JLC WEBQUEST 2009
Directions: Visit each website listed below, then answer the corresponding questions and make
connections to the text (JLC).
Author Biography and Technique
Amy Tan Biography
http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/tan0bio-1
1. Question: What aspects of Tan’s life does she include in the novel? Which character do
you think she is most like and why?
Amy Tan.NET!
http://www.amytan.net/
2. Explore this site, then answer the following questions:
a. What interesting facts did you learn about Tan that you did not know before? Is
there evidence of these facts in her writing? If so, which stories?
b. What philosophies does Any Tan have toward the internet? Are there any other
opinions she chooses to express on her website that give insight into her life as a
writer?
c. Does Amy Tan seem more or less like one of her characters in JLC to you after
exploring this site? Why?
More on Amy Tan
http://www.neabigread.org/books/joyluckclub/joyluck05_otherworks.php
3. What topics related to themes in JLC are listed? What other topics can you add to this
list?
4. Why do you think Amy Tan chose to write children books? What advantages from her
heritage do you think she has as a writer of children’s literature?
5. Are there any other works of Tan’s that interest you? Why?
Cultural Traditions
Excerpt from China Youth Daily called, "The Correct Viewpoint
Towards Marriage."
Discusses Communist party line with regards to marriage.
http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/core9/phalsall/texts/modmar.html
6. QUESTION: What connection can you make to JLC? Be sure to include names of
characters and specific events from the novel.
Article from Teaching China's Lost Generations, a book written by
Tani E. Barlow and Donald M. Lowe.
Discusses challenges of marriage in for the modern Chinese family.
http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/core9/phalsall/texts/modmar.html
7. QUESTION: What connection can you make to JLC? Be sure to include names of
characters and specific events from the novel.
Article translated by Nancy Lee Swann called "Lessons for a Woman,"
examining historical perspective of a woman's role. Reprinted in The
Human Record: Sources of Global History
http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/core9/phalsall/texts/banzhao.html
8. QUESTION: What connection can you make to JLC? Be sure to include names of
characters and specific events from the novel.
MAP WORK/ Geography
The following is a list of major cities in China that are important in the novel. Use the list
of “Geography” sites to create your own map that includes all the cities listed below. In
addition, list the family name (Woo, Hsu, Jong and St. Clair) associated with each city.
Attach your map on an 8 ½ X 11 sheet of paper (or larger) to your webquest assignment.
Color is encouraged :.)
1. Kweilin (Guilin) (13, 328)
2. Chungking (Chongking) (13, 326)
3. Shanghai (47, 282, 330)
4. Canton (Guanzhou) (311, 321)
5. Wushi (47, 65, 275)
6. Beijing(capital of PRC)
7. Hong Kong (321)
8. Tientsin (247, 285)
9. Hangchow (266)
10. Changsha (328)
11. Tai Lake(67)
12. Kunming (328)
13. Wuchang (321)
14. Ningpo (Ningbo) (242)
15. Fen River (46)
16. Taiyuan (46)
All the sites below provide maps of China.
http://www.mapblast.com/mblast/index.mb
http://uk.multimap.com/world/places.cgi
http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/
http://www.lib.utexas.edu/Libs/PCL/Map_collection/china.html
http://www.tiglion.com/travel/region/chinamap.htm
http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/core9/phalsall/images/chnmapeb.gif