"My Grandmother's Dumpling" by Amy Ma, p 296
1. Consider the different kinds of process writing. Which kind of process is this essay? In other words, what is the author's purpose: Could a reader recreate the dumplings based on reading this? Or is the writer describing the process?
2. Ma mentions a few processes in addition to making dumplings - what are they and what kind of process (explanation or instruction) does the author use?
3. Transitions and organization - what kinds of transition words does the author use? What type of organization?
4. Does the author include enough detail to make the reader feel that she knows what she is talking about? What kind of details help the reader understand the author's level of knowledge?
5. Ma recollects her grandmother's directions in this story: "'Every step requires its own kung fu,' Grandmother instructed."(299).
In a New York Times article, a reporter describes a Shaolin monk's explanation of kung fu, saying, "kung fu embodies much more than fighting. In fact any ability resulting from practice and cultivation could accurately be said to embody kung fu. There is a kung fu of dancing, painting, cooking, writing, acting, making good judgments, dealing with people, even governing."*
There is a lot of vocabulary in this essay; which words do you react to?
There's a lot of Mandarin in the essay; what should readers do about that vocabulary? Why is there so much Mandarin in there?
6. Is the author writing for a Chinese audience? How can you tell?
7. Challenge time: make a basic numbered list of the instructions to make the dumplings. This doesn't have to be a detailed recipe, just an ordered list of the steps in the process.
8. Choose one sentence or quote from the entire essay. Copy it, with quotation marks around it, followed by parentheses with the page number that the quote is on. In a few sentences, explain why the quote caught your attention. Why is the quote important to the story or part of the story Ma is telling? Does it have any relevance to your own experience? Does it make you want to learn more about something?