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Amy Tan’s “Two Kinds.” essay
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Lauren Lee 25 September 2016 English 203H 1st Period Three Paragraphs “Two Kinds” A Two Piece Puzzle In Amy Tan’s story “Two Kinds,” lack of mutual understanding of feelings creates a strain on this mother-daughter relationship, preventing Jing Mei from seeing the true value of her mother’s sacrifices until it’s too late. As a daughter of an ambitious immigrant from China, Jing Mei experiences the pressure to find a talent so her mother will be satisfied with her future. Many fruitless attempts to find a successful skill pass, and with each disappoint “something inside of me [Jing Mei] began to die” (Tan 134). Jing Mei discovers becoming a prodigy is much harder than she originally thought; her mother’s sad face and her own failures
dissuade her to hold on to any last hope. Through this relentless process continued by Suyuan, Jing Mei fights with the resounding internal question “why don’t you (Suyuan) like me the way I am?” (Tan 136). She can’t fathom a reason to why her mother is forcing her to have a talent that is not natural to her, whereas her mother is forcing Jing Mei out of unconditional love. Suyuan wants her daughter to have opportunities she couldn’t access in China, and communicates the message “For you sake” (Tan 136) in her argument with Jing Mei. Despite Suyuan’s honest comment and sacrifice of trading “housecleaning services for weekly lessons” (Tan 136), Jing Mei responds by being “so determined not to try” (Tan 138) to improve her piano skills just to spite her mother. Years pass by before Jing Mei touches a piano again when her mother gifts her the family’s piano. While Jing Mei is cleaning her parents’ apartment only months after her mother passes away, she notices how the notes of her recital piece return with ease. Only then does her mother’s message “only ask you be your best” (136) return with a new meaning. With the help of the two halves of her piece, Jing Mei realizes her mother sacrificed everything only to give her the best. Jing Mei’s fixed thinking that her mother forced a talent upon her due to selfish reasons transforms as she grows to be an adult and understands her mother did everything for her out of love.
In the book Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer wrote about Christopher McCandless, a nature lover in search for independence, in a mysterious and hopeful experience. Even though Krakauer tells us McCandless was going to die from the beginning, he still gave him a chance for survival. As a reader I wanted McCandless to survive. In Into the Wild, Krakauer gave McCandless a unique perspective. He was a smart and unique person that wanted to be completely free from society. Krakauer included comments from people that said McCandless was crazy, and his death was his own mistake. However, Krakauer is able to make him seem like a brave person. The connections between other hikers and himself helped in the explanation of McCandless’s rational actions. Krakauer is able to make McCandless look like a normal person, but unique from this generation. In order for Krakauer to make Christopher McCandless not look like a crazy person, but a special person, I will analyze the persuading style that Krakauer used in Into the Wild that made us believe McCandless was a regular young adult.
Samir Boussarhane During the early 20th century in the U.S, most children of the lower and middle class were workers. These children worked long, dangerous shifts that even an adult would find tiresome. On July 22, 1905, at a convention of the National Woman Suffrage Association in Philadelphia, Florence Kelley gave a famous speech regarding the extraneous child labor of the time. Kelley’s argument was to add laws to help the workers or abolish the practice completely.
During the late 1800’s and early 1900’s the fight for equal and just treatment for both women and children was one of the most historically prominent movements in America. Courageous women everywhere fought, protested and petitioned with the hope that they would achieve equal rights and better treatment for all, especially children. One of these women is known as Florence Kelley. On July 22, 1905, Kelley made her mark on the nation when she delivered a speech before the National American Woman Suffrage Association, raising awareness of the cruel truth of the severity behind child labor through the use of repetition, imagery and oxymorons.
"Two Kinds" is truly an amazing work; it captivates readers with by telling a story of a young girl trying to find herself. Amy Tan does a phenomenal job, not only by portraying a very real mother-daughter relationship, but at showing how much a young girl can change. Jing-Mei evolves throughout the story in a way that many people can relate to; crushed hopes, obeying your parents even if it means doing something you don't want to do, and finally standing up for what you believe in.
Pollan’s article provides a solid base to the conversation, defining what to do in order to eat healthy. Holding this concept of eating healthy, Joe Pinsker in “Why So Many Rich Kids Come to Enjoy the Taste of Healthier Foods” enters into the conversation and questions the connection of difference in families’ income and how healthy children eat (129-132). He argues that how much families earn largely affect how healthy children eat — income is one of the most important factors preventing people from eating healthy (129-132). In his article, Pinsker utilizes a study done by Caitlin Daniel to illustrate that level of income does affect children’s diet (130). In Daniel’s research, among 75 Boston-area parents, those rich families value children’s healthy diet more than food wasted when children refused to accept those healthier but
Jing-mei is a young child with a mother who has high expectations of her. Jing-mei was happy about who she was. Jing-mei’s mother wanted her to become famous because of the commercial she watched on the T.V. She tried everything to get Jing-mei to be a prodigy. She pressures Jing-mei to her breaking point. Jing-mei finally snapped and every time her mother made her work harder, she yelled at her. Jing-mei thought different than her mother on becoming a talented prodigy. The more they fought, the more they disliked each other. Then they realized piano was not only the cause of their problems, but the solution as well.
