Two Kinds by Amy Tan - question # 9 and The Pedestrian - questions 6 and 7
English 10 GATE “Two Kinds” # 9
9) The title of the story, “Two Kinds,” refers to two kinds of daughters that Jing-mei’s mother mentions: an obedient daughter (one that can live under her mom’s roof) and a daughter who follows her own mind. Jing-mei’s discovery about the two Schumann songs relate to the story because the two were “two halves of the same song” (Tan 107). The title means that Jing-mei’s mother wants one kind of daughter – an obedient one – but instead received another – one that follows her mind. Jing-mei tried to be the obedient daughter her mother wanted, but later saw that she didn’t want that kind of life (a life that her mother led) and told her mother to let her be herself – that refers to one of the songs, “Pleading Child.” When Jing-mei grows older, and doesn’t follow her mom’s orders to continue playing the piano – or any expectations her mother had for her – but she never really regretted what she did; she just stayed herself, and was fine with it – that refers to the second song, “Perfectly Contented.”
“The Pedestrian” questions
6) Details that describe the houses Leonard passes include “…cottages and homes with their dark windows…not unequal to walking through a graveyard…,” “gray phantoms seem to manifest upon the inner gray walls…there were whisperings and murmurs where a window in a tomblike building was still open,” and “the tombs, ill-lit by television light, where the people sat like the dead…” These details create an ominous and eerie mood, telling as if Leonard was walking through a cemetery instead of his neighborhood. They give off a suspenseful feeling, and the evening setting makes the story a little creepy.
7) I think Bradbury’s purpose in writing this story is to show that people should not become too invested with technology because one loses sight of the simple pleasures in life. The dark, empty setting he chose definitely helped him achieve his purpose; one example is when he describes the way television and
9) The title of the story, “Two Kinds,” refers to two kinds of daughters that Jing-mei’s mother mentions: an obedient daughter (one that can live under her mom’s roof) and a daughter who follows her own mind. Jing-mei’s discovery about the two Schumann songs relate to the story because the two were “two halves of the same song” (Tan 107). The title means that Jing-mei’s mother wants one kind of daughter – an obedient one – but instead received another – one that follows her mind. Jing-mei tried to be the obedient daughter her mother wanted, but later saw that she didn’t want that kind of life (a life that her mother led) and told her mother to let her be herself – that refers to one of the songs, “Pleading Child.” When Jing-mei grows older, and doesn’t follow her mom’s orders to continue playing the piano – or any expectations her mother had for her – but she never really regretted what she did; she just stayed herself, and was fine with it – that refers to the second song, “Perfectly Contented.”
“The Pedestrian” questions
6) Details that describe the houses Leonard passes include “…cottages and homes with their dark windows…not unequal to walking through a graveyard…,” “gray phantoms seem to manifest upon the inner gray walls…there were whisperings and murmurs where a window in a tomblike building was still open,” and “the tombs, ill-lit by television light, where the people sat like the dead…” These details create an ominous and eerie mood, telling as if Leonard was walking through a cemetery instead of his neighborhood. They give off a suspenseful feeling, and the evening setting makes the story a little creepy.
7) I think Bradbury’s purpose in writing this story is to show that people should not become too invested with technology because one loses sight of the simple pleasures in life. The dark, empty setting he chose definitely helped him achieve his purpose; one example is when he describes the way television and