The memoir, Fish Cheeks, is a personal story written by Amy Tan and her experience as an Asian girl growing up in an American culture. She learns to overcome her embarrassment of her Chinese family. I think one reason why Amy Tan named this memoir Fish Cheeks was because it was Amy’s favorite food. But although it was her favorite food, she pretended like it wasn’t because of her American crush. She described the meals with disgusting descriptions. But, she realized in the end to be thankful because her mom had cooked all her favorite foods for her. In addition, I think there was a specific reason why Amy Tan titled her memoir, Fish Cheeks, with a plural. In my opinion, she named the title plural to show the cultural differences of the two cultures, American and Chinese. There were two cultures compared and contrasted throughout her memoir. This story was about the coming together of two distinct cultures. The American family and the Chinese family sat together in one table for a holiday celebration that everybody exulted no matter what culture they were, which was Christmas Eve. However, Amy was mortified by her Chinese customs and wished that she could fit in with the Americans. The Chinese family had different table manners compared to the American family, and Amy was humiliated when her father burped after the meal. They also ate different foods than the Americans. The Chinese family ate unique foods, like the steamed fish that the Americans didn’t eat. Although the American and Chinese cultures are very distinct, they also had similarities of eating a meal together and having family time. In the end, the memoir gave an important moral lesson about cultural acceptance. The Chinese girl was able to have pride in her heritage and appreciate the Chinese customs.
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ReplyDeleteWhen i was reading your blog entry, I think majority of your statements were similar to mine. I agree with what you said in your first point where Amy tan named her memoir Fish Cheeks because it was one of her favorite foods. However, I get the feeling that either she liked the food or she didn't because she was embarrassed when her dad told Amy to eat some.Either that or she was just scared her crush would think weird of her. Anyways, I really liked how you mentioned the cultural differences could be part of the reason why her memoir was titled Fish Cheeks because I did not notice that while I was reading.
ReplyDeleteDaisy, I enjoyed reading your blog because it gave me a different perspective on why Amy Tan would have named her memoir, “Fish Cheeks.” Throughout your blog post, there was not one single sentence I did not agree with. I loved how you said, “this story was about the coming together of two distinct cultures.” For me, it was a stop and think moment because I did not realize this until you pointed it out. How Chinese culture and American culture can be mixed into one whole just by the name from a type of food. I also really liked how you said the title was plural because “to show the cultural differences of two cultures.” It is true that she did so, and once again you pointed out something I was not able to realize before. I enjoyed reading your blog posts and I hope to read some more in the future! (153 words)
ReplyDeleteI support your points of how the author Amy Tan chose “Fish Cheeks” as the title. I also mentioned the table manners and the Chinese food that Amy was very ashamed of in front of her white crush. However, I also stated that the fish cheeks were the climatic point of the story. Thus, this was named the title. When Amy’s father told her to eat the fish cheek at the dinner table, she was very embarrassed in front of her crush and knew that she would never prove to be white. But you also talked about the coming of two cultures which I never thought about. Overall, good writing and your points are well thought-out.
ReplyDeleteI thought of the title more in the literal sense. Physiologically fish cheeks are right below the eye. In a sense, Amy was looking down on her cultural traditions, meaning the fish cheeks itself represents her culture.
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