good and bad, the end result being detriment to the daughter’s personal outlook and future.
good and bad, the end result being detriment to the daughter’s personal outlook and future.
In the short story “Two Kinds” by Amy Tan, with the use of epiphany and turning points the reader is able to see the protagonist’s growth and change in personality throughout the story. The protagonist, Jing-Mei and her mother emigrated from China to the US, thus the family struggled in adapting to the new culture and lifestyle. Heavily influenced by the opportunities and hopes with a new life in US, Jing-Mei’s mother wanted Jing-Mei to become a prodigy like the other girls on television. Jing-Mei was determined and eager to prove to her mother she was a prodigy, and thereby had full confidence in herself. She believed “[her] mother and father would adore [her and she’d be] beyond reproach.” (pg4). As Jing-Mei’s mother quizzed Jing-Mei with countless questions and tests, Jing-Mei started getting frustrated by her mother’s disappointments and “something inside [her] began to die” (pg 5).…
The short story “Two Kinds” by Amy Tan, starts off with introducing the mother interpretation of how she want her daughter to live the American Dream. The mothers loses her family in China and now hopes to relive that part of her loss through her daughter. However, the daughter, Ni Kan, is not interested in her mother’s dreams and totally ignores against them. In the beginning, Ni Kan, says that she is “just as excited as her mother maybe even more so” about her becoming a prodigy. She pictures herself in different roles such as a ballerina and believes that once that she has become perfected…
Once one becomes part of the parents only club, one is expected to make the right decisions for one's child. Which is, giving one's child a chance at every possibility to obtain success. But, how much of it is truly for one's child and how much is for one's own personal fulfillment? In the short story by Amy Tran ‘Two kinds” we see into the life of a young Chinese American and her mother, who wishes for nothing less than her daughter to be a protege. As readers learn about how Mother goes about with this desire, one comes to question her motives. Does she want this because she believes this is truly what her daughter needs or, does she want this for herself, in order to fill a void left by her past? This selfish desire causes a clash between mother and daughter.…
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 America. Amy Tan, depicts the relationship between Jing-mei, a young Chinese-American girl, and her mother, a Chinese immigrant, her mother. She does not have something special things. However, her normal life has changed a little because of her mother.…
In this story also the writer's mother wanted her daughter to be obedient by following her path. As she was optimistic, she always wants her daughter to be successful in the future thus forced her daughter to have the prodigy that she never wanted to be. She has a high expectation towards her daughter but every time she fails to stand to the expectation. The narrator also feels as if she could not handle her responsibility and let her mother's expectation down. From the Chinese Shirley Temple to the piano lesson the narrator mother's always responses saying not the best because you are not trying. Everymen the writer had the disappointment on herself for not performing well. From the other points of view, the mother has a genuine love towards her daughter. In conclusion, the story has revealed the mother-daughter relationship and also the generational gap between…
Only one kind of daughter can live in this hous. Obedient daughter” she shouted in chinese. “Then I wish I wasn’t your daughter, I wish you weren’t my mother” (Chunk 6 paragraph 11, 12). As a Chinese immigrant Jing Mei’s mother gets the idea from television shows and magazines and she does not question the validity of these sources. She meanswhile pushes her daughter to be the best but on the other hand Jing Mei cannot see the value of showing dedication to her mother’s goal, practicing a skill, or collaborating with her mother’s plan because they are both separated by a factor; Culture. After her mother’s death she gains insight into her mother’s underlying motives. In addition Rudy Puana learned to be true in spite of his difficulties in life.…
While economic competition was a significant factor in passing the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882, nativism became another influential factor. Americans started to feel threatened by the massive presence of Chinese immigrants in the United States. In Document C, the speech given to the working men of San Francisco was created to encourage Americans that they need to reclaim “their rightful” jobs, and it was proclaimed, “We should all understand that this state of things cannot be much longer endured.” It is evident that Americans are annoyed with Chinese immigrants claiming jobs, and they feel it is their obligation to accomplish their objective of regaining jobs to reclaim their national pride. Another example of nativism is established in Lee Chew’s autobiography.…
It was a pleasure to attend the lecture titled “The Economic Contribution of Immigration in America” by Dr. Alfonso Morales. As a Latina I am always happy to attend a lecture that is a part of the Latino Heritage Lecture Series. I strongly believe it is important to learn about different cultures, and these lectures are always very informative. For this lecture, I was especially excited to hear Dr. Morales discuss not only the economic contributions of immigration but also the more culturally inclined aspects of immigration. I found that even though his lecture was titled the “economic contributions of immigration”, he strongly emphasized more life enriching aspects like diversity and culture.…
Step: 1 What happened between the 1860’s, when Chinese were welcome, & 1882, when they were excluded?…
Do you know that for almost 200 years, people have emigrated to America from all over the world. Don't you think that's interesting? I think it is. Can you actually believe that millions of Europeans came by boat to New York during the late 1800s? Sometimes as many as 2,000 people arrived in one day. And later, large groups of immigrants came from Asia and from Mexico, Cuba and Puerto Rico.…
The immigration pattern in the United States affects the Americans economy.There are many undocumented people from central America working and living the United States.The effects of the immigrations pattern on the American economy are that immigrants pay taxes, immigrants work low paying jobs, and their children go to college and get jobs.…
For the most part, Asians have had a rough time becoming equals in American society. But because of their hard work, and strong family ethics Asians as a whole have definitely become a keystone in the society of the United States.…
During the mid to late 1800’s, the United States of America underwent a crucial era of expansion and industrialization that many historians recognize as the start of major growth and transformation into the sovereign country that America is today. By the 1840’s, the industrial revolution was reconstructing the east, due to newly created railroads, textile mills, and small cities that stretched across the entire eastern seaboard. By 1860, over fifteen percent of Americans lived in cities, and a staggering one third of the nation’s income was generated from manufacturing ("Immigration: The Journey to America"). Although the east coast was rapidly expanding during this era of industrialization,…
Chinese immigration was important to the expansion and development of Western America. Thousands of Chinese immigrants had come to America during the late 1800’s in search of gold and for a better life full of riches. Unfortunately, many Chinese immigrants never struck gold and became laborers who were treated poorly and discriminated against. Many Chinese immigrants worked long hard hours on railroads across the West which led to the development of the Transcontinental Railroad. Without the Transcontinental Railroad, America wouldn’t have been able to expand west as quickly as it did. Not only were Chinese laborers treated badly, but they soon were banned due to many white Americans feeling that Chinese laborers were taking their jobs and…
Isolation from others can cause individuals to feel lonely and torn. This isolation will cause them to feel outcast from the world while makes them work hard for what makes them happy. Gene Yang makes us feel this throughout the novel. In the beginning of American Born Chinese, Jin is on the playground when some kid comes up to him and makes stereotypical insults. “Come on. Let’s leave buck tooth alone so he can enjoy lassie” then the kids walk away smiling. (Yang 33). In this case, Yang uses stereotypical remarks to show that the kids didn’t like hanging out with Jin because of his race. This discrimination causes Jin to push away from the crowd, which only made Jin feel lonely. Whereas, the author of Linh Lai shows that race isn’t the only way to feel isolated from others.…