English 346 Fall 2002

Responses to presentations on The Joy Luck Club October 7 2002

Personally, I found the most interesting presentation to be the first one,
where the various links to food are explored throughout the book. It's made
very clear at the beginning of the novel that cooking is one of the most
important traditional aspects of a Chinese woman's life, and this theme is
linked back to countless times throughout the story. One especially
interesting aspect of the presentation was how she linked food to the very
structure of the book. The idea of the wontons, an appetizer, being presented
at the beginning of the book was something I hadn't considered. It's possible
that this theme continues throughout, with the larger "main courses" in the
middle two sections and looping around to "dessert" at the end, though I have
not had an opportunity to look into this.

-Michael Bunting

I thought that the presentation on fortune cookies was interesting and well
informed. The presentor took something as small as a cookie and revealed its
wierd history and also provided good visual and edible aides.

Kimberly Masculine

The presentation that I most liked was the one from Brian about the Mah
Jongg game. I found it interesting that he chose to research the rules of
the game and incorporate them with the book. The setup of the book is
greatly related to the game, it almost seems like the book is centered upon
the game. He made valid and interesting points about their connections.
Well done.

--Jaime Stevens

All the presentations were interesting. I really like the presentations done
by Brian and Megan. I like the way Brian explain the structure of the book and
how it related to the game "mah jong." It made sense to me after he finished
his explanations. The way Amy Tan structure all the chapters and all the
characters in the book to the game makes you think that their lives were like a
game for them. All of the characters had different directions but they all
took the decision or were forced to go west to a country they thought would
make them win something. Another important point Brian made was how the game
was Americanized just like the daughters in the book. Also,I like Megan's
presentation because she did some research about the fortune cookies. It is
something new that I learned. She did a good job relating the cookies to a
section in the book.

Alma Ramirez

I'm responding to the presentation, "What's in a Name",
unfortunately I do not know the name of the presenter.
This was an excellent, and beautifully pieced together presentation. The
presenter brought out numerous interesting points about the characters' names
that I had not noticed previously. For instance, her explanation of how
June's, June's sisters', and June's mother's names intertwined with one
another was quite fascinating. Again, this was an excellent presentation.

Chris Vaughan

I enjoyed each presentation and I felt each student did a wonderful job with
their presentations.
I connected Megan's essay, "What's In A Name" and found this story to be
moving for me. Sayuan Woo's story when she lived in China, and she left
her twin baby girls by the side of the road, hoping that someone would find
them and care for them. I found this story to be very moving for me, and I
enjoyed the happy ending to the story, as June Woo goes to China to finally
meet her two sisters.
I also enjoyed Elisa's presentation about wontons and the books never ending
description of food in general.
While reading this book, I found myself at a Chinese restaurant twice, as if
the from the pages came wonderful smells of delicious foods that I had to
enjoy for myself.
I am looking forward to the next set of presentations!

Elaine Genasci

I felt that Elisa's presentation was good, not only by what she
said but also by the taste of her wontons. She chose to center her
presentation on fried wontons, a Chinese Appetizer. She chose this
since it was included in the opening scene of the book. The Joy Luck
Club repeatedly had scenes in which food was talked about. The
different meal scenes were an attribute of showing the complexity
within the book. Elisa said a statement in which I didn't totally
catch, but I believe she said something to the lines of, "Life, like a
meal, can be more complicated as different dishes are served." This
statement that she said definitely caught my attention.
The last presentation by presentation was also interesting for
it's own reason. First off, Brian did something that no other presenter
did, this was introducing himself before he began. Once he did this he
explained the game of MahJong, in particular how the game was so
closely related to the story. Not only was the game in the story but
there were more resemblances. First, the book had four ladies in which
each had four stories, which gave a total of 16 stories. In MahJong you
play 16 games and also you need four players. Secondly, to win at
MahJong you need to have four sets and one pair from the various tiles,
these numbers represent the four daughters and the twins that were in
the story. So in this way Brian explained how the set up of the book
was very similar of the setup of MahJong.

