Reading Amy Tan’s The Joy Luck Club
Instructor: Ildikó Limpár
Week 1: September 12 Introduction
Week 2: September 19
Jing-mei Woo: “The Joy Luck Club”
Presentation topic #1: on the importance of the Five Elements theory
Week 3: September 26
Mar 2An-mei Hsu: “Scar”;
Presentation topic #2: on ancestor veneration and on Chinese ghosts
Week 4: October 3
Lindo Jong: “The Red Candle”
Presentation topic #3: on the importance of the Chinese horoscope
Week 5: October 10
Ying-ying St. Clair: “The Moon Lady”
Structure of the first section
Presentation topic #4: on the importance of the yin-yang
Week 6: October 17
Lena St. Clair: “The Voice from the Wall”
Presentation topic #5: on the importance of the Feng Shui (building and furniture)
Presentation topic #6: on the idea of the American Dream (for the stories on week 7)
Week 7: October 24
Mar 16Waverly Jong: “Rules of the Game”;
Jing-mei Woo: “Two Kinds”
Week 8: October 31 – Autumn break
Week 9: November 7
Rose Hsu Jordan: “Half and Half”
Structure of the second structure
Presentation topic#7: on Chinese religious beliefs
Week 10: November 14
Lena St. Clair: “Rice Husband”;
Waverly Jong: “Four Directions”
Week 11: November 21
Rose Hsu Jordan: “Without Wood”
Jing-Mei Woo: “Best Quality”
Structure of the third section
Week 12: November 28
An-mei Hsu: “Magpies”
Ying-ying St. Clair: “Waiting Between the Trees”
Week 13: December 5
Lindo Jong: “Double Face”
Jing-mei Woo: “A Pair of Tickets”
Week 14: December 13 Evaluation
Course requirements:
- Active participation in class. Please note that being late for more than 10 minutes counts as missing half the class. You may be absent from 3 seminars.
- Reading the pieces to be discussed and bringing a copy of the prepared texts and your notes to class.
- Handing in all the required written assignments in time. The written assignments are as follows:
For each story to be discussed during the course, I'll mark a few sentences that I find important and will make it accessible to you on the department homepage.
- 3 short homework assignments (1): you need to select one of my choices in the case of 3 stories and explain in 2-3 sentences what significance of those sentences have in the stories. You need to be present in the class in which the story you worked with is discussed. (2): in the same stories, select 2 more sentences that you find important and explain in 2-3 sentences what significance of each of your chosen sentences has in the stories. You need to send these short homework texts as an attached document via email to ntil 6 p. m. Wednesday in each case, that is, the day before the class takes place.
- 2 short essays: in 2 more stories, choose 1 (or 2 connected) sentence(s) that you especially find important and explain their significances in more detail, in mini-essays of about 3 pages. (You may choose from the sentences that I mark, but you may choose something else, too.) You need to use 2 scholarly secondary sources for one of the essays. You may hand in one of the essays without using secondary literature; but if you use sources, you may always indicate them properly. (Use the MLA parenthetical citation style.) Note that plagiarism results in failing the course. You need to hand in at least one of the essays before the autumn break. You need to email the essays to
◦All written assignments must be handed in before the discussion of the specific literary works.
◦Use double space, 12 pt., Times New Roman, normal margins of cc. 2 cms.
◦Make sure your essay has a thesis in the introductory paragraph, for which you present sufficient support in the supporting paragraphs, leading you to a conclusion in the last paragraph.
- 1 oral presentation: oral presentations (of about 15 minutes) are assigned for pairs that work out together the material and produce together the slides for the presentation. Pair work, discussion of the presentation and preparation will take place in a closed Facebook group, where I can keep track of your activity and labor division. In order to do so, you need to mark me as “friend” on FB. Please do so soon after our first class. You need to present your topic together, sharing not only preparation but oral performance, as well. If, for some reason, one of you may not be present in the class where the presentation is due, it will be a one-person presentation. The person who missed the presentation must hand in 2 more short homework assignments to compensate for his or her absence. Timing of the presentation may not be moved, for they are connected to the stories to be discussed afterward.
The final mark depends on:
- Essays: 40%; Short written assignments: 20%; Oral presentation: 20% Active class work: 20%.
- Please note that the above indicated percentages indicate only a general guideline in evaluation, as I do not make an exact mathematical calculation. When evaluating your essays, I'll consider content, structure and formal requirements (of source indication), as well.