Analysis Of Fish Cheeks By Amy Tan

A documentary is an expository text that informs its audience about an issue person or event using visual and auditory conventions to convey a message. Documentaries are often used to reveal an unusual, interesting or unknown angle. Topics are limited only by one's imagination. The documentary Blackfish is the story of Tilikum, a captive killer whale that has taken the lives of several people, it underscores problems within the sea-park industry, man's relationship to nature, and how little has been learned about these highly intelligent mammals. This documentary was directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite. The ideas that orcas are wild and unpredictable, Seaworld’s treatment of orcas are inhumane and Seaworld’s was negligent in their training of their trainers. These ideas are shown throughout the documentary as visual techniques of Celebrity figure, expert opinion, audio codes, the documentary technique of interviews, archival footage and written codes. I think these ideas in the documentary are quite true and are well proven throughout the documentary.

Teenagers usually have a distorted perspective which differs from an adult’s causing teens to be self-centered rather than other-centered, this story explores that view and how the teen in the story was able to change. “Fish Cheeks,” by Amy Tan, is an autobiographical narrative following fourteen year old Amy Tan and her experience at a Christmas Eve dinner after her father invites the minister and his son, Robert, who was Amy’s crush at the time. As I was reading the story I was able to learn how Amy went from being self-centered to other-centered causing her to fully appreciate her mother’s lesson, and some of the ways I could improve myself based on Amy’s situation.

It is about an event that occurred in her life at the age of fourteen. Amy had a crush on the minister's son, Robert. On Christmas Eve, she found out that her parents invited Robert and his family over for dinner. “What would Robert think of our shabby Chinese Christmas? What would he think of our noisy Chinese relatives who lacked proper American manners? What terrible disappointment would he feel upon seeing not a roasted turkey and sweet potatoes but Chinese food?” (Fish Cheeks 1). Amy was not only extremely nervous about Robert coming over to her house, but she was ashamed of her family. Obviously, Amy’s Chinese Christmas is much different from the type of holiday Robert is used to. The last thing Amy wanted was for Robert to see her traditional Chinese household and scare him off. Unfortunately, her fear had come true when Robert and his family came over. When dinner came around Amy started to fall deeper in despair. “My relatives licked the ends of their chopsticks and reached across the table, dipping them into the dozen or so plates of food” (Fish Cheeks 2). Unlike Amy’s family, Robert’s family patiently waited for platters to be passed around. It wasn't the typical American food for Christmas either. “bulging fish eyes...tofu, which looked like stacked wedges of rubbery white sponges...a plate of squid, their backs crisscrossed with knife markings so they resembled bicycle tires: (Fish Cheeks 1). Amy glanced

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.

They wouldn’t get to eat as much food. They wouldn’t be enjoying their precious time with their family. Instead they would be working hard in the fields to earn a sufficient living wage. But Chinese New Year was a time when they felt they were on top. They thought that they were living the high life. They “all looked forward to, the one time when we would be guaranteed wonderful food, was the Chinese New Year.” It was one joyous occasion that helped them to endure their destitute lives.

Amy’s parents are the authoritative figures keeping their Chinese traditions and cultures alive. Rather than appeal to the American tradition even though they invited the Minister’s family, they decided to stay true to who they are, by making a menu according to their traditions. “What terrible disappointment would he feel upon seeing not a roasted turkey and sweet potatoes but Chinese food?” (Tan, 110). Amy describes how her family will stick to their normal chinese menu rather than cook American Christmas eve food.

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.

As time progresses, people, along with their relationships with one another, change by events that take place. Certain events can either make a relationship stronger or weaken one based on the severity and cause. In the story, “Isabel Fish” by Julie Orringer, Maddy gets treated unfairly by her older brother, Sage, a moody teenager who has recently has gone through a life changing event, where his girlfriend Isabel died in a car accident. This event impacts the way Sage treats the people he is around, especially his sister Maddy, who was in the car with Isabel when it sunk into the river. Even though Maddy initially gets treated unfairly by Sage since he picks on Maddy’s insecurities, once her behavior changes showing Sage that he has been negatively impacting his

Being Chinese-Vietnamese American, I have always seen myself as being very unique. In addition to celebrating the Western holidays such as Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s, and Valentine’s Day, my family celebrates our mixture of Chinese and Vietnamese cultures with two other big holidays: Lunar New Year and Mid-Autumn Moon Festival. Although many cultures celebrate holidays differently, one thing is always consistent in most of these celebrations: the important role of food.

First, Chinese Americans preserve their ethnic identities through holidays. One of the biggest holidays is the Chinese New Year. The Chinese New Year is different from the regular New Years in that it relies on the moon cycles instead of the western calendar, so it falls on different days each year. There is a lot of preparation that goes into the Chinese New Year. People start cleaning their houses and decorating them with spring couplets on the twentieth day of the twelfth moon. Spring couplets are short poems written on red scrolls of paper in black. A popular New Years tradition in the United States is the exchanging of red envelopes containing money, which are called hong-bao. Most families spend this holiday celebrating together because this holiday, above others, emphasizes family and family ties.

New Years is an exciting holiday in many countries. It marks a new period of time with the pure and pristine beginning for individuals. Every country has a unique cultural celebration and specific traditions depending on where you live. However, there is a big difference between how Asian people and Western people celebrate New Year. The three most noticeable differences are in the preparation, travel and length of the holiday will be last.

The Chinese New Year can be called the Lunar New Year as well as the Spring Festival (Mazzei, 2016).

Fish also play a large role in the celebrations. The word for fish, “Yu” sounds like the words both for and abundance. The fish is usually served whole, with head and tail, which mean having a good beginning and ending for the coming year. These round dumplings which is called JiaoZi signify family reunion. Its shape look like a bag the has many gold coins inside. This dish is called Lion’s Head Meatball. They are cooked with oversized meatballs and some vegetable soup. The lion represents power and strength in Chinese culture, while the oversized meatballs symbolize family reunion. Duck symbolizes fidelity in chinese culture. Also, sweet and sour pork is popular with families hoping for a lot of grandchildren because the Cantonese word for “sour” sounds like the word for grandchild. Cakes have a special place in Chinese New year celebrations. Chinese people called them NianGow. NianGow is made up of rice flour, wheat starch, water and sugar. Their sweetness symbolizes a rich and sweet life. The family will then end the night with firecrackers.

There are different foods from different countries around the world. The different elements are noticeable in our foods. Chinese dishes are prominent and it is the ultimate food. People have different tastes in food though many people appreciate Chinese’s. It is famous for color, appearance, taste, aroma, and meaning. Around the bay area there are many Chinese restaurants. My family is Chinese, so Chinese food are something we eat almost every day. Even though I eat Chinese food every day, I still don’t get bored with it. My favorite Chinese foods are sweet and sour pork and fried rice. Sweet and sour pork is my favorite because of the sauce and fried rice because of its taste and it is simple to make when I have to make my food; both foods are the traditional dishes may be found all over the world.

Looking back at ancient civilization, fireworks, elaborate performances, or decorations had not been invented or developed. These rituals that are associated with the tradition today were added throughout the years. It was because of time that people started incorporating ideas that were added on along with the festival. Therefore you were lucky and fortunate to spend Chinese New Year with