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A Thousand Years of Good Prayers​ by Yiyun Li Summary Mr. Shi, a retired Chinese self-proclaimed “rocket scientist” travels to the US to check on his recently divorced daughter, with a promise not to return until she is emotionally recovered. He comes across an Iranian woman of his age whom he calls “Madam” to talk to during his stay. Though both are not expert English speakers, they understood and empathized each other well. Mr. Shi later finds out that the reason his daughter abandoned her lover was because she did not talk as much as her husband wanted her to, which reminded Mr. Shi about his past, when he did not talk a lot to his daughter as well. Through this, Mr. Shi has a chance to reflect on his past mistakes which have shaped him into an appreciative man he is now. Literary Device In the sentimental short story ​A Thousand Years of Good Prayers, ​Yiyun Li’s clever use of aphorism captures each character’s personal wisdom about love and communication. Since the beginning of the story, Mr. Shi converses with his daughter in a loving, caring and affectionate manner as he knows she is emotionally damaged from the divorce. He occasionally sprinkles inspirational quotes while consoling her, for example “life provides more happiness than we ever know. We have to train ourselves to look for it.” This line serves as Mr. Shi’s method of motivating her into finding a new husband. In addition, the author herself also provides comments on the characters, putting herself in readers’ perspective by making expectations of who each character should be. For instance, the sentence “It is certainly not healthy for a woman … to spend too much time alone” is Mr. Shi’s expectation of his daughter to socialize more. Another usage of this technique would be when Mr. Shi expects that Madam would not understand him because he assumes most optimistic women are “shielded from life’s unpleasantness.” The last and perhaps most impactful example of aphorism would be in the last paragraph, when Mr. Shi concludes that “It is what we sacrifice that makes life meaningful,” a sentence he lived by, but proves to be wrong in the end. All of these philosophical observations can be taken out of context and still make perfect sense, thus is the characteristic of aphorism. In other words, aphorism used in this story reveals as much about the characters as they do about life, and that contributes to the meaning of the story as a whole. Creative Response f. Rewrite the story from a point of view different from the point of view presented in the short story. Baba used to be a silent person, a secretive scientist who was always building something behind our backs. I always thought of him as a father who cares about work more than his child. He was so busy with his job. It probably has never occurred to him that it’s his job, too, to bond with his daughter. I’ve never heard him talk much about me, or anyone. So, I assumed he didn’t care much about me, and I didn’t care much about him. We lived like

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that for decades, until he came all the way from China to the US, to visit me. I wonder why dad has just come seven years after I’ve been divorced. It’s probably about time we reconnect. Baba used to say he’s happy being like that: quiet, peaceful and all. Until this evening, I ate quietly like usual, but he thought I was sad… because I was quiet. If that is not the most hypocritical thing I’ve ever faced, then I don’t know what is. Though I knew he was desperately suppressing his sadness back then, he was the one who taught me to believe silence doesn’t mean unhappy, no matter if he knew it or not. So, why does he forget it now? Did he forget himself after all these radical changes? He speaks more, smiles more, starts to cook and becomes a completely different person. Has the words he’s been holding back all these years bursted out? I have just noticed today that baba has a friend, a kind-looking old Iranian woman. Relief cracked a smile on my face for a while. But then, a cynical side of me starts to wonder if he is really my dad. Talking was never really his thing, even after all these changes, I still can’t believe he made a friend this quickly. Maybe it’s because he has just discovered this new habit of talking more that has convinced him that silence was wrong. Maybe it’s just a new thing that sparks happiness in someone, a make-believe that themselves have the courage to change. That’s good for him, but I don’t feel the need to change. I want to blame him so bad for giving me the trait of quietness and staying silent. Still, he has a reason for not talking. My marriage ended because I was talking with a wrong person, at a wrong time. Couldn’t that be my reason to not talk? “A love in which their minds touched-- wasn’t it love, too?” Ofcourse, it was, until talking broke us apart, and brings us back together. Reference Li, Y. (n.d.). ​A Thousand Years of Good Prayers​.