Thesis

In Amy Tan's "The Joy Luck Club" and "The Bonesetter's Daughter", superstition plays a central role in the mentality and belief of Chinese people. The Chinese believe that the supernatural power will bring them either bad luck or blessing, however, psychological impacts of superstition are also important reasons for the characters to conduct their lives to a different outcome.

Questions!

1. What is superstition?
2. What is the role of superstition in Chinese culture?
3. Why are the characters deeply influenced by superstition?
4. What are the psychological impacts of superstition on the characters?
5. How does superstition change the characters life?

Preliminary outline!

1. psychological impact of superstition
-fear
-belief
-bad luck
-blessing

2. Chinese culture/ tradition
- supernatural power
- spirit/ghost
- ancestor

3.superstition/myth
- death
- curse
- taboo
- fate

Key Words

The key words for my topic will be,

1. superstition
2. Chinese culture
3. tradition
4. myth
5. fear
6. fate
7. curse
8. ancestor
9. death
10. spirit/ghost
11. god
12. suicide
13. bad luck
14.blessing
15. taboo
16. psychological impact

My Final Research Topic

The final topic I chose is ,

Chinese superstition in Amy Tan's "The Joy Luck Club" and "The Bonesetter's daughter" - in a sychological perspective.

I've read four of Tan's novels, and found that one very important element that describe Chinese culture in her books is superstition. And superstition does lead the characters to a different life. So I am interested in doing a research of Chinese superstition in a psychological perspective with Amy Tan's two books.