Amy Tan's Fish Cheeks

“Fish Cheeks” by Amy Tan recalls an embarrassing Christmas Eve dinner the author had during her childhood. Attending this dinner was Tans childhood crush and an assortment of Tans relatives and family friends. Tan explains that she was embarrassed by her family’s Chinese traditions, including the mishmash of Chinese foods, noisy relatives, and impolite manners (Tan 74). Tan’s only desire was to be like other American girls, but it wasn’t until much later in life did Tan truly realize what her family’s heritage meant to her. Likewise, “Museum” by Naomi Shihab Nye tells of another past embarrassing experience by the author. Nye informs the reader of an add she saw for a museum called the McNay. Nye and her friend both decide to attend the

Amy Tan recounts her experience of a disastrous Christmas dinner with her and the minister’s family. Her crush Robert is there and he makes her feel ashamed of her family’s actions and traditions. In the short story Fish Cheeks by Amy Tan, a young girl is embarrassed of her Chinese heritage but grows more confident after a disastrous dinner.

Well-known author Amy Tan, in her short narrative “Fish Cheeks”, writes about the embarrassment she has because of her culture and ethnicity. She talks about this when a white father and his son, Robert, whom she likes, want to come over her house, and as a chinese-american young woman, she is a little ashamed of the chinese food. She also is ashamed by the type of house and environment she lives in.

In the essay "Fish Cheeks" it says, "For Christmas I prayed for this blond-haired boy, Robert, and a slim new American nose." This statement proposes that Amy thinks if she looks American to the outside world she will become American. Amy Tan is very embarrassed by her family who does not try to change to fit in, but shows their culture proudly. "At the end of the meal my father leaned back and belched loudly, thanking my mother for her fine cooking. "It's a polite Chinese custom to show you are satisfied" explained my father" (Tan 6). She then goes on to wonder what Robert would think of her family's "shabby Chinese Christmas" (Tan 2) because that night for dinner, they would be having her mother's strange Chinese menu instead of the traditional roasted turkey and sweet potatoes. In conclusion Amy Tan is scared that her family and the menu will reveal that she is indeed Chinese so she won't be able to hide it from her crush any

Food is closely related to people's lives and it is considered the most important element in Chinese culture. Chinese food is famous all over the world too. American Chinese cuisine differs significantly from the traditional Chinese cuisine and even though the variation in taste can be so it is still attractive to many people. When it comes to food, Chinese people always care about the color, taste, smell and shape of Chinese dishes. In 1784, a group of passengers on the ship Empress of China became the first Americans to land in China and they were also the first group of people to eat Chinese food; it was the

What pressures an individual to conform? Two short stories by Romesh Gunesekera and Amy Tan inform the readers of the effects that society and culture has on an individual. They introduce two characters whom are affected: Amy Tan, a teenage Chinese girl living in the United States, and a young Sri Lankan woman whose name is unidentified. Ultimately, society and culture affect an individual by pressuring them to conform as seen throughout “Carapace” and “Fish Cheeks” with the use of vivid language and profound narration.

Firstly, the author states her personal narrative to support her point. Tam, who has a Chinese background used to enjoy spending her time to cook ngau lam, a Cantonese braised brisket stew, as well as other dishes even though they smelled until one of her friends called her family dishes "Chinese grossness" (2015, para. 5). In according to Tam, her friend's words "clung to her". She recalls she was so embarrassed that she tried to be distanced herself from family food (2015, para. 6). Tam's personal narrative is effective because it is reflective of her real life, which gives credence to her article.

As a young boy, food served as a connection to his heritage. His mother would pack him a lunch with Chinese dishes and on American holidays, his family had their own Chinese twist. He writes about one Thanksgiving in particular. His mother cooks Chinese dishes such as cha siu, which is completely different from what the family of one of his childhood friends, Warren, makes. They had casserole, turkey, mashed potatoes and other traditional American Thanksgiving food.

