All students are required to comment TWICE a week. A week goes from Monday to Sunday. A comment can be a response to my or others' posts --- or a new post. All posts must be relevant to class discussions and assignments. Each post should be 1-3 paragraphs.
Remember, it is OK to disagree with one another, but we must always be RESPECTFUL of one another.
Monday, May 24, 2010
Commentary: Opening Paragraph
Share the opening paragraph to your commentary on The Joy Luck Club. It can be helpful to look at other students’ opening paragraphs; also, perhaps someone can give you constructive advice concerning yours.
In the book, The Joy Luck Club, by Amy Tan, there are many stories that explain the conflicts and differences between mother/daughter relationships. On page 100 of this story, one of the daughters, Waverly, returned home after running away from her mother. She ran away because of the way her mother acted when she told everyone about her daughter’s talent in playing chess. On Waverly’s way home she explained how her “breath came out like angry smoke”, which showed her emotions and how she felt toward her mother at that moment. This sentence uses metaphor and allegory to explain how her breath was and how it created more of a meaning. Throughout this passage, imagery, simile, metaphor, allegory, onomatopoeia and irony are used to explain what it’s like to have people you love ignore you and not want you there because of disrespect; this is exactly what happened to Waverly.
In the moments before her arranged marriage to a man that she does not love, Lindo Jong has an epiphany, which is that no matter what she is forced to do, she will always be strong and true to herself, “like the wind”(Tan pg 58). She will never let herself be changed. Through metaphors, repetition for effect, and symbolism, Amy Tan paints a poignant picture of Lindo’s internal self-revelation.
Rose Hsu Jordan is getting divorced from her husband, Ted Jordan, who sent the divorce papers in the mail with a $10,000 check. Rose tries to decide whether to sign the papers or not while pacing around her house and reminiscing. Amy Tan shows the decline of Rose and Ted’s marriage through metaphor and shows Rose’s internal disposition through diction and imagery.
Amy Tan introduces the few chapters in the beginning of the book with a parable about a mother only wanting the best for her daughter. The theme of disappointment with hope is portrayed by symbolism, foreshadowing, and repetition. She uses the swan to symbolize the daughter who was someone who” became more than what was hoped for”. When the goose stretches its neck out it wanted to become something more than it was. This was foreshadowing of what the mother was going to do so that her daughter could have a great life. The swan and the mother were “stretching their necks” while they were on their way to America. Repetition is used to express the importance of believing in yourself and believing that you can become more than what is expected from you.
Rose Hsu’s failed marriage that is described in the story “Without Wood”, is one of the many relationships explored in The Joy Luck Club. Amy Tan’s novel, with the use of figurative language, symbolism, diction and other literary devices explains how Rose “finds a place” to call home and stands up to her husband who is ready to just “pull [her] out of [his] life and throw her away”. The “overgrown” garden with “weeds spilling out” all over the place is focused on and described in order to show its significance in Rose’s life that is filled with “hulihudu” and “heimongmong”, confusion and dark fog. All together these devices explore the theme of controlling one’s destiny and protecting oneself when loved ones are not up to the task.
In “The Red Candle” Lindo Jong is prearranged to marry Huang Tyan-yu at the age of two. Upon meeting Tyan-yu and his family Lindo realizes how bad her life will be with this new family. Tyan-yu was both childish and abusive, and her new mother was condescending and demanding. Throughout the entire story, there is an overarching feeling of despair and hopelessness. This is especially true during the passage where the candle is blown out. In this section a theme of tension, hopelessness, and intense despair is created through the use of similes, palpable imagery, and purposeful diction. However, these literary devices do not all directly contribute to creating such themes. They are skillfully employed in conjunction with the patterns of weather as well as human behavior to create mood. Throughout the entire passage, the mood is changed almost solely by changing the severity of the weather or by changing the way that Lindo interacts with her environment.
In this passage of The Joy Luck Club the usage of symbolism, dialog, diction, and mood show the unbalanced relationship between Harold and Lena, the theme of inevitable problems, and an attempt to change the self centered manor of their marriage. The author uses these literary devices in order to express these themes. On page 164 of the story “Rice Husband” the failing of relationships is shown through symbolism, dialog, diction and mood.
The above passage is the first of four parables to appear in Amy Tan’s novel, Joy Luck Club. The story focuses on four women and their mothers, combining a series of flashbacks and present events to tell the story as a whole. The major theme predominant in the parable and throughout the entire story is the mother - daughter relationship. This parable is the prologue for the following parables, setting up the conflicts and themes for the short story that they create. In this passage, Amy Tan uses symbolism to explore the hopes and difficulties of immigrants coming to America.
The author employs the use of several literary techniques such as imagery and metaphors to create mood as well as point out the unsteadiness of a marriage. Through the examination of a garden, the reader interprets that the garden symbolizes the marriage between two people that is falling apart and might be past fixing. The relationship is like the garden, forgotten about and requires reconstruction. The details of the garden relate to the marriage in several ways while acting as a huge metaphor.
This page of Joy Luck Club describes the scene of the Hsu family on their first trip to a beach. It goes into great detail about the weather and surroundings at the beach. This excerpt gives the view of an American beach from an Asian girl and shows how the girl takes in the environment. Amy Tan’s, the author, diction on this page gives readers the picture of a gloomy day. Rose, the character who’s story is being told, says, “…this beach cove was a terrible place, full of wet shadows that chilled us and invisible specks that flew into our eyes and made it hard for us to see the dangers.” The tone and diction in this sentence gives readers a dark and chilling image that exemplifies the feeling that Rose herself has. This entire page describes a gloomy and sad day that leads into what the rest of the day will be like.
