Preview

Two Kinds Theme Essay

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
318 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Two Kinds Theme Essay
The setting of a piece of literature is always important for the theme because it provides both historical, and cultural context for the characters. The setting of “Two Kinds” helps support the theme of the story for those exact same reasons. Historical context is of great importance in a story as it helps the reader understand what the implications of a character’s actions would be at that specific time. The story of “Two kinds” takes place in the United States during the late 1950’s, where during that period in time a child’s rebelliousness was seen as consequential disobedience, and therefore resulting in heavier punishments then a child in the present would receive. An example of this is when June’s mother physically attacked her when she

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    Amy Tan's "Two Kinds" is a story of a daughter coming to grips with her childhood. Ni-Kan, the child in the story, is pressured by her mother to excel in some sort of talent so she can flaunt her daughter to other mothers. Ni-Kan's mother has her copy others to find a talent but fails in every attempt. While watching television one night, Ni-Kan's mother sees a boy playing the piano and decides this will be the perfect talent for Ni-Kan. She is forced by her mother to learn to play from an old deaf man. In rebellion Ni-Kan does not put any effort into learning the piano. She then performs at a recital, plays poorly, and embarrasses herself and her mother. The day after the recital Ni-Kan's mother makes her go pack to the teacher for her lesson. Ni-Kan, out of spite, brought up the twins her mother abandoned in China. This made her mother sad and dropped the piano lessons. Years later, the mother offers Ni-Kan the piano which she refuses to take as to keep a reminder to her of the battle Ni-Kan had won. Later, after the mother died, Ni-Kan had the piano tuned. She sat at the piano, and though she had not played in years she played "Pleading Child" the piece from the recital followed by "Perfectly Content." After playing the two pieces Ni-Kan comes to realize she could have been a good pianist had her mother not pressured her so much. (Tam…

    • 250 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    LoTF Theme Essay

    • 412 Words
    • 2 Pages

    In the Lord Of The Flies, the author, William Golding communicates a theme of fear and that the real battle, and the beast , is inside of all the boys in the book. That the boys have to fight the beast and the fear inside of themselves.…

    • 412 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The setting impacts the plot and the characters of the story because the setting takes place in America during world war 2 . Since the setting is during a time of war and death,it has a big impact. It impacts the characters motivation to support to their country. The setting also impacts there mood because of all the illness and cruelness shown towards one another. Finally the setting impacts the plot because the setting gets the character emotional causing her to become paranoid.…

    • 215 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Two Kinds By Amy Tan Essay

    • 1153 Words
    • 5 Pages

    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.…

    • 1153 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The novel To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee takes a reality look at life in the South and 1930s. The trial in this book is affected by setting and changes the result of the trial, Atticus, and how people saw their views of life. Atticus, Scout, and Boo are each affected by a small town attitude, along with the trial and everyone's reaction to the conviction. There are simple and complex ways that setting affects a story. Anything from results to rumors is changed by setting. The setting affects the conflict, character, and mood by creating segregation and a small town attitude.…

    • 906 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Lottrey

    • 606 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The story begins with the establishment of the setting. To begin, Shirley Jackson tells the reader what time of day and what time of year the story takes place. This is important to get the reader to focus on what a typical day it is in this small town. The setting set forth by Shirley Jackson in the beginning of the story creates a mood of peacefulness and tranquility. It also creates a visual image in the mind of the reader of a typical town on a normal summer day. Shirley Jackson tells you that school has just been let out so you know that it is early summer.…

    • 606 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Love has a variety of effects on people. When it is pure it can change people for the better and heal their pain. “Catch the Moon” was written by a Puerto Rican American woman and is set in the Caribbean Hispanic Barrio. “The Bass, The River, and Sheila Mant” is written by a Caucasian man from New Hampshire and is set in a New England summer home waterfront community. In “Catch the Moon” and “The Bass, The River, and Sheila Mant” The main character a teenage boy, believes himself to be in love with a beautiful girl he just met. However, In “Catch the Moon,” Luis feelings for Naomi redeem him by inspiring to return to acts of goodness. In “The Bass, The River and Sheila Mant,” The fourteen year old boy realizes that “loving” one for their looks is shallow and futile. These lessons to be learned in these stories are exceedingly important to know, especially as one grows into a young adult.…

