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A Study Guide for Amy Tan's "The Bonesetter's Daughter"
A Study Guide for Amy Tan's "The Bonesetter's Daughter"
A Study Guide for Amy Tan's "The Bonesetter's Daughter"
Ebook41 pages26 minutes

A Study Guide for Amy Tan's "The Bonesetter's Daughter"

By Gale and Cengage

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A Study Guide for Amy Tan's "The Bonesetter's Daughter," excerpted from Gale's acclaimed Novels for Students.This concise study guide includes plot summary; character analysis; author biography; study questions; historical context; suggestions for further reading; and much more. For any literature project, trust Novels for Students for all of your research needs.
LanguageEnglish
Release dateMay 2, 2016
ISBN9781535818100
A Study Guide for Amy Tan's "The Bonesetter's Daughter"

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    A Study Guide for Amy Tan's "The Bonesetter's Daughter" - Gale

    10

    The Bonesetter's Daughter

    Amy Tan

    2001

    Introduction

    The Bonesetter's Daughter, published in 2001 by Putnam, is Amy Tan's fourth novel. It spans two continents and more than one hundred years of history. Like Tan's other novels, The Bonesetter's Daughter is about family—specifically the relationship between mothers and daughters—and cultural identity. It tells the tale of three generations of women: how they loved, how they suffered, and how they survived. Precious Auntie was raised in privilege and love but lived out her life in grief and obscurity, and died trying to save her daughter LuLing from an abusive man. LuLing bridged the transition from a traditional Chinese rural life to a modern American life full of conflicting messages but she is distanced from her daughter Ruth by their different upbringings. Ruth, disconnected from her past and upset at her superstitious mother, wants to understand and reconcile her roots with who she is as a Chinese American woman.

    Although it is not Tan's most famous novel, The Bonesetter's Daughter has received accolades. It was named a Notable Book by the New York Times and nominated for the prestigious Orange Prize and the IMPAC Dublin Award. Framed by war, self-discovery, and superstition, The Bonesetter's Daughter ultimately delivers truth and peace from the ashes of history.

    Author Biography

    Amy Tan was born on February 19, 1952, in Oakland, California, to John and Daisy Tan. Her parents had left China only a few years before, fleeing the new Communist government. After settling safely in the United States, John changed careers from electrical engineer to Baptist minister. Daisy worked as a vocational nurse. Tan, the middle child, had two brothers. Her parents had high expectations of her, deciding by the time she was six years old that she would be a medical doctor and play piano. She showed interest in language and writing early on but was discouraged from pursuing English as a course of study.

    When Tan was fifteen, she lost both her father and older brother to brain cancer within six months of each other. Superstitious that their home in California may have contributed to their deaths, Daisy moved the family to Switzerland for a year where Tan finished high school. In college she began as a premed student but threw off her parents wishes, earning a bachelor of arts degree in English in 1973 and a master of arts degree in linguistics in 1974, both from San Jose State University. Also in 1974, Tan married her college sweetheart, Louis DeMattei.

    Tan had several jobs dealing with language and writing before she settled into

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