Four Directions

"FYI--Forever You & I"
(a.k.a. Four Directions)

3. Man, this chapter is long... to me, anyway. When the chapter mentioned the argument of Waverly's hair, an image of Kate Gosselin's unique haircut popped into my head. xD If Waverly is Chinese, why does her daughter's name sound Japanese: Shoshana? I can't believe Waverly gave up chess; I can't believe she lost her confidence and ability to conquer whatever laid in her path. I guess she's less of a brat now, but I stopped believing in her character as much. Still, I hate that her mother bragged about contributing to her victories when really, she didn't play THAT big of a role in Waverly's wins... Okay, well, she did, but she sounds like such a show-off, I don't want to admit it. Marlene sounds cool: "...piss up a rope...". I agree that it's practically against the laws to tell a Chinese mother to shut up, seriously. Ew, I can't believe Waverly counted 146 hairs on Marvin's hairy chest when in fact, Marvin is such a jerk and player. Rich sounds like a really devoted and nice guy overall. Waverly over-thinks her mother's actions way too much. Most of the time, her mother does not even intend to hurt Waverly; yet, Waverly inputs the hurt on herself, creating her own troubles and paranoia.

4. At the family dinner, Rich refuses to use a fork and forces himself to use chopsticks. He is considerate of Waverly's culture and family and tries to blend in with the rest of them. He really wants to leave a good impression on Waverly's family and be accepted, showing that he's caring and really does love Waverly for who she is.

5. The main conflict of this chapter should be the between Waverly and Lindo (external: man vs. man). Waverly's inner thoughts and self-protectiveness prevents her from accepting reality and trying to predict every move before it happens. However, things don't always turn out to be as they seem. Waverly constantly translates her mother's actions into negativity and interprets this as all part of her mother's scheme to make Waverly's life horrible. Lindo, on the other hand, just comments as her typical Chinese self and waits for her daughted to open up her feelings for Lindo into her life. I think the conflict was finally resolved when they had their mother-daughter talk at the end of the story.

6. Definitely, the flashback to when Waverly was 10, really enhanced the storyline. First off, it briefed the readers of how their distant relationship began and progressed. It told us the story behind Waverly's change from being a chess champ to a lost cause, the one who gave up on her life because nobody stopped her. The flashback that Tan used really gave the chapter more meaning with the history of the relationship between Waverly and Lindo.

Emily Huynh, Period 4