Reading Notes B, Week 12, The Joy Luck Club

An-Mei Hsu - Was from China, as a young girl, she lived with her little brother, grandmother, Popo, aunt and uncle, in their home in Ningpo. Her father had passed away and was told that her mother was a ghost, it did not mean that her mother was dead. Her mother had left An-Mei and her brother after their father, her husband died. When An-Mei was 9 years old, in 1923, her grandmother became very sick. Popo would call An-Mei into her room and tell her stories that she did not understand. An-Mei was told never to speak her mothers name and if she did, it was like spitting on her fathers grave. The feeling of her home was unhappy, cold hallways and tall stairs. An-Mei's mother returned to help take care of Popo, An-Mei's aunt was upset and tried to get her to leave, but she stayed and took care of her mother Popo. Popo was very ill and did not realize it was An-Mei's mother caring for her or else she would have been upset. An-Mei, mother rubbed her fingers under her chin, where she had a scare. An-Mei had a memory of when she was 4 years old at the dinner table, An-Mei's mother came back for her and begged her to come to her but during the commotion of the uncle, aunt, and Popo arguing An-Mei was burned under her chin with soup. Ani-Mei learned to love her mother because of the way she took care of Popo, she even cut some of her flesh to mix in a soup to try to save her but Popo passed that night.

Lindo Jong sacrifieced her life to keep her parents promise. She was promised to a boy at the age of 2 by the village matchmaker. She continued to live with her parents until there was a heavy storm that flooded their home and her family was forced to move, but she had to stay and go to live with the family she was promised to at the age of 12. When her mother left she was told, "Obey your family. Do not disgrace us." (54) Lindo was treated like a servant in the home, she had to live on the same floor of the home with them and was taught daily how to care for her soon to be husband, Tyan-yu. When Lindo was 16 she was told that Tyan-yu's mother, Huang Taitai, she wanted a grandson. The couple was married soon after but on their wedding night, Tyan-yu made her sleep on the couch next to the bed and there she slept for a long time, until one night she was forced to sleep next to him, but Tyan-yu did not want to touch her, she realized that he was still a young child and was scared. She had to think of a way to make the family release her of her commitment with out disgracing her family. She found a way and was released and was free from the promise her family made so many years before and she did it without disgracing her family.

Ying-Ying St. Clair was not always a quite woman but became that way after the night of telling the Moon Lady her secret wish.

Reading Notes A, Week 12, The Joy Luck Club

The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan

The Mothers                              The Daughters

Suyuan Woo                               Jing-mei “June” Woo (36YO)

An-mei Hsu                                 Rose Hsu Jordan

Lindo Jong                                   Waverly Jong

Ying-ying St. Clair                      Lena St. Clair

When Suyuan Woo was young, she was married to an officer, with two small children, people from many different lifestyles all fled to Kweilin to escape the Japanese. Suyuan Woo started the Joy Luck Club when she was in Kweilin. “My idea was to have a gathering of four woman, one for each corner of my mah jong table. I knew which woman I wanted to ask. They were all like me, with wishful faces.” (23) The woman would gather weekly, they took turns hosting the party, to raise money and their spirits. They would eat and play mah jong.

Suyuan Woo started the Joy Luck Club in San Francisco in 1949.

Suyuan Woo died and her daughter Jing-Mei Woo was asked by her father to sit in her mothers spot, at the fourth corner of the mah jong table.

Suyuan Woo would tell her daughter Jing-mei about her time in Kweilin, as Jing-mei grew older the story had different endings, until one day when it ended with her mother having to leave Kweilin with her two young children slinged to her, with a wheelbarrow to push any of her belongs that would fit, one of the items was her mah jong table. As she pushed toward Chungking to be with her 1^st husband, she slowly started loosing her stuff, the wheel broke, she used slings and bags, but by the time she arrived at Chungking, she only had three fancy silk dresses that she was wearing. Suyuan Woo only said that the babies were not Jing-mei, but did not speak about them again.

Jing-mei’s father said that Suyuan Woo died she had a thought in her head but before it came out, it grew too big and busted. The doctors said she died of cerebral aneurysm.

Jing-mei played mah jong with her aunts and after a long time she tried to leave but before she could the aunts had to tell her something. They told her that her mothers children were alive in China and they were daughters. The aunts gave Jing-mei $1200 to go to China to meet her sisters.

Project 2 Revision, Week 11, In the Land of the Free

Lae Choo is a very strong woman and loves her son, Little One, more than anything in her life. 

Lae Choo, is a female from the passage, In the Land of the Free, by Edith Maud Easton. I will be focusing on her as a female character and creating a project that will show what the author’s and my attitude are towards her. The project will also discuss two other character’s views of Lae Choo. Lastly, the project will discuss how Lae Choo views herself and give quotes from the passage to support the different views.

