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Power of Process Assignment Title: Close Reading Practice: Amy Tan's "Fish Cheeks"

Joseph Zhang

My Annotations

Identify characterization: Robert : Highlight 3 places where Tan characterizes Robert. Find 1 place where he is characterized through a
description of his appearance, 1 place where he reacts to something that happens, and 1 place where
he is characterized by what he says (dialogue). In the annotations, identify which type of
characterization you've highlighted.

blond-haired boy, Robert, and a slim new American nose.

Characterization: appearance

Robert grunted hello

Dialogue

Robert was looking down at his plate with a reddened face.

Reaction

Identify characterization: Young Highlight 3 places where Tan characterizes the young, fourteen-year old Amy (this is not the same
Amy : person who is writing today--but she tells the majority of the memoir in the perspective of her
younger self). Choose places where Tan uses characterization in different ways (appearance,
reactions, or internal monologue/internal thoughts), and in the annotation, describe the type used.

and I pretended he was not worthy of existence.

Young Amy's reaction

I wanted to disappear.

young Amy reaction

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?

Young Amy's internal thoughts

Identify Effective Sentences : Highlight 3 sentences that you think are highly effective and well-written--they do a great job of
helping recreate Tan's memory of the dinner. Don't choose sentences all in one place, choose from
throughout the story. In the annotation, describe why you think the sentence is effective.

Tofu, which looked like stacked wedges of rubbery white sponges

All those descriptions about food material are effectively ways to shown to express young Amy's
disappointment about her mom's strange menu.

Then my father poked his chopsticks just below the fish eye and plucked out the soft meat. "Amy, your
favorite," he said, offering me the tender fish cheek

Using details about her father's action to show the readers the exact embarrassing feelings as she
had back then.

was stunned into silence for the rest of the night.

This sentence effectively showed her embarrassment of her family back then.

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Analyze Dialogue : Highlight 2 places where Tan uses dialogue. In the annotation, describe why you think dialogue was
used here instead of just telling what someone said.

"It's a polite Chinese custom to show you are satisfied," explained my father to our astonished guests.

The dialogue here can show us the personality of Amy's father more vividly.

"You want to be the same as American girls on the outside." She handed me an early gift. It was a
miniskirt in beige tweed. "But inside you must always be Chinese. You must be proud you are different.
Your only shame is to have shame.

She used her mother's dialogue to tell us why her mom chose to do all theses things during
Christmas eve. This is a better way to show us that her mom is a wise woman.

My Responses

Look up author : In keeping with our habit of knowing something about the writers we read, look up Amy Tan and
write a sentence or two about her.

Amy Tan is an American writer whose works explore mother-daughter relationships and the Chinese
American experience. Her best-known work is The Joy Luck Club. Her father and older brother both died
from brain tumors in 1966, and she moved with her mother and younger brother to Europe.

Analyze your process : Below is a display of the Power of Process circle and a list that details the order in which you
completed the process. Why did you decide to visit the reading strategies in this order? How did
your strategy decisions help you understand and think about the text? Which strategies helped you
most? What strategies will you use the next time you read a text?

This is a relatively short article, so I just followed the clockwise sequence to finish all. I think the finding
characterization part is most helpful because it helped me to find all people's personality and inner
value. Her characterization part is the best part of her article, I think. She can use different aspects to
shape the character in her article, which is the technique I should apply to my writings. Next time when I
read a text, I will pay more attention on how the author uses different aspects to show a person's
personality and characterization.

Title : How does the title, "Fish Cheeks," symbolize the main idea (the lesson/the "so what?") of the
memoir?

"Fish cheek" does not just refer to her most embarrassing moment of that night. It also refers to what her
moms said in the end, she can be American outside, but inside she must be Chinese, the only shame is
to have shame.

Fish Cheeks
Amy Tan

I fell in love with the minister's son the winter I turned fourteen. He was not Chinese, but as white as Mary in
the manger. For Christmas I prayed for this blond-haired boy, Robert, and a slim new American nose.

When I found out that my parents had invited the minister's family over for Christmas Eve dinner, I cried.
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?

On Christmas Eve I saw that my mother had outdone herself in creating a strange menu. She was pulling
black veins out of the backs of fleshy prawns. The kitchen was littered with appalling mounds of raw food: A
slimy rock cod with bulging eyes that pleaded not to be thrown into a pan of hot oil. Tofu, which looked like
stacked wedges of rubbery white sponges. A bowl soaking dried fungus back to life. A plate of squid, their
backs crisscrossed with knife markings so they resembled bicycle tires.

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And then they arrived the minister's family and all my relatives in a clamor of doorbells and rumpled
Christmas packages. Robert grunted hello, and I pretended he was not worthy of existence.

Dinner threw me deeper into despair. My relatives licked the ends of their chopsticks and reached across
the table, dipping them into the dozen or so plates of food. Robert and his family waited patiently for platters
to be passed to them. My relatives murmured with pleasure when my mother brought out the whole steamed
fish. Robert grimaced. Then my father poked his chopsticks just below the fish eye and plucked out the soft
meat. "Amy, your favorite," he said, offering me the tender fish cheek. I wanted to disappear.

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 to our astonished guests.
Robert was looking down at his plate with a reddened face. The minister managed to muster up a quiet
burp. I was stunned into silence for the rest of the night.

After everyone had gone, my mother said to me, "You want to be the same as American girls on the
outside." She handed me an early gift. It was a miniskirt in beige tweed. "But inside you must always be
Chinese. You must be proud you are different. Your only shame is to have shame."

And even though I didn't agree with her then, I knew that she understood how much I had suffered during
the evening's dinner. It wasn't until many years laterlong after I had gotten over my crush on Robertthat I
was able to fully appreciate her lesson and the true purpose behind our particular menu.

For Christmas Eve that year, she had chosen all my favorite foods.
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