The Jade Peonyby Wayson Choy (Inside Stories for Senior Students)

The Jade Peonyby Wayson Choy (Inside stories for Senior Students)

Background:Wayson Choy was born in 1939 and attended UBC. This story is about the generational gap between grandparent and child of an immigrant family to Vancouver and the meaning of being a “hyphenated reality”.

Pre-discussion/pre-writing:

• Tell about a grandparent or relative who is a “character”. What makes them so unique? Does he or she run into conflict with other family members or neighbors?

OR

• If you are a new immigrant to Canada, what was the hardest part of making the transition to Canadian culture?

Reading Skill: Connecting andquestioning. Use stickies to record your thinking and your questioning.

Questions:

Text driven questions to help understand the story on a surface level:

1. Why are all the family members holding their breath?

1. What is the Jade Peony and why is it so precious to the grandmother?

1. What do grandmamma and Sek-Lung do that embarrasses the family?

1. Father and the older children have a conversation about learning Mandarin Chinese. How does this conversation connect with other parts of the story?

Deeper questions that extend understanding:

1. Why does Grandmamma continue to make the wind chimes, which cause so much dissension in the family?

1. There is two conflicts (problems) in this story. Explain them both. Are the conflicts resolved by the end of the story?

1. What does the Jade Peony symbolize to the grandmother? What does it mean to the protagonist?
2. Consider the various references to colour in the story. What do you think they mean?

1. Is grandmamma a dynamic or static character? Explain why you chose this answer. Hint: Your answer is reflected in the theme.

1. According to the short story terminology, what is the point of view? Why do you think the author chose this point of view?

1. What is the theme statement? Topic+ treatment= result

1. Change the theme statement into an inquiry question.

Post-writing:

Look at one of inquiry question we created for “The Name Jar”. Does this story (Jade Peony) answer any or part of the question? Answer it.

OR

What are your thoughts about fitting into a new culture? Have you had to do this before? Have you travelled to a country that is very different to our own? Explain.