Preview

Compare And Contrast Fish Cheeks And Two Kinds

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
353 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Compare And Contrast Fish Cheeks And Two Kinds
Though the two stories “Fish cheeks” and “Two Kinds” have many similarities, their differences play a key role in defining each individual story. Both stories have the same basic setup; they are each told from the point of view of a young Asian-American girl, who are both the daughters of generation Chinese immigrants. This proves to be a source of conflict in the two stories, due to the fact that the cultural and generational differences between both mother-daughter duos. In the story “Fish Cheeks,” the narrator is struggling with her heritage and cultural traditions as she tries to fit into American society and be accepted by her peers, specifically, the minister’s son. She is embarrassed by her mother’s ethnic food choices for dinner and

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    In the memoir “Fish Cheeks,” the author Amy Tan conveys an embarrassed tone towards her family’s Christmas Eve dinner through the use of diction, imagery, and sentence structures. This is first seen at the beginning of the dinner when Tan declares that the behaviors of her relatives at the dinner table threw her “deeper into despair (Tan)” as the event dragged on. The powerful diction used in this assertion indicates her feelings of shame for the un-American manners of her family, and it creates aloof, disgustful imagery. The syntax component of this short, emphasized statement also shows this sentiment of frustration. This feeling is again illustrated near the end of the dinner, when after offered…

    • 225 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The two short stories, “The Tenant” by Mukherjee and “The Red Sweater” by Ng bear many similarities as well as differences. The authors of these two stories go about conveying basically the same message, however, with a slight variety. In these short stories, Mukherjee and Ng go into detail of the lives of two young women struggling with their identities as immigrants in the American culture. This clashing of cultures, predominantly the Asian culture (in these cases), against the American culture, is the central idea that one may conclude after reading these two short stories. Mukherjee and Ng both share or differ in the three literary elements of plot, theme, and characters in portraying the consequences of this culture clash.…

    • 498 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The author felt like she was being stereotyped constantly for being a Latina “My goal is to try to replace the old stereotypes with a much more interesting set of realities” (Cofer 15). Another thing all the incidents had in common were how the author’s culture constantly clashed with the American culture all around here “Every time I give a reading, I hope the stories I tell, the dreams and fears I examine in my work, can achieve some universal truths that will get my audience past the particulars of my skin color, my accent, or my clothes” (Cofer 15). China is a high-power distance and high context culture country, which are implicit communication and thinking in society. “I’m Banana and I proud of It”, these stereotypes pertaining to some people, who believe experienced both setbacks and triumphs in the quest. It seeks a better life for themselves and their families from poor conditions.…

    • 657 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Each girl eventually recognizes how the older generation played a significant part in shaping their identities causing them to embrace their Chinese heritage. The short stories focus on the first American mothers and their American Chinese daughters.…

    • 490 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Fish Cheeks Summary

    • 377 Words
    • 2 Pages

    In the story Fish cheeks, Amy Tran uses vivid imagery through out her story. In her story she uses a nervous and embarrasment tone while she was telling the story. Tran should except her culture and her family’s ways she shouldnt change nothing for no one, no matter who they are. Tran starts the story by telling the readers about when she first “fell in love” with the ministers son, she kind of gave off the nervous vibe when her mom had told her she invited the minister and his family for there christmas eve dinner. By the way Amy Tran’s race is Chinese and her first ‘’love’’ has a american tradition.…

