by Amy Tan
Arnav Sharma
Aayush Mehta
Max Gormley
Published in 1989
Amy Tan
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Amy Tan was born in Oakland,
California in February 19, 1952
She completed school in three
different countries: U.S.A, Switzerland,
and China
Has won multiple awards such as the
Audie award and being a finalist for
the national book award
Tan cofounded the charity group
LymeAid 4 Kids, which helps
uninsured kids pay for treatment
Popular Works by Amy Tan
● The Joy Luck Club is one of Amy Tan’s
most popular books
○
The Joy Luck Club has won numerous awards
and has been considered a finalist for multiple
awards
● Saving Fish from Drowning is also one of
Amy Tan’s most popular works
○
Saving Fish from Drowning has also been
nominated for multiple awards
Popular Works by Amy Tan
● Sagwa, the Chinese Siamese
Cat is one of Amy Tan’s most
successful and popular books
○
The book also became a popular
cartoon TV show on PBS
● The show had 40 episodes and
ran from 2001-2004
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The book and show features a cat,
Sagwa, who is part of the royal
family and the family has the ability
to write with their tails
The Role of Setting
Time: 1950’s
Place: Waverly Place in San Francisco’s Chinatown
Social Milieu: Urban Lower Class, chinese-american
Mood: Excitement, Surprising, Static Tension
The setting provides the importance of the chess set to Waverly and her family, as
it is one of their only means of entertainment being in an urban lower class family.
This is important because of the role that chess has in the overall story.
Primary Characters
Waverly Place Jong - Waverly Jong is the protagonist and is a dynamic and
round character. Waverly is a young girl with an aptitude for chess. She has won
numerous awards in chess, but is still somehow being controlled by her mother.
Indirect characterization - Character’s actions, speech, thoughts. Also some
direct characterization.
Mrs. Jong - Mrs. Jong is the antagonist and is a dynamic and round character.
Mrs. Jong is a woman who gives advice to Waverly, her daughter, and loves to
take credit for her accomplishments. Mrs. Jong never seems to be satisfied with
Waverly Jong and is proud of her Chinese heritage. Indirect Characterization Character’s actions, thoughts, speech, effect on other characters, and other
character's opinions
Synopsis
Waverly and her family receive christmas presents, and her brother Vincent gets a
chess set. Waverly’s brothers play chess together and eventually let Waverly play
with them. After playing her brother, Waverly starts to study different chess moves
and various other elements of the game. Waverly’s brothers start to loose interest
in chess, so she starts playing with one of the old men at the park, Lau Po. Lau Po
teaches Waverly new chess moves and the proper etiquette of a chess player.
Waverly begins competing in recreational competitions in the park, but later moves
to competitive tournaments. Waverly continues to win her chess matches and her
mother starts to brag about her to everyone she meets. Eventually, Waverly speaks
up to her mother, asking her to stop embarrassing her. Waverly’s mom scolds
Waverly, and Waverly responds by running away. After waiting a few hours,
Waverly returns to her house. Her mother shuns Waverly, and Waverly retreats to
her room where she ponders what she will do now.
Plot Diagram
Rising Action: Waverly
Inciting Incident: Waverly Place
Jong plays chess for the first time and
is rapt in how the game works. She
decides to research chess in books at
the library.
Jong plays chess with Lau Po
and plays in her first
tournament, winning in a
blowout. As she grows as a
chess player, she wins more
and more and becomes
famous as a prodigy. She is
even featured on Life
magazine’s cover.
Climax: Waverly Jong cannot bear
her mother taking credit for
Waverly’s achievements. She
expresses this to her mother, who
misunderstands. As a result,
Waverley runs away.
Falling Action: Waverley comes home and
is scolded for being so selfish and uncaring
about her family. Waverley retreats to her
room.
Setting: Chinatown in San
Francisco in the late 1950s and
early 1960s. The characters are in
an urban environment and are in
the lower middle class.
Resolution/Cliffhanger: Waverly looks at
her ceiling and imagines the whole
situation as a game of chess. The story
ends with her pondering her next move.