10 comments:
In the book, The Joy Luck Club, by Amy Tan, there are many stories that explain the conflicts and differences between mother/daughter relationships. On page 100 of this story, one of the daughters, Waverly, returned home after running away from her mother. She ran away because of the way her mother acted when she told everyone about her daughter’s talent in playing chess. On Waverly’s way home she explained how her “breath came out like angry smoke”, which showed her emotions and how she felt toward her mother at that moment. This sentence uses metaphor and allegory to explain how her breath was and how it created more of a meaning. Throughout this passage, imagery, simile, metaphor, allegory, onomatopoeia and irony are used to explain what it’s like to have people you love ignore you and not want you there because of disrespect; this is exactly what happened to Waverly.
In the moments before her arranged marriage to a man that she does not love, Lindo Jong has an epiphany, which is that no matter what she is forced to do, she will always be strong and true to herself, “like the wind”(Tan pg 58). She will never let herself be changed. Through metaphors, repetition for effect, and symbolism, Amy Tan paints a poignant picture of Lindo’s internal self-revelation.
Rose Hsu Jordan is getting divorced from her husband, Ted Jordan, who sent the divorce papers in the mail with a $10,000 check. Rose tries to decide whether to sign the papers or not while pacing around her house and reminiscing. Amy Tan shows the decline of Rose and Ted’s marriage through metaphor and shows Rose’s internal disposition through diction and imagery.
Amy Tan introduces the few chapters in the beginning of the book with a parable about a mother only wanting the best for her daughter. The theme of disappointment with hope is portrayed by symbolism, foreshadowing, and repetition. She uses the swan to symbolize the daughter who was someone who” became more than what was hoped for”. When the goose stretches its neck out it wanted to become something more than it was. This was foreshadowing of what the mother was going to do so that her daughter could have a great life. The swan and the mother were “stretching their necks” while they were on their way to America. Repetition is used to express the importance of believing in yourself and believing that you can become more than what is expected from you.
Rose Hsu’s failed marriage that is described in the story “Without Wood”, is one of the many relationships explored in The Joy Luck Club. Amy Tan’s novel, with the use of figurative language, symbolism, diction and other literary devices explains how Rose “finds a place” to call home and stands up to her husband who is ready to just “pull [her] out of [his] life and throw her away”. The “overgrown” garden with “weeds spilling out” all over the place is focused on and described in order to show its significance in Rose’s life that is filled with “hulihudu” and “heimongmong”, confusion and dark fog. All together these devices explore the theme of controlling one’s destiny and protecting oneself when loved ones are not up to the task.
In “The Red Candle” Lindo Jong is prearranged to marry Huang Tyan-yu at the age of two. Upon meeting Tyan-yu and his family Lindo realizes how bad her life will be with this new family. Tyan-yu was both childish and abusive, and her new mother was condescending and demanding. Throughout the entire story, there is an overarching feeling of despair and hopelessness. This is especially true during the passage where the candle is blown out. In this section a theme of tension, hopelessness, and intense despair is created through the use of similes, palpable imagery, and purposeful diction. However, these literary devices do not all directly contribute to creating such themes. They are skillfully employed in conjunction with the patterns of weather as well as human behavior to create mood. Throughout the entire passage, the mood is changed almost solely by changing the severity of the weather or by changing the way that Lindo interacts with her environment.
In this passage of The Joy Luck Club the usage of symbolism, dialog, diction, and mood show the unbalanced relationship between Harold and Lena, the theme of inevitable problems, and an attempt to change the self centered manor of their marriage. The author uses these literary devices in order to express these themes. On page 164 of the story “Rice Husband” the failing of relationships is shown through symbolism, dialog, diction and mood.
The above passage is the first of four parables to appear in Amy Tan’s novel, Joy Luck Club. The story focuses on four women and their mothers, combining a series of flashbacks and present events to tell the story as a whole. The major theme predominant in the parable and throughout the entire story is the mother - daughter relationship. This parable is the prologue for the following parables, setting up the conflicts and themes for the short story that they create. In this passage, Amy Tan uses symbolism to explore the hopes and difficulties of immigrants coming to America.
The author employs the use of several literary techniques such as imagery and metaphors to create mood as well as point out the unsteadiness of a marriage. Through the examination of a garden, the reader interprets that the garden symbolizes the marriage between two people that is falling apart and might be past fixing. The relationship is like the garden, forgotten about and requires reconstruction. The details of the garden relate to the marriage in several ways while acting as a huge metaphor.
This page of Joy Luck Club describes the scene of the Hsu family on their first trip to a beach. It goes into great detail about the weather and surroundings at the beach. This excerpt gives the view of an American beach from an Asian girl and shows how the girl takes in the environment. Amy Tan’s, the author, diction on this page gives readers the picture of a gloomy day. Rose, the character who’s story is being told, says, “…this beach cove was a terrible place, full of wet shadows that chilled us and invisible specks that flew into our eyes and made it hard for us to see the dangers.” The tone and diction in this sentence gives readers a dark and chilling image that exemplifies the feeling that Rose herself has. This entire page describes a gloomy and sad day that leads into what the rest of the day will be like.
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