The joy luck club Lesson I

Read the prologue on page 3. Give its symbolic interpretation. What theme does this tale introduce? Can you foretell what the book is about?

1. The Joy Luck Club (pp. 5-33)

Questions and tasks:

1. How did the Joy Luck Club appear? What was the original idea behind it and what is the purpose of the JLC meeting now? Why didn’t the custom to play cards at the mah jong table die after so many years in San-Francisco? What do you like about this tradition?

2. Tell the mother’s story about her life in Kweilin. What do you think about this woman’s life and character? Why did she always finish her story on a happy note never telling the whole truth?

3. What do you learn about Jing-mei Woo? How does she feel about her new role? Does she think she can replace her mother at the mah jong table? Did she and her mother have a perfect mother-daughter relationship? In what way are the two women alike and what makes them different?

4. Describe the JLC meeting at the Hsus house: the place, the meal, the ceremonial rules, the people’s clothes, their behavior, and conversation. Do you think these people are more “American- style”? Find instances that illustrate a queer mixture of two cultures: American and Oriental. Name the things that seem to be cultural oddities to you. Are they any stark cultural differences in the sphere of human relations?

2. Two Kinds (pp. 141-155)

Questions and tasks:

1. Speak about the ways how Suyuan tried to “pick the right kind of prodigy” in her daughter. What made her do that? Do you think parents should expect perfection from their children? What possible positive and negative sides do you see in such position?

2. Comment upon the following passage: “I saw what seemed to be the prodigy side of me – because I had never seen that face before… I won’t be what I’m not”. Is it really so that “prodigy” is one’s will, one’s desire to succeed?

3. Describe the piano lessons. How did Jing-mei take them? Was her attitude to the lessons the same as her mother’s?

4. Speak about the piano recital accident. Was there anyone to blame for that failure? Comment on the mother’s and the daughter’s feelings about it.

5. What does Suyuan’s attempt to bring out her daughter’s “prodigy” express? Is it a sign of her faith in Jing-mei’s abilities or simply her desire to make her daughter something she was not?

6. How can you explain Suyuan’s offering the piano to Jing-mei for her thirtieth birthday? What does this gesture speak about?

7. What understanding does Jing-mei come to when playing Schumann’s “Pleading Child” once again? What is significant in the titles of the two pieces “Pleading Child” and “Perfectly Contented” coming one after another? How are they linked together?

3. Best Quality (pp. 221- 236)

Questions and tasks:

1. How is superstition blended into wisdom in this story?

2. Describe the dinner. How could you account for the guests’ behaviour at table while choosing crabs for themselves? Was Jing-mei behaviour different? Why?

3. What did Waverly and Jing-mai argue about? Were their relationship tensed? What could be the reason for that?

4. What is significant in Suyuan’s gift to Jing-mei? Did she present the pendant out of pity? How did she explain its importance?

5. Speak about symbols in the story. What does the pendant signify? What additional symbolical meaning did it assume for Jing-mei after Suyuan’s death?

6. How do you understand the title of the story?