The Joy LuckClubGroup Essay

LOGISTICS:

Choosing a Topic: One group from each class to choose each topic. Discuss with your group several options that would be acceptable to you. The first group to request a topic gets it.

Writing Process: You will use Google Docs to collaborate on this essay; therefore, everyone in your group must have a Google account before writing begins.

Assignment Value: The essay will count for two grades.

Division of Labor: I can adjust grades based on individual contribution to the overall product. Google Docs will allow me to verify what each student has written.

Schedule:Tuesday, November 14 – half a class period

Wednesday, November – half a class period

Thursday, November – half a class period

Friday, November – half a class period; due at the end of class

TOPIC OPTIONS:

  1. The Joy Luck Club and Gender: The Joy Luck Club is told from the perspectives of eight different characters, all female. What unique challenges do these characters face because of their gender? How are they able to overcome those challenges? (*Hint – look for patterns in the challenges they face and how they overcome them – don’t list eight separate issues.) Compare and contrast the challenges they face in China with those they face in the United States.
  2. The Joy Luck Club and “The American Dream”: “The American Dream” refers to the idea that anything is possible in the United States. What do the mothers in the older generation hope and imagine they will find when they arrive in the U.S.? How is the reality different from what they expected? What are the differences in how the mothers’ generation and how the daughters’ generation think of the American Dream?
  3. The Joy Luck Club and Parenting: Each of the mother-daughter relationships in the book is fraught with conflict and misunderstanding. What wisdom does the book have about what it means to be a good parent? Consider the excerpt we read from The Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother in your discussion.
  4. The Joy Luck Club and Myth: At the beginning of each of the four sections of the book, the author includes a myth. What is the function of those myths? (What do they add to the story?) How is this novel similar to the Odyssey?(How might the author of The Joy Luck Club have been influenced by the Odyssey?) How can we see a Hero’s Journey in the plot?
  5. The Joy Luck Club and Language: In our study of the Odyssey, we discussed the origins of the word “barbarian”; it was a term for anyone who did not speak Greek (the Greeks thought all languages other than Greek sounded like “bar-bar-bar”). Over time, the term “barbarian” developed the connotation of someone who was uncivilized and an outsider. How are the mothers in the older generation viewed as outsiders because of their language? What communication is “lost in translation” between the mothers and the daughters? What factors play into the daughters’ generations’ decisions to use American or Chinese names? And how does language shape the way that the different characters think and act?
  6. The Joy Luck Club and Race:Eddie Huang in Fresh Off the Boat: A Memoir writes, “We [Asian-Americans] play into the definitions and stereotypes others impose on us and accept the model-minority myththinking it’s positive, but it’s a trap just like any stereotype. They put a piece of model-minority cheese between the metal jaws of their mousetrap, but we’re lactose intolerant anyway! We can’t even eat the cheese!” What ideas does the author of The Joy Luck Club propose about race and the myth of Asian model-minority status (think particularly about Jing-Mei)? What kinds of challenges do her characters face because of their race, and to what extent are they able to combat those challenges? What wisdom does The Joy Luck Club have about overcoming racial stereotypes?
  7. The Joy Luck Club and Food:Throughout the novel, the author includes detailed descriptions of meals and scenes in which eating is significant. What is the relationship between food, identity, and culture in The Joy Luck Club?
  8. The Joy Luck Club and Elements: The characters in the mothers’ generation often talk about the balance of elements as a component of one’s personality. Do some research on the European medieval concept of “humours” and personality, and compare and contrast that system with the Chinese one as depicted in The Joy Luck Club. Are these systems useful and accurate in describing personality types?
  9. The Joy Luck Club and Ghosts: Over the course of the novel, some characters appear to believe that ghosts from the past can influence the present and the future. How do ghosts – both literal and metaphorical – influence the mothers and the daughters in the stories? How does religion – both Christianity and traditional ancestor veneration – play a role in the characters’ understanding of the afterlife?
  10. The Joy Luck Club and Marriage: Seven of the eight main characters in the book (excluding Jing-Mei) have been married – some more than once. What does marriage mean for both the mothers’ generation and the daughters’? What is the purpose of marriage, according to the novel? What are the differences between a good and bad marriage? How are the symbols and rituals involved in marriage significant?

SPECIFICATIONS

Essay:

Your response should:

  • be double-spaced and typed.
  • be between 750 and 1,000 words.
  • include a heading with the names of all of your group members (in alphabetical order, according to last name), your period, the date of submission, and the word count.
  • include a creative (come up with your own!) title based on the topic.
  • use a professional, legible font in size 11 or 12.
  • start with a thesis, and include several body paragraphs and a concluding sentence.
  • Your introductory paragraph may NOT have a rhetorical question in it.
  • have at least five quotations (including page numbers) as text evidence.
  • use correct grammar and mechanics and professional, academic language.
  • In terms of grammar and mechanics, there are two specific items that I expect you to demonstrate absolute mastery of:
  • capitalization of proper nouns.
  • enclosing punctuation withinquotation marks.