Replicate In Amy Tan's 'Fish Cheeks'

In the essay “fish Cheeks”, the essayist Amy Tan conveys that the main character is worried and embarrassed. “What would Robert think of our shabby Chinese Christmas? What would he think of our noisy Chinese relatives who lacked proper American manners?...” (Tan). After Amy is informed that the Minister's family is coming over for Christmas dinner, she silently begins to debate how the night will go with a multitude of what if questions. She is worried how Robert, and his family will react to some of her family's customs. “... I knew that she understood how much I suffered during the evening’s dinner” (Tan). Amy says she suffered during Christmas dinner because she was embarrassed on how her family

As a result, the child on the cover has sharp teeth and an almost evil grin as he is attempting to pick up the fish bowl off of a table that is above his head. Secondly, looking at the fish; their facial expressions show that they are fearful of what is occurring. Both fish have open mouths, as well as eyes and

o Page 49 “…the hooked fish, the female, made a wild, panic-stricken, despairing fight that soon exhausted her..”

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.

Amy’s Mother says, “ you want to be the same as American girls on the outside” ( Tan 2). This quote shows that Amy is insecure by not liking herself on the way she looks on the inside. Her mother realizes that she is self-conscious and wants to look like an American girl. Amy”s mother says that you may not look like an American girl on the outside for Robert to like her, but if Robert really likes her, he shouldn't care about appearances or how a girl looks, he should focus on differences that's what makes a person unique as what her mother says to her towards the end of the story. Also, Amy feels insecure about her culture while inviting Robert’s family over for dinner, “Amy, your favorite, he said, offering me the tender fish cheek. I wanted to disappear” (Tan 2). This quote also shows that Amy is insecure about her culture because, during dinner, Amy’s mother hands her, her favorite meal of the night. Amy likes the tender fish cheeks although Amy felt insecure which led to embarrassment. Amy feels insecure because her family is showing Robert what Amy’s cultural foods are. Although, some traditions are different than others, Amy’s mom shows a good example of being different is unique even though Amy is insecure about her culture. Amy feels insecure because of how she looks , she wants to look like an American girl and also, her culture. Even though Amy is

The theme of “what do fish have to do with anything?” is that unhappiness can sometimes cause someone to be blind and ignorant towards others needs. For instance, Willie’s mom does not want him looking or talking to the homeless man on the streets. She tells her son this because she is unhappy so she does not see what the man is going through and instead says “He is sick do not look at him.” Another example is that Willie’s mother does not like answering Willie’s questions concerning others needs. She does not answer willie’s questions because she could honestly care less about a problem that is not hers. She could care less about other peoples problems because of her unhappiness. To illustrate, at the end of the story the mother has the

“The flood waters are powerful in this season, and a crocodile waits on the sandbank. Yet I went down to the water to wade through the flood, my heart brave the channel.” The man in "My god, my Lotus…" realizes what he must do to get to his loved one. The path is not a simple walk through the river. It is a harsh and dangerous path he must take if he wants to be with the woman he loves. For him, love is worth all the dangers and risks even if that means getting attacked by a wild crocodile, or washed away by the strong tides. Essentially these struggles do not match the strength of his heart. Therefore, he begins the journey to his beloved one. "Fishhawk" makes a different approach on how the narrator should win over his fair maiden. “Watercress grows here and there, right and left, we pick it out. Gentle maiden, pure, and fair, with harps we bring her company.” While meeting her again, across the stream, he brings out harps and plays music for her to win her heart. This man does not have to cross over to her, but he must make sure that she is just as in love with him. The hardship and journey here is the one in her heart. Winning her heart over to make sure that they can both be happy

"Fish Cheeks" and "Broken Chain" both address a common theme about belonging. Both stories show that people act unlike themselves when they are trying to impress others or fit in. In the essay "Fish Cheeks" Amy Tan is embarrassed about her family's culture because it is different from her American neighbors. As a result Amy tries to hide it away and become something she is not. In the short story "Broken Chain" Alfonso meets a girl that he really likes. He believes that in order for her to like him back, he has to look and act like people on T.V. In both stories the main characters care about their image and what people think.

The short story “What, of this goldfish, Would You Wish?’ is a emotive short story

Fish cheeks by Amy Tan is a narrative story about Amy when she was 14. She had a crush on the minister’s boy, robert. Eventually amy’s parents invited their family over for Christmas dinner. Amy felt nervous and uneasy about Robert and his family coming to dinner and see how “embarrassing” her family is. Amy wanted a “slim new american nose”(Tan, 110).

In Amy Tan’s narrative, “Mothers Tongue”, Tan speaks about the unique dialect that she and her mother share. Only she could understand and conversations with her mother and understand every word she is saying. Tan writes about how she grew up with the variations of English; the perfect English that she spoke to the public, and the broken English she used with her mother. Tan writes that from a young age she was very embarrassed by the limited knowledge of English and how that “… reflected the quality of what she had to say.” (Tan, pg. 635) Tan reflects that with her mother’s limitations, she had to talk on her mother’s behalf just to have others hear what her mother had to say, Amy recalls a time where she was called to basically interpret

Catfish and Mandala is a narrative by Andrew X. Pham, representing his bicycle tour of Vietnam, with his childhood memories of the place. The book characterizes the author’s younger life in the country, until when he later moved to America with his family. Upon moving to America, he encountered a veteran of the Vietnam War, and it was the veteran 's disturbed emotional state that prompted Andrew to make various observations, among them, is the role of culture in people 's life. He set to establish the differences between the American and Vietnam cultures, which to him were conflicting and he felt lost in-between the two places (Pham 6).

He doesn't want her to figure out he loves fishing, “ She hadn't seen my equipment yet. What i should've done, of course, was push the canoe in closer to shore and carefully slide the rod into some branches where i could pick it up later in the morning”(pg.3 Weatheral). He doesn't want her to see his equipment because she doesn't like fishing and is trying to do everything possible to impress her, even if that means pretending to be someone else. He made a mistake by choosing a girl over his passion, “i pulled a penknife from my pocket and cut the line in half. With a sick, nauseous feeling in my stomach, i saw the rod unbend”(pg.5 Weatheral). The main character chose a girl over his passion which is fishing, and now has that sickening feeling of guilt and regret he feels in his chest that he can not escape. He doesn't deny he made a mistake, he says he will never make the same mistakes again. The theme of this story is to always be yourself and to not act any differently around anyone else you're trying to impress, as it just hurts you in the end and creates more endless pain

There are four examples of assonance in this poem, lines 6-7, 10, 14-15, and 21. In lines 6-7, fought/all and hung/grunting are assonants. In line 10, skin/strips are assonants and also the speaker uses hung again which she used earlier in line 7 to reiterate that the fish is dying. Blown/roses and stained/age are assonants in lines 14-15. Line 21 is the last line in this poem to employ assonance, green/weed and also the third line to use “hung”. The fish hanging on both describes its age as well as its weight. There is also repetition of “rainbow” four times, lines 69 and 75, which shows that she had a “vision” or a transformation that caused her to release the fish.