Discussion Questions

          Feathers From A Thousand Li Away

1. What does the swan in the prologue represent?
2. Speculate what happened to the twin daughter. How were they lost?
3. Why were the Joy Luck Club aunties so upset when Jing-Mei didn’t know what to tell people about her mother?
4. Why was there no sadness shown for the loss of Suyan?
5. Why is An-Mei’s mothers name so revolting to her?
6. why was Lindo thought to be owned by the Guangs from such a young age. the wedding was not for years to come. Just because she was said to marry this man is it ethical to be owned by his family.
7. Look at the chapter and section titles for the first section of the book, what do the titles mean in significance to what happens on this section?

          The Twenty-Six Malignant Glass

1. What are the twenty-six malignant gates, and where does the name come from?
2. Are Lindos ways of raising her children stereotypic to Chinese culture?
3. What is the art of invisible strength and does it lead to success?
4. Why didn’t Ying Ying’s family search for her when she fell off the boat and why didn’t they recognize her when she was there?
5. How did’t the four mothers raise their children differently and what were their flaws?
6. Why does Ying Ying criticize her daughter for being so Americanize? that is how she was raised.
7. In the chapter Voices From the Wall what did it mean to be pulled through the wall?
8. Do you think it was wrong for lindo to brag about her daughter, or did Waverly just misunderstand her mothers pride in her daughter's accomplishments?
9. What was the meaning of Ying Ying’s meeting the moon lady?
10. Do you think Waverly's struggles mirror the tragedies of Lindo? is this a statement about the relationship between mother and daughter?

          American Translation

1. What does it mean when she eats the pail of ice cream, and does the ice cream itself hold symbolism?
2. Do you think her mother was right and it truly was her fault that the boy next door died?
3. Why was Leana unhappy with her husband , did her mother set her expectations so low?
4. Why is Lena's mother so picky?
5. Why was Waverley's mother unhappy with her daughters favourite restaurant?
6. Did Waverley's mother poison her marriage?
7. Think about the chapter and section headings to these chapters, what do they mean to the reader and what do they symbolize?

          Queen Mother Of Western Skies

1. What do you think the epilogue of this chapter means?
2. What do you think of the ending to the book? How do you think that Jing-mei was different when she was then and when she was at the beginning of the book?
3. Which generation of women do you like better and? Why?
4. Which generation of women are stronger?
5. What do you think of the parenting in this novel? Which mother did you like best? Which one did you dislike the most?
6. Who transformed in this novel and in what ways did they change?
7. Is there a general attitude towards men in this novel? If so, what do you think the attitude was?
8. If you were Jing-Mei, how well could you explain your mother to two strangers that were her previous children?
9. Which themes do you think were present in this story? Name 3.
10. What do you think of the characters’ feelings toward America? How were Americans portrayed by the characters in this book?