The Jade Peony

Choose two characters, one who is male and one who is female. Write an essay in which you compare and contrast the two characters, specifically through the lens of gender. How do gender norms shape their actions, choices, and their conceptions of themselves and others? How does gender interact with race to give them specific experiences, obstacles, and/or belief systems?

Write an essay in which you explicate the jade peony pendant as a recurring motif. Use direct quotes to support your assertion about the themes and messages that the motif of the jade peony constructs.

Using quotes from either across the book, or confined to one part of the book (1, 2, or 3) perform a literary analysis in which you identify the hallmark characteristics of Choy’s writing style. Name the literary strategies or conceits that he uses in a sustained way to shape his narrative, and assert your analysis of those strategies/conceits. Why does he write this way? How do his style and conceptual choices aid him to shape his story?