Fish Cheeks
Amy Tan
I fell in love with the minister's son the winter I turned fourteen. He was not Chinese, but a
white as Mary in the manger. For Christmas I prayed for this blond-haired boy, Robert, and
new American nose.
When I found out that my parents had invited the minister's family over for Christmas Eve
dinner, I cried. What would Robert think of our shabby Chinese Christmas? What would he
of our noisy Chinese relatives who lacked proper American manners? What terrible
disappointment would he feel upon seeing not a roasted turkey and sweet potatoes but Chine
food?
On Christmas Eve I saw that my mother had outdone herself in creating a strange menu. She
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 inte
pan of hot oil. Tofu, which looked like stacked wedges of rubbery white sponges. A howl soakin
dried fungus back to life. A plate of squid, their backs crisscrossed with knife markings so they
resembled bicycle tires.

What is an argumentative essay that goes with the story “Fish Cheeks” by Amy Tan ?