    • 855 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    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. In the story, Amy Tan writes, “After I played them both a few times, I realized they were two halves of the same song (p.552).” She cannot be one without the other she is both the pleading child and perfectly content, without them both she is not her true self. In this story, Amy Tan portrays how the expectations of Jing-mei’s mother affect her sense of self. How one’s self-image can change whether they are basing it on other people’s opinion of them, a rigid …, and a flowing view of themselves that changes with time.…

    • 707 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Theme in Literature Essay

    • 4725 Words
    • 19 Pages

    T F 5 The United States’ general strategy was to defeat Japan first, and then fight the…

    • 4725 Words
    • 19 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Thematic Essay

    • 476 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Throughout global history, nationalism has had many positive and negative effects. Nationalism is a strong feeling of pride in and devotion to ones country. India, Africa, China, Japan, and Mexico are just a few examples of nations who were affected by nationalism. India had two major effects of nationalism. They were Gandhi's Salt March and the Armistar Massacre.…

    • 476 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The short story “Two Kinds,” is a story in which a young Chinese child is struggling with her mother that wants so badly to change her into this average American girl. Or so the daughter thought, her mother was trying to get her daughter to understand that she can achieve anything that strives to do as long as she focuses and puts her mind to it. Jing-Mei thought her mother was trying to control her life and she just wanted to create her own identity. Jing-Mei’s mother’s expectations and her interpretation of what her mother expected represent the differences in the cultures and its consequence on the connection amongst the two of them.…

    • 271 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Cultural Essay

    • 1874 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Over the past 100 years my family has come from many places of origin Lebanon, Spain, Ireland, Russia, Germany and many others. over the past century there’s been a breakdown and separation amongst the family and its traditions that we used to have. There’s so much left to my imagination regarding my culture and ethnicity, but there is some that I am aware of from questioning people such as my mother, father, grandmother and other extended family members. Being an ethnic orphan is basically saying that whatever traditions and sense of culture we may have had in the past is very vague for the most part because of assimilation and geographical relocation. Although much is left to the imagination there are some things that I am aware of about my family’s culture and much that has been created for the purpose of keeping our family together. The issues concerning culture and ethnicity that will be discussed are:…

    • 1874 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Analogy Essay

    • 1178 Words
    • 5 Pages

    What do Kingda Ka and the discoverer of radioactivity, Marie Curie, have in common? Actually, there is a lot more than you would think. You might say to yourself that they are completely different, which is correct, yet incorrect. One thing is a rollercoaster and the other is a famous scientist, but when you look past just their physical descriptions, you will see how much they actually are alike. They both follow similar paths and they both faced many hardships, but also many great things.…

    • 1178 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Thematic Essay

    • 6025 Words
    • 25 Pages

    VO L U M E 1 2 FOR TEACHERS ONLY OF MC & THEMATIC REGENTS HIGH SCHOOL EXAMINATION Global History and Geography August 17, 2010 GLOBAL HISTORY AND GEOGRAPHY Cut Here The University of the State of New York Part I 1. . .…

    • 6025 Words
    • 25 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Thematic Contrast Essay

    • 646 Words
    • 3 Pages

    A friend to me is someone who you can trust and share some of the same common interests with. A friend should be someone you can tell anything and they won’t judge you for it. Also you should be able to trust them with anything including emotional secrets. In my opinion if you cant do any of these things with someone you consider a friend, you should probably reconsider. Friends are people that should be cherished and chosen carefully. In the case of the cube brothers, Rick and Gordon character-traits aren't very similar. Rick and Gordon share few common interests and have basically none of the same character-traits. After meeting and befriending both of them, I realize Rick is an extremely better friend than Gordon…

    • 646 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays