Women Writers
Dr. Ramirez
Amy Tan's Kitchen God's Wife

Study Notes for Chapters 1-11
  • What prompts Winnie to tell her story to Pearl?
  • What function does storytelling serve in the text?
  • How do Winnie’s interpretations of the past correspond with the multitude of selves in Virginia Woolf’s Orlando?
  • Why is Winnie responsible for Peanut?
  • Explain how Tan uses dichotomies in the text.  Pick one or two and talk about their significance.
  • According to Winnie, how do marriages take place in  China? How does money go back and forth between families? What kind of deal does she get?
  • What happens to Winnie’s dowry and how does this signify her place in the family?
  • How do the Nine Fates relate to the representation of luck and fate in the text?
  • What is the significance of the Yin and Yang story?
  • Who is Wen Fu? Who does he appear to be?