American Born Chinese Lesson Plan

Why does laughter seem to accompany Danny everywhere he goes in this chapter?

Some students may initially think that the laughter that seems to accompany Danny and Chin-Kee in every panel was, in actuality, coming from Danny's classmates. However, they may notice a few panels in which, oddly enough, this does not seem to make any sense. When Danny is talking alone with Melanie, for example, why does he hear laughter when she tells him about his buck-teeth? Although some students may venture that Danny is living in a sitcom without knowing it (an interesting idea!), another answer is that Danny is perceiving more laughter than actually exists—and is thus imagining at least...