    • 377 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The graphic novel American Born Chinese (2006), by Gene Luen Yang, is a very modern and influential piece of work that can be compared to the short indie film Two Lies (1990), directed and written by Pamela Tom, which had preceded the novel by 16 years. These two different forms of work, both utilizing their ability to teach the audience, are used as powerful venues for the topic of identity crisis among the Asian people in a majority European American world. In the film, we have Mei and her family who are all having some trouble adjusting to their lives in Southern California but more specifically we have Mei and her trouble to understand her mother 's cause and intent for having undergone double eye-lid surgery. In ABC, we have our protagonist, Jin, who is having trouble fitting into his new school in San Francisco since he is one of the very few Asian admitted to the school. Another time line in the novel is the story of the monkey king who does anything to get rid of the fact that he is a monkey in order to fit into society. The third is the story of Danny, a European American who has trouble and often becomes embarrassed with his hyperbolic Chinese cousin, Chin-Kee. This character is first introduced by saying "Harro Amellica!" while Jin 's father, carrying giant Chinese take out container says "I 'll put your luggage into your room, Chin-Kee" (48). All three of these time line show our characters having some sort of shame or embarrassment to the fact that their own image or background is different from those around them.…

    • 2458 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Monkey Bridge

    • 1076 Words
    • 5 Pages

    In a strange, unknown landscape such as a new culture, individuals long since used to old customs may face challenges in overcoming these differences and succeeding in society. In a new culture, people become dependent on those around them more fluent in the new society’s ways and lose their connection to the humans around them who seem too challenging to comprehend. The excerpt from the novel Monkey Bridge by Lan Cao exposes readers to this world through the eyes of a girl from Saigon who must help her mother orient herself to American life. In the excerpt, the girl describes the contrasts between her mother’s great shopping abilities in the open markets of Saigon and the complete bafflement caused by American supermarkets. In the excerpt…

    • 1076 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Fish Cheeks

    • 916 Words
    • 4 Pages

    In Amy Tan’s short story, “Fish Cheeks”, Amy changes drastically. You really see a change in herself. Not an outward change, it’s definitely more of an inward change. In the beginning of the story she tells you how she fell in love with the minister’s son when she was fourteen. She was Chinese, he was American, and she made it evident that it bothered her. She was scared of what her crush, Robert, would think of her when his family had plans to come to her house for Christmas Eve dinner. She was so ashamed and embarrassed about her family and her culture.…

    • 916 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    The cracken

    • 1513 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Firstly, Natadecha-Sponsel contrasts the American and Thai family ties to persuade readers that individualism is an American cultural value. She contrasts the family of an American grandmother with Alzheimer’s disease who is only cared for by hired help. Natadecha-Sponsel describes the family’s support of the grandmother by stating that “[the grandmothers] daughter visits and relieves the helper occasionally [but the] mature granddaughter […] rarely visits” (82). Natadecha-Sponsel then makes the connection between the…

    • 1513 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Animals are fascinating creatures that come in all shapes and sizes and can mean numerous different things in literature. They are everywhere, from the summits of the most mammoth mountains to the deepest of the ocean’s hadalpelagic zones. In Yann Martel’s Life of Pi there are animals as far as the eye can read. But it is not only Life of Pi that can be a great example of animals in literature, Elizabeth Bishop’s, “The Fish” and William Blake’s, “The Tyger” can too.…

    • 448 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the short stories, “Fish Cheeks” by Amy Tan, “Two Kinds” by Amy Tan, and “The Bass, The River, and Sheila Mant” by W.D. Wetherell, the characters learn about their identities through significant moments. First, Amy Tan from the short story, “Fish Cheeks”, understands about her identity at her family’s special holiday dinner. For example, Amy is very embarrassed when her crush and his family come over for an unusual…

    • 775 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The common use of the food motif and repetitive contrasts between the cultures of India and America throughout The Namesake create cultural jarring, which demonstrate cultural transitions. The novel opens with Ashima, a newly arrived Indian immigrant in America, making an Indian snack as best she can using American-branded ingredients. Ashima focalizes, “as usual there’s something missing”, reinforcing the challenge of her own transition to adopting a new culture alternatives. Whilst the iconical American brands of “Rice Krispies and Planter’s Peanuts” are familiar to western readers, for Ashima it emphasizes her difference, establishing a cultural jarring within her experience of immigration. Another instance where the food motif is evident is at Gogol’s ‘Rice Ceremony’. The traditional Bengali ritual, lays a pen, a handful of earth and some money in front of the baby to determine their future career. The objects are layed in front of Gogol and he turns away. An ‘uncle’ then proclaims that, “most children will grab at one of them…but Gogol touches nothing’. The inability of the baby Gogol to choose anything forshadows uncertainty plaguing him throughout his life. This contrast between Gogol and ‘most children’ makes him become different, which emphasis Gogol’s struggle to belong in both American and Indian civilization.…

