Questions：
SUM JUI
Toishan, China
1842-1870
1.In Wooden Fish Songs, Ruthanne Lum McCunn never gives her main character, Lue Gim Gong, a voice.Rather, she describes Lue Gim Gong’s life and accomplishments through the eyes of three women.What are the advantages and disadvantages of this arrangement? Are they reliable narrators?
2.Why does Gim Gong’s mother Sum Jui take the long walk into town, the first time out of the village since coming as a bride? What kind of persons are the two “foreign ghosts” according to Sum Jui?
FANNY
North Adams, Massachusetts
1875-1877
3.Why do the Chinamen consider Lue Gim Gong’s decision to live with the Burlingames a betrayal? What kind of dilemma is Gim Gong in?
4.Why is Fanny so “kind” to Gim Gong? Comment on their relationship.
FANNY
North Adams, Massachusetts
1877
5.Why do the politicians in the West blame the Chinamen for the country’s hard times?
6.According to Fanny, what are Gim Gong’s “God-given gifts”?
SUM JUI
Toishan, China
1877-1879
7.What’s the function of religion in Fanny’s life, as well as in Gim Gong’s?
8.Why are the two “foreign ghosts” driven out of Toi Sing?
SUM JUI
Toishan, China
1885-1888
9.What does Gim Gong do at home after his 20-year stay in the U.S.?
10.What is Gim Gong’s trouble in the eyes of his mother? And what is the attitude of the villagers toward him?
FANNY
DeLand, Florida
1888
11.Fanny considers Gim Gong as her creation.In what sense is she right, or wrong?
12.Why are her two sisters hostile to Gim Gong?
SUM JUI
Toishan, China
1889
13.What happens after Gim Gong disappears before his wedding?
14.Why is Gim Gong’s mother so puzzled?
SHEBA
DeLand, Florida
1889-1892
15.Why is everybody against Gim Gong in DeLand?
16.Why do people in DeLand call Gim Gong a fool?
SHEBA
DeLand, Florida
1895-1904
17.Does Sheba understand Gim Gong’s contribution to the land in Deland?
18.What is the dearest thing to Sheba’s husband, Jim?
SHEBA
DeLand, Florida
1904-1915
19.Does the Lue Gim Gong orange change Gim Gong’s life?Comment on his life and his accomplishments.
20.What do you know about early Chinese immigrants from Wooden Fish Songs?