1. FILM & LITERATURE
THE JOY LUCK CLUB

2. Suyuan Woo is the only Joy Luck Club member who doesn’t have a voice in the story. Why is it important that her daughter is the narrator of her story?
Clip 6
TODAY’S JOURNAL (13 Nov)

3. In your group, share the notes you took for the 3nd part of The Joy Luck Club (“Queen Mother of the Western Skies”)
Listen to others’ contributions & feel free to add ideas of your own
Add this task to your discussion:
Discuss the relation of the parable “Queen Mother of the Western Skies” to the stories that follow
LITERATURE CIRCLE

4. Parables in Joy Luck Club
A parable is a simple story that gives a lesson.
Each section of Joy Luck Club organized around a theme and beginning with a parable:
“Feathers from a Thousand Miles (Li) Away”
Mothers’ stories of their own respective past
Ambition; intergenerational/intercultural conflict
“The 26 Malignant Gates” & “American Translation”
Daughters’ stories of their adult lives & childhood relationships with their mothers
Spite towards parents; superstition; different perspectives of mothers & daughters
“Queen Mother of the Western Skies”
Mothers’ stories of their old age and how they’ve failed to impart lessons to their daughters
Regret & acceptance of life’s outcomes
Parables in Joy Luck Club

5. JOY LUCK CLUB CLIPS Watch the following clip from Joy Luck Club
Discuss with a partner:
What does the following scene show us about the difficulties in communication between characters in JLC? (Waverly-Lindo)
What does the scene we watched earlier (Jingmei-Suyuan) show about how these difficulties can be overcome?
Clip 7
JOY LUCK CLUB CLIPS

6. Mother-Daughter Communication in Joy Luck Club
JLC shows people’s difficulty in communicating with one another – husbands & wives, esp. mothers & daughters
Moms & daughters have a language barrier – native Chinese vs. native English speakers – and a generational barrier – old vs. young
Mothers  speak in metaphors & stories (especially from their youth) to – in their minds – improve daughters’ lives
Daughters  speak concretely of complaints against mothers – want to strengthen own identity
Both reach common ground by story’s end – daughters mostly realize mothers have their best interests at heart
Mother-Daughter Communication in Joy Luck Club

7. WRAP-UP Select a Lit Circle role from the following:
Discussion Director
Summarizer
Word Master
Connector
Character curator
Read chapters 1-3 of The Beach & journal according to your role
First 3 chapters of full-length book: to the end of “Getting There” chapter