Joy+Luck

=The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan=


 * Synopsis / Description:** This novel is richly layered from its lyric depictions of Chinese and American landscapes, to its deft intermingling of reality and myth, to its detailed portrayal of the lives and memories of four families. To categorize this novel as simply a study of mother-daughter relationships or a collection of first and second generation immigrant vignettes is to ignore its careful maneuvering through time, place, and perspective. Segmented in structure, this novel is told through the voices of four mothers and daughters. Though each woman faces unique historical and personal circumstances, each character seeks to understand her role in her family, in her culture, and in the world she has constructed for herself. Tan's ability to weave personal narrative with cultural mythology would make this text an interesting study in a creative writing workshop. Both the novel in its entirety or a selection of vignettes would also be suitable to teach in a secondary-level American, Minority, or Women's literature class.

Critics have described this text as "sixteen interlocking stories," "a panorama of distinctive voices that call out to each other over time," and "like a Chinese puzzle box - intricate, mysterious, and connected in a way that only seems simple." Though categorized as a novel, //The Joy Luck Club// does not follow this [|genre's typical structure]. It neither moves chronologically through time nor is told from one character's point of view. The novel details the lives and experiences of four Chinese women who immigrate to California in 1949 as well as the perspectives of their four American-born daughters by alternating chapters between these eight voices. To further complicate this segmented structure, the novel is not set consistently in one particular time or place. Through [|flashbacks] characters relate incidents from World War II era China, to childhood memories set in 1960's San Fransisco, to the present-day conflicts each mother-daughter relationship faces. Due to its complex narrative, this novel might be challenging and frustrating for secondary-level readers.
 * Challenge #1: Puzzling Structure**


 * Possible Solutions:**


 * **Teach only a segment of the text.** For the instructor who is concerned about his/her students' ability to follow the novel's segmented, complicated structure or the instructor who is constrained by time, this is an acceptable approach to incorporating the text into his/her curriculum. I recommend including all four of the novel's short stories preceding each section. Students could research the Chinese expressions or folklore described in each of the stories:
 * "A Thousand Li"
 * "The Twenty-Six Malignant Gates"
 * "Five Elements," "Four Directions"
 * "Syi Wang Mu"
 * Such research not only provides students with a better understanding of the cultural values the mother characters hope to teach their daughters, but also emphasizes the generational conflicts which prevail in this novel. Students might enjoy comparing these vignettes to "actual" Chinese fairy tales. According to Longitude Books, publisher of //Chinese Fairy Tales and Fantasies//, "Moss Roberts combed 2,500 years of the Chinese folk tradition for this anthology of one hundred short Chinese tales. Decorated with woodcut illustrations throughout, this is another volume in Pantheon's excellent folklore series." Click [|here] to learn more about this collection. Additionally, many professors, scholars, and fairytale-enthusiasts have compiled digital collections. Two worth investigating include [|"Folktales From China"] and [|"Tales From China."]
 * Mother-daughter stories which pair nicely and can be studied without reading the novel in its entirety are Lindo Jong's "The Red Candle" and Waverly Jong's "Rules of the Game," or Ying-Ying St. Clair's "Waiting Between the Trees" and Lena St. Clair's "Rice Husband."