Everything was done in a fixed order according to the “eating rites.” http://www.china.org.cn/english/imperial/25995.htm. In The Book of Songs they say that over a 130 plants were given as well as over 100 animals some include ox, sheep dog and elephant. The drinks that were given known of the six clear were five qis and three jius and sweet or sour wine https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/food/2011-03/10/c.... The five qis were made of a rise base like sorghum and millet and the fan qi it more of a think liquid. And then you had the jius which was an occasion wine.

In Fish Cheeks Chinese American writer Amy Tan explores the adolescent cultural anxieties she faced growing up in from both ethnic backgrounds. For example, Tan uses her personal experience of when Robert, her crush, and his American family were invited over for a Chinese style Christmas Eve dinner. Tan describes the way she feels about herself, imagines the way Robert and his family might feel, and how she feels ashamed in the moment of the dinner. Furthermore, Fish Cheeks details the issue of Tan of wanting to fit in and forgetting who she is. In the beginning of the story, she is embarrassed of her heritage. However she eventually realizes how her parents are trying to help her, and she ends up being proud to be Chinese. Tan uses specific descriptive details and personal feelings and thoughts to describe how an embarrassing moment in her

Fish Cheeks The essay “Fish Cheeks” by Amy Tan takes place in her teenage years and it’s about something that happened at that time. On the day of Christmas Eve, Amy’s mother invites the minister and his family over, who are Americans, so that both families can celebrate together. For dinner that Christmas, Amy’s mom had prepared all of her favorite foods (like fish cheeks). However, even though her favorite foods were served, she constantly felt mortified through out the night.

When a fourteen year old falls in love with someone, they are increasingly susceptible to embarrassment. In “Fish Cheeks”, a short story by Amy Tan, the author talks about her own experience when she has the unfortunate experience of having Christmas dinner with her crush and his family. Tan describes her teenage struggle to reconcile her conflicting feelings toward mainstream and Chinese cultures, revealing her difficulty in establishing her identity as an American.

Amy Tan and Juniot Diaz have contrasting ideas about assimilation as they present them through the characters in their stories. Amy Tan’s piece, Fish Cheeks is about Amy feeling embarrassed about her Chinese heritage when her American crush Robert and his family go to her house for dinner. In Fish Cheeks, Amy supports that one should assimilate and change their culture ideals to fit in. For example, in the first paragraph she says, “For Christmas I [prayed for this blond-haired boy, Robert, and a slim new American Nose” (Fish Cheeks). Amy is in support of assimilating extremely as she wishes for an American nose. Other examples of her support in assimilating is how she describes her embarrassment of the chinese culture. Amy questions her

Me and my friends order two dishes, one is called Fish Fillet with Sauerkraut and the other one is called Shredded Lettuce. They came to my table very fast. When I first saw the food, I shocked. It looks almost the same as Chinese food. After I tried the food. It tastes so good. Although there were some small difference between the food in China. But I still would say it’s the real Chinese food. Also, the amount of the food it nice. After we done with the food, there are still more than half left. We packed it and we think it could eat it for two more meals. One more thing which I want to talk about it the price. It’s cheap if you go with your friends. Probably you only need to pay like 10 dollars after you split with your friends. I think it is good for friends to get together during the weekend and enjoy the nice food. Although it’s a little bit far from my apartment, I still will come here again with my friends if I have free time.

For many people in Thailand today, food has become a very important aspect of any holiday celebration and special occasions. In the American western cuisine today, a regular restaurant quality meal consists of appetizers, followed by the main course, and ends with a serving of dessert, where each person would order his or her own food. In Thailand it’s the complete opposite to the American cuisine where they would never have any structure in their meals like beginning with appetizers and ending with dessert. In Thai cuisine the number of dishes is based on the number of people there are around the table, so for example if there are ten people, then ten dishes would be order. One interesting aspect about Thai cuisine is that everyone sitting around the table would equally share their food, so that no one would get stuck with eating the same plate of food, everyone gets the opportunity to enjoy the unique flavors of all the different dishes. The main reason that the Thais share their food is because they believe that it is bad luck for them to eat alone and they see that each meal is a big celebration of social and friendly interactions.