Literary Elements
Where does the story take place?
Chinatown, Sacramento, California (assume 1960's)
How would you describe the narrator?
Independent, irresponsible, depressed, unhappy, rebellious
What is a prodigy?
Someone who is extremely gifted
What is a personal pronoun?
A personal pronoun, takes the place of a noun or several nouns, named elsewhere in the text, referring to a specific person or thing.
What year did the mother move from China to America?
1949
The hairstylist cut the narrators hair to make her look like who?
Peter Pan
What is one thing the mother hopes for the daughter?
To have a special talent.
Which word in the sentence is a common noun? We need to pack up our things and be on our way to school.
School
What point of view is this story told?
First person point of view
Who is Old Chong?
The deaf piano teacher
What are the three things the narrator's mother wanted her to be?
An actress, on TV and a pianist?
Which word in this sentence is a possessive noun? Keisha and Dashawn liked Sam’s singing, but Taylor liked my piano playing.
Sam's
What did the narrator do to the piano at the end of the story?
She played the same song she did as a child.
Who is Waverly?
A "friend" of the narrator's whom she does not like very well.
Who was the only person that clapped at the piano recital?
Old Chong
Which words in the sentence contains both a common noun and a proper noun? Sara was tired of trying to please her demanding mother.
Sara and mother
How was the mother at the end of the story?
The mother had changed and was nicer.
Which trait does the mother and daughter both share?
Stubborn
Why does the narrator become angry with herself in the bathroom?
She realizes that this is something that she does not want to do and her mother is making her into something she is not.
Which word in the sentence is the personal noun and the pronoun? Most people call Misha a prodigy, but I think his sister has more talent.
I is the personal noun and Misha is a pronoun.