I have not read this book as of yet…I just wanted to get the post up so everyone could start blogging their comments as they read the book. So happy blogging…
At the end of my copy of “Jade Peony” I found a reading group guide I thought some of you might be interested in:
”A Reading Group Guide for The Jade Peony by Wayson Choy”
“We hope that these questions will inspire your reading group to explore new and interesting topics for discussing “The Jade Peony.” This guide is also available on-line at: www.douglas-mcintyre.com.
1.) “The Jade Peony” refers to historical events such as the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1923, the Depression, and the Second World War. How do these events affect the private lives of the characters?
2.) In Part One, Jook-Liang is fascinated by Wong Suk because he reminds her of the Monkey King in Chinese legends as well as Tarzan’s Cheetah. What do the links between these stories from East and West suggest about Jook-Liang’s identity and growing up in a bicultural environment?
3.) Grandmother (Poh-Poh) reminds Jook-Liang repeatedly that a girl-child is mo yung, or useless. How does this kind of traditional Chinese thinking affect the young girl? How is she able to resist the negative view?
4.) Storytelling is an important way of transmitting cultural heritage while entertaining the young. Examine moments in the novel where myths and stories are told. What are their effects on the children?
5.) Poh-Poh remarks that Jung-Sum is “different” and that he is “the moon.” In Part Two, what are some ways in which issues of gender identity and masculinity are questioned or raised? What are the implications of being “different”?
6.) Early Chinese immigrants to Canada were men who came as laborers, mostly by themselves without wives or children. What is the impact of a predominantly male community on the early immigrants’ sense of home and belonging?
7.) Wong Suk has a birth certificate that states that he is seventy-five, and another document that makes him seventy. What is the signifcance of these document, or references to “paper years” and “paper sons”?
8.) “Nothing much happens” in “The Jade Peony,” some readers say. Wayson Choy, like a number of contemporary Canadian authors such as Carol Shields and Alice Munro, focusses on the quotidian and the trivial. What is revealed about the lives of the characters through seemingly small, insignificant details?
9.) In Part Three, what is the effect of telling the “Romeo and Juliet” love story between Meiying and Kazuo through the eyes of a child?
10.) In Chinese culture, as in many Native communities, the elders in the family are revered and respected for their wisdom. What is the function of Poh-Poh or Grandmother in the three sections of the novel?
11.) Sek-Lung thinks, “But even if I was born in Vancouver, even if I should salute the Union Jack a hundred million times, even if I had the cleanest hands in all the Dominion of Canada and prayed forever, I would still be Chinese.” What are some of the pressures of being a racial other at the time the novel took place? Are there differences in the way children of immigrants see themselves today as opposed to fifty years ago?
12.) In Part Two, Jung-Sum says, “Grandmother told that story, and then another, each story brief and sad and marvellous. There were seven pieces of jade, carved the shape of ancient symbols. The one she held most dear, we knew, was a coin-sized one, an exquisitely carved peony of translucent white and pinkish jade; its petals were outlined in a simple, carved relief against a perfect round of stone.” In the light of the quotation, discuss the significance of “the jade peony” as the title of the novel.”
Questions compiled by Eleanor Ty, Professor and Chair, Department of English and Film Studies, Wilfrid Laurier University.