In this story “Two kinds” by Amy Tan it shows the great expectations of a mother, who wishes for her child to be famous and a genius. The mother coming from a society that is very hard working and obedient trying to instill the upbringing she had I her life. The child Jing-mei is a typical example of a child rebelling against their mothers wishes no matter how hard the parental figure tries, the child wishes to perform things in their own way and use their own freewill and to do things in there own timely fashion.
The story "Two Kinds" by Amy Tan is about a mother and daughter who have strong conflicting ideas about what it means to have a sense of self. This may be partly due to the mother growing up in China, which is a very different culture than the American culture where endless opportunities are available to anyone who wants to pursue them. Jing-mei's mother wants her daughter to be the best, a prodigy of sorts, and to have the kind of life, full of hopes and dreams that she did not have. In the beginning of the story Jing-mei liked the idea of becoming a prodigy however, the prodigy in her became impatient. "If you don't hurry up and get me out of here, I'm disappearing for good." It warned. "And then you'll always be nothing" (500). After disappointing her mother several times Jing-mei started to detest the idea of becoming a prodigy. The idea Jing-mei's mother had for her to become a prodigy was too much pressure for a small child and was something that Jing-mei was clearly not ready to be. As a result the pressure that her mother laid upon her only made Jing-mei rebel against her mother and she resisted in giving her best. Jing-mei did this because she only wanted her mother's love and acceptance for who she was not only what she could become. Furthermore, Jing-mei's point of view of being the kind of person that one can be proud of was very different from her mother's point of view.
The movie trailer “Rio 2”, shows a great deal of pathos, ethos, and logos. These rhetorical appeals are hidden throughout the movie trailer; however, they can be recognized if paying attention to the details and montage of the video. I am attracted to this type of movies due to the positive life messages and the innocent, but funny personifications from the characters; therefore, the following rhetorical analysis will give a brief explanation of the scenes, point out the characteristics of persuasive appeals and how people can be easily persuaded by using this technique, and my own interpretation of the message presented in the trailer.
Our mothers have played very valuable roles in making us who we are and what we have become of ourselves. They have been the shoulder we can lean on when there is no one else to turn to. They have been the ones we can count on when there is no one else. They have been the ones who love us for who we are and forgive us when no one else wouldn’t. In Amy Tan’s “Two Kinds,” the character Jing-mei experiences being raised by a mother who has overwhelming expectations for her daughter, which causes Jing-mei to struggle with who she wants to be.
She takes matters into her own hands, and rebels against her mother. This causes Jing-Mei to live her life to the , which goes against her mother’s wishes. “Two Kinds” reminds us that in order to be proud of your life, a person needs to listen to their own wishes and desires rather than attempting to appease someone
In her short story "Two Kinds," Amy Tan utilizes the daughter's point of view to share a mother's attempts to control her daughter's hopes and dreams, providing a further understanding of how their relationship sours. The daughter has grown into a young woman and is telling the story of her coming of age in a family that had emigrated from China. In particular, she tells that her mother's attempted parental guidance was dominated by foolish hopes and dreams. This double perspective allows both the naivety of a young girl trying to identify herself and the hindsight and judgment of a mature woman.
Jonathan Kozol revealed the early period’s situation of education in American schools in his article Savage Inequalities. It seems like during that period, the inequality existed everywhere and no one had the ability to change it; however, Kozol tried his best to turn around this situation and keep track of all he saw. In the article, he used rhetorical strategies effectively to describe what he saw in that situation, such as pathos, logos and ethos.
...ith Jing Mei and her mother, it is compounded by the fact that there are dual nationalities involved as well. Not only did the mother’s good intentions bring about failure and disappointment from Jing Mei, but rooted in her mother’s culture was the belief that children are to be obedient and give respect to their elders. "Only two kinds of daughters.....those who are obedient and those who follow their own mind!" (Tan1) is the comment made by her mother when Jing Mei refuses to continue with piano lessons. In the end, this story shows that not only is the mother-daughter relationship intricately complex but is made even more so with cultural and generational differences added to the mix.
In Amy Tan 's Two Kinds, Jing-mei and her mother show how through generations a relationship of understanding can be lost when traditions, dreams, and pride do not take into account individuality. By applying the concepts of Virginia Woolf, Elaine Showalter, and the three stages of feminism, one can analyze the discourse Tan uses in the story and its connection to basic feminist principles.