Joy Luck Club response packet
Short response
In a sentence or two, respond to the following questions.
1. In the first story, why do you think Jing-mei’s mother decide to tell that particular
ending of the Kweilin story at that moment?
2. In An-mei’s first story, what does “scar” allude to as a metaphor?
3. How does the red candle story show what type of person Lindo really is? (The Red
Candle)
4. What does the Moon Lady represent for Ying-Ying, and why is it important to her?
What does Ying-Ying mean when she says she “lost herself”?
5. How is chess used as symbolism in Waverly Jong’s stories?
6. Why do you think Jing-mei rebelled against her mother’s wishes so much? How
does she come to realize her mother’s true intentions? Does she end up knowing
who her mother is after all?
7. How does Lena’s relationship with her first husband mirror Ying-Ying’s
relationship with her first husband?
8. Does Rose ever find her missing “element”? How or how not?
9. In what ways does Jing-mei follow in her mother’s footsteps?
10. Why does it take Lena’s mother Ying-Ying to say something for Lena to finally
realize that the way she and Harold live is not working?
11. Lindo says, “That was the day I was a young girl with my face under a red
marriage scarf. I promised not to forget myself.” How do you think Lindo found her
identify at such a young age, unlike her daughter?
12. What does Jing-mei learn on her trip to China?
Extended response
In 3+ sentences, answer the following questions. Provide explanations or examples
from the text to support your answers.
1. What are the most important differences between the mothers who were
raised in China and their American-born daughters?
2. Why do you think so many of the American daughters married white men?
Why do you think so many of their marriages ended in divorce? Do you think
that there is a connection between these two things? Why or why not?
3. Which mom had the worst experience in China? Why?
4. Which mother/daughter combination was the best? Which was the worst?
Why?
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Essay response
Pick one of following prompts and respond in essay format (3-4 paragraph minimum).
Make sure to identify which number/prompt you selected.
1. Discuss the topic of marriage as it is represented in The Joy Luck Club. Each of the
women faces difficult choices when it comes to marrying—whether it be Lindo Jong
being forced into an early union with a man she loathes, Ying-Ying St. Clair starting
life over with an American man after being abandoned by her first husband, or Rose
Hsu Jordan, who is facing divorce from a man whose family never understood her.
How are the daughters’ romantic choices influenced, if at all, by their mothers, who
had fewer choices of their own?
2. When she is young, Waverly Jong is a chess prodigy. It is a common conception in
the United States that young Asian children are more driven than their peers and
more likely to excel because their parents demand more of them. However, it is
Waverly’s mother who influences Waverly to quit chess, due to a hurtful argument.
What do you think of mother and daughter’s reactions to this event? Find other
examples that challenge American stereotypes of Chinese culture in The Joy Luck
Club.
3. The title of the book, The Joy Luck Club, is taken from Suyuan Woo’s establishment
of a gathering between women, first in China, and later in San Francisco. The club
has been maintained for many years and undergone many changes since its
inception—for instance, the husbands of the women now attend, and they pool their
money to buy stock instead of relying only on their mahjong winnings. What do you
think is the significance of these meetings to the women who attend them? Why do
you think these four families have continued to come together like this after so
much time has passed? Can you think of any rituals that you have with friends that
are similar to this?
4. In Rose Hsu Jordan’s story, “Half and Half,” a terrible tragedy befalls her youngest
brother Bing while she is watching him. At first she is fearful that her parents will be
angry with her, but instead her mother relies on both her Christian faith and
Chinese beliefs in ancestor worship. On page 140, Rose says the following: “I think
about Bing, about how I knew he was in danger, how I let it happen. I think about my
marriage, how I had seen the signs, I really had. But I just let it happen. And I think
now that fate is shaped half by faith, half by inattention.” What does she mean by
this? Do you agree with her? Do you think that Rose’s mother, An-mei, truly lost her
faith that day when they lost Bing? Explain.
5. Suyuan Woo is the only member of the Joy Luck Club who does not have her own
voice in this book—she died a few months before the story begins. Why do you
think the author made that choice? Why is it significant that her daughter is the
main narrator, and that it is the story of her lost daughters in Kweilin that serve as a
beginning and end to the book?
6. What are your thoughts on the structure of The Joy Luck Club? It is not a
traditional novel told by one narrator, but the stories are very intricately connected.
How did that affect your reading experience? What were some of the differences you
noticed in the way that you read this book as opposed to other novels or collections
of stories?