Point-of-View
The point of view of the short story is a first person POV, which is helpful to the
reader since we are able to understand the thoughts and actions of the protagonist,
Waverly Jong, as she treks upon the path of life. We are able to view her rationale
for all of her decisions and how she reacts to the outcomes of her decisions.
Through her thoughts, we, as readers, are able to develop a connection with our
lives and hers and better understand her character and who she really is.
Techniques
Suspense - “Her black men advanced across the plane, slowly marching to each
successive level as a single unit. My white pieces screamed as they scurried and
fell off the board one by one. As her men drew closer to my edge, I felt myself
growing light. I rose up into the air and flew out the window.” This is a technique
Amy Tan uses to help keep the reader captivated with the piece.
Figurative Language: “Her voice was cracking with anger.” “ I could see the yellow
lights shining from our flat like two tiger's eyes in the night.” “My breath came out
like angry smoke.” “...the wind roared with laughter.” These are all instances when
Amy Tan used figurative language such as personifications and similes to better
paint a picture for the reader.
Techniques
Imagery - “The Chinese bakery downstairs from our flat displayed my growing
collection of trophies in its window, amidst the dust-covered cakes that were never
picked up. The day after I won an important regional tournament, the window
encased a fresh sheet cake with whipped-cream frosting and red script saying,
‘Congratulations, Waverly Jong, Chinatown Chess Champion.’” Imagery is used to
paint a more vivid picture and to provide more depth for the reader.
Allusion: The Rules of the Game mentions Bobby Fischer, a world chess
grandmaster. Bobby Fischer stated, "There will never be a woman grand master."
This allusion helps give a connection to the reader to better paint a picture, and the
allusion helps make the piece seem more realistic.
Symbolism
The chess set is a symbol representing how Waverly lives her life. In chess, each
moves must be thought out or you could end up giving your opponent the upper
hand, and the more moves you know the better you will be. In Waverly’s life, she
has to work hard if she wants to be successful, relating to the necessity of learning
chess moves to be a skilled player. Additionally, Waverly is constantly learning from
her mistakes, she has not yet learned that she must think first and act later if she
wants to eliminate trouble. This connects with the use/disuse of planning and its
repercussions in chess. Finally, in chess one must learn how to respond to their
opponents moves. This facet is relevant in Waverly’s life in the way that she must
learn how to give and take with her mother’s words and actions.
Theme
The theme of the short story is that having a passion in an area will lead to
excellence. Such can be seen through the example of the main character, Waverly
Jong, who absolutely loves chess. She naturally grew fond of it without anyone’s
coaxing and was able to display her talents in the field as well because of her
desire to learn about the nuances of moving tiny wooden pieces across a
checkered board. She had a true passion and ardor for the intricacies of chess, and
through her fervency, she was able to achieve great feats in her life, such as being
known all across the US as a chess prodigy and being a rival to the great Bobby
Fischer’s statement that there will we no female chess grand masters.
Rating of “The Rules of the Game”
I give The Rules of the Game 3 stars out of 3. The overall story was relatable, with
the daughter constantly being under pressure to perform well under all
circumstances. The point of view along with the way that the author developed the
mood of static tension also gripped the reader into the story. Along with that, the
overall story was far from being cliche, which stopped the plot from being
predictable. Overall, there was no inconsistency or nebulosity with the story, and
the cliffhanger ending led the reader to interpret by themselves Waverly’s situation
and how they would react to it themselves.
Citations
Chinatown Picture:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b0/1_chinatown_san_francisco_arch_gateway.JPG
Amy Tan:http://www.nndb.com/people/213/000025138/
Cats Image: http://29.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l6ye02v1qX1qz8haeo1_400.jpg
The Joy Luck Club: http://www.marshall.edu/library/bannedbooks/Images//joyluckclub.jpg
Three Stars:
http://www.flashplaces.com/image/data/3%20stars.jpg
Chess Board:
https://pixabay.com/en/chess-strategy-chess-board-316658/