Prewatch: Summary

3-4 sentence summary of the last section you studied in your own words:
Shen Teh rents out a tobacco shop with the money the gods gave her. However, Shen Teh’s
goodness leads to people taking advantage of her when she first opened the shop. Despite
the store opening she still struggles to make money and it seems like the universe doesn’t
want her to succeed. The gods then tell Wang to make sure Shen Teh stays good and they’re
on their search for more good people.

Watch
Section of the play:
Which scene or which interlude? (e.g. “Scene Which page #s from the textbook?
2” or “Post-Scene 2 Interlude”)
From:
Scene 1 12
To:
Post-Scene 2 31

Plot Summary
The 8 key events of this section’s plot, in your own words:
1. Shen Teh opens her new tobacconist shoop
2. The old couple who threw Shen Teh on the street once she couldn’t pay them asks her
for shelter
3. A homeless man asks for cigarettes from Shen Teh and she gives them to him for free
4. A carpenter comes into the shop, demanding Shen Teh pays him for putting things on
the shelves
5. Shen Teh tells the carpenter than her cousin Shui Ta will pay him
6. The gods talk to Wang and tell him to keep an eye on Shen Teh while they continue to
search for good people
7. Shui Tah comes into the shop telling the family that Shen Teh has been detained and it
is now his shop
8. Shui Tah brings a policeman into the shop, leading to the carpenter and family leaving
because the boy was caught stealing
9. The policeman proposes a marriage so Shen Teh can get the money to pay for her
rent which she needs to pay 6 months in advance.
Analysis
Authorial Choice Analysis
Analyze 2 authorial choices from today’s section of the text.
Page # Inference on Choice Evidence and Explanation

20 The family is taking advantage of “Open up its us!” More and more people of
Shen Teh the family are coming to Shen Teh’s shop
looking for shelter. Shen Teh is to nice and
good to say no to them so they are taking

24 Shui Tah is Shen Tah’s disguise to feel
more confident and stern
advantage of her and acting like the
tobacco shop is theres to live in when the
shop belongs to Shen Teh. They are
destroying her shelves and bossing Shen
Teh around.
“20 silver dollars” Shen Teh as Shui Tah is
able to negotiate with the carpenter and
make sure that she isn’t taken advantage
of any longer. Ass Shui Tah she also calls
the police to help deal with a thief which is
something she wasn’t able to do as Shen
Tah.