    • 834 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Coming to America can be difficult. A father and his new bride have escaped by boat across the terrible sea to come to America from Vietnam. They ended up in the state of Louisiana, where the land was very much like the Mekong Delta, where they grew up. Their child, Bill, was born in America. He was much more Americanized and had little knowledge about his cultural background. The story, "Crickets," by Robert Olen Butler is about a father, who is trying to educate his son to be more Vietnamese. Butler is trying to let his reader understand that coming to a new land as a new immigrant is difficult. In order to have a better life, the father and his new bride struggle to come to America. In other words, you must give up something to receive something in return. We can learn more about this sacrifice by studying the three elements that the author uses to explain his theme. First, the crickets play an important role in this story to help us understand more about the father. Secondly, the tones of the story seem to have sadness and confusion. Thirdly, the irony of the illustrates the generation gap between the father and the son.…

    • 1111 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Concept of Pride

    • 995 Words
    • 3 Pages

    For centuries people seem to think race and ethnicity define a person, However, we now know that there is more to a person than just race and ethnicity. In our society the heritage of an individual most likely defines who they are. Each individual, regardless of religion, race, or ethnicity has a sense of pride burning within them. This concept of pride sometimes overturns or perhaps overlooks problems within our society to fulfill this need. In the film Eat a Bowl of Tea, directed by Wayne Wang, a young Chinese couple living in a 1960’s Chinatown located in New York are constantly facing conflicts in their marriage. These conflicts reveal a sort of dishonor to the family, which in Chinese culture is of large importance. Dishonor, unfaithfulness, and deception are a few of the problematic issues that arise because of the choices of Mei Oi. These dishonors of Mei Oi to her husband, Ben Loy, truly show the overall Chinese priority of pride and the major obstacle of defending ones family name. The corruption of the notorious Wang family name caused by Mei Oi’s deceitful actions towards her husband, Ben Loy, truly demonstrates the ultimate Chinese priority and major concern of defending ones own pride in his or her family name. Dignity in a persons family name is of very large importance.…

    • 995 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    There has been a lot of controversy concerning the differences between wild caught and farmed raised salmon. With the information I have gathered from my research on these animals I can confidently say that farm raised salmon is much worse for your health and wellbeing compared to wild salmon. Farmed salmon increases diseases such as cancer, high blood pressure, stroke, immune system problems, and reproduction disorders. Farmed salmon also are fed a concentrated a high fat mixture of ground up fish and fish oil. Along with that recipe for disaster their fed contains canthaxanthin which makes the farmed fish appear the pink color that wild caught salmon possess. Wild caught fish have a very high quality environment and diet compared to the poor, parasite riddled farmed raised salmon. In the pens that the farmed salmon are kept in are very crowded, contaminated with diseases, parasites and they also contain “dead zones.” Dr. David Carpenter says “Ultimately, the most important determination of risk has to do with where the fish is farmed, not where it is purchased. And because it’s a global market it is hard to be sure what you’re getting.” Customers need to be cautious about where they are getting their salmon. The majority of salmon served at restaurants and on grocery store shelves are farmed raised rather than wild. They also need to be aware that when a package says “fresh” or “Atlantic” this doesn’t mean that the salmon is caught wild. Farmed salmon and wild salmon are very difficult to tell the difference the two. There is very little if not any flavor difference and because farmed raised are dyed they are similar in color as well. However wild caught salmon is pricier compared to farm raised salmon. In conclusion watch what you are eating, never over consume salmon and always buy wild caught salmon to keep yourself and loved ones save.…

    • 323 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays