What Does the Author Mean When She Says Invisible Strength on Page 232? What Does This

What does the author mean when she says “invisible strength” on page 232? What does this have to do with chess? You need to see the big picture and all of the options you have. You have to sit down and think. *Explain to them that they need to think about specific words and sentences used in short stories bc they are all important and used for a reason.*

What does “bite back your tongue” mean? Why is this phrase repeated throughout the story? (pg. 232) Bite back your tongue means to not say everything that comes to mind. *Remind students to be respectful of classmates.* You have to think about everything you say before you say it. Bite back your tongue goes with invisible strength and that’s why it’s repeated throughout the story.

What did the mother mean when she said, “Wise guy, he not go against wind. In Chinese, we say, ‘Come from South, blow with wind-poom!-North will follow. Strongest wind cannot be seen’?” (pg. 232) I don’t know what that means. What does it mean? Just because you’re the loudest wind… What is the wind? Maybe it’s the relationship between the mother and daughter; the daughter shouldn’t go against mother. Just go along with it, or you won’t win in the end.

What does Waverly mean when she says the chessboard holds elaborate secrets? (pg. 237) There are a lot of moves and techniques needed to win at chess. There are different ways to win, and she says “I also found out why…” When she says there are elaborate secrets, she means there are a lot more ways to win than it says in the directions. Maybe she’s also talking about life and comparing her life to a chessboard.

How does staring at a chessboard help you to learn? (pg. 237-28) You can envision the game happening and imagine where the chess pieces will move. It can help you to come up with strategies for playing. It helps you to learn the different moves, so you have more moves to use when playing.

Waverly’s mentor, Lau Po, teaches her attacks. What do the names of these attacks mean? (pg. 238) Quote the attack “Humble Servant.” It could mean that one of the lower pieces on the board could attack the king. Double killing without blood could mean that you take out 2 chess pieces in one mood. Surprise from the Sleeping Guard could be an unexpected move because you haven’t moved that piece in a while. They’re just different strategies.

What is Chinese humility? (pg. 239) Maybe Chinese humility is what they believe because she says “Is luck.” Maybe it’s what they believe in their religion. This is around the time when immigrants are humiliated. They don’t want to be proud because that’s not right to do at that time. What does the narrator mean when she thinks the wind says to her, “Blow, blow, blow. He cannot see. He is blind now. Make him lean away from the wind so he is easier to knock down?” (pg. 239) It could mean that you should keep moving your pieces toward him, maybe block him and make him back down. She trapped him so that he doesn’t expect any moves that are coming. She could be trying to distract him from her final move. *Remind students that Wind is at the beginning of story; mother tells her to bite back her tongue; if you go with the wind, it’s easier, but if you go against it, it will be much harder. She’s so into the game that she’s making things up in her mind, and she’s acting like the wind is telling her what to do.

On page 239, Waverly’s mother comments on Waverly’s winning in the chess tournament, “Is luck.” What does she mean by this? *We already discussed this with question about Chinese humility.

After her first tournament, Meimei’s mother seems to become more obsessed with winning than Meimei herself. Why does she want Meimei to win so much? (pg. 239) The mother could want Meimei to win because it creates pride for the family. Maybe she sees that Meimei is using the lessons she’s been taught with invisible strength. As Hayley said about immigrants, maybe she wants Meimei to win because it’s a big accomplishment for them at that time. She wants her daughter to win to bring honor to her family and because it makes her daughter happy to play chess. I think she wants her daughter to be the best she can be and bring honor to her family; quotes “Is shame you fall down nobody pushes you.” Why does Waverly’s mother want her to lose less chess pieces? (pg. 239) Her mother wants her to lose less pieces to see if she really needs to because she can still win by not losing so many. She thinks that maybe losing less means you advance more when maybe it’s even if you lose some, you win some. She believes the more pieces you have, the more chances you have the higher the chance, but really if you lose pieces you could be farther ahead. The mother doesn’t completely understand the rules to chess.

Why did Waverly’s mother feel like she needed to show her off? (pg. 240-41) Her mother felt like she needed to show her off because the family didn’t have much to show off, and her winning made them proud. Probably because she was really proud of her. Maybe sometimes even thought it’s Meimei’s accomplishments, her mother feels like it’s her accomplishments too because she is striving to be good at chess.

Why does Waverly’s mother think of herself as a protective ally? (pg. 241) Her parents would do anything so that she would win, like not make her finish her food and they let her have her own bedroom. *How does Waverly view her mother at this point in the story?* Opponent. I think she uses her mom to get what she wants because her mom uses her to show her off and bring a good name to the family. Why does Waverly want to run away? What changes her mind? (pg. 242) She’s annoyed by her mother because she’s using Waverly to show off. She’s tired of her mother showing her off when she goes places. What changes her mind is that she knew her family had already given up looking for her. Waverly is tired of her mom basically stalking her as she plays chess and envisions new ways to play and is tired of her always showing Waverly off as some kind of trophy instead of a person. She changes her mind because she realizes she has nowhere to go.

Will Waverly’s family treat her differently now that she has told her mother that she embarrasses her? (pg. 241) I don’t think they’ll treat her with as much respect as they did before because she told her mom not to show her off as much. Waverly’s family will treat her differently because she practically disowned the family name but until her mother realizes she was also treating Waverly with some disrespect-her mother will realize that her daughter had a right to say she was embarrassed. The whole family won’t even look at her when she comes in. In the story, it pretty much says that the family will treat Waverly differently; quotes “She not concern us we not concern her” so they may not do as much to make sure she wins so much at chess.

What does the narrator mean at the very end of the story when she says, “I rose up into the air and flew out of the window. Higher and higher, above the alley, over the tops of tiled roofs, where I was gathered up by the wind and pushed toward the night sky until everything below me disappeared and I was alone?” It refers back to the beginning of the story when the mother teaches her “Strongest wind cannot be seen.” The paragraph is saying how her mother is the strongest wind. It’s describing how she feels because of how her family has yelled at her and she feels alone.

In the last paragraph on page 242, the daughter faces off against her mother in an imaginary chess match. Why does the author end the story this way? I think the author ends the story this way so the reader can infer/guess what happens next. Everyone imagines her greatest fears and hers could be losing a chess match. If you’re upset you’ll imagine what you’re best at but you don’t want it to have the wrong ending. Waverly’s biggest opponent has become her mother. Earlier in the story, she asked her mother to learn chess herself if she wants to show off. Maybe she thinks her mother will actually do that. *Why was chess used in the story? * Describes the relationship between Waverly and her mother with their arguments. Strategies in life. In chess, you have to carefully decide your next move, and in life you have to carefully decide your next move because you don’t want to screw up your life with one mistake.

Theme: Choose your next move in life carefully.