Alex Siegel

I was really impressed with all of the presentations that I saw today because I
think that people put a lot of effort in to their projects. I would have to say
that the one presentation that sticks out in my mind is Lisa's and her won tons
and I am not just saying this because I love won tons. I really enjoyed
listening to the parts of the story that she read aloud because she picked some
funny parts. I also liked the way she used food to relate
the relationships in the book and also how food has to do with the
relationships we deal with in real life. I really think that people try to give
their love in food instead of showing it in other ways.

Sandy Hansen

I really enjoyed both the fortune cookie presentation as well as the Mah Jongg
presentation because of the presenter's ability to tie in the major theme of
an immigrant's difficulty of living in America while keeping his/her culture
from the country of origin. In the fortune cookie presentation, the presenter
illustrated this nicely through her example of the history of the fortune
cookie stemming from ancient Chinese culture, but being developed in America.
American's associate this cookie with Chinese culture, when in reality it is
extremely Americanized. This same theme was illustrated nicely by the
presenter of the game Mah Jongg. He demonstrated how the game originated in
China, but was adapted so as to be played in America. This demonstrates
nicely the difficulty Chinese immigrants have in choosing what traditions to
keep or change when living in this new culture.

Meghan MacDougall

The presentation that I found to be most intriguing was the one concerning
the Chinese names. The way she connected the Woo family members through their
names really hit home for me. This is an idea that I hadn't given much
thought to until her presentation, but it really makes a lot of sense after
some contemplation. All of the character's in the book received their names
for specific reasons, which were unique to them, and which were also an
important aspect in their journey through life. I felt it was a very
insightful and interesting way to connect the families in the book, while
keeping true to the overall idea of an interconnectedness between the
different families, and their Chinese heritage

. -James Cole

Pennie Tovar's Response to the Fried Wonton Presentation:

I thoroughly enjoyed the fried wonton presentation, and not just because she
enticed me with her tofu wontons! I thought that it was very interesting the
way she tied together her food presentation with the book. I agreed with what
she said about the appetizers being precusors to a meal, just like the
preambles were precursors to the stories: both entice us to go on further,
making us hungry for more. I felt that the passages she chose to read were
very relevant, especially the one where An-mei is effortlessly folding the
wontons; I definently had a clear visual in my mind of her making all these
wontons for us. The one about Rich pouring the riverful of soy sauce on
Lindo's cooking was also very funny! Another very insightful point she made
was when she drew the connection between a full course meal and the book,
itself. She said that a meal can be hard to digest when there is too much
variety, and this is the same with the variety among the women and daughters
of Joy Luck. Each one mother-daughter relationship has a separate side to her
story, and with all these conflicting views and different perspectives the
mothers and daughters oftentimes find themselves butting heads with one
another. So, in this sense, the diversities among the mothers' and daughters'
upbring make it difficult for them to come to terms with one another and,
therefore, swallow eachother's views.

I found the Fourth presentation today to be the most interesting to me. I
do not remember the name of the girl who did it, but she was the one
who read her paper "What's In A Name?" aloud to us.
This was because I felt that she made strong connections with the
names of the Woo family to those Chinese name traditions that Amy Tan
discusses throughout the novel. Probably the most interesting to me
was that connection to the two daughters that Suyuan left behind in
China and how they were both named after the spring. It is in this scene
where June also finds out the meaning to her name and her mothers
name and she feels a connection with what her mother has left behind
and with how her father looks at her mother. I never picked out the
importance of this scene in particular untill the presentation today and
that's why I found it so important.
-Erica Strohmeier

Cheryl Welker
presentation #1

Responding to Brian's presentation, I felt that the game tied in with the
way the book was written and the characteristics of the stories and the
mentalities of each character. It is so interesting how she never explained
the game of Mah Jonggin the literal sense, but she did it by telling a
story. I do agree that life is like a game, there are rules, relationships,
and it is a constant battle. But while you might win a game of Mah Jongg,
do you ever really "win" the game of life? Does Amy Tan mean to simplify
life into a game? rian gave excellent insight to where the mothers and
daughters were coming from. Reflecting what he said about Mah Jongg
originating in China and changing when the American version came about. It
made me think about what is lost when your version of life or your version
of the game changes.