In the passage, Lae Choo is a Chinese woman, who was married to her husband, Hom Hing, they lived in San Francisco together. Lae Choo, returned to China to give birth to their child, the Little One. Her husband, Hom Hing stayed in San Francisco and continued to work as a merchant, he owned a store and they lived above it. Lae Choo and her son had stayed in China longer than they expected because Hom Hing’s parents were ill and she needed to take care of them. Hom Hing had never met his son, who was 20 months old. Lae Choo and the Little One arrived under the Golden Gate bridge aboard, Easter Queen. On this day, Hom Hing met his son for the first time and as they were leaving the ship the family was stopped by two men with the initials U.S.C. on their caps. The Little One did not have any papers from Washington allowing him to enter and none of the papers regarding Lae Choo had mentioned anything about a child, because he was not born when they were filed and approved. Against the parents will, they had to hand their son over to the men, until they could get approval from the government to let the child in to the US. It took the couple 10 months to get their son back.

The author’s attitude towards Lae Choo, is that she is a fighter and very strong, however she is also shown to be a victim. “”You, too,” reproached Law Choo in a voice eloquent with pain. But accustomed to obedience she yieled the boy to her husband, who in turned delivered him to the first officer.” (pg. 323) In this passage, the image of Lae Choo is of her being a victim of the law, although they had all of the required papers to return from China, no one informed them that they needed approval for the child. Lae Choo is described in the story has a strong woman because her child was taken away, although she was very sad, scared and depressed, she continued to live for her child and do everything she could to get him back in her arms.

My attitude towards Law Choo, is that she loves her son with all of her heart and he is everything to her. The love she has is what helps her through one of the toughest times in her life. “Ah, how could I close my eyes with my arms empty of the little body that has filled them every night for the more than twenty moons! You do not know – man – what it is to miss the feel of the little finger and the little toes… Even in the darkness his darling eyes used to shine up to mine..” (pg. 324) “She fell on her knees and stretch her hungry arms towards her son.” (pg. 329) Both of these quotes from the passage describe the love Lae Choo has for her son, the Little One. The following quote describes Lae Choo’s love for her child.

A mother’s love for her child is like nothing else in the world. It knows no law, no pity, it dares all things, and crushed down remorselessly all that stand in its path..

-Agatha Christie

The passage describes Hom Hing’s view of his wife as weak and heart broken. This is shown in the story with the following quote. “Her food she takes only when I bed her and her tears fall continually. She finds no pleasure in dress or flowers and cares not to see her friends. He eyes stare all night. I think before another moon she will pass into the land of spirits.” (pg. 326). Hom Hing describes his wife as a woman that has lost her reason for living and if she does not get her son, she will die of a broken heart.

The passage describes, James Clancy, the young white lawyer’s, view of Lae Choo as

feeling sad for her and wanting to help, but then he uses his position to take advantage of the couple and the love she has for her son. “It’s not right,” cried the young man indignantly. Then he made his proposition.” (pg. 326) “Well, I will need at least five hundred to start with.” (pg. 327) “Stop, white man, Stop!” Lae Choo, panting and terrified, had started forward and not stood beside him, clutching his sleeve excitedly.” (pg. 327) This quotes from the passage reveal, James Clancy acting like he is set that the couple has not gotten their son back but then he see an opportunity to use take advantage of them and charge them a large amount of money to help get their son back. If he truly and selfishly wanted to help the couple, he could have charged less or nothing at all, or allow them to make payments, instead he had already taken all of their money for the previous letters he wrote to Washington and now he accepted all of Lae Choo’s jewelry as payment. James Clancy is a perfect example of a person that can help another person, however he sees an opportunity and takes advantage of the situation.

Lae Choo views herself as a scared and strong woman, and knows that the love for her child will bring him back to her. The passage started with Lae Choo being scared to hand her son over to the men on the boat because she did not know what was going to happen and how her son was going to be taken care of, but the idea that it would only be for a night and obeying the law is why she let him go. The next day he did not come home and for the 10 months he was away she was scare she would never see him again. However, the love for her child keep her pushing and being willing to give up anything that she had to get him back.

Lae Choo can be viewed in many different ways by many different people and depending on who the person is, they can each see her differently. 

Works Cited


Easton, Edith, et at. "Young, in the Land of the Free." The Literature of California, vol 1, University of California Press, 200, pp 312-329

A Mother's Love for her Child
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Week 11, Reading Notes A, Henderson

California 13 is a poem describing where Hwy 13 can lead you. It is a freeway between Berkeley and Alameda. Hwy 13 can lead you to Ashby Ave in Berkeley. “A patch of connecting highway thru the village of a philosopher’s theory, where nothing exists in pure logic.” (119) And describes the landscape seen while driving down Hwy 13, silver gleam of the bay, mountain range headings for L.A. Hwy 13 takes you to Hwy 5 to the Grapevine, which will lead you to L.A.

