Lee,+Soojin+Andrew

andrew's outline

In what way is a daughter the “American Translation” of her mother? Choose a mother/ daughter pair and discuss

Pair: Lindo and Waverly Jong

Mother’s traits are passed down to her offspring. To that product of a mother’s, if different kind of ‘nurture’ is applied, the child would be a translation of a mother into an another society. Lindo and Waverly Jong demonstrate such in Amy Tan’s novel The Joy Luck Club. Both face similar hardships and difficulties, such as marriage, however their methods of coping differ because of their different background. Lindo moves toward her goal with careful tact while Waverly advanced with more recklessness.

Lindo, with her Chinese character and tact, escapes the havoc wisely. After the first failure of her attempt to blow the candle, She critically pin pointed the weakness of Chinese customs and backs her statement with undeniable evidences. She uses the fear of the downfall of family and reasoning from a divine being, which are “our ancestors” in dreams, as she knew that would definitely trigger Huang Taitai, the mother-in-law’s to go “what signs?” despite her antipathy towards Lindo (III, 61). As a result she successfully gets out of her trouble, but her daugher, Waverly, is in a little bit different situation.

Like Lindo, Waverly Jong uses brain to achieve what she wants. She uses lifesavers, instead of made up stories about ancestors, to get a chance to play chess. However, she is raised in American style. Unlike her mom who has been disciplined strictly as traditional Chinese woman, Waverly is more free and her amygdala is more likely to take over her decisions which makes Waverly more childish compared to Lindo. Lindo describes Waverly as “didn’t look Chinese” (XV, 288). Waverly quits Chess because she is tired of Lindo bragging, which is a typical American tactics for rebelling against parents. However Lindo was one step higher--she was a Chinese parent, a typical authoritarian type. Also when Waverly tries to introduce Rich to Lindo, her carefully planned event of dining in Four Directions fail because of cultural difference.

If Waverly had an American mother, she would have been as successful with her plans as much as Lindo. There were too many extraneous factors for Waverly, for she is a member of a new generation; she had no prior knowledge of her opponent. Waverly just resembles her mother, they both use careful planning to deceive and entice others into traps, but Waverly is more careless due to her American characteristics imbued which is exaggerated by her Chinese mom Lindo.

Sungwoo - Andrew remember to think about keeping a parallel tense. For example keeping things plural when they need to and not shifting from past to present inconsistently. Your transitions from idea to idea as well as from paragraph to paragraph. Your ideas seem valid and are a good argument, but while I was reading, I noticed that you don’t have that many hard evidences that support your ideas. I think you should look for more quotes that would support your essay. For example, include quotes from the scene of Waverly taking her brother’s room or Lindo escaping from her marriage. Also, include more details and explanations as to what is Waverly’s characteristics, since that is one of your main points.

John Lee I think you are saying something different in each of your paragraphs. But it seems the paragraphs do not link, but a fact. So improve on your transitional sentences. However, your idea is very good and your example, exactly fit the situation that you are describing.

Won-Jin Chang

Andrew I really like your essay. It's is very organized and I think you have some skills in writing. Although you need more supports. Also when you mentioned "If Waverly had an American mother, she would have been as successful with her plans as much as Lindo.", this was not clear enough to understand. Also I am not sure if this quote support your idea (“didn’t look Chinese” (XV, 288).) because Waverly's figure looks more American than other native Chinese, but it doesn't mean she is not a Chinese. You should find a quote, which can be related to moral differences(like cultural difficulties). Overall, it's looking good, you just need more supports from the book.