In "Two Kinds‚" Amy Tan writes a coming of age story about a young girl in San Francisco and the cultural differences she has with her Chinese mother. The result is conflict between the two from the girl ’s inability to live up to her mother ’s expectations. The mother left China after losing everything and sees America the place where you can have it all. She attempts to make her daughter into a prodigy against her daughter ’s will. After years of clashing the daughter disappoints her mother
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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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English‚ which the author believed reflected the quality of what she had to say‚ she was ashamed of her mother. She provided plenty of evidence to support her perspectives: the fact that people who served her mother did not respect her. Furthermore‚ Tan thought her mother’s English almost had an effect on her possibilities in life. She provided some examples that also applied to most Asian
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else; we are then told how english wasn’t Amy’s strongest subject and later on we are told about the difficulties her mother experienced because of the way she spoke english and the prejudice she faced. In the text Tan uses a variety of stylistic devices to express herself‚ tans use of parallel structures is used frequently throughout the piece‚ for example she starts the first paragraph with the phrase "i am not a scholar of english" and the second with "i am a writer"; this contrast implies
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Two Kinds by Amy Tan deals with a girl and a controlling mother.The main character in the story‚ a little chinese girl‚ is taken on a experience that could make or break her life. This girl struggles with meeting her mother’s standards. Amy Tan is able to express both the mother’s and the daughter’s point of views. Tan incorporates a little bit of her story in this great read. This novel deals with the difficulties of trying to be perfect and straining to please those that we love. The
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In the short story “Rules of the Game” by Amy Tan‚ Waverly Jong‚ the narrator‚ explains that she was a child when her mother taught her "the art of invisible strength‚" a strategy for winning arguments and gaining respect from others in games. Waverly and her two brothers live in San Francisco’s Chinatown. When Waverly’s brother Vincent receives a chess set at the church Christmas party‚ Waverly quickly becomes interested in the game of chess. She begins to win local tournaments and becomes a national
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Conflict occurs between mothers and daughters across all nationalities‚ including the Chinese-American mother-daughter duo in Two Kinds by Amy Tan. Jing-Mei‚ the daughter of Suyuan‚ resents her mother’s efforts to aid in her success‚ and eventually begins to sabotage her own progress. Suyuan does not want Jing-Mei to go through all of the challenges she has faced in her life‚ and tries to do what she believes is best for Jing-Mei. Although at times she may have been inconsiderate of what her daughter
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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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In the essay‚ “Mother Tongue” author Amy Tan‚ discusses the “power of language – the way it can evoke an emotion‚ a visual image‚ a complex idea‚ or a simple truth.” Tan began to explain that when she was speaking to a large group about her book‚ “The Joy Luck Club‚” she suddenly realized the different “Englishes” she uses. As she proceeds‚ she mentions the time when she was walking down the street with her mother and husband discussing prices of new and old furniture‚ where she became aware once
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more on what type of intentions others have. When finding your own identity it is easy to get caught up in the materialistic things in life. When one’s identity is being described‚ people tend to think of one’s image. In the story “Fish Cheeks” Amy Tan explained in paragraph one that when she was a teen‚ all she wanted for Christmas was a “slim new American nose.” Meaning she did not like her Chinese image. Throughout the story she admitted that she wanted so badly to be an American and fit in when
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