Lost Angeles is a poem describing Hwy 5, four lanes wide, from LAX to Hollywood to the ancient road to old Mexico. A couple meets on Hollywood Blvd, they look like movie stars, they go out to a movie and then go back to where they met, and parted their ways.

San Dijuana is a poem about a highway that leads to La Mesa, a mini-city in San Dijuana. It describes a series of events with a drunk couple. “a hyper filmic reality the latina and the black man often plastered in the placid night two drunken considerate clowns amid the lush vegetation lights from the window..” (129)

91 Bus is about a person on a bus driving down Sunset Blvd, towards Beverly Hills. While on the bus the person observes what is going on around him on the streets. “Santa Monica Boulevard West Hollywood to the sea the number 4.” (127)

In these poems by David Henderson, he uses imaginary to describe what is going on around him, he does this by describing the landscape, people, and events. Henderson uses one common symbol in all of these poems, which is a highway and where it leads.

Project 2, Week 10, Female Character: Lae Choo

Topic 3: From a piece of fiction choose a female character on whom to focus, and create a project.

Lae Choo, is a female from the passage, In the Land of the Free, by Edith Maud Easton. I will be focusing on her as a female character and creating a project that will show what the author’s and my attitude are towards her. The project will also discuss two other character’s views of Lae Choo. Lastly, the project will discuss how Lae Choo views herself and give quotes from the passage to support the different views.

In the passage, Lae Choo is a Chinese woman, who was married to her husband, Hom Hing, they lived in San Francisco together. Lae Choo, returned to China to give birth to their child, the Little One. Her husband, Hom Hing stayed in San Francisco and continued to work as a merchant, he owned a store and they lived above it. Lae Choo and her son had stayed in China longer than they expected because Hom Hing’s parents were ill and she needed to take care of them. Hom Hing had never met his son, who was 20 months old. Lae Choo and the Little One arrived under the Golden Gate bridge aboard, Easter Queen. On this day, Hom Hing met his son for the first time and as they were leaving the ship the family was stopped by two men with the initials U.S.C. on their caps. The Little One did not have any papers from Washington allowing him to enter and none of the papers regarding Lae Choo had mentioned anything about a child, because he was not born when they were filed and approved. Against the parents will, they had to hand their son over to the men, until they could get approval from the government to let the child in to the US. It took the couple 10 months to get their son back.

The author’s attitude towards Lae Choo, is that she is a fighter and very strong, however she is also shown to be a victim. “”You, too,” reproached Law Choo in a voice eloquent with pain. But accustomed to obedience she yieled the boy to her husband, who in turned delivered him to the first officer.” (323) In this passage, the image of Lae Choo is of her being a victim of the law, although they had all of the required papers to return from China, no one informed them that they needed approval for the child. Lae Choo is described in the story has a strong woman because her child was taken away, although she was very sad, scared and depressed, she continued to live for her child and do everything she could to get him back in her arms.

My attitude towards Law Choo, is that she loves her son with all of her heart and he is everything to her. The love she has is what helps her through one of the toughest times in her life. “Ah, how could I close my eyes with my arms empty of the little body that has filled them every night for the more than twenty moons! You do not know – man – what it is to miss the feel of the little finger and the little toes… Even in the darkness his darling eyes used to shine up to mine..” (324) “She fell on her knees and stretch her hungry arms towards her son.” (329) Both of these quotes from the passage describe the love Lae Choo has for her son, the Little One. The following quote describes Lae Choo’s love for her child.

A mother’s love for her child is like nothing else in the world. It knows no law, no pity, it dares all things, and crushed down remorselessly all that stand in its path..

-Agatha Christie

The passage describes Hom Hing’s view of his wife as weak and heart broken. This is shown in the story with the following quote. “Her food she takes only when I bed her and her tears fall continually. She finds no pleasure in dress or flowers and cares not to see her friends. He eyes stare all night. I think before another moon she will pass into the land of spirits.” (326). Hom Hing describes his wife as a woman that has lost her reason for living and if she does not get her son, she will die of a broken heart.

The passage describes, James Clancy, the young white lawyer’s, view of Lae Choo as

feeling sad for her and wanting to help, but then he uses his position to take advantage of the couple and the love she has for her son. “It’s not right,” cried the young man indignantly. Then he made his proposition.” (326) “Well, I will need at least five hundred to start with.” (327) “Stop, white man, Stop!” Lae Choo, panting and terrified, had started forward and not stood beside him, clutching his sleeve excitedly.” (327) This quotes from the passage reveal, James Clancy acting like he is set that the couple has not gotten their son back but then he see an opportunity to use take advantage of them and charge them a large amount of money to help get their son back. If he truly and selfishly wanted to help the couple, he could have charged less or nothing at all, or allow them to make payments, instead he had already taken all of their money for the previous letters he wrote to Washington and now he accepted all of Lae Choo’s jewelry as payment. James Clancy is a perfect example of a person that can help another person, however he sees an opportunity and takes advantage of the situation.

