Welcome!

Welcome to my site! Below is the table of contents.

• First prose, context of "No Name Women."



• Second prose, context of "He Defies You Still: Memoirs of a Sissy."



• Third prose, context of "A Man of Integrity."



• The Common Thread



• Disscusion Questions

I hope you enjoy!

-Lindsay Heath

First Prose, Context of "No Name Woman"

"No Name Woman", is about a Chinese family whose traditions and values are very strong. The mother tells her daughter that she has an aunt that has never been mentioned of before. The Father and his family think of his sister as to have never been born. The big secret revealed in this prose is, while her aunt was alive she married but her husband was away for a while. During that time she became pregnant. The villagers kept count of the pregnancy months and on the night that her baby was to be born they ransacked the families house. Due to her guilt and shame the new mother killed herself and the baby. She felt as though she was doing her family and the baby a favor. “Carrying the baby to the well shows love.” The entire reason the mother of this story tells her own daughter this disturbing family secret is to teach a lesson. The lesson learned is to not disgrace the family. It is to be honorable to your husband by not committing adultery.

Second Prose, Context of "He Defies You Still: Memoirs of a Sissy."

The second prose, "He Defies You Still: The Memoirs of a Sissy", a man describes being tormented and teased in school because he was not like all the other little boys. He too had a very dark secret. He did not like girls but he did not want to admit that he liked boys. Denying it from even himself. Being gay was not accepted in his small Catholic school and even the priest found it his duty to point the troubled boy in the right direction by explaining to him that he could become a priest and live a life of chastity. At the end of the prose the man declares, “ No history faces you this morning. You’re a faggot. No history- a faggot.” In the end the truth is satisfying. His lesson learned was accept yourself for who you are no matter what others may think of you.

Third Prose, Context of "A Man of Integrity"

The third prose, "A Man of Integrity", a doctor begins receiving letters from an anonymous woman. Although he never cheats he does keep the letters a secret. He lies about staying late at work so he can receive the letters, and he becomes very interested in this mysterious woman who is sending him the letters. By the end of the prose the man finds an envelope among his wife’s things. It is the exact envelope that his anonymous letters have been arriving in. The lesson that the Doctor learned was that his wife may have been behind this whole scandal. This caused him to realize his faults and make a change in his marriage.

The Common Thread

The three proses "No Name Woman," "He Defies You Still: The Memoirs of a Sissy," and "A Man of Integrity", all have one common thread about them. The commonality between tells the story of a big secret. Once the secret comes out there is a big lesson that has been learned. The truth reveals an important message. They all consist of a secret and a lesson learned. Although they have this in common they also consist of many differences. That is what makes them interesting. The common thread tries then together but their forms and styles of writing set them apart.

Discussion Questions

Questions about "No Name Woman":

1. Writers choose carefully titles. Let's consider this one. Why are names important and what would it mean not to have a name? Is identity an issue in this work? What does it mean to be a woman in the world Kingston presents?

2. Who is the “you” here? Isn’t she doing exactly what her mother told her not to do? She’s telling us!

3. Is this sister the No Name Woman? Why is her story a family secret?



Questions about "He Defies You Still: The Memoirs of a Sissy":

1.Why does the narrator conceal his identity until the end of the prose?

2. Most of us went through the experience of having our first teenage romance end in failure. Why is the narrator's experience of this common phenomenon even more devastating than most of ours?

3. How do you feel about the word "faggot" being used in this prose?




Questions about "A Man of Integrity":

1.Look up the word "integrity" in the dictionary. Note the denotations and apply it to the story. What does the word mean or suggest to you?

2. What is the significance of the title?

3. Why do you think Sami was so interested in the letters? Why did he keep them a secret?