Has anyone read The Joy Luck Club? I really need help!?
554360
Chinese Culture- in the Joy Luck Club, there are four daughters and four mothers. The daughters were raised in the US while the mothers were from China. I believe the mothers pressed upon the daughters the importance to succeed. There was more opportunity for them. The mothers in China experienced oppression from their previous husbands, stepfathers, mother in laws and the war with Japan. They had to work with the situation they were placed in - one woman was sold as a bride to a horrible mean family as a young girl, another was married to a philandering husband and she ended up letting her baby die, and another had to leave her babies behind in a forest because she thought she was dying as she escaped the war. The mothers are all trying to impart on their daughters their hard life situations so that the daughters wouldnt have to go through the same. The daughters cannot appreciate or understand the ease of womens life in the present day time setting. the daughters, need to hear firsthand from their mothers to appreciate and use those lessons and apply them to their seemingly hard issues they face in modern times.
80127
Buy here for $4.99:\nhttp://www.powells.com/cgi-bin/biblio?inkey=62-0439095530-0\n\nBuy here used (for one penny!):\nhttp://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0439095530/qid=1138053743/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/103-6154882-6714213?n=507846&s=books&v=glance
496332
Ads, tv shows and the news according to my 16 year old daughter who did read the book this year for school. I recommend you do that, too. It is not very long and it is very interesting.\n\nhttp://www.sparknotes.com/lit/451/summary.html\n\nthe above is an online Sparknotes guide to the book which should help you to get to the important parts more easily. \n\nNow get to work!! LOL.
510924
wow thats really...deep. is this a true story? i dont think i could handle reading that, it may make me too depressed but if its true im glad you overcame it all...if you need a new character though, add a love interest for yourself, a girl who helps you through everything and stands by your side and in the end realize the reason why she did it is becuase she grew up in the same foster home as you and was seperated when you were sent back to your dad and you just didnt remeber her becuase she looks better and aged more maturly or whatever. good luck :)
1012226
i haven't read it, but if you have an e-file, would you mind sending it to me via email?\n\ncaeszarre@yahoo.com\n\ni've read "Radical Innocence: Studies in the Contemporary American Novel" and "The Dismemberment of Orpheus: Toward a Postmodern Literature"\n\nthanks.
951513
There are numerous on line sites to help you with this novel.  Here are a few of them.  Also, if you do a search for the novel on YA, I think you will find that there are quite a few questions about the novel, so they may help you as well.  Best of luck with your work.
1011989
I've read quite a bit of it, and the more I read the more I realize how utterly bogus it is when taken literally.\n\nOh, and I think "jackiedj8952" ment to say you needed to have your ears poisoned and be brainwashed by a preacher or someone. That's what she ment by "spiritual ears". \n\nShe's right in a way, you first need someone to tell you that this book is perfect in everyway and if you don't believe in it you will go to hell, because without that it'll just be another book of fantasy and make believe.\n\nI encourage christians to be honest with themselves and go here to give your ex-christian testimony:\n\nhttp://exchristian.net/
49842
Received: A book called "Dancing with Cats" - a picture book, with stories of how these fruitcakes 'communicate' and better their relationships (?) with thier cats by dressing up like a cat and dancing. It was like a horrible, horrible car wreck. It was disgustingly stupid, but I had to look at all the pictures. I couldn't read any of it. Too gay.\n\nGave: A card. A birthday card. On the outside, it had a picture of a hot chick saying something about 'digging deep' for a gift. On the inside, she was nekkid, and had her ENTIRE hand in her...ahh...'bad place' (fudge tunnel, if you like)!\n\nThat too was a car wreck - it was really nasty, but you HAD to look.
912266
Summary \nThe speaker proclaims that he has been the victim of "strange fits of passion"; he says that he will describe one of these fits, but only if he can speak it "in the Lover's ear alone." Lucy, the girl he loved, was beautiful--"fresh as a rose in June"--and he traveled to her cottage one night beneath the moon. He stared at the moon as his horse neared the paths to Lucy's cottage. As they reached the orchard, the moon had begun to sink, nearing the point at which it would appear to the speaker to touch Lucy's house in the distance. As the horse plodded on, the speaker continued to stare at the moon. All at once, it dropped "behind the cottage roof." Suddenly, the speaker was overcome with a strange and passionate thought, and cried out to himself: "O mercy! If Lucy should be dead!" \n\n\n\nThere's more info on the site.
