The Joy Luck Club

1. The Joy Luck Club

2. The Joy Luck ClubAmy Tan The novel spans from the 1920s through the 1980s, following two generations of women. Mothers, born and raised in China, find themselves in San Francisco raising their own daughters. Both mothers and daughters must navigate diverse worlds, with different languages, cultures, and habits.

3. About the author • Born from Chinese immigrant parents John and Daisy. Her parents wanted Amy to become a doctor or concert pianist, but Amy had other ideas. • At the age of 15 both her brother and father died due to cancer. Amy’s mother took her Switzerland to escape the poor health curse. • Amy began her writing career by becoming a freelance writer for AT&T,  IBM, and Northern Telecom,  as well as Wells Fargo Bank,  Big  Eight management consulting firms.

4. About the author • Amy wrote not only a variety of literary works, but also operas and Emmy awarded television shows. • Amy continually struggled with her relationship with her mother Daisy throughout her early adult life. • Daisy did not live long enough to witness many of Amy’s accomplishments. Daisy was diagnosed with Alzheimer's and passed in 1999.

5. The Joy Luck Club

6. The Joy Luck Club • The Plot Points: • June’s death of her mother • June becomes the “fourth corner” and takes her mother’s seat that faces “east”. • June shares mother’s story from Kwelin. • June’s aunts explain that Suyuan wrote to her “lost daughters” before she died. • https://maps.google.com/

7. Characterization

8. Literary Analysis “ My mother and I never really understood one another. We translated each other’s meanings and I seemed to hear less than what was said, while my mother heard no more” (27). Demonstrating June’s internal conflict with her mother.

9. Literary Analysis “When I saw the hills, I laughed and shuddered at the same time. The peaks looked like giant fried fish heads trying to jump out of a vat of oil. Behind each hill, I could see shadows of another fish, and then another and another. And then the clouds would move just a little and the hills would suddenly become monstrous elephants marching slowly toward me!”(8). Simile Metaphor

10. The Joy Luck Club Write your three words on top of the post it note Based on the three words that you chose, what is an emerging theme/concept from the Joy Luck Club? What is Amy Tan trying to tell us?

11. The Joy Luck Club Mother Fear Relationships Daughter Identity Kwelin Love Confusion Expectations June Mah Jong The East Suyuan Joy Luck Club Uncertainty