EF5/6 "Four Directions"

“Four Directions” Group Discussion Topics

1.   Why does the mother give the daughter advice about chess?  Does the mother help the daughter?
pawn, rook (castle), knight, bishop, queen, king
Rule #1 : protect the king
helicopter parents

2.   Why does the daughter yell at her mother?  Is she right to be angry at her mother?

3.   What “trap[s]” does the daughter set for the mother?

4.   What "trap[s]" does the mother set for the daughter?
-ignored her daughter, gave her the cold shoulder

5.   What do you think the mother means when she says, “No!... It is not so easy anymore?”  What has changed between the mother and daughter?

6.   The daughter says, “[S]ure enough, I won her back.”  What did she win from the mother?  What did she lose?

7.   Who wins in the game between the mother and the daughter?  Why?

8.   What happens to the girl's “supreme confidence” at the end of the story?  Why?
prodigy- extremely talented child
chess prodigy, music prodigy - Min Kym
sports prodigy - Messi

9.   Is this a story about chess or about something bigger?

10.                  What is important about the fact that “nobody protested” when the daughter stopped playing chess?

setting - where? US - good guess

Stockton Street, San Francisco, Chinatown

Amy Tan- California

The Joy Luck Club novel and movie

"Four Directions" one chapter from the novel

when? modern times, within 20 years or so

characters - family members

major characters - mother (antagonist), daughter (protagonist)

minor characters - two younger brothers, father

plot plotline - events of the story

Introduction, rising action, climax, falling action, denouement