Lae Choo views herself as a scared and strong woman, and knows that the love for her child will bring him back to her. The passage started with Lae Choo being scared to hand her son over to the men on the boat because she did not know what was going to happen and how her son was going to be taken care of, but the idea that it would only be for a night and obeying the law is why she let him go. The next day he did not come home and for the 10 months he was away she was scare she would never see him again. However, the love for her child keep her pushing and being willing to give up anything that she had to get him back.

Lae Choo can be viewed in many different ways by many different people and depending on who the person is, they can each see her differently. 

References:
The Literature of California, Volume 1, Hicks, Houston, Kingston, Young, In the Land of the Free, by Edith Maud Easton pg 321-329
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Week 10, Reading Notes A, Mori

The Woman Who Makes Swell Doughnuts by Toshio Mori, is a story of an elderly woman.

“..she has lived her life: given birth to six children, worked side by side with her man for forty years, working in the fields, working in the house, caring for the grandchildren..” pg 584

“.. all that could be for her no was to sit and be served: duty done, work done, time clock punched; old-age security; easy chair; soft serene hours till death take her.” pg 584

“And I think it would be a shame to talk of her doughnuts after she is dead, after she is formless.” pg 585

I enjoyed reading this story of a woman, who is the neighborhood, “Mama”. She is described as a woman that has lived her life to it’s fullest and still wants to please others. She does this by the delish doughnuts she makes fresh for her visitors. The visitor then shares how she makes him feel and even though they may not always speak they know and understand what they are thinking. The visitor also says that he wants to talk about her doughnuts now and not wait until she has died because people should know how good they are.

So many times in life we don’t say things to people that we want to such as, thank you, tell them why they are special or important to us, then the time may come when they die or something happens to them. So many times people have regrets because they didn’t get to say what they wanted to for many different reasons. It can even be something that is bothering you and you are fearful that it may cause an argument, but you should have the conversation because it might end up being a good and positive thing. This is a great example, that you should always say the things you have to say or feel because there may come a time that it is too late and those words are lost.

Project Action Plan , Week 9, Lae Choo from In the Land of the Free

Topic 3: From a piece of fiction choose a female character on whom to focus, and create a project.

From a piece of fiction (short story, section of novel, or a play) choose a female character on whom to focus, and create a project that discusses some of the following questions: 

• What is the author’s attitude towards her? (how can you tell?)
• What is your attitude towards her? 
• How do (at least 2) other characters view her? 
• How does she view herself?

The female character I am choosing for my project is Lae Choo from the passage, In the Land of the Free, by Edith Maud Easton.

In the passage, Lae Choo is a Chinese woman, who was married to her husband, Hom Hing, they lived in San Francisco, Lae Choo, returned to China to give birth to their child, the Little One. Her husband, Hom Hing stayed in San Francisco and continued to work as a merchant, he owned a store and they lived above it. Lae Choo and her son had stayed in China longer than they expected because Hom Hing’s parents were ill and she needed to take care of them. Hom Hing had never met his son, who was 20 months old. Lae Choo and The Little One arrived under the Golden Gate bridge aboard, Easter Queen. Hom Hing met his son and as they were leaving the ship the family was stopped by two men with the initials U.S.C. on their caps. The Little One did not have any papers and none of the papers about Lae Choo had mentioned anything about a child, because he was not born when the papers were filed. Against the parents will they had to hand their son over to the men, until they could get approval from the government to let the child in to the US. It took the couple 10 months to get their son back.

The author’s attitude towards Lae Choo, is that she is a fighter and very strong, however she is also shown to be a victim.

My attitude towards Law Choo, is that she loves her son so much, that it is the love she has that helps her through one of the toughest times in her life.

The passage describes Hom Hing’s view of his wife as weak and heart broken. This is shown in the story with the following quote. “Her food she takes only when I bed her and her tears fall continually. She finds no pleasure in dress or flowers and cares not to see her friends. He eyes stare all night. I think before another moon she will pass into the land of spirits.” pg 326.

The passage describes, James Clancy, the young white lawyer’s, view of Lae Choo as

feeling sad for her and wanting to help, but then he uses his position to take advantage of the couple and the love of Lae Choo’s love for her son.

Lao Choo views herself as a very scared woman, but knows that the love for her child will bring him back to her.