On Christmas Eve I saw that my mother had outdone herself in creating a

strange menu. She was pulling black veins out of the backs of fleshy prawns. The

kitchen was littered with appalling mounds of raw food: A slimy rock cod with

bulging fish eyes that pleaded not to be thrown into a pan of hot oil. Tofu, which

looked like stacked wedges of rubbery white sponges. A howl soaking dried fungus

back to life. A plate of squid, their backs crisscrossed with knife markings so they

resembled bicycle tires.

Read the following excerpt from Amy Tan’s “Fish Cheeks”.


1. highlight interesting diction.

2. Why did you highlight each word? What connotations do the words have?

3. Is there a pattern in the word choice?

4. How is the meaning affected by the words?