Robert grimaced.
Question- What would the dinner have looked like from Robert’s point of view? I am curious to hear his point of view and why he views it in the manner he does.
4 Matching Annotations
- Sep 2025
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"Amy, your favorite," he said, offering me the tender fish cheek. I wanted todisappear.
Key idea- This is a major turning point in the narrative. It captures the entire dinner, showing the mother’s love and understanding that went unrecognized by the narrator in the moment. It also shows the theme of cultural pride.
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What terrible disappoint-ment would he feelupon seeing not a roasted turkey and sweet potatoes but Chinese food?
Reaction- This hit hard. The secondhand embarrassment is painful, but it’s also deeply relatable, especially for anyone who’s ever felt their culture made them stick out in a negative way.
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What would Robert think of our shabby Chinese Christmas? What would he think of our noisyChinese relatives who lacked proper American manners?
Connect- This story reminds me of times when I felt embarrassed by my Mexican culture. I didn’t like speaking Spanish in public because I felt it made me “too Mexican,” like I was standing out in the wrong way. In American society, that started to feel like a bad thing as if being different meant being lesser. I was ashamed of the things that made me who I was.
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