I found the presentation by Brian Imhoff to be particularly interesting. I
thought it was clever of him to draw the connection between the game of Mah
Jongg and the theme of The Joy Luck Club. I was impressed by the points he
brought up to make his case, such as the game of four players being parallel to
the four women in the club, who have fours daughters among them. He even
noticed there being 16 stories in the book and 16 games in Mah Johgg. Most
astounding of all was his concept of a winning hand including four sets and a
pair, the pair being the two sisters of Jing-Mei Woo.
Brian was natural in his presentation and made good use of visual aides with
the chalk board. His was by far my favorite on The Joy Luck Club.

Samantha Yale

During Megan's presentation on her essay, "What's in a Name?" I was very
interested in the way Jing-Mei is torn between her American side and her
Chinese side on how to interpret her name. The part of her that is American
believes that it is her responsibility to make sure that the meaning of her
name comes true in her life. However, the Chinese custom says that she doesn't
have to do anything, because no matter what she does, her name will fufill
itself in life.

-Megan Walzberg

I thought all of the presentations were very good. Especially since they
were the first group which is always hard. I liked the essay about the
Chinese names, it was interesting. Also the story about where fortune
cookies originated was interesting to learn about.

Jamie Crosson

I thought Brian’s presentation was very creative and unique. Essentially
mah jong was what brought these women together. The game became a large part
of the framework in this book. June was replacing her mother on the table,
as she was replacing her in real life by becoming a mother herself. Although
mah jong was very important to the book, it was never explained or talked
about in detail. This was something I over looked and never questioned.
However, Brian provided many examples of how the two were closely related. I
felt his last point was the strongest. The game ends when someone obtains
four sets and a pair, and the book ended in the same fashion. The four sets
of mother-daughters and Suyuan’s twins. Amy Tan used the twins as very
symbolic characters. Megan helped to show that their characters were well
thought out. Even though they only had a small part they were important.

In the book, the subject of food was found throughout. Alisa did a great job presenting the way food related to quite a few situations in the book. Such as dinner at Waverly's mother's house and the comments Rich made connected to the food. I thought Alisa's presentation was great!

Emma Cuskelly

Aurea Dominguez

The history of the fortune cookie is really interesting. Little did I know a
little moon cake could be used as a weapon to fend off the Mongol's. I think
the fortune cookie is a symbol of the mothers in Joy Luck Club. They are hard
and rigid on the outside, but are filled with valuable lessons about life.

Nathan Mole

All the presentations were very interesting. The presenters were creative and they used examples from the book. I liked Brandon's presentation because it gave me a better understanding about the Man Jongg game. This was the first time I heard
about this game and I didn't know anything about it, but know I have an idea of what it is and the basics of it. The way he related the game to the whole story was helpfull to understand the relationship between them.

Raquel Villalpando

Greg Blevins

I liked the two presentations with food. Both of them touched on a very relevant theme of the book. However, the Half and Half presentation was well
prepared and full of enthusiasm about the topic. He provided a nice summary of the chapter and touched on the primary theme,
faith vs. fate. Well, done! It takes a lot of courage to speak in front of the class. Can't wait for my turn.

Glenn Matthews

Responding to the presentations from Monday, I really enjoyed all of the presentations. They were all very interesting and fun. The one presentation that I was drawn
to was by Gufran Vanjara. I really enjoyed this presentation. It was very informative about "half and half" and I really liked his look on the faith/fate issue. I agree
that the mother was never religious except for show, and this is probably what did her in in the end. Well, good job to all the presenters for going first and giving
ideas to all the presenters to follow.

Pamela Gonnella

I really enjoyed the presentation on fortune cookies. It went beyond the book and actually gave us some useful Jeopardy-like information. The passages read aloud were hilarious and well chosen. I think its funny to hear how someone that does not fully understand a language try and translate sayings unique to a particular culture or language.

Brian Appiano

Of the presentation I found to be most interesting to me was Brian's. I found
that the game “mah jong” really did apply to the book if unintentionally or
intentionally by Amy Tan. The game in many aspects as presented by Brian
represents the life struggles of the women in the book. In all reality isn't
life in one-way or another a game. Life is the ultimate game with rules,
winners, losers, and eventually an end. I was really impressed with all the
presentations and I respect their courage to break the ice and volunteer to go
first, great job to all the presenters.

Michael Becerra