COMPREHENSION
Who was invited to dinner?
Amy's crush, Robert, and his family.
What is the point of the view of the story?
-first
-narrator is author, Amy Tan
"...Tofu, which looked like stacked wedges of rubbery white sponges."
simile
She was pulling black veins out of the backs of fleshy PRAWNS.
shrimp
What made Amy feel worried and upset?
She found out her crush, Robert, was coming for dinner.
What is the setting of the story?
-California
-Christmas Eve
"A slimy rock cod with bulging eyes that pleaded not to be thrown into a pan."
Personification
The kitchen was littered with APPALLING mounds of raw food ...
disgusting, shocking, alarming
What made Amy want to disappear?
Her father plucked out the soft meat of the fish below the eye and offered it to Amy saying, "Amy, your favorite."
What does the tweed skirt symbolize?
American culture
Dinner threw me deeper into despair.
alliteration
And then they arrived — the minister’s family and all my relatives in a CLAMOR of doorbells and rumpled Christmas packages.
shouting, uproar, loud noise
What did Amy Tan's mother mean when she said to Amy, "Your only shame is to have shame"?
Her mother is attempting to point out that Amy should not be embarrassed about her culture.
Name the external conflict AND internal conflict in the story?
INTERNAL: Amy is worried what Robert will think of her, and she is ashamed of how her family behaves.
EXTERNAL: Amy wants to be more American, but her mother wants her to be proud of being Chinese.
What is the meaning behind the title?
One of Amy's favorite foods.
My relatives murmured with pleasure when my mother brought out the whole steamed fish. Robert GRIMACED.
frowned, sneered, to make a face of disgust
Amy Tan is looking back on this experience as an adult. Which word would best describe the overall tone of this piece?
Reflective - she is reflecting what she now understands about that experience.
What was the lesson Mrs. Tan wanted her daughter to learn AND when did Amy learn her mother's lesson?
-Be proud of who you are.
-Many years after she got over her crush on Robert.
How does the narrator's point of view affect how the events are described in the passage?
She is embarrassed by her family's Chinese customs, and this shame influences how she describes the food and her family's behavior.
What does it mean when Amy says, "Robert was looking down at his plate with a reddened face."
Robert was embarrassed.