and there is strength.” – Maya Angelou. In Fish Cheeks, one is introduced to Amy Tan, a young girl born in 1952, the daughter of Chinese immigrants who had fled civil war.(mpaz.org) Essentially living in two different worlds, she ate, talked, and behaved one way at her American school, and another way entirely in her traditional Chinese home. Like many immigrant children, this put Amy Tan in a difficult, awkward situation. When the events of Fish Cheeks took place, Amy felt ashamed of her Chinese
Ireland Horan Mrs. Contreas/ Ms. Karten English 10, Period 1 November 2nd, 2015 It’s okay to be YOUnique In The Twilight Zone episode “The Eye of the Beholder”, and the short stories, “Fish Cheeks” by Amy Tan and “Initiation” by Sylvia Plath, the protagonist desire to fit in leads them to sacrifice part of themselves. The female protagonist, Janet Tyler, in “Eye of the Beholder” is willing to undergo numerous surgeries in order to look like everyone else since she doesn’t look “normal”. The
Culture is a very important part of being a person, it makes them unique and stand out from others. When people have a shared culture it helps them connect together easily. In Tan’s short story “Fish Cheeks”, Tan feels different about herself because of her culture. She is concerned that her crush Robert might have a problem with her culture and not seeing “a roasted turkey and sweet potatoes bit Chinese food.” Tan’s story is about a Christmas dinner with Robert and his family. In her story, she
Fleming is a young soldier enlisting himself in the arm during the Civil War with dreams of returning home as a hero. However, the accumulation of horrific experiences of war inevitably leads “the youth” to maturation and to the discovery of his identity. From the start of the story, Henry is presented as a naïve youth who wants to enter the army in order to copy heroes from the Homeric era. Expecting some sort of praise from his mother, he is disappointed with the send-off she gives him, instead
completed me…,.” If Van Eyck painted his own portrait he surely would have admitted it by inscribing the frame with something akin to, “I, Van Eyck, painted myself.” The inscription “Jan Van Eyck made me,” serves to raise more questions as to the identity of the sitter and by no means confirms The Man in the Red Turban as being a