 * **Teach the entire text through literature circles.** For the instructor who wishes his/her students to read the entire novel and the instructor who has sufficient time for in-class reading, discussion, and student-led activities, teaching through [|literature circles] is a feasible solution. In their pedagogical text, //Weaving in the Women//, educators Liz Whaley and Liz Dodge share their approach to incorporating this novel in their Contemporary American Literature classes. They write, "Since the structure of //The Joy Luck Club// confuses students...students divide into four groups, one group for each family. Students read the entire book family by family, reading about their family twice. These groups meet for a class period to plan how they will involve their classmates in looking more closely at their particular family. Each group has one class period for its activities, which range from mini-talks to small-group work" (133). This student-centered approach, I believe, works well because students are able to focus on the cultural issue(s) most appealing to them and are afforded opportunities to teach their peers about these issues. Additionally, by targeting one family within the novel, students are not expected to attain "expert" level knowledge of every historical and cultural event presented in the text, though they do gain exposure of these events through the various class presentations.
 * **Teach the entire text with multi-media.** For the instructor who has technical support and who wishes to expand in-class learning beyond its physical space, various multi-media resources can be utilized.
 * If the instructor is interested in adaptation, exploring how the text was rewritten into film version is an option. Order the film by clicking [|here]. It might be interesting to investigate reviews of the film, such as [|this one] from //The Washington Post//.
 * If a "sensory journey through the virtual classroom of the Internet" sounds like an intriguing means for approaching this novel, I recommend investigating secondary educator Kimberly Picozzi's [|webquest]. This unit includes interactive study of Chinese cuisine and culture, independent research and writing, as well as student-led discussion and presentation work.

Though categorized as a novel, this text refers to actual historical events, which might cause students to wonder how realistically the women in the novel are portrayed. If taught in a geographic location where few Asian Americans live, it might be difficult to interview or interact with local people, thus compounding the "otherness" of the immigrant experience. While the women depicted in Tan's novel offer various perspectives on their "before" lives in 1930's and 1940's China versus their "after" lives in contemporary America, these accounts certainly do not comprise the entirety of the Chinese immigrant experience. For example, little attention is paid to ethnic discrimination (other than Ying-Ying St. Clair being mistaken for her daughter's nanny or Rose Hsu being snubbed by her Caucasian mother-in-law). To expose students to the wider range of immigrant experiences, an instructor may find one of the following solutions helpful.
 * Challenge #2: How "real" is this text?**


 * Possible solutions:**
 * Invite a guest speaker or a panel of speakers who are first or second generation Asian Americans.
 * Compare the experiences of the women in The Joy Luck Club to those of other Chinese or Asian immigrants. Short selections that would pair nicely with Tan's novel include: "No Name Woman," the first chapter of [|The Woman Warrior] by Maxine Hong-Kingston or excerpts from Wild Swans by Jung Chang.
 * Investigate the history of the Chinatown in San Fransisco. The Library of Congress has a phenomenal interactive collection entitled [|"The Chinese in California, 1850-1925."] The collection includes artwork, essays, primary documents, and photographs which detail the immigration of Chinese to California in the 19th Century as well as the discrimination they faced.

From the cover art, to the plot synopsis included on the jacket leaf, to the critic's reviews on the novel's back cover, a perspective reader of //The Joy Luck Club// can clearly see this work focuses on mother-daughter relationships. Male characters are present in the text, though most are identified by their malicious or inept qualities. One concern a secondary instructor may face is how to engage the male reader in this female-dominated work.
 * Challenge #3: What about the boys?**


 * Possible solutions:**
 * Pair //The Joy Luck Club// with another Chinese American novel featuring a male protagonist. While there may not be enough time to read a second novel, excerpts of the following could be read to better understand a male's perspective:
 * [|Donuld Duk] by Frank Chin
 * [|China Boy] by Gus Lee
 * [|Dragonwings] or [|Dragon's Gate]by Laurence Yep (Both are short)
 * Engage students in research. This novel, though heavily concerned with mother-daughter relationships, also introduces students to Chinese cuisine, festivals, religious beliefs, naming systems, and history. Rather than focusing on the mother-daughter dynamic, an instructor could encourage students to research an aspect of Chinese or Chinese American culture. This [|site], sponsored by ThinkQuest, is a fun, interactive learning environment where students can read articles, view artwork, take quizzes, etc.


 * Additional Resources**

Check out [|this site] for a biography of Amy Tan. The following sites also include additional [|lesson plans] and [|methods] for teaching //The Joy Luck Club//.

by Erinn Bentley