Study Questions

1. What is a “mirrored armoire”?

2. Where is the armoire?

3. According to the mother, why shouldn’t the mirror be at the foot of the bed?

4. Why does the daughter refuse to move it?

5. Why is the daughter irritated?

6. How does the mother solve the problem?

7. What is the mother’s housewarming present?

8. What is “peach-blossom luck”?

9. What does the mother see in the mirror?

10. What does the daughter see in the mirror?

Answers

1. An armoire is a cupboard or wardrobe (8 feet or taller) used before homes had built-in closets. This one has a mirror on it.

2. The armoire is at the foot of the bed in the bedroom of the daughter’s new condominium.

3. The mother says the marriage happiness from the bed will bounce off the mirror and become its own opposite.

4. The armoire won’t fit anywhere else.

5. The daughter has heard dire predictions all her life.

6. The mother says to place another mirror at the head of the bed.

7. Her housewarming gift is a gilt-edged mirror from the Price Club.

8. “Peach-blossom luck” means having children.

9. The mother sees her grandchild.

10. The daughter sees her own reflection.