In Two Kinds‚ Suyuan has had a hard past life and little chance for any opportunities. She believes in the classic American dream‚ that with hard work‚ you can be whatever you want to be. Suyuan has a young daughter‚ Jing-mei‚ and is convinced that her daughter can be a child prodigy. For a long time‚ they try to find any hidden talents of the young girl. They tried many activities ranging from memorizing the Bible to performing acrobatics. At first‚ Jing-mei is excited about the idea of possibly
Premium
Amy Tan writes as many hidden things as the number of her story in Two Kinds. As its complex structure suggests‚ the book tries to organize the the stories of mother and daughter with the intention of reaching the same destination: the daughter’s recovery of her cultural and ethnic identity as Chinese by overcoming the generational gap and the cultural differences between herself and her mother. The mother intend to hand over their "good intentions" and "usable past" in China to their daughter in
Premium Amy Tan Family China
Luke Coviello 10/13/13 History 153 Merson Aristotle Aristotle was a pupil of the famous philosopher Plato. During his lifetime (384-322 BC) he learned and taught Socratic philosophy which was taught to him. He was taught this philosophy by Plato‚ who is responsible for all of Socrates written works since Socrates himself did not write down his teachings. During his teen years he was enrolled in Plato’s “Academy” where he then taught for about 20 years after his graduation. After this
Premium Plato Democracy Aristotle
Alex Lawley English 102 Professor Thomas March 27 2013 Essay #3 In Amy Tan’s "Two Kinds"‚ there was quite a bit of mother daughter conflict. The mother and daughter had very different views on what the daughter’s destiny should be like and that led to many disagreements. In the story‚ there are two major characters‚ Amy and her mother. Amy is the daughter who is being forced by her mother to become some sort of child prodigy. Amy is the protagonist‚ but I also believe she is a dynamic character
Premium Piano Fiction
Society has many effects on the narrator in “Two Kinds” and Madame Loisel in “The Necklace”. Whether it is helping us achieve feats or our actions in public‚ we can be affected both negatively and positively. In the short story “The Necklace” Madame Loisel is dirt poor. When her husband‚ a simple Clerk‚ comes home holding a white envelope which says “The Minister of Education and Mme. Georges Ramponneau beg M. and Mme. Loisel to do them the honor of attending an evening reception at the Ministerial
Premium Short story English-language films Fiction
Thesis: In Two Kinds‚ Amy Tan uses defiant americanized Jing-Mei and her native mother’s expectation of obedience to depict the clash of the cultures and its effect on the relationship between the two. I. Jing-Mei is overpowered by her hopeful and ambitious mother who believes that anything is possible and is willing to take any measures to achieve it: however her ambitious nature weighs heavy on Jing Mei and places strains on their relationship. a. “My mother believed you could be anything you
Premium Piano Culture Amy Tan
Amy Tan’s short story “Two Kinds” tells the story of the relationship between the protagonist‚ Jing Mei Woo and her mother. Jing-Mei’s mother believes that America‚ is the land of opportunity where she could be‚ “anything she wanted”(1). Hence‚ she has high hopes that her daughter will become a prodigy. Her mother is unclear of what exactly that could be‚ considering her search through a myriad of avenues. Nevertheless‚ she knows that with hard work‚ there is success. In the beginning
Premium Amy Tan The Joy Luck Club Family
He is not involved in the mother-daughter struggle over piano lessons. He does attend the recital; in fact‚ the narrator can’t tell if he is horrified or silently amused at her performance. Jing-mei Jing-mei is a rebellious child caught between two cultures: the Chinese culture that prevails in her mother’s home; and the American one that prevails everywhere else. She resists her mother’s attempts at discipline and resents the pressures of high achievement that immigrant parents typically place
Premium China Piano Song Dynasty
Most children struggle to establish who they are. In ‘Two Kinds’‚ does Jing-Mei know who she is or is she struggling because of her mother’s view? Throughout the entire story‚ her mother is pushing her daughter to be the best or to be a prodigy which leads Jing-Mei to struggle within herself on who she can be. As she struggled‚ she had two halves pulling at her which was her mother’s expectations and her thoughts telling her she wasn’t anything special. As she grew up‚ she accepted defeat that she
Premium Debut albums Debut albums Struggle
In Two Kinds‚ Amy Tan tells the story of Jing-mei‚ who as a child was given the song “Pleading Child” to practice. This song describes who she was as a child‚ desperate to stay the way she is‚ and pleading with her mother to love her the way she is‚ not the way she wants her to be. “Perfectly Contented‚” paints a different picture one that is viewed looking back by someone who has more experience. This song is longer because it takes more time to learn how to be perfectly content with one’s life
Premium Family Amy Tan The Joy Luck Club