Throughout Butler Octavia's novel Kindred, there are several examples of female characters who tend to challenge women's traditional roles. Dana is the main character who should be considered a dynamo considering how independent she is during the point of time she travels to (the 1800s). Women have been seen for a long time as not being independent because they depend on their husbands to support them while they stay at home taking care of the children, I do not believe this to be true. I will give evidence of different reasons why I think that Dana's presence in this story challenge the traditional roles and views throughout history.…
In the moment that she saw her mother's face disappointment when she failed to succeed a certain event the daughter felt dying. She realized that she needs another purpose to live not only my being an obedient daughter and by not fulfilling…
State and explain whether the motion of the ball is simple harmonic. (such as a ball bounce)…
Jing-Mei’s mother then encouraged Jing-Mei to play piano and perform in a talent show. When Jing-Mei’s turn came, she was confident and thought “without a doubt, that the prodigy inside of [her] really did exist” (pg 7). However, as she started playing “[she] was surprised when [she] hit the first wrong note. And then hit another and another” (pg 7). In the end, Jing-Mei’s performance was nothing like she expected she “felt the shame of [her] mother and father as they sat stiffly through the rest of the show” (pg 7). After the talent show, Jing-Mei’s was devastated and decided she was never going to play piano anymore; she could never be the prodigy or daughter her mother wants her to…
Many Chinese mothers and Americanized daughters have trouble understanding each other and this problem can only be solved through accepting each other's values and their differences. In the chapter,Two Kinds, from the book "The Joy Luck Club" by Amy Tan exposes the values of a Chinese mother, Suyuan and her Americanized daughter, Jing-mei about living in America. After seeing many articles and stories about prodigies, Suyuan innocently believes her daughter can be one too. At first, Jing-mei was ecstatic about the idea but through constant disappointment from her mother, Jing-mei became idiotically determined to disappoint her mother even more. Pursuing this further, Suyuan thought Jing-mei can be a virtuoso pianist…
After Jing Mei and her mother both gave up on Jing Mei becoming a prodigy, her mother told her that she “could been genius…” and that she “just not trying…” (Tan, 143). This shows that all that time the Jing Mei thought her mother wanted her to be something different than what she was, she really just wanted her to try and do her best at everything she could. Though she went about it the wrong way, Jing Mei’s mother always meant well. A similar problem occurs with Mike and his father Billy in Friday Night Lights. Mike’s father treasured Mike more than anything, even his brother tells him that he was “the most special thing in his life” (Bissinger, 74). Billy always pushed Mike to be his best, telling him he had to go to college, and how much he wanted him to play for Permian. After Billy’s death, however, Mike wanted to leave Odessa, and Joe Bill talked him out of it, using the “power of Permian football” (Bissinger, 74) to make him stay. This shows that where Mike found his father’s wishes a tough thing to do, Billy always meant well. Mike stressed over trying to make his father proud, but all Billy really wanted to do is give Mike incentive to trying to be…
A quote from the story is, “My mother believed you could be anything you wanted to be in America” (Tan 18). This quote shows that all of Jing-mei’s mother’s hopes lay in America. She faced many disappointments after losing her parents, home, husband, and daughters. She has lost a key part of her culture by losing most of her family. This will impact her views on America and Jing-mei. This will also be the cause of her high hopes. Another quote from the story is, “Only two kinds of daughters! Those who are obedient and those who follow their own mind! Only one kind of daughter can live in this house. Obedient daughter!” (Tan 24). This quote shows that Jing-mei’s mother’s cultural identity influences her views on what she believes Jing-mei should be like. She believes that Jing-mei should be a prodigy. She also believes that Jing-mei should be obedient and always listen to what she says. Another quote from the story is, “For unlike my mother, I did not believe I could be anything I wanted to be, I could only be me” (Tan 24). This quote could qualify the argument because Jing-mei’s views are different from what her mother taught her and believes. However, Jing-mei’s experience causes her to form her own cultural identity that is different from her mother’s. Jing-mei’s cultural identity causes her to believe that she cannot be a prodigy and that she can only be…
However, Jing-mei began to learn playing the piano with Mr.Chong and participated in the contest of piano. As usual, the result was the worst. After the contest, she said “I’m not going to play anymore, Why should I? I’m not a genius.” She thought her mother wanted her to be a genius and she didn't want to be someone that she was not. But her mother demands forcibly just like always.…
Ever went to bed and woke up in a totally different world? Or maybe a new dimension? Sometimes the world has a way of making us feel that way. I think that when a person goes to a new world everything is new, the way they are, the way they look at their culture even their perspective on life.…
The plot focus on two themes: the American Dream and the tension between Jing-mei and her Mother. To Jing Mei’s Mother, “America is where dream do come true, pushes Jing-mei to have such a high expectations of her daughter by hoping that her daughter would be a great success one day. She has “no idea exactly where her daughter talent lies on”, but she thinks that her daughter has great capability. It is a matter of finding what exactly Jing-mei talent is. First, Mrs. Woo tries to transform into a child actress, then tries intellectual tests, lastly she thinks she might be a pianist (p.385-388).…
1. Robert Sternberg coins the term “practical intelligence” on page 101. Explain. Do you feel you hold a good grasp of practical intelligence? Highlight four ways this semester, either at school, work or play that you believe will help you build practical intelligence.…
raise other successful children In the article about the superiority of Chinese mothers as opposed…
The message of the text is that Chinese mothers are caring moms even though they are strict and don’t give their children any spare time, they just want the best for their children. They want them to succeed so they can have a good life in the future.…
The story Two Kinds is about a Chinese girl, Jing-Mei, who lives life trying to find herself under her over-bearing mother’s envisions and high expectations of what she feels Jing-Mei should become. The subject of the mother-daughter dynamic and lack of obedience is revealed from the beginning of the story; as well as the fact their relationship is rather conflicted. Throughout the story Jing-Mei is very obstructive to the ideas her mom puts forth. Her constant acts of disobeying and rebelling against her mom orders, express how the tension arose between Jing-Mei and her mom. The fact her mom had an extremely difficult life in China until she lost everything and moved to America, explains and sort of justifies why she was so obsessed with Jing-Mei excelling and making something of her, life in addition to her desire of wanting to be able to brag. Unfortunately, rather than allowing Jing-Mei to find something she was comfortable with and make an independent decision of what she wanted in her life, she forced activities and ideas on her which eventually resulted in Jing-Mei becoming rebellious. As Jing-Mei became rebellious, her mom implemented her…
Suyuan had to make the hard decision to leave her twin babies on the side of the road in hopes some kind stranger would take them in, that way she would not have to see them die. Suyuan searches for her babies all through her life in America, sending multitudes of letters; they finally get in touch with her two months after she has died. Because her mother is not alive to meet her children, Jing Mei takes her place and the trip enables her to finally recognize her Chinese ancestry. The minute she enters China she "feels different" and can realize that she is "becoming Chinese" (306). At fifteen Jing Mei believed she was only as Chinese as her "Caucasian friends" (306). Yet her mother counters thoughts, telling her: "Once you are born Chinese, you cannot help but feel and think Chinese" (306). Once in China Jing Mei decides her mother was right and she "has never really known what it meant to be Chinese" (307). She has never understood her mother or her heritage. This trip is the connecting link to understanding her life. She begins to feel natural in China, thinking to herself on the train: "I am in China It feels right" (312). Jing Mei sees the landscape, the people, the histories, and the families in China and sees where her mother was speaking from all of those years. She knows a "little percent" of her mother know (15). It becomes "obvious" to Jing Mei to see what "part of [her] is Chinese"; it is "in her family, in her blood"…