The document summarizes the short stories "Fish Cheeks" by Amy Tan and "Carapace" by Romesh Gunesekera. It discusses how the two protagonists, a young Chinese-American girl and a young Sri Lankan woman, feel pressured to conform to their respective cultures. In "Fish Cheeks", Amy is embarrassed to eat fish cheeks in front of her white friend and family, as it is not traditional American food. She also wants to look more American on the outside. Both characters modify their behavior and personalities to meet societal and cultural expectations.

1. Fish Cheeks
What pressures an individual to conform? Two short stories by Romesh Gunesekera and Amy Tan
inform the readers of the effects that society and culture has on an individual. They introduce two
characters whom are affected: Amy Tan, a teenage Chinese girl living in the United States, and a
young Sri Lankan woman whose name is unidentified. Ultimately, society and culture affect an
individual by pressuring them to conform as seen throughout "Carapace" and "Fish Cheeks" with the
use of vivid language and profound narration.
Amy and the main character from "Carapace" both feel burdened to satisfy the expectations of
their country by changing their personality and adapting to situations in specific ways. Such
behavior is seen when Amy complies to Robert and the American culture by refusing to eat her
favorite delicacy, fish cheeks, only because the dish is not the traditional Thanksgiving spread of
her society, the United States. Amy is also stressed to conform by committing to the "dress code" of
her society as told by her mother, "You want to be same as American girl on the outside."(Tan 2) and
her wish, "I prayed for...a slim new American nose" (Tan 1).
Instead of doing whatever they wish, the two perturbed characters first heed to the advice of their
society and observe at what their community might say and feel....show more content...
The base word, individual, emphasizes that individuals are being globally affected by being
burdened to conform. On the left side, three images analyze the acrostic into visuals: a troubled girl
symbolizes the burdens of conforming, a giant hand pointing down at an individual emphasizes the
negative effect of society and culture, and a miniskirt and engagement ring represent the necessity of
fitting in and obligation to traditions. The last aspect is the use of colours, mainly red, to emphasize
that the effect of society and culture on an individual is
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2. Amy Tan Fish Cheeks
Well–known author Amy Tan, in her short narrative "Fish Cheeks", writes about the embarrassment
she has because of her culture and ethnicity. She talks about this when a white father and his son,
Robert, whom she likes, want to come over her house, and as a chinese–american young woman, she
is a little ashamed of the chinese food. She also is ashamed by the type of house and environment
she lives in.
Tan first begins to portray her embarrassment by describing, throughout most of the story, her house
and the type of food that her mother has prepared. She describes her house as ВЁshabbyВЁ, which
gives the story and sentence a negative connotation. She has a negative and an embarrassed tone.
The way she comes off about her life is very pessimistic....show more content...
By using the word "Chinese" a numerous amount of times, she "shines bad light" on it. In other
words, the emphasis of the word "Chinese" gives a negative feel to the whole concept of Chinese
culture. "When I found out that my parents had invited the minister iver for Christmas eve dinner, I
cried. What would Robert think of our shabby Chinese Christmas? What would he think of our
noisy Chinese relatives who lacked proper American manners? What terrible disappointment would
he feel upon seeing not a roasted turkey and sweet potatoes but Chinese food?" (paragraph 2) Tan is
really embarrassed and really cares about what Robert will think about her house, her food, and her
family. Theses three things all have one thing in common, which is, the Chinese culture.
Tan also uses imagery, to vividly describe the menu on the night of Christmas. She describes the
food, as said previously, very negatively. She was describing not as how she saw the food, but as
how she thought Robert would. Later on in the story, we eventually learn that the foods that her
mom made on Christmas eve, were her favorite foods. She uses negatively connotated words like,
fleshy, rubbery, fungus, slimy, and bulging. The use of imagery emphasizes her amount of worry
that she has.
All in all, Tan would easily say that she appreciates her mother more now that her mother has taught
her to embrace and not be ashamed of her Chinese culture. She learns not to
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3. Fish Cheeks Summary
The authors purpose wrote these pieces in order to demonstrate the importance of forgiving family.
First of all, we have to forgive family to keep ourselves happy. For example, in "Fish Cheeks",
when Amy's family was having Christmas Eve dinner with her crush's family she was horrified
when her father said, "'Amy, your favorite,' he said, offering [her] the tender fish cheek. [She]
wanted to disappear'" (Tan). Even though her father in this moment wasn't purposely trying to
embarrass her there was nothing she could do that would change the outcome of her family's actions
on the Minister's family. So what would be the point of continuing to dwell on it, there isn't one. The
only thing that would've occurred due to her dwelling on their actions
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4. Fish Cheeks Analysis
When I read fish cheeks article, I really do understand the frustration she felt. When you are trying
to blend with culture different than yours; it could be really hard, but otherwise i have enjoyed
reading the the article. It kept me engaged with story, the way she started of with talking about the
features of her crush, and then she started to question her culture and his culture. Then she started to
talk about the dinner, and how would it be not appetizing for her crush. Then, when they arrived she
felt like she is not worthy to him, because she was embarrassed by her culture, and at the dinner she
felt ashamed that her family still living Chinese lifestyle not an American lifestyle. In the end, she
has realized that her mom made the
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