short story "Two Kinds‚" Amy Tan explores the clash of cultures between a first-generation Chinese-American daughter‚ Jing-mei‚ and her mother‚ Suyan‚ a Chinese immigrant. Suyan is certain that Jing-mei can become a prodigy if she only tries hard enough. At first Jing-mei is eager to try‚ but she always falls short of her mother’s expectations. She decides that the prodigy in her is the girl who would steadfastly refuse to be what she is not. While the mother and daughter reveal their personality
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actions behind their choices. “A Pair of Tickets” especially explores the relationship of setting to place‚ heritage and ethnic identity. Jing-Mei Woo‚ the main character and protagonist of the story‚ has trouble accepting that she is Chinese. Despite of her heritage‚ Jing-Mei Woo believed at the age of fifteen‚ that she has no Chinese beneath her skin. She believes she is Caucasian and her Caucasian friends also told Jing-Mei that “she was about as Chinese as they were” (Tan‚ ). Jing-Mei didn’t believe
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Mei’s mother believed that you could be anything you wanted to be in America. (p 405) America is where all Jing Mei’s mothers hope lay. She had come to America in 1949 after losing everything in china. The main character of the story is Jing Mei (Amy Tan) who is also the protagonist in the story. Her mother is the antagonist‚ who is always urging Jing Mei to try new things and discover new talents. Jing Mei feels as if her mother wants her to be something she is not. Other characters in the story
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“Two Kinds” Reflection The story “Two Kinds” is written by a Chinese author named Amy Tan. I read the story in class with my table group. In my opinion‚ reading with my group improved my reading skills. I was able to discuss and analyze the story with my group. Compare to the mythologies that I read on my own and outside of class‚ some of them are very complexed in writing and I wasn’t able to discuss with anyone about it until class time. Another reason why I think reading with a group advanced
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English III AP/ Period 5 9/15/13 “Mother’s Tongue” by Amy Tan 1. Amy uses emotional appeals throughout her essay as she does in her first couple paragraphs. Amy says “I am a writer” to show that she simply loves to write down her mind and that is it. 2. Tan’s argument is simply referring to the somewhat embarrassment she has when people notice her mother’s broken English. As she goes on it begins to bother her to a point where she feels sympathetic for her mother. As she feels this‚ she
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Mothers have always played an important role in their daughter’s life. They help mold us into the people we will become; they are there for us when we need support and raise us in the best way they know how. In Amy Tan’s "Two Kinds"‚ we see Jing-mei struggle with her mother’s expectations and the disappointment that follows when she doesn’t meet them. She struggles to see her mother’s quiet support and love and instead feels as though she isn’t being seen for who she really is. Like many other mother-daughter
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Two kinds Two kinds is a fictional story written by the Chinese-American author Amy Tan. She was born in Oakland California. In this story‚ the writer explains the conflict and the problem of the mother-daughter relationships and also reveals about American life and the American dream. In this story‚ Nikon is shown as the main protagonist and the whole story is all about the writers feeling towards event during her childhood. The author also tries to explain the mother-daughter relationship and reveals
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A theme that is especially prevalent in Amy Tan’s short story‚ “Two Kinds‚” is identity. There is a discernable conflict between who the narrator wants to be and who her outside influences want her to be. Arguably‚ no greater pressure can come from that of one’s parents. In “Two Kinds‚” the mother is the primary source of the narrator’s‚ or the daughter’s‚ identity crisis. To develop the theme of identity‚ the author makes effective use of several literary techniques. The narrator establishes the
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with less respect because of the way they talk or pronounce a certain language. In the article "Mother Tongue‚" Amy Tan describes her relationship with her mother‚ who speaks "broken" English that essentially‚ isn’t broken at all. She shares her stories about the struggles of growing up with a mother who spoke imperfect English and the prejudice she received in turn for it. However‚ Tan didn’t let her mother’s “limited” English bring her down; instead she used it in her own personal narratives to
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20 February 2014 (21 February) After reading the strongly “Mother Tongue” by Amy Tran‚ it shows a great deal of strength from the Asian American Culture. Throughout the reading it showed how hard it was and still is for Asian Americans to work through the difficulties of the English language. In her essay Amy Tan writes about the problems immigrant families have with speaking English‚ by reflecting on her own experience. While reading Mother Tongue‚ I remembered the difficulties I faced when I
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