Two Halves of the Same Song “My mother believed you could be anything you wanted to be in America” (526). This is the first sentence in “Two Kinds” by Amy Tan spoken by the narrator’s point of view‚ Jing-mei‚ the daughter. The story was a direct reflection of love vs. rebellion with the mother and the daughter‚ presented in a humorous almost sounding sarcastic tone to show the two kinds of people in the story; the one the mother thought the daughter should be and the one the daughter thought she
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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
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In “Two Kinds”‚ Jing-mei woo is also known as June and her personality traits are illustrated throughout the story. June displays impatient tendencies. June does not allow the time it would take to become the creation her mother wants her to be. She asks her mother why she is not happy with her. In response‚ her mother slaps her and tells that she is ungrateful. Jing-mei is resentful towards her mother. Suyuan takes it upon herself to make Jing-mei into a piano prodigy. Jing-mei plots revenge in
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Daughter of Fortune is an inspiring piece of literature that captivates its audience by opening its doors to the life of a young Chilean girl who travels a long journey desperately to find her lover‚ Joaquin Andieta‚ in California during the Gold Rush of 1849. Eliza Sommers‚ when pregnant‚ endangered her life by smuggling herself on the obscure bottom of a ship headed to California‚ a society where people where driven crazy by gold fever. Eliza was raised in a British colony of Valparaíso‚ Chile
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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
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Between the story “Two kinds” and “Everyday Use” I can feel the tension within the mother and daughter relationships. They both are unstable relationships but each for several reasons. In the story of “Two Kinds” the mother was very pushy with her daughter. The mother fully believes anything can happen in America. Therefore‚ sending her daughter through several tests and every time she sees a child succeeding in something she pushes her daughter do to that task. In the story Two Kinds she said “Every
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“Two Kinds” The first paragraph of Amy Tan’s “Two Kinds”‚ presents a young daughter’s view of her mother and the life she believes you can have in america. “You can be anything” (479) ; her mother was determined to make her daughter a prodigy‚ but as we read on we learn about a girl and her rebellious nature and how there are “two kinds” of children in this world. As a child you only learn what you are taught or what you see done around you and and in the beginning the young girl was so hopeful “I
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The Joy Luck Club‚ by Amy Tan‚ reflects this influence through its infusion of Taoist principals. One of the fundamental concepts within Taoism is that of Wu-hsing. Wu-hsing is a way of understanding a matter by dividing it into five and is often represented by five phases‚ elements of directions. This is an unfamiliar concept to a western perspective‚ which tends to divide things into four. Understanding this fifth additional element‚ however‚ is essential to understanding The Joy Luck Club.
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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
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The portrayal of a character throughout the plot of a short story or novel is essential to the successful picture a reader vividly imagines while interpreting a writer’s text. Main characters in such publications most certainly possess certain traits or characteristics intentionally expressed in order to resonate within the reader. Possible characteristics portrayed through the actions and thoughts of such characters may include: perseverance‚ stubbornness‚ or couragessness. While examining the
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