100 / Methods of Development
For us Americans, whose idea of Chinese appetizers is limited to egg rolls, these appetizers
brought wide-eyed interest. We soon replaced our interest with wide-mouthed grins. Surprised
by the chilled roast duck and infatuated by the contrast with the crunchy pork and the piping-
hot shrimp, we devoured the appetizers—minus any sign of egg rolls—with relish and reckless
abandon.
We shouldn’t have. Before the dozens of ducks and bowls of pork and shrimp disappeared,
a steady stream of main-course dishes filled and finally overfilled the tables. Surely far
more dishes loaded the tables than there were people present. First, a stir-fried chicken-and-
almond dish with pea pods, bok choy, mushrooms, and water chestnuts tempted us. But fast-
following dishes of stir-fried shrimp and sweet-and-sour pork distracted me from my usual
favorite. The platter of squid and octopus prepared with onion and those black, almost filmy
Chinese mushrooms wafted exotic past my nose, and I shoved the idea of squirmy squid to the
back of my mind as I sampled the delicacy. It made the beef and broccoli dish taste mundane.
We washed the exorbitance down with pots and pots of aromatic hot tea.
Ah, but we weren’t finished, yet. Each of us received a red egg. “Eat the egg. Bring baby good
luck,” we were instructed.
Surely you jest, I thought to myself. Eat a hard-boiled egg after I’ve just glutted myself with this
gourmet meal? I slipped mine, I hope unobtrusively, into my pocket. “I’ll eat it later,” I promised
myself.
Then came dessert. No fortune cookies. Dessert. These dessert things looked rather like turn-
overs, pastry-covered somethings. “One has a meat filling; the other, a sweet filling,” someone
said who had just returned from the kitchen.
Meat for dessert? I opted for the sweet. Actually, I opted for half of a sweet and shared the
other half with a new acquaintance to my left. What was the “sweet”? I have no idea. Maybe
a combination of pureed fruit? With taste buds so overwhelmed by so many new flavors, they
simply grew numb. A final cup of tea, thank you, and my stomach screamed, “No more!”
And the baby slept through it all. What a joy, I thought to myself, that the Chinese feel the birth
of a child merits a celebration of this degree. Ironically, at least to Americans, the only other
Chinese celebration of equal magnitude is the celebration of their elders’ birthdays.ANALYSIS of THE SAMPLE NARRATIoN
The preceding sample narration tells of the writer’s attending a party. Certain charac-
teristics make the sample particularly interesting:
- The narration appears in the first-person point of view.
- It tells a factual story of the writer’s experiences.
- It employs elements of the short story, including some dialogue and good
description that tantalizes the senses. - It follows chronological order.