Would you change your culture to please other people? In the descriptive short story‚ Fish Cheeks‚ describes a family meal where two different groups of people shared their culture. Amy Tan explained the story in great detailed and also taught an excellent lesson about not being afraid to be diverse from other people. “You must be proud you are different. Your only shame is to have shame.” People act different‚ culture wise yet‚ at the end of the day everyone is alike. Sharing your heritage
Premium Family English-language films Marriage
impression does Amy Tan present of herself in “Fish Cheeks”? How? In “Fish Cheeks”‚ Amy Tan gives an impression of being insecure and overly dramatic. She is especially insecure about being Chinese‚ and this is evident in several points during the text. She has a crush on a white boy‚ Robert‚ who she describes first and foremost as “not Chinese‚ but as white as Mary in the manger”. Comparing him to Mary‚ a holy figure‚ almost suggests an idealization of Robert because of his race. Amy also wishes
Free Embarrassment Shame Blushing
Amy Tan and Maya Angelou come from extremely different cultures‚ and trying to feel accepted in American Culture. Both authors discuss a feeling of being an outcast and how their cultural differences set them apart. However‚ Amy Tan effectively uses narration and description to depict her sense of isolation from the dominant American culture. Angelou’s story is set in the South during the 1930’s when racism was prominent in society and an acceptable practice. Angelou’s writing mostly describes
Premium Feeling Emotions Culture
their food and manners differ from Americans; Amy Tan shows the contrast of cultures in “Fish Cheeks”. Chinese New Year food and manners are different from the way we’re raised as Americans. The Chinese prepare food for the holidays that many of us haven’t even tried in our lifetime‚ yet they eat it more than once a year. During the dinner‚
Premium Culture Food Meal
that every culture is the same or should be the same‚ which is crazy. This is like saying everyone has to be clones of each other; color or race. This is not etiquette. In Amy Tan’s memoir Fish Cheek‚ she touches on this subject by using humor to talk about her embarrassment at her Christmas Eve dinner with the minister’s family. Tan begins by introducing the reader to her inner feelings of her crush and her culture‚ with an optimistic and pessimistic attitude. She feels this way because she has no
Premium Short story Marriage Family
people focus more on what type of intentions others have. When finding your own identity it is easy to get caught up in the materialistic things in life. When one’s identity is being described‚ people tend to think of one’s image. In the story “Fish Cheeks” Amy Tan explained in paragraph one that when she was a teen‚ all she wanted for Christmas was a “slim new American nose.” Meaning she did not like her Chinese image. Throughout the story she admitted that she wanted so badly to be an American and fit
Premium Family Mother China
First‚ both Tan and Crutcher utilize conflict to convey the shared theme that a strong sense of self is necessary under pressure from the expectations of others. For example‚ in Tan’s story‚ ‘Fish Cheeks’‚ when it is revealed to Amy that Robert’s family was invited to her house for Christmas Eve‚ it is said‚ “What would Robert think of our shabby Chinese Christmas Eve?” (2) it is presented that she thinks her family is embarrassing. The problem is that she also enjoys Chinese culture‚ as shown in
Premium Family Chinese language Amy Tan
Have you ever been in a situation were you cant except who you are and want to be the same as everybody else???? Amy Tan the writer of fish cheeks writes about herself. She is very creative but has a problem. she is Chinese but everybody else is American and she feels kind different. and lest out. and wishes she could be American. So without her knowing her mom and dad invite the family that her crush perhaps to be the son of the ministers family so she thinks he’s going to think were weird cause
Free Family
Amy Tan’s "Fish Cheeks" and Maya Angelou’s "Champion of the World" Maya Angelou and Amy Tan discuss religious problems and culture differences in their literature. The authors have captured these differences by their past experiences of friends and family. Both authors come from a diverse culture‚ but both face the same harsh society of the American culture and beliefs. The Author’s both tell about situations in their short stories of being outcasts and coming from different racial backgrounds
Premium African American Racism Racial segregation
Fish Cheeks Acceptance in a new environment is tough whether you are from distant lands or around the corner fitting in is always desired. This is something many kids can relate to at one point or another. Amy Tan’s essay “Fish Cheeks” exposes the reader to the vulnerability she felt as a young Chinese teenager growing up in America. Fish Cheeks is a short story about a young Chinese girl in America with a crush on Robert‚ The son of the pastor of her church. Tan’s background inhibits the acceptance
Premium Emotions Family Christmas Eve