2. 1. Writers choose carefully titles. Let's
consider this one. Why are names
important and what would it mean not to
have a name? Is identity an issue in this
work? What does it mean to be a woman in
the world Kingston presents?
2. “You must not tell anyone,” my mother said,
“what I am about to tell you (Kingston 3).
Who is the “you” here? Isn‟t she doing
exactly what her mother told her not to do?
She‟s telling us!
Socratic Seminar
3. 3. What type of questions does Kingston
still have after hearing the story about her
Aunt?
4. Use the text to discuss some of
Kingston‟s commentaries on Chinese
Culture.
4. “In 1924 just a few days after our village celebrated
seventeen hurry-up weddings—to make sure that every
young man who went „out on the road‟ would responsibly
come home—your father and his brothers and your
grandfather and his brothers and your aunt‟s new husband
sailed for America, the Gold Mountain. It was your
grandfather‟s last trip. Those lucky enough to get contracts
waved goodbye from the decks. They fed and guarded the
stowaways and helped them off in Cuba, New York, Bali,
Hawaii. „We‟ll meet in California next year,‟ they said. All of
them sent money home” (3).
5. Where is this village? Later we see the men are headed to
America . Where does the aunt's story take place? Where
are the mother and daughter living during the telling of the
story?
6. What do you suppose “hurry-up weddings” are and what is
their purpose? How do these weddings function differently
than American weddings?
7. Why would America be called the “Gold Mountain”? How
would you characterize these men?
5. “I remember looking at your aunt one day when she and
I were dressing; I had not noticed before that she had
such a protruding melon of a stomach. But I did not
think, 'She‟s pregnant,‟ until she began to look like
other pregnant women, her shirt pulling and the white
tops of her black pants showing. She could not have
been pregnant, you see, because her husband had
been gone for years. No one said anything. We did not
discuss it. In early summer she was ready to have the
child, long after that time when it could have been
possible” (3).
8. What does this scene tell us about the mother‟s living
relationship with the aunt? Note the quotation marks
that begin this paragraph; they remind us that the
aunt‟s story is being told to the narrator.
9. Silence--a strange response, isn‟t it? What is this
meaning of this silence? Why was she silent? Why tell
now?
6. “The village had also been counting. On the night the baby
was to be born thevillagers raided our house. Some were
crying. Like a great saw, teeth strung with lights, files of
people walked zigzag across our land, tearing the rice.
Their lanterns doubled in the disturbed black water, which
drained away through the broken bunds*. As the villagers
closed in, we could see that some of them, probably men
and women we knew well, wore white masks. The people
with long hair hung it over their faces. Women with short
hair made it stand up on ends. Some had tied white bands
around their foreheads, arms, and legs” (3-4).
10. What had the village been counting? Why do you think
the word “village” rather than “villagers” is used here?
11. How would you describe this raid? Look closely at the
words: “great saw,” “disturbed black water,” “broken
bunds,” “masks,” “long hair hung…over their faces,” and
“short hair … [to] stand up on ends.”
*bund: an embankment used to control the flow of water
(Merriam-Webster Dictionary)
7. 12. Why has the narrator kept silent about her aunt for so
long? What does she realize about her silence?
13. Is the narrator saying that the family has acted worse
than the villagers? How so? 14. Clearly the aunt betrayed
her “hurry up” husband; however, how was the adultery
and pregnancy a betrayal of the family?
15. How do Chinese beliefs about existence after death
elucidate the family‟s punishment of the aunt?
16. Why bring in Chairman Mao and the even distribution
of goods?
17. How is drowning in the family‟s drinking water a
spiteful act? Should we think of the aunt as a victim?
18. From this paragraph how would you describe the
narrator‟s feelings toward the aunt. (Consider: The aunt
“haunts” and “waits silently for a substitute.” “I do not
think she means me well.”)
19. Are there similarities in the narrator‟s and the aunt‟s
actions? How do they both cross forbidden boundaries?
20. Why does her haunt haunt her?
8. 21.This cautionary tale is meant to persuade Kingston to conform to her
parents‟ values. What is the argument behind the narrative the
mother tells? Does it make sense to you? What might be a
contemporary argument in a middle-class American family?
22. Were you ever put at an “outcast table” or anything comparable
in your house or school? Did you ever hear of such a ritual? What did
happen when you were punished? What kinds of things were you
punished for? Why do you think these specific things were chosen?
23. Is this also a tale about gender inequality? How does Kingston
suggest this? How are relations between men and women portrayed
here?
24. Kingston talks a good deal about spirits and ghosts. How do they
function in this essay? Which parts of this piece seem true to you?
Which seem fictional? Why does she blend these elements together?
25. Sexual mores change over time and from country to country.
What specifically about the aunt‟s context made her transgression so
severe? How would her “crime” be viewed in contemporary America?
Why? What do you think an ideal response would be?
