The Joy Luck Club Quizzes

The Joy Luck Club Quiz 1

1 What does the swan in the prologue represent?
The effects of the cruelty of American immigration officials.

The beauty of China, now lost through assimilation.

The daughters' vanity in trying to become more than their mothers would ever be.

The mothers' expectations for their American daughters.
2 Who were the original members of the Joy Luck Club?
Four legendary women in Kweilin, about whom Suyuan read.

Suyuan and three other women who lived in Kweilin.

June, An-mei, Lindo, and Ying-ying.

Suyuan, An-mei, Lindo, and Ying-ying.
3 Why was the Joy Luck Club begun originally?
To create a Chinese legacy for the daughters to continue.

To maintain good spirits despite the horrors of the Second World War.

To pass time in the caves during bombing raids.

Because all the other residents of Kweilin had similar clubs.
4 What do the mothers give Jing-mei at the end of the meeting?
Enough money to visit her long-lost sisters in China.

Enough money to start a new Joy Luck club with the other daughters.

A Mah Jong set of her own.

Good-luck foods and money to take home to her husband.
5 Why doesn't Jing-mei know her Chinese sisters?
Her mother only recently managed to find them.

She never knew they existed.

They are not her real sisters but old friends of Suyuan's from Kweilin.

Her mother never tried to look for them, and she told June never to speak of them.
6 Why must there always be four members of the Joy Luck Club?
One for each week of the month.

One for each season of the year.

One for each corner of the Mah Jong table.

One for each of the four elements of the soul.
7 According to Jing-mei, what defined her mother's relationships with the other members of the Joy Luck Club?
Exclusivity.

Competition.

Consolation.

Acceptance.
8 Why did Jing-mei think that her mother's Kweilin story was a fairy tale?
She told it to her in Chinese, like all other fairy tales.

She told it to her at bedtime.

She always changed the ending.

She could not believe such a painful story was real.
9 How did An-mei get the scar on her neck?
She was born with it, causing disgrace in her family.

In the midst of a family argument, hot soup accidentally spilled all over her neck.

She cut flesh from her neck in an attempt to cure her mother's illness.

Popo spilled hot soup on her neck to spite An-mei's mother.
10 Why did An-mei's mother cut flesh from her arm?
As a debt for disgracing her family.

To make a curative soup for Popo.

To make a sacrifice to the spirits of her ancestors.

To make An-mei feel better about the scar on her neck.
11 What did An-mei understand when her mother cut flesh from her own arm?
That our flesh and pain connect us intractably to our mothers.

That her mother understood nothing about loyalty.

That flesh is worthless, and only spirit is of importance.

That enduring pain is the only way to pay one's spiritual debt.
12 Why does Lindo tell Waverly the story of the red candle?
Now that Waverly is a mother, it is important for her to know the story.

Waverly has been bothering her to tell the story since she was a girl.

She thinks Waverly does not understand the meaning of a promise.

She wants Waverly to have a red candle ceremony with Rich.
13 Why did Lindo move in with the Huangs?
She was already married to Tyan-yu.

Huang Tai Tai's youngest daughter died, and Lindo took her place.

Her family's land was destroyed in a flood.

Huang Tai Tai tricked Lindo's mother into making her do so.
14 Why did Lindo blow out Tyan-yu's end of the candle?
She wanted to get out of marrying him.

The ritual was bad luck in her clan's belief system.

She conspired with Tyan-yu to wreck the ceremony so they would not be married.

She thought the custom was foolish and that it undermined their marriage's sanctity.
15 Why didn't Lindo and Tyan-yu consummate their marriage?
Huang Tai Tai insisted that she did not want any children.

Lindo was afraid of having sex.

Lindo refused flatly every time Tyan-yu acted amorous.

Tyan-yu had no interest in having sex with Lindo.
16 How could Lindo manage to get what she wanted while keeping her parents' promise?
It was done for her, because Tyan-yu was cheating on her.

It was done for her, because Huang Tai Tai did everything she could to force Lindo to leave.

She used superstition to trick Huang Tai Tai into making her leave.

She did not keep her parents' promise; she sacrificed their honor for her happiness.
17 What belief of Huang Tai Tai's did Lindo take advantage of in order to get what she wanted?
Her belief in the ghosts of ancestors.

Her belief in Japanese supremacy.

Her belief that matchmaking was a thing of the past.

Her belief in her son's righteousness.
18 What was the purpose of the red candle?
It was an omen of fertililty.

It symbolized the permanence of marriage.

It warded off evil spirits on the wedding night.

It symbolized the bond between daughter and mother in-law.
19 According to Ying-ying, why did she turn into a ghost?
Because she learned to think only of others and forget her own hopes and desires.

Because she married an American.

Because she learned to honor her family without thinking of the government.

Because on the streets of America, people acted as though she were invisible.
20 When is the last time Ying-ying remembers being fully alive?
When she was a girl, on the day her mother left.

When she was a girl, on the day of the Moon Festival.

The day Lena was born.

The day she married Clifford St. Clair.
21 Why could Ying-ying tell only the Moon Lady her secret wish?
Because the Moon Lady would not tell her mother.

Because if she told it to anyone else, she would be beaten.

Because the Moon Lady was the only person who spoke the same dialect.

Because girls were supposed to keep their wishes to themselves.
22 Who was Amah in relation to Ying-ying?
Her nanny.

Her aunt.

Her mother.

Her mother-in-law.
23 How did Ying-ying end up on shore by herself?
She swam from the boat to shore.

Amah let her go back to land to see the Moon Lady.

Amah punished her by leaving her on the shore.

She fell overboard and was saved by fishermen.
24 What is the moral of the story of the Moon Lady?
Men and women are meant to miss one another perpetually.

Women represent darkness and require men to show them the light.

Wishes are best kept to oneself.

Women are bright and illuminate their families.
25 What does Ying-ying realize when the Moon Lady takes off her costume?
That she is really a man.

That she is Ying-ying's own father.

That she looks exactly like Ying-ying.

That men have made her miserable.

Look at Popo’s words to An-mei when she was sick. What do you think about the way she talks to her?

What chapter are you referring to?

Asked by Air A #1166463

Answered by Aslan on 8/5/2021 9:41 PM

Waverly's relationship with her ex-husband?

When Waverly and her first husband Marvin Chen eloped, Waverly's mother picked him apart until Waverly too saw his flaws and lost interest.

Asked by Bianca M #1208747

Answered by jill d #170087 on 1/2/2023 1:08 PM

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What is the author's view of marriage in the book?

The fact that many of the mothers and daughters have unhappy marriages creates a common ground on which they can relate. But marriage has different meanings for each generation. For the mothers, it is permanent and not always based on love....

Asked by Aaron Sean T #684196

Answered by jill d #170087 on 1/2/2023 1:06 PM

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The Joy Luck Club

by Amy Tan

The Joy Luck Club Quiz 1

The Joy Luck Club Questions and Answers

Study Guide for The Joy Luck Club

Essays for The Joy Luck Club

Lesson Plan for The Joy Luck Club

Wikipedia Entries for The Joy Luck Club