"I am to replace my mother": Comment on the verb form.
We use to be + infinitive with 'to' when we talk about our plans or arrangements for the future.
"Don't show off" I said. What does this mean?
display someone or something that is a source of pride.
"my mother and father left China with one stiff leather trunk filled only with fancy silk dresses". Why?
They had no time to pack anything else, the mother said, but maybe she thought the dresses would be more valuable than her husband's clothes?
Where did her mother meet the ladies with whom she formed the San Francisco version on the Club?
At the Chinese Baptist Church where she went to Bible study and choir practice.
How did the narrator's mother feel when she was hiding in the deep cave?
She was scared stiff, lost all her hunger and she only wanted to disappear.
comment on the verbs' form and meaning: " I WOULD BE amazed to find the hills against the burning sky had not been TORN APART"
would+infinitive TO TALK ABOUT MEMORIES; torn apart is PHRASAL VERB (tear apart) meaning destroy, split.
How did her mother come up with the idea for the ORIGINAL Joy Luck Club in Kweilin?
The place was unbearably dangerous, and she needed something to do to help her move.
"What fine food did the women TREAT THEMSELVES WITH?
dumplings, noodles, peanuts, oranges,etc
