Essential Question
Write a two paragraph response analyzing this text’s relationship to the unit essential question: what does it mean to be American? In other words, how does this text shed light on this question? To answer this thoroughly, you should also discuss Waverly’s culture and how she and her family fit into (or don’t fit into) American culture/rules. Remember to cite specific lines or instances from the text (minimum 2).
Use the questions below to guide your response: Incorporate your answers into a cohesive, well written response. DO NOT simply answer the questions like you would on a worksheet.
What are some "American rules" that Waverly's family adopts? Why is Mrs. Jong willing to adopt them?
What are some "Chinese rules" that Waverly's family holds on to?
Why does Waverly call chess "a game of secrets in which one must show and never tell"? Why does she love the secrets?
Why does Waverly's chess game involve acting as well as skill? Why does she act like an impatient child and pretend to be undecided while playing?
What has this section taught you about what makes people feel truly “American?”
How is chess potentially a metaphor for American life in this text? (Think about how the text talks about the rules of chess).
When you have finished your response, find three images online that relate to or represent your ideas. Use them as visual aids/decoration on your blog post.
The text “The Rules of the Game” connects to what it means to be an american because Waverly and her family, find a way to fit in the american culture by playing chess. One “American rule” they follow is they celebrate christmas in chinatown, it stated, “We had gone to an annual christmas party held at the first chinese baptist church at the end of the valley.”. They also got a chess set and followed the rules of it, written in and by American. Mrs. Jong adopts the American laws and she is able to live in a chinatown in San Francisco. Some Chinese rules they still follow are they live their natural lifestyles like in the markets it states, “Farther down the street was Ping Yuen Fish Market. The front window displayed a tank crowded with doomed fish and turtles struggling to gain footing on the slimy green-tiled sides. A handwritten sign informed tourists, "Within this store, is all for food, not for pet." Inside, the butchers with their bloodstained white smocks deftly gutted the fish while customers cried out their orders,” and Waverly explained where the kids would often go, “Like most of the other Chinese children who played in the back alleys of restaurants and curio shops,”. They also had down the streets was the smell of red beans, and her mom also stated they do, “Chinese people do business, do medicine, do painting.”.
Later in the story Waverly begins to learn many things about her chess game, some from her brothers, and some from from an old man. Waverly also calls it, "a game of secrets in which one must show and never tell". Why she calls it that is since in the tournament she can’t tell anyone her tactics, so when they play her they can’t use it against her. She loves these because she finally beat her brothers and enter the tournaments. Waverly game involves acting as well as skill because it needs focus and constant thinking. For example, her first game she explained, “‘Blow from the South,’ it murmured. ‘The wind leaves no trail.’ I saw a clear path, the traps to avoid. The crowd rustled. ‘Shhh! Shhh!’ said the corners of the room. The wind blew stronger. ‘Throw sand from the East to distract him.’ The knight came forward ready for the sacrifice. The wind hissed, louder and louder. ‘Blow, blow, blow. He cannot see. He is blind now. Make him lean away from the wind so he is easier to knock down.’. This her way of focusing and can start using her secrets. In one of her tournaments she acts like a impatient little girl as it states, “ I would clasp my hands under my chin, the delicate points of my elbows poised lightly on the table in the manner my mother had shown me for posing for the press. I would swing my patent leather shoes back and forth like an impatient child riding on a school bus. Then I would pause, suck in my lips, twirl my chosen piece in midair as if undecided, and then firmly plant it in its new threatening place, with a triumphant smile thrown back at my opponent for good measure.”. The reason she did this is to keep her opponents from seeing her next move to somehow use it against her.
Some parts of the story taught me what it truly means to be an American. It stated, “ My mother would proudly walk with me, visiting many shops, buying very little. ‘This my daughter Wave-ly Jong,’ she said to whoever looked her way. One day after we left a shop I said under my breath, ‘I wish you wouldn't do that, telling everybody I'm your daughter.’ My mother stopped walking. Crowds of people with heavy bags pushed past us on the sidewalk, bumping into first one shoulder, than another. ‘Aii-ya. So shame be with mother?’ She grasped my hand even tighter as she glared at me. I looked down. ‘It's not that, it's just so obvious. It's just so embarrassing.’ ‘Embarrass you be my daughter?’" . This can also relate to the theme as well as the question what does it truly mean to be an American. This means take pride in yourself and what matters to you the most. Waverly’s game of chess, its rules is like a metaphor, they're like the laws you must follow, as stated,” ‘This American rules,’ she concluded at last. ‘Every time people come out from foreign country, must know rules. You not know, judge say, Too bad, go back. They not telling you why so you can use their way go forward.’.”. Her mom related to the chess rules like American rules as they continue to struggle with them. But you always need to follow them.
