User:Brian1242/New sandbox

Group Sandbox - Fish Cheeks Article
= Imagery = In this short story, Amy Tan uses descriptive word choice to create a vivid mental picture for the readers. Doing so has allowed readers to be able to picture how this Christmas dinner took place and how embarrassed Amy felt during the dinner. Since Amy’s family was Chinese, they didn’t have the typical holiday foods that come to mind when we think of a Christmas dinner. The main dish that had Amy the most embarrassed was the “slimy” cod with “bulging” eyes. When the fish was brought out, Amy’s dad poked the fish under its eye and announced that the fish cheeks were Amy’s favorite part. Amy recalls her embarrassment from this moment and states that she wished she could disappear.

Tan not only uses imagery during the dinner scene, but she also uses it when describing Robert. In the introduction, she introduces Robert as a boy that is, “as white as Mary in the manger.” The use of figurative language helps us see that there is a vast difference between Amy and Robert without reading the rest of the story. Amy also wishes for a “slim new American nose” in the introduction, which shows Amy’s own insecurities in how she sees herself and what she wishes she could be.

Amy also displays imagery when describing the different types of food that her mother is preparing for the dinner. She describes the color of the veins that her mother was pulling out of prawns, the spongy look to the tofu, and even a plate of squid with intricate cuts. With this use of imagery, readers are able to learn more about Chinese culture and what they enjoy to eat but also get to compare and contrast American to Chinese culture. Since Robert is American, we can see why Amy might feel anxious about what he and his family thinks about what they eat for the holidays.

Plot
As the plot in "Fish Cheeks" progresses, new characters and problems arise that the main Character, Amy, Struggles to handle. During the exposition, you learn that the main character is a girl and that she has a crush on the minister's son, Robert. At this point in the story her name is not yet mentioned. Her parents invite his family over for dinner and she becomes upset when she leans the news because she is afraid of what his white American family will think of their Chinese Christmas. When the action of the story starts to rise and her mother begins to prepare for the dinner, Amy's worries continue to grow and all of the usual foods that her family makes become foreign as the kitchen is filled "with appalling mounds of raw food"(1).

When the story reaches its climax, both of the families are eating dinner and Amy has lost all hope. Her family acts different and doesn't show the same manners as Roberts family. Her father pulls the tender fish cheek from the fish and offers it to Amy because it is her favorite and this caused her to want to vanish from the dinner. As the Christmas dinner goes on she feels more ashamed and doesn't know what to do. Once the night is over she is in silence and not sure what to even say. It is not until later that she realizes how special that meal was for her. She resolves all the hard feelings when she realizes that all the foods that were made for that meal were her favorite and she should have enjoyed the meal instead of worrying so much about the guests.