Simple Recipes

Many of the stories are narrated by unnamed characters. Choosing two stories with unnamed characters, contrast and compare them, and explain why you think the author chooses not to name some of her characters. What effect does not naming the characters have on the stories? Are these effects similar or different between stories? Using textual evidence, support your argument.

Which story in the collection made the strongest impact on you regarding home? Explain why the subject of home in that particular story resonated with you. Include information from your own home that created your affinity for this story. As you write, consider the differences between a “home” and a “house,” both in context of the story and as you relate these words to your own living situation.

In every story, the idea or notion of home is explored. Pick two stories from the collection and compare and contrast the author’s metaphorical and literal methods of presenting home from the character’s perspective.

Memory is a key literary device that the author uses to enhance her characters and contextualize their lives. Choose one example where memory is a part of the story’s theme and describe how it helps to further meaning as the story develops and unfolds.

Read the following quote from “Simple Recipes”: “Eventually my mother comes downstairs again and puts her arms around him and holds him, whispering something to him, words that to me are meaningless and incomprehensible. But she offers them to him, sound after sound, in a language that was stolen from some other place, until he drops his head and remembers where he is” (17). How does this quote explain the way language is perceived differently between first- and second-generation immigrants? How does the author show that language is an important factor in contrasting the generational gap in immigrant families? What, in your opinion, does the word “stolen” symbolize in the quote?

Pick three important symbols or metaphors from any story in the collection and write a three-paragraph essay showing how each symbol or metaphor impacts the reader’s experience of the stories.

In the final story, “A Map of the City,” the father explains that in his home country, the road stops at the forest and the only way through is by boat or plane. Later, Miriam says, “My father was suspicious of Canadian Highways, the very ease of crossing such a country” (180). In the context of this story, explain what the roads symbolize and how the father and daughter experience them differently. What implications about obstacles, freedom, or lack of opportunity are embedded in the metaphorical quality of the roads?

Pick a character from any of the stories that you identify with and write a personal essay about why you identify with them, and how this helps you understand your own life as well as impacts your understanding of the character.