Paper Example High School 910 words

Tan, Amy, the Joy Luck

Last reviewed: October 16, 2012 ~5 min read
Abstract

The first paper is an annotated bibliography concerning Amy Tan's short story "Rules of the Game". The second paper is a mini essay discussing four short stories on the topic of "how does the point of view from which a story is told affect the way we understand the characters and events?"

Tan, Amy, "The Joy Luck Club," (Penguin 2006)

This short story is important because of the way that Tan presents readers with a first-person perspective regarding a Chinese-American person in San Francisco. She practically makes it possible for people to understand that this community has had a tendency to feel vulnerable and suspicious about everyone. Her mother's over-protectiveness is actually an example of the fact that she felt that her daughter was in danger of being exploited. This makes this source essential in providing information concerning Chinese-American feelings in the U.S.

Pandolfini, Bruce, "Pandolfini's Ultimate Guide to Chess," (Simon and Schuster, 02.09.2003)

Chess is a thinking game that provides players with the opportunity to put their intellect into practice by attempting to engage in a series of conflicts that are both educational and entertaining. Pandolfini's book promotes the concept that winning is not the only important thing in chess, as "while checkmate is the obvious goal, there are others, such as learning how to think with discipline and with enthusiasm" (Pandolfini 61).

Fishbein, Alex, "Fischer: The Chess Career of Bobby Fisher," (R & D. Pub, 01.03.1996)

Bobby Fischer was an American chess player and apparently one of the greatest chess players in all of history. His experience with the game enables the masses to understand that chess can often be much more than it might seem to be. His background in playing the game is essential for this essay because it assists readers in comprehending the tension that chess can sometimes provoke.

CIBA Foundation Symposium, the Origins and Development of High Ability," (John Wiley & Sons, 28.12.1993)

Young female chess players are a minority because society has a tendency to discriminate them and this influences most good young female chess players feel that it would be pointless for them to attempt to get actively involved in playing the game. "The Origins and Development of High Ability" demonstrates that practically anyone can become a genius and that gender should not represent an impediment.

Part II.

The perspective from which a story is told is essential for readers because it provides them with the opportunity to identify with the protagonists and to have a more complex understanding of particular acts that they perform in trying to deal with life. Ambrose Bierce's "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge," James Baldwin's "Sonny's Blues," Bharati Mukherjee's "The Management of Grief," and Amy Tan's "Rules of the Game" each provide readers with accounts involving people who experience suffering because they are discriminated and who tell their stories in an attempt to have people

Readers have the feeling that they are alongside of narrators when reading these stories and some even come to acknowledge that they are powerless as they are unable to intervene. One is virtually provided with the chance to become 'friends' with the narrators as the respective individual realizes that he or she is being told personal things and that it appears that the story-tellers actually go as far as to consider that they are telling their stories to someone that they have a special relationship with.

Amy Tan is putting across Waverly's personal feelings to readers as she expresses her understanding of her mother's thinking. "My mother believed you could be anything you wanted to be in America. You could open a restaurant. You could work for the government and get good retirement. You could buy a house with almost no money" (Tan 132). When looking at things from the narrator's perspective, it almost feels impossible not to sympathize with Waverly and not to consider that it would be essential for you, as a reader, to support her by using any means that you possibly can. Many readers are even likely to consider that they need to get actively involved in assisting minorities who are prone to suffering because of their status.

When reading Bierce's short story most readers are likely to support his thinking and to hope that he actually escapes. It is almost as if the protagonist shares his plan with readers and believes that they too might think of a plan that can assist him in escaping execution. Even with this, it is difficult to determine whether he actually thinks of escaping or if he simply thinks about his family. "My home, thank God, is as yet outside their lines; my wife and little ones are still beyond the invader's farthest advance" (Bierce 4).

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PaperDue. (2012). Tan, Amy, the Joy Luck. PaperDue. https://www.paperdue.com/essay/tan-amy-the-joy-luck-75991

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