969154
I'm glad you asked that, not because I have the answer but because me and my daughter, well . . . me anyways, are reading Moby Dick, and I never remembered it being so detailed on Cetology or in the beginning of the novel before he meets Queequeg.   Maybe I cheated back in my highschool or junior high days and got the Cliff Notes, but I coulda swore I read the book.  Oh well, that's been many decades ago.  I just got past the part where Captain Ahab kicked Stubb (First Mate isn't he??) and Stubb had the dream where someone asks him why is it so bad to be kicked by Ahab since his leg is made of ivory,etc..  My daughter, who lives with her mother about 65 miles southeast of me, probably hasn't read one word of it since she's a lot like her mother, who didn't like to read.  I read "Uncle Tom's Cabin" to her when she was pregnant with either our son or daughter, I can't remember which.  She liked to be read to but wouldn't do it herself, so, I doubt my daughter has read any of "Moby Dick" since she hasn't said anything about it.  Oh well, I'm rambling on.  Sorry.  Maybe I'll continue the book, but the Cetology part is way too detailed and "informational" for me.  I want more "action", and am becoming too addicted to the brainless tv, and too lazy to read fine novels.  I hope you finish the book.  It's a wonderful piece of literature.  God Bless you.
317334
Ever read The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides? It's such a good book. If you haven't read it yet, you really should! \n\nFirst Sentence:\nOn the morning the last Lisbon daughter took her turn at suicide-it was Mary this time, and sleeping pills, like Therese-the two paramedics arrived at the house knowing exactly where the knife drawer was, and the gas oven, and the beam in the basement from which it was possible to tie a rope
946541
It would not help you to tell you which chapter I identified most with, since you are different than me.  We probably have different tastes about what we like as well.\n\nI would suggest that you read the book for yourself [it's not long at all] and answer these questions yourself.  In this way you can defend your choices when asked, instead of stealing someone else's work.\n\nGood luck!
837179
Hey! I'm doing that book in school too! \n\nFirst note the difference between the people in East Egg and the people in West Egg. The people of East Egg are the ones that were born rich (aristocrats) and the ones in West Egg are the people of new money, like Gatsby and Nick himself. Daisy and Tom are of East Egg. Being of old money they are used to being rich and live elegantly and have a good, well-known family background so they don't have to show it off. They are therefor referred to as members of "... a rather distinguished secret society." But Gatsby, being new to wealth, shows it off with lots of parties. He lacks the knowledge built up over generations, of how to speak correctly, how to dress with taste and how not to show off his immense wealth. Gatsby can never be anything more than lower class in manners, speech and behaviour, because people with 'old money' will not give away the secrets of their social code. Note that Gatsby holds his parties to attract Daisy. Funny, isn't it??!! Hope this helps!
280439
Thats soooooooooooooooooooooooo sad! If you like sad stories, read A child called 'It'. My mom says its the saddest book shes ever read, and  im waiting to read it.
222780
Just type April Raintree Novel and you will have a lot of links. Here is a link of somebody's study page on the novel\n\nhttp://jesshomepage0.tripod.com/studyguide.htm\n\nHope this helps you work it out. I agree with the previous poster, you should read it yourself.
685159
She's Come Undone By Wally Lamb.  It was on Oprah's book club several years ago.  Ya know, before she cancelled it and started it again.  It is an excellent book about the woman who has a dysfunctional life all starting as a child whose paren't divorce back when it wasn't socially acceptable.  Her dad is a cheating as s and then 2 tragic things happen that shaper her into an overweight teen.  She emds up in a Mental Hospital and other interesting things...don't wanna give the whole book away.  But it is just so amazing.  It deals with a lot of esttem issues women have.  And the fact that a man wrote it still blows my mind.  It is a great book!
320464
I loved The Color Purple, especially because most of it, if not all of it is written in letter format.  There is an interesting shift in the book where Celie no longer writes "Dear God," but "Dear Nettie,".  Also isn't it interesting that Mister has no last name mentioned?  He's just Mr.________.  Maybe he is undeserving of a name in Celie's mind?\n\nIf you've read the book, you shouldn't have any trouble with an essay on it, in fact, I had trouble keeping my paper on it to 8 pages,...unless you have difficulty articulating your thoughts onto paper (which often happens to me)...\n\nThe book is rich in content and makes the reader rich in commentary.