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    Strangers and Villages

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    The document discusses the concepts of village and stranger, and provides an excerpt from the story "Double Face" by Amy Tan. In the excerpt: 1. Lindo Jong tells her daughter Waverly that even if she dresses in Chinese clothes and removes her makeup, people in China will know she is an outsider based on how she walks and carries herself. 2. Waverly wants to blend in with Chinese culture, but Lindo says the only Chinese her daughter knows are a few basic words. 3. Lindo reflects that while Waverly has Chinese skin and hair, her character was shaped by American culture and upbringing.

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    Strangers and Villages

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    api-452382971
    58 views3 pages
    The document discusses the concepts of village and stranger, and provides an excerpt from the story "Double Face" by Amy Tan. In the excerpt: 1. Lindo Jong tells her daughter Waverly that even if she dresses in Chinese clothes and removes her makeup, people in China will know she is an outsider based on how she walks and carries herself. 2. Waverly wants to blend in with Chinese culture, but Lindo says the only Chinese her daughter knows are a few basic words. 3. Lindo reflects that while Waverly has Chinese skin and hair, her character was shaped by American culture and upbringing.

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    strangers and villages

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    The document discusses the concepts of village and stranger, and provides an excerpt from the story "Double Face" by Amy Tan. In the excerpt: 1. Lindo Jong tells her daughter Waverly that even if she dresses in Chinese clothes and removes her makeup, people in China will know she is an outsider based on how she walks and carries herself. 2. Waverly wants to blend in with Chinese culture, but Lindo says the only Chinese her daughter knows are a few basic words. 3. Lindo reflects that while Waverly has Chinese skin and hair, her character was shaped by American culture and upbringing.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    58 views3 pages

    Strangers and Villages

    Uploaded by

    api-452382971
    The document discusses the concepts of village and stranger, and provides an excerpt from the story "Double Face" by Amy Tan. In the excerpt: 1. Lindo Jong tells her daughter Waverly that even if she dresses in Chinese clothes and removes her makeup, people in China will know she is an outsider based on how she walks and carries herself. 2. Waverly wants to blend in with Chinese culture, but Lindo says the only Chinese her daughter knows are a few basic words. 3. Lindo reflects that while Waverly has Chinese skin and hair, her character was shaped by American culture and upbringing.

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    1. Brainstorm connotative synonyms for and words related to ​village​.

    2. What does it mean to be part of the group encountering the unfamiliar--to be part of the
    village​?

    3. Brainstorm connotative synonyms for and words related to ​stranger​.

    ​
    4. What does it mean to be the unfamiliar one, the ​stranger?

    5. As you read the following excerpt, mark the text for ways in which the two characters are
    either strangers or part of a village. Be prepared to discuss your markings.

    Lindo Jong: Double Face from ​The Joy Luck Club

    by​ Amy Tan

    My daughter wanted to go to China for her second honeymoon, but now she is afraid.

    “What if I blend in so well they think I’m one of them?” Waverly asked me. “What if they

    don’t let me come back to the United States?”

    “When you go to China,” I told her, “you don’t even need to open your mouth. They already

    know you are an outsider.”

    “What are you talking about?” she asked. My daughter likes to speak back. She likes to

    question what I say.

    “Aii-ya,” I said. “Even if you put on their clothes, even if you take off your makeup and hide

    your fancy jewelry, they know. They know just watching the way you walk, the way you carry your

    face. They know you do not belong.”


    My daughter did not look pleased when I told her this, that she didn’t look Chinese. She had

    a sour American look on her face. Oh, maybe ten years ago, she would have clapped her

    hands—hurray!—as if this were good news. But now she wants to be Chinese, it is so fashionable.

    And I know it is too late. All those years I tried to teach her! She followed my Chinese ways only until

    she learned how to walk out the door by herself and go to school. So now the only Chinese words she

    can say are ​shsh, houche, chr fan,​ and ​gwan deng shweijyau​. How can she talk to people in China

    with these words? Pee-pee, choo-choo train, eat, close light sleep.

    How can she think she can blend in? ​Only her skin and her hair are Chinese. Inside—she is

    all American-made.

    It’s my fault she is this way. I wanted my children to have the best combination: American

    circumstances and Chinese character. How could I know these two things do not mix?

    I taught her how American circumstances work. If you are born poor here, it’s no lasting

    shame. You are first in line for a scholarship. If the roof crashes on your head, no need to cry over

    this bad luck. You can sue anybody, make the landlord fix it. You do not have to sit like a Buddha

    under a tree letting pigeons drop their dirty business on your head. You can buy an umbrella. Or go

    inside a Catholic church. In America, nobody says you have to keep the circumstances somebody else

    gives you.

    She learned these things, but I couldn’t teach her about Chinese character. How to obey

    parents and listen to your mother’s mind. How not to show your own thoughts, to put your feelings

    behind your face so you can take advantage of hidden opportunities. Why easy things are not worth

    pursuing. How to know your own worth and polish it, never flashing it around like a cheap ring. Why

    Chinese thinking is best.

    No, this kind of thinking didn’t stick to her: She was too busy chewing gum, blowing bubbles

    bigger than her cheeks. Only that kind of thinking stuck.

    “Finish your coffee,” I told her yesterday. “Don’t throw your blessings away.”

    “Don’t be so old-fashioned, Ma,” she told me, finishing her coffee down the sink. “I’m my

    own person.”
    And I think, How can she be her own person? When did I give her up?

    6. In each of the following clips, how does the main character differ from the village around
    him/her? How does the filmmaker set the “stranger” apart from the “village” in each clip
    (consider clothing, dialogue/language, cinematic technique, music, etc.)?

    Lawrence of Arabia

    Mean Girls

    Bend It Like Beckham

    7. Brainstorm a list of other films, TV shows, or novels that explore a related conflict (stranger in
    the village). In each, who is the “stranger” and who or what is the “village”?

    8. Why is this archetype (a story pattern that appears across cultures) so common in literature
    and film?

    8. Quickwrite:​ Think about a time when you were excluded or treated like a stranger. What
    were your feelings at the time? How did you respond? In what ways did that event shape or
    change you as an individual? Write about that time: examine the experience of being
    treated like a stranger, explain how you responded or felt at that time, and reflect on the
    ways in which that event has shaped your life.

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