Question

Pt.1
What is a key theme of "Rules of the Game"?

Nothing matters more than hard work.

Modern urban life isolates people.

Young people are naturally carefree and unafraid of taking risks.

The children of immigrants often feel torn between two cultures.

Pt.2
What is one way that Amy Tan develops the theme identified in Part A?


She includes details about how, at the Christmas party, one girl got a coloring book while another received a bottle of lavender water.

She shows Waverly winning a trophy in her very first chess tournament.

She sets the story in Chinatown, a place where Chinese and American cultures come into contact with each other.

She describes how Waverly's superior chess skills require her brothers to do her share of the household chores.

Answer 1

Pt 1. The key theme of "Rules of the Game" is the children of immigrants often feel torn between two cultures.

Pt 2. The one way that Amy Tan develops the theme identified in Part A can be seen in she describes how Waverly's superior chess skills require her brothers to do her share of the household chores.

• The author of the story is Amy Tan. The story takes inspiration from her life and her relationship with her mother. The story follows Waverly Place Jong, a Chinese American woman who details her childhood as a daughter of Chinese immigrants in the United States in the 50s and 60s.
• Waverly learns how to play chess and hone her skills. She slowly becomes a chess prodigy as he becomes a national chess champion by age 9.
• The book focuses less on the game of chess and more on the relationships of Waverly and her family as she grows up torn between two cultures.
• The theme of Alienation is reflected in the ways in which Waverly is treated and feels. She has to constantly juggle living in America and chasing the American dream while maintaining her Chinese values.
• Chess was seen as a compromise for Waverly and was always criticised by her mother. Even though she is proud of her daughter she finds it difficult to understand why her daughter would want to wave off her morals and shift to an American preference which makes Waverly feel pressured into adopting Chinese values.

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