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How to pronounce a knife6/10/2023 ![]() ![]() The apartment is small with two rooms and in one of them hanging a painting by her father (ll. The apartment represents Joy’s Asian identity. The difference between Leo’s Asian identity and the North American one is represented by the two settings - the school and the apartment. When she returns home, she does not tell her parents what happened and that her father was wrong. Joy refuses to accept the correct pronunciation and is sent to the principal's office. Unlike what her father taught her, Joy learns that the letter “k” in “knife” is silent. The next day in school Joy is ridiculed for her mispronunciation by a girl in her class. ![]() One day Joy brings a book home from school and asks her father to help her pronounce a word she does not recognize - "knife". The short story “How to pronounce knife” by Souvankham Thammavongsa takes place in an unnamed North American country, where Joy’s family has moved from the Asian country of Laos. ![]()
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