Questions:
PART ONE 1
1.What is the tone of the novel? Give examples to illustrate your point.
2.What does San Francisco Chinatown mean to Wang Chi-yang? Is it an ideal place for him to live? Why or why not?
3.What kind of person is Wang Chi-yang according to his sister-in-law Madam Tang?
4.Why does Wang Chi-yang leave his hometown Hunan for the United States? What does it signify?
5.What kind of life does Wang Chi-yang live in San Francisco Chinatown? Is he satisfied with his life?
6.In what ways is Wang Chi-yang different from the early Chinese immigrants in the United States?
PART TWO 12
1.When Madam Tang sees her nephew Wang San suffering another long standing punishment, her first response is: “Well, have you failed to recite Confucius again?” What does it indicate?
2.“‘Whispering is only done by people who have secrets,’ May Li said.‘My father and I have no secrets, so we always talk aloud.’” What’s your understanding of it?
3.What does Wang Ta’s final action—leaving home to join May Li and her father mean to himself and his father?
4.What does the older generation—Wang Chi-yang, Madam Tang,the herb doctor, for example—have in common? How do you define their cultural identities?
5.What does Wang Chi-yang’s abandoning of the herb doctor and his going to the TUNG WAH HOSPITAL signify?
6.Is Wang Chi-yang a round or flat character? What changes has he experienced?