Mei Hsu (Mother) Rose Hsu Jordon (Daughter)
answer
...
Unlock the answer
question
1. The moral of the story about the turtle is: "...t is useless to cry. Your tears do not wash away your sorrows. They feed someone else's joy." (Pg. 244) How does this moral or lesson apply to Rose's divorce from Ted described in the story, Without Wood?
answer
There is no point in being upset for the bad that happens. If you continue to cry then your life will always be sad.
Unlock the answer
question
2. State a generalization about life An-mei learns from the big wooden clock.
answer
It keeps her awake and teaches her to not listen to the evil
Unlock the answer
question
3. Why does An-mei's mother insist An-mei wear the pearl necklace for one week?
answer
It's her punishment
Unlock the answer
question
4. For what reasons does An-mei refer to the First wife as a ghost? How does the First wife cause An-mei's mother pain?
answer
First wife doesn't make second wife bow to her and ignores everyone
Unlock the answer
question
5. Another of the themes is the confusion between appearance and reality. Which of the incidents in this story helps to illustrate this theme?
answer
The pearl necklace was actually made of glass
Unlock the answer
question
6. What does An-mei's mother teach her daughter before she dies? How does An-mei demonstrate her strength to the Second wife?
answer
She teaches her daughter that she needs to speak up when she needs to. She makes second wife lose her power
Unlock the answer
question
7. What does An-mei learn from the article about the birds.
answer
Magpies died of starvation
Unlock the answer
question
Waiting Between the Trees: Ying-Ying St. Clair (Mother) Lena St. Clair (Daughter)
answer
...
Unlock the answer
question
1. What does the wind represent in this passage from the story?
answer
The wind represents her fate
Unlock the answer
question
2. As a tiger lady, what personality traits does Ying-ying believe she possesses?
answer
The power to foresee
Unlock the answer
question
3. Why does Ying-ying decide to marry St. Clair? What does she give up when she marries him?
answer
She didn't want to have to deal with anything anymore. She gave up her spirit that caused her pain
Unlock the answer
question
4. One of the repeating images in this novel is that of a ghost. In what way is Ying-ying like a ghost?
answer
She has little emotion
Unlock the answer
question
5. Why does Ying-ying decide to tell Lena about her past?
answer
To give her the spirit and bring out her daughter's tiger nature
Unlock the answer
question
Double Face: Lindo Jong (Mother) Waverly Jong (Daughter)
answer
...
Unlock the answer
question
1. Why does Lindo want her daughter to have "American circumstances and Chinese character"?
answer
so that she wont be teased when she visits china
Unlock the answer
question
2. What is Lindo saying to her daughter when they look at their similar images in the mirror and she tells Waverly "You can see your character in your face,...You can see your future"? (Pg. 292)
answer
she can see her future through her mother
Unlock the answer
question
3. Why does Lindo name her daughter after the street where they live?
answer
So that she knows she belongs
Unlock the answer
question
4. For what reasons does Waverly like being a person with two faces?
answer
She likes being both Chinese and American
Unlock the answer
question
5. What does the crooked nose represent in this section?
answer
Change
Unlock the answer
question
A Pair of Tickets: Jing-Mei Woo (Daughter) Suyuan Woo (Mother)
answer
...
Unlock the answer
question
1. What do the following Chinese names mean in English?
answer
Chwun Yu - spring rain Chwun Hwa - soring flower Suyuan - long cherished wish Jing-mei - quality essence of something- little sister
Unlock the answer
question
2. Why is it important to Jing-mei that Auntie Lindo write to her half-sisters in China to tell them that Suyuan is dead
answer
June doesn't want the twins to hate her
Unlock the answer
question
who needs number 3
answer
for real
Unlock the answer
question
4. What theme does the last paragraph in the story illustrate?
answer
They all look like their mother and they love each other, meaning that her "long cherished wish" was fullfilled
Unlock the answer
