“Two Kinds” – by Amy TanName:_____________________________ ELA 10 Enriched

How would you describe the overall tone of this short story?

The tone of this story is generally humorous.

Does the tone ever change? If so, at what point does it change?

Yes, the tone changes after the disastrous piano recital. The tone becomes more reflective and serious.

What are some of the humorous aspects of Jing Mei's mother?

We see the humor in the story right from the first page when Jing Mei tells us her mother wants her daughter to become "a Chinese Shirley Temple.” "We'd watch Shirley's old movies on TV as if they were training films," Jing Mei says.

The contrast between the feel-good and sentimental Temple movies, and the serious and no-nonsense training films is quite amusing. We envision the mother and daughter watching with furrowed brows the cute little girl with curly blonde hair, completely missing the entertainment value of the film.

Her mother's knowledge comes mainly from TV and the magazines she finds in the homes of people whose house she cleans. "Reader's Digest", "Ripley's Believe It or Not", and "Good Housekeeping", though very popular, are not usually regarded as having any serious content.

What is particularly funny about her two teachers?

Note how inept each of Jing Mei's teachers are: the beautician has unsteady hands and can't cut hair properly and Old Mr. Chong, her supposed music teacher, is actually deaf.

The chances that Jing Mei really have of succeeding in becoming a prodigy with such inept teachers are slim. This is a bit pathetic, but also funny.

What two kinds does the title refer to?

Two possible answers:

1. Comparing the proper Chinese daughter to Jing Mei: Tan shows us, before Jing Mei's humiliation, a "real prodigy," the girl on TV who is so "properly modest" as well as talented: the model child her mother is hoping Jing Mei will become.

After the recital, Jing Mei sees another "real" prodigy, her school and neighborhood rival, the chess champion Waverly Jong. Waverly underscores Jing Mei's failures by putting it plainly: "you aren't a genius like me". This is, of course, the truth, but it comes from a person Jing Mei would rather not hear it from.

2. Comparing mother and daughter.

Do you think it is fairly common that some mothers create resentment in their children by trying to do things they feel are in their childrens' best interests? Can you think of any examples?

Answers will vary.

Have you ever had an experience as embarrassing as Jing Mei's piano recital? Have you ever been asked to, forced to, or encouraged to try to do something that you just could not do?

Answers will vary.

Do you believe people grow up with certain personality traits that can't be changed?

Answers will vary.

What does Jing-Mei expect will happen at the recital? Does she plan to give the kind of performance that she gives? Why or why not?

Jing Mei things the recital will go just fine. She found the piece relatively easy during rehearsals, however, so was so accustomed to playing the wrong notes to be stubborn, that when the time came to perform the piece in front of an audience that could actually hear her, she played as she practiced…hitting the wrong notes.

Why is the narrator's mother so fixated on making her daughter into some kind of prodigy? Besides the competition with Lindo Jong, what larger cultural forces may be encouraging her to think this way?

To Jing-Mei's mother, America is the Land of Opportunity. She has high hopes that

her daughter will be a great success as a prodigy. She's not precisely sure where

her daughter's talents lie, but she is sure that her daughter possesses great ability

—it is simply a matter of finding the right avenue for Jing-Mei's talents.

“Two Kinds” – by Amy Tan

Name:_____________________________ ELA 10 Questions

What is a prodigy and why does the mother want the main character to become one?

A prodigy is a young person who is exceptionally talented or intelligent. The

mother wants her daughter to become a prodigy because she believes that a

person can be whatever he/she wants in America. America offers all the

opportunities to all young children and they should enjoy it and take the best of it.

Like all mothers, she wants her daughter to have a wonderful future, so she

believes that she should work hard, here in American.

How does the mother prepare her daughter for fame?

The mother prepares her by teaching different topics, such as geography, music

and math, so that, both together can find what is the girl’s talent. The mother

everyday makes her different tests.

What talents does the girl have?

One of the girl's talents is the fact that she knows what she wants to do with her

life. Besides being forced to be someone else, she always knew that doing what

her mother wants her to do would make her a different person. So that besides

loving her mother, she confronted her and said horrible things in order to put an

end to the lessons and expectations that the mother had on her. She is a very

brave person, which is a wonderful talent. She never gave up on her feelings and

thoughts.

Another talent that she has is the fact that she always tried to make her mother

happy. She knew that having a talent was the most important thing for her mother,

so besides knowing that she couldn't do it, she tried. She did all the tests, had

piano lessons and she went to a recital; everything her mother asked her to do.

Another talent that she has is the fact that besides saying those horrible things to

her mother, she left her proud by taking care of the piano. She also played it again,

just to make her mother happy besides being dead.

Why does she start the piano lessons and how is the mother going to pay for them?

She started having piano lessons because her mom saw on TV a really young

Chinese girl that knew how to play the piano very well, so she thought that her

daughter could learn and try to have the same talent of playing the piano. Since

the mother couldn't pay for the piano classes with money, the mother made a deal

with the piano teacher saying that he would teach her daughter while she cleaned

his house.

Describe the piano teacher.

The piano teacher was deaf. He helped her a lot and was really nice. He said that

she could learn even though Jing Mei was lazy and made many mistakes. This

made her feel comfortable when she did something wrong. He also was a good

teacher, he used pennies on top of her wrists, he helped her to keep the rhythm

and taught her the basics of playing piano. The teacher physically didn't have that

much hair on top of his head; he wore thick glasses and had eyes that always

looked tired and sleepy.

What do Auntie Lindo and Jing-Mei's mother have in common?

What the two mothers have in common is the fact that both complain about their

daughters.

In your own words, relate the events of the recital.

When she was going to play piano, the mother invited many people to come to see

her. She was very confident and wasn't afraid. While she was playing, her mother

was shaking because she was nervous that her daughter do well. At the end,

because she wasn't so good, a little boy told her mom that the show was "awful"

and the mother answered saying that she at least tried.

What does the author mean when she says, "I didn't have to do what my mother said

anymore... This wasn't China"? page 207.

What the author means is that now she wasn't a little girl anymore and she could

make her own decisions. In China, since everything was harder, she knew that the

best that she could do was following her mom, but now, it was different. Now she

is in American, a place where she has a lot of opportunities and the chances of

having a bad life are very low. She didn't have to be a prodigy girl like the kids in

China.

What words does the author use to describe her mother's disappointment in her?

The words that the author used to describe the mother's disappointment in her

were "devastated”, ”quiet”, “blank”, “silent”, “disappointment”…

Why does Jing-Mei come back to play the piano after her mother's death?

Jing-Mei come back to play the piano after the mother's death because she knew

that it was what the mother would like her to do at least once in her life and what

happened in the recital. The mother's wish was to have a prodigy daughter, if it

was impossible, she wanted her to try because it was really important to her. Since

the mother died and they didn't talk about the big fight, she wanted to do

something in order to try to compensate for what she had done, and how she

made her mother